Cam belt service and detailing on a 348.

Hi all. Having just bought my first Ferrari, a '93 348 TS I decided to get a bit of work done to bring her up to scratch. I've looked at a few specialists roughly near me in the UK and decided to use Shiltech in Loughborough, leicestershire. That's pronounced "lufburu, lestersher" for our American cousins. Goodness knows what you'd come up with left to your own devices (Just kidding, have lived in North Carolina, Washington DC and Florida so am practically a native) Geoff Shilton, the owner, is pretty well known in Ferrari circles over here having worked on them for years including on quite a few race going machines. His particular expertise is in race engines (take note Sy) having built and worked on everything from classic F1 engines to Le Mans racers and he's worked with drivers such as Stirling Moss and John Surtees. A brief resume is at this link:

http://www.shiltech-ferrari.com/content/company-history

His son Kyle is perhaps less of a traditionalist as you can see from his car, the R33 Skyline on the above link. I've seen it in the flesh and it's a beast. If you want mods done he may be able to help. Not sure what all the blue bits do on his engine but think they make it go faster.

Anyway my car didn't need anything so grand as an engine rebuild (luckily), just an engine out cam belt service so while that was being done I decided to get the engine and engine bay detailed. The interior of the car could also do with a bit of a tidy up so I'm getting all the leather reconnolised as it's not too bad and a few other cosmetic bits and pieces done.

Externally she's not in bad shape with the only real problem being some marks on the roof where it's been stored against a garage wall. That left me with a bit of a dilema. I'm actually a fan of the origional black sills, know they're not everyone's cup of tea but I think they make the car look a bit sleeker and wider when seen in the flesh. I also think they go well with the age of the car. I may change my mind and colour code them but for now they're staying black. The snag is with the plastic roof I need to do something to get rid of the marks which are too deep to easily remove given the textured finish. As a solution I'm going a slightly unconventional route. I like the look of the origional TB so I'm leaving the sills black but colour coding the roof. The hope is that with the roof on she'll retain the lines of the origional TB which I prefer to the black silled TS with black roof on but obviously I'll have the option of taking the roof off. I've seen completely origional cars, cars with fully colour coded roof and sills or cars with just colour coded sills, never just colour coded roof. I'll see how it looks when done. I guess I can always whimp out and get the sills done.

Anyway, a member on this site asked for some pics of the work and Shiltech have agreed to send them as they do the work so I'll post them as I get them. Only words of warning are:

a. Some of them aren't that clear.
b. I'm a novice so can't tell you a lot about what you're looking at. Any aficionados out there wishing to point stuff out, crack on.

Pics to follow.......

 

First stage was dropping the engine out.
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A few shots in the empty engine bay prior to detailing and looking a little lost without her rear end....
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Cool pics man, your car looks REALLY clean.

Looking forward to seeing more pics.

 

Cheers, mate. She is in pretty good nick but as I've waited a long time for this car (since I was about 8 to be honest) I've decided to go the whole hog. I went for a car that was mecanically as sound as I could find, had a specialist inspect her prior to buying, and where the bodywork was in good condition. she was the only one I saw where the "she's a dry weather car" comment seemed honest. The cosmetic work amounts to a complete detail in, out, engine and bay, boot, underneath etc. I've got to know the guys at Shiltech over the past 6 months and to a certain respect have given them pretty much free rein, just telling them to speak to me before doing something. Money isn't 'no issue' but I got her for a good price and tried to ensure that there were no major costs lurking, though you can never be certain till they start taking things apart. That left me with enough spare cash to really go to town on the cosmetic side even after all the minor mechanical issues are sorted. I'll keep you posted, especially with the finished product.

 

Fantastic Pete.

I also wanted a 348 when they first came out when I was 9 yrs old. I made the dream a reality 16 yrs later.

Looking forward to seeing more pics and reading more.

 

Wonder if his rear tires are newer than ten years old....

 

It's my front tyres that are 10 yrs old.

The rears only 2-3 yrs old now. But I will get another 2-3 yrs from them when I 'flip' the tyres on the rims.

 

Work's progressing on the engine. It's not yet detailed but the cam covers have been repainted and they've started work tidying it up.
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Looks pretty clean to me and they haven't started to detail yet?

My car is a disgrace.

 

Your 348 looks in magnificent condition already Pete - and thanks for posting the pictures!

Pap, in such a hot climate as Australia, with intense UV rays that affect the condition of rubber, is it wise to run tyres that are 10 years old - even if they have usable tread depth remaining?

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Looks good and work is progressing well Pete.I have looked but I'm struggling to find the cambelt/service pics/thread on CS, maybe I've just missed it.

 

Hi steve, how's it going? Looking to post on CS soon. Shiltech who are doing the work are looking at becoming sponsors of CS but aren't yet. They had a few negative comments about advertising without being sponsors when one of their mechanics started giving advice on CS and it became apparent where he worked. I've emailed them to make sure they're happy with me posting up pics etc on CS and saying who's doing the work etc. Soon as they get back to me I'll start a thread.

Pete

 

Nowt to stop you or anyone posting about your own car.

Looks like it's had aftermarkey fuel lines fitted, did it come like that or have you had them done ??

 

Ok mate. Think I should just crack on then? Just don't want to upset anyone. People can be touchy sometimes, I've heard Re the fuel lines, one was getting close to being needed to be done so I got them to replace both. As with many of the parts the guys said the ones fitted are better but cheaper than origionals. No expert myself though. The engine is still a work in progress in these pics, bit more to do yet but as you know I shopped around quite a bit to get one in fairly good condition to start with. Much of the cosmetic work will be on the interior which needed some work. Pics to follow when they start work there.

Pete

 

I think in ANY climate around the world, 10 yr old tyres are past their use by date.

I had 10 yr old tyres on my old Ford and they were still like new, but the side wall eventually perished/cracked and the tyre went down.

The Ferrari front tyres don't look perished, still look new. But they would be no good.

For my needs driving around here, they will be fine. I don't push the car hard around corners anymore and we don't have motorways/freeways here. **Although I still hit some fast speeds every now and then when no one is around on the open roads**

The fastest speed limit around town is 60 km/h. 80 km/h heading towards the airport and then it's 100 km/h on the open road leaving town.

So I am safe to drive around town on them as I do, at 60 km/h. The car still feels safe and if it ever felt unsafe, I would stop driving it till I replaced those tyres.

 

Work on the engine and engine bay is progressing and the detailing really makes a difference. Glad I decided to go the whole hog and get it done.
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Few more of the engine...
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Now a few scary shots. The bodywork. The car was actually in pretty good nick but there were some very minor areas that weren't quite perfect so getting them done.
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Roof being prepped for spaying.
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Very nice. Are you getting the top resprayed in black or colour coding it?

 

Those engine shots look wonderful!

Scary indeed!

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Respraying in Red. The origionals are black plastic, no paint on them so other than getting a new one I can't return it to its former glory. Hope is car will look like an origional TB with black sills. Really like the origional lines.

 

Bodywork was in good nick (I keep saying that, don't I?) but I decided to do whatever was necessary to bring her back to her former glory. Any little blemish, chip etc is getting sorted. She won't be concourse, I'm using the odd aftermarket part where they're better than the origionals such as the fuel lines, stainless nuts/bolts/clips etc under the bonnet but she will look good. Not sure I'm looking forward to the next stage. Seats, trim etc out of the inside. I'll be hiding behind the sofa!

 

Well, work on the interior has started and bit are being taken out...
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