My 355 mini-Restoration story

Thanks, Gus... since i have a Euro 355 Spider, I may just have to add that!

Mike

 

What advantages are there to deactivating the system and do you have a "how to" or a link with instructions?

 

Have a look at this car - I actually like the color.

http://www.blackhorsemotorsusa.com/vehicle-details/b10ebfcdfe83490eaadbce13adf28552/1996+ferrari+355+spider+2-door+convertible.html

 

It's just ok for me...at least it has a metallic finish which improves the color green. My car's green is dark and flat and really doesn't give the car justice. It also makes the car look very small for some reason. Next to a red 360, it looks half the size.

I'm still going for RED!!!

 

Headers ceramic coated (inside and out) by Jet-Hot for my 308. $400 shipped. A lot less heat in the engine bay for sure. No hard data, but it just does not seem to be as hot as before I had the work done.
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Smart choice, at the end of the day Ferrari always looks better in red and it doesn’t matter what model year.

 

Looks awesome!!! Can't wait to get my fabspeed order... I will post pics of the before and after ceramic coating.

 

So I have the fuel lines taken out and they really need cleaning as you can see from the picture. I tought of flushing them out with fuel or carburator cleaner and pressed air. I was also going to clean/shine them on the outside with Brasso. Any toughts/ideas?
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That's no illusion. The 355 is MUCH smaller than the 360

 

It's not THAT much smaller..
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the 355 is 167 X 75 X 46 inches

the 360 is 176 x 76 X 48 inches

There's not that much of a difference and you wouldn't necessarily notice it by looking at the vehicles driving side-by-side.

The 360 is 11 inches longer, 1 inch wider and 2 inches taller (not really noticeable unless you pull out the measuring tape)

However, if one of them has a darker color, it looks smaller....

 

11 inches longer is not noticeable??? If my GARAGE was 11" longer, I would REALLY notice it!

 

The fuel rails are cad plated, not much you can do other than re-plating or maybe paint them.

 

11 inches out of 176 or 167 is like a 5% difference. To me 5% is not a lot. 20-30% would be significant but 5%, not noticeable.

 

176-167=9in shorter, not 11in shorter

That's why it doesn't look 11in shorter!

Still significantly shorter, in my opinion. Better for that fact too.

 

Ooops, sorry, math is off, 9 inches out of 176 or 167 isn't much at all and I admire all of you who can notice it because I sure as hell can't.

If I give math another shot, the difference of 9 inches X 2 inches X 1 inch equals 18 cubic inches. Not much.....

 

Getting back to more important things, the progress on the car is going well. Ordered new spark plug wire set from Kingsborne today in red for 420$. Ordering parts is almost over with now....geez it's costing a lot!!

I also was able to get those fuel rails in good shape with some rubbing alcohol, brasso, a toothbrush and some steel wool. Took about 10 minutes on each rail and they came out looking pretty good. I wanted to avoid painting them because once you paint them, you always have to do it again and again to maintain it.

Here's a pic, I am happy with the result.
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SWEET thread...are you starting to regret that you even got yourself involved in such EXPENSIVE project? what are your feelings right now?

 

Well, obviously I never expected that I would need so many parts and that they would be so expensive. I also never expected that Ferrari built their cars with, for example, headers that failed so miserably...

Even with all the added cost, I am still as excited and enthusiastic...I wish I could fast forward straight to April and be driving the car on a beautiful sunny day!

Not only will this be my first Ferrari but also my first convertible car so it's gonna be awesome!!!!!

 

Not to beat a dead horse on the color...but have you had a detailer come out to work on the car? Non-metallic colors oxidize very easily and look horrible. I think the green could be stunning if it had the right amount of gloss. At over 1/3rd of your budget, the color change is big money.

 

A new one is only about $30 and does not have a hole in it...

 

I love that green, I wouldn't change it, unique for sure. But its your car, enjoy. I remeber seeing that car in Woodbury, I wondered who bought it, I think they were asking 45K or so?

 

Yeah, it was first listed at 46k, then 42k, I brought the price down to 38k on the phone and was told the car was in perfect shape. When I got there (after driving close to 7 hours) , there was a whole bunch of issues that were not revealed to me on the phone and I was pretty pissed (several rust spots, oxydation on the windshield, rusted sills, scratched mags, etc...) I therefore had to negotiate it a little more and got it down to 35k

I have researched and researched and researched some more all over the internet for a 355 and it's a fact that the "unpopular" colors like green are all listed between 12k to 20k cheaper for a car in the same condition than a red one so I am certain that I made a great deal even with all the repairs that it needs

 

Sold! Can I order it on your site?

 

Well, they're here.....

My fabspeed headers, bypass pipes and y pipe arrived today and they look superb. They are going in to get ceramic coated on thursday and I will post pictures once they're done.

I would like to thank Alex at Fabspeed for the wonderful service they provided me with and I am looking forward to giving you more positive feedback once I get them installed and get some fumes coming out of them!
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