Gold connector question

It took me a few days to do what I could easily get to as I did a few connections and then drove the car a bit and then did more. I knew my engine was coming out for service soon so I did the rest at the shop when my engine was out. Those included the injectors and a couple of others. But you can do them all with the engine in...its just easier to do when the engine is out. I did the injectors in a couple of hours to make sure they were perfect. The secret is to take your time.

 

I know my guy in Houston was charging 15 hours and said he was not making money on it. Thought of it as a favor to his customers

 

So he is paying for the kit then?

 

I really don't know how many hours I put in. I also did many other things at the same time and split it over 6-8 different days. Doing it for the first time one could easily put 20 hours in. I was very careful and encountered a few problems that set me back hours her or there.

After now having done it once I could easily do it in under 20 hours, but I don't think I could have done it in under 20 the first time while being 100% confident it would start the first time and run perfect once done.... which it did! What a relief that was.

I did not drive mine while working on it but there is no reason you couldn't.

 

Did you notice any improvement in the motor once the job was finished?

 

Would have to make a huge difference, I will be doing them soon also.


I am in SoCal car never seen rain and my connectors sill have variances in resistance. My car runs great, no real gremlins except I see it change slighty each time I drive it. I clean my connections and only a temp fix. These connectors remind me of an old MG

 

I completed it a few weeks ago and the good ol' PNW is rainy, cold and dark this time of year so I only put a 5-10 miles on it letting the computer relearn and what not.

They were pretty easy miles I put on it but id did feel very smooth, responsive and had a much smoother idle. The idle also dropped about 50-100 rpms.

I will definanetly share my impressions with Fchat once I have a few hundered miles on it.

 

Looking forward to what you have to say

 

I recall one of the interesting 355's Dave of SRInnovations was looking for seemed a bit odd to me at first. He was looking for a 355 that ran very well as far as the owner was concerned. It had to be a 355 that did not experience any of the common problems like random CELs or odd idle symptoms. When a few of us questioned what purpose that was he answered in his typical good sens of humor something about its easy to show improvement on a poor running 355 but if he could show improvement on a good running 355 that would be a true test. I do recall the test results were positive even on the already good running 355's. So in the end at some point in your 355 ownership you would be doing yourself as well as your 355 a favor by getting them installed.

 

I am doing a major on a 348SS and I am thinking about doing the complete gold connector set while the engine is out.
Anyone has any idea of the time it would take with the engine out by an extremely trained and competent technician (not me! it would take me 3 years...and the car would not start)?

 

Generally someone who knopws what they are doing can easily crack it off inside of a week. I have heard an estimate of about 20 hours. However, most people who do this are doityourselfers and they usually extend the project for a couple of weeks.

 

It took me about 20 hours on a 355.
I have never heard any but positive reports on installation on the gold connector kit.
How could it not be an improvement over 15 year old connectors?

 

With your 348 engine out, I could do it in one day.
My car ran great but never ran the same 3 days in a row. Once the connectors were done, it was amazing. Runs exactly the same every day for the last 3 years.

 

I agree with everyone's time estimates. I did mine with the engine in, but I'm guessing engine out is quite a bit faster....and easier on your back. One of the surprises when I did mine was when trimming back the wires after cutting the plugs off, sometimes it was shiny copper strands as expected, but many times it black and corroded crap. I found if the wire strippers were having a hard time popping the insulation off, when it finally came off, there would be lousy wire inside. If there was enough wire, I would keep trimming back 'till I got to the good stuff. If things were tight I would just wire brush it clean. I'm not impressed with the quality or quantity of the wire Ferrari. Some of the connector changes are tricky because there ain't much wire to work with... once you cut the original connector off, sometimes you're hard pressed to have enough reach left for the new connector to snap on to the receptacle.

 

Hey, that's race wire!

 

I was one of the original testors/guinea pigs for the gold kit on the 550 which is a particularly good running Ferrari. Mine was flawless and Dave wanted to know whether it could be better. I posted an entire thread about it. The results are so good that I call the Gold Kit the single best ferrari modification you can do. It made my great running car a fantastic running car. I believe that cars modified with the gold kit will have a higher resale value than other cars. As to time taken it can be done easily in a weekend. I was on no time schedule and never looked at the clock. This kit is best assembled by the person who loves your car and no clock is the best clock. It is not a hard job it is a detail oriented job. If you cut your steak and the juices fly off the plate, this job is not for you. If your shoes are all in a pile at the bottom of the stairs, this job is not for you. If you would rather use a nail instead of a cotter pin, this job is not for you. If your favorite tool is duct tape followed by a hammer, this job is not for you. If you are going out on a hot date and there is toilet paper sticking to the bottom of your shoe, this job is not for you. Details details details and you will be rewarded!

 

The actual hard part for me was removing the old connector pins from the plug. Doing the ecu connector was a breeze because there was no pin removal...new plugs were provided. It would seem for the price of the kit, it wouldn't cost much more to include new plugs. That would save a world of struggle. Or just sell it as the "El Grande Supremo Kit". If you were having it done by your mechanic, I would guess the savings in labor time would easily surpass any added cost of the kit.

 

The one advantage of doing it with the engine in is you can test each connector as you do it to make sure you haven't crossed any wires. Do a connector and start the engine to make sure it's working correctly. If you do it with the engine out and something was crossed up you may be spending a long time finding the connector that wasn't done correctly. It's more work doing it with the engine in but probably safer in the long run.

 

Factual and entertaining response

 

I did all the plugs by the motor when I had engine out doing the major. I would guess that 20 hours is a reasonable estimate. I did not keep track. I did keep track of the main ECM plug which took about 3 hours I think about 90 pins. If you are going to want to still drive it while doing it you probably won't hardly notice the hour here or there. For me my back could not take more than about 2 hours per day or 1 hour per day for the main ECM. My 355 f1 had no electrical issues that were knowingly causing grief before the major but the idle does seem smoother. I think it was cheap insurance and for us DIY it helps you understand where all the plugs are and what they do in case of future diagnosis. All the instructions we easy to follow and judging by the connectors I assume I have prevented any future problems. I was very impressed and if you plan on keeping the car for a while I would recommend better rubber hoses as well. Just what I did. Grant

 

Good job! I will be doing that as well.No engine out planned so will be working around everything.

 

Is there an manual or something online showing basically what's involved, how many connectors, where they are etc...

I like to read these things ahead of time to see if it's within my abilities and then psych myself up to do it.

 

I spoke with Dave helms about this and his comments were that the end users do a better job than a shop ad they will pay attention to the detail and the hours are a pia for a shop

I told him that I am a model train guy and said it would be right up my alley. You can do a bit at a time as others have said and start with the easier ones checking everything as you go alOng.

Im sure some who have done it can expand on this mOre. I am not aware of any online docs

 

I put my car on the lift and did it over about 2 months. I took pictures of EVERYTHING. My car was in very good shape, many things seemed unnecessary, but I did it for the future, not today. Still, I think the car actually pulls harder at high rpms than before... it runs like a dream.

Anyone can do it, but you need to be detail oriented. It's the kind of project I would not allow a shop to do, as I wanted to be sure it was perfect.

Best thing to investigate further is just to call Dave. He'll let you know all you want to know.