355 Spider being collected on Friday - my first Ferrari!

Hi everyone. I am new to this forum and to Ferrari ownership. I have bought a 1997 Rosso Corsa/Nero leather manual LHD 355 Spider with 30,000km (18,000 miles) on her. I cant wait to collect it on Friday. Any tips for my first drive (2 hours back home)? I look forward to hearing from you with any advice. The company I bought it from have done a cam belt and tensioner change, it has also just had a new clutch and cats. Stainless sports exhaust on there too so are these the main areas already dealt with for me?! Also, when I store it (under cover) in a barn can I leave roof down so as not to wear the roof mechanism out or is it best to keep it stored (between weekend drives and hopefully a dart across to mainland Europe) with the roof up?

Cheers

 

Firstly congratulations, you have chosen a great car! With regards to bits and pieces the only other thing I have on my spider is a challenge rear grille which I think makes a big difference in the looks.

With regards to the roof in my experience it's best to use the roof and store the car with it up and put it down when you go for a drive. From what I have heard problems occur when people leave the roof down and done operate them

 

*Dont

 

Hi Bike Lawyer

RU Russ Brown the Bike L? LOL

Bets luck with the spider. I keep mine in the garage roof down uncovered for a couple years now, put it up 2 times. No issues at all. Some slight wrinkle in the fabric that strained right out with sun and water when I washed it

 

The best advice I can give you regarding the top, is to check the level of the hydraulic fluid before operating the top. It's bad for the pump and the hydraulic rams if it's run low. Topping up the fluid is often missed, during a normal service.

 

Congratulations!!!! .......

 

Congrats and good luck!!

 

Thanks to you all. Very good tip re hydraulic fluid. Not Russ Brown but do my best in Blighty!

 

Congrats Bike - I too just finished up the paperwork on my purchase of a F355 Spider - look forward to seeing your posts in the future (and photos).

 

Two keys three fobs a toolkit tonneau and load of handbooks should be with car - 2nd gear may be unusable for the first few miles - car is wider at rear than front so beware central kerbs

 

Congrats your gonna luv her.

 

Drive it like ya stole it!!!!!

 

Congratulations and welcome to the F-Car club. As was mentioned, second gear will be a bit hard until the transmission warms up, but it's not too bad. And if you're new to the Ferrari experience, don't give in to the temptation to shift at 4,000 RPM as you would in a more domestic car. These cars are meant to be driven at high RPM's in order to get the best performance and experience out of it. Enjoy your first drive and post a photo of your car when you get home. All the best.

Henry

 

I would do the first 30 mins as a simple shakedown run... just make sure that everything is running the way it should be, coolant temps stay stable, oil pressure increases nicely with RPM, and the car is making those happy sounds... once past that first 30 minutes, it's time to find a tunnel and open her up! So close to the car I have.

 

Welcome and congratulations!!!

 

Thanks everyone - all taken on board - not collecting Friday as decided to have a new roof to finish the look so a week tomorrow is the collection date!