Decided to give my F355 Berlinetta some TLC.....

Hi I have not got round to it yet, been away, but will get on to it soon.

 

Please let me know when u do...

I want to piggyback your order like i did with the foot mats.

Hope u don't mind.

Keep posting the photos of the 355

 

Meant to say Mark McCraken is a good Irish name! Any relation to the Irish prostitute Phil McCraken hee hee. Sorry can't help myself at times,42 going on 16

 

The seals do not work on CH wheels...you can get them on but it is a waste of time and seeings how you are in England where there is a lot of moisture your best solution is to coat the unfinished areas with Gibbs Brand Penetrant....do this 1-2 times a year.

 

Cool thanks for the tip, much appreciated

 

The manual arrived from Australia today, now i have the perfect set of books! Thanks Steve.
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Hi, i cleaned up the radiator fans today, lubricated and tested, fortunately thy are working perfectly, spinning up with loads of power and the motors are very quiet!

Second Picture - Question: It say on the fan "REMOVE THE CAP FROM THE CONDENSATE DISCHARGER"

Third Picture - on the fan motor cover there is a small hole, on one radiator it had a white cap in the hole, the other did not, just as the picture - what should be the situation?

thanks
Mark
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Hi, the new carbon wheel centre caps for the challenge wheels arrived today, they fit perfectly in the Speedlines.
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I am busy stripping, cleaning and rebuilding the brakes and suspension at the moment, so far front suspension needs new bushes and the springs shot blasted and powder coated, struts are in good shape. Rear suspension all looks fairly new and is in perfect condition.

The brakes, well they had seen better days! Need new discs and pads all round. The handbrake shoes were shot, guess they have been original, need a new hand brake cable as well. All the callipers have been striped, checked, cleaned and rebuilt. The car had fairly new Goodrich braided hoses all round, so thats the only thing that did not need replacing!
Oh, and one of the orange brake duct cooling hoses had fallen to pieces, other one was perfect - picked up a replacement today.
Pictures to follow.

 

Get the wheels and the scud stripes on matey I'm bursting at the seams waiting on the pics!!

 

Those silver Challenge wheels look superb, Mark.

Where did you get them from?

 

I know, i cant wait, i have a feeling they will look awesome. Only problem, the car is on jack stands while i finish the wheel arches, brakes and suspension. I cant get full access to the front boot as i parked it partly below a small tree, which is now even closer as the car is 2 foot in the air on the stands!

 

They were advertised on ebay, i contacted the seller and we done a deal and he ended the auction. Fair bit of work to get them like this: X - rayed, full refurb in the same colour as the Scuderia strip, new Speedline decals, new valves, new centre caps, new tyres and balanced.

Oh nearly forgot, and new Hill Engineering 11mm wheel spacers and a set of 20 new longer bolts - so the whole thing has been quite an expensive indulgence, but i love the result!

 

Hi, I have been giving the orange brake ducting pipe a good clean up. One of the pipes is in great shape, but the other one is not so good. It looks ok, but the internal spring has broken in several places, so it had lost its shape and integrity. The replacement part from Ferrari is just to expensive for what it is, so i came up with a repair.

I got a length of replacement pipe, from a great friend and Ferrari legend Aldo Riti. The problem with the new pipe, it does not have the rubber welded ends, so i removed the old spring from the original, trimmed the new one to the right length and shortened the internal spring at each end by the correct distance. Then slipped the new pipe inside the old one, put both ends over the plastic ducting and metal exit bracket - job done!

The ducting is secured at the hub end with jubilee clips - the originals cleaned up like new. But at the other end they are secured by a different sort of clip - the originals were very tatty and rusty. Got this great replacement from another friend, 5 minutes latter i had 2 new clips made-up and fitted, absolutely perfect and identical to the original.
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gave them a polish up, looking a lot better.
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I removed the springs to be blasted and recoated, so while it was all apart i cleaned up the rest of the front suspension strusts. I have a set of new bushes lying in the box, i will press them in today.
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Mark

Do you have your own workshop in wimbledon?
I pick up my kia door mirrors on monday btw.
From a kia rio....

 

Morethanpolish...messed up my mat order.

They sent me left hand drive mats and the drivers side is the wrong shape...i sent them back.

Did you have good service from them?

 

Hi, yes the service was superb, sorry if it was on my recommendation, but i am sure they will put it right very quickly.

 

Hi, i have my own workshop at my house, but have a connection with a fairly large Ferrari workshop near by and have pretty good access to what ever i need.

 

I have striped out the front boot to give it a thorough clean, I had to remove the top half of the carpet to get the suspension dampers out, so thought i would go the full distance.

Just cleaned up and repainted the carpet retaining strips in the correct semi-matt black...
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Nice and obsessive..just like me.

I just reoved the door air scoop panel.
My window guide bracket is split...window rattles.

Interesting to clean out debris in the door...give it a go

 

On the to-do list along with lubricating the window runners

 

Pressed the old ones out and the new ones in, ready to refit the springs then back into the car. Then I will finish refitting the front brakes and refit the wheel arch covers. Hopefully have it back on its wheels shortly and I can get I on with some of the more visually impacting jobs!
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How is the battery tray looking?

All parts there including the rubber mat the battery sits on?