Curious about certain costs...

The consistency seems to be around 40 hours labor. Mitchell or someone else who has actually done this can chime in but I know someone here who just had one done at a high end shop with no extra stuff and it took two days. Now that's 16 hours and I guess two men ?

You can control parts cost by shopping the kit. If you can find a good shop that will bill his time at under $100 like mine and Johns did, there is no need to see these crazy numbers for just the major.

If you are paying $300 labor to have someone chsnge your cat ecu as above then you will end up with one of these home down payment invoices. A little DIY goes a long way to make owning these cars enjoyable and not financially burdensome.

 

New to 355, yes. I found development type threads on the gold connector kit but not a website or ad explaining why I need it. I didn't realize wiring harnesses should be added to the list of issues with this car. It seems I can add another $10,000 in parts just doing the nice to have's when the engine comes out (headers, connectors, water pump, hoses, etc...)

I'd love to see Robb's list sometime to see what I'm missing with what I have in mind for the extras on this upcoming major.

 

Johnk, wheres are all the parts for this work or page 1 of this invoice..?
major service kit/parts
valve guides
tappets/lifters

only $11,900 for a major, "plus" valve guides, head rebuild, tappets etc..

just the head rebuild, guides etc..alone would be in the 15k+ range easy..

 

Two issues with the older connectors. Clamping force and corrosion. Clamping force has nothing to do with needed gold plated contacts. Corrosion is primarily an environmental issue. If you have corrosion issues (which didn't happen over night in the first place) gold plating limited to the female contacts will do little to relieve the issue because there is still plenty of copper and tin present. All the gold in the world won't stop the remaining tin and copper from corroding over time.

 

I heard rumors that you can perform a belt service without removing the motor. I will try that method in 5 years if I still have my 95 GTS. But, then again I also saw a guy put a fuel tank in front to access belts now that sounds silly lol

 

The gold kit sounds like a sham my gts apparently went thru water and has no wiring issues and I pulled a bunch of connectors to verify. I did a lot of reading on it I believe the major contributing factor is clamping force as stated above because without that no gold will fix a lazy connection.

Deoxit copper is great stuff and will help if ur connectors are in good shape . if not just shim any suspect ones

 

Yes, all the other parts are on page 1. You will have to take my work for it because it's F'in cold and we have over a foot of snow on the ground and I'm not going out to the garage again to get the records and scan page 1. Hopefully these pictures will suffice.
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so.. $11,900 all in everything included..? if so thats a bargain for all the work/parts/ heads rebuild/guides etc..

people posted prior invoices of 10k range just for the major + plus some misc, water pump rebuild etc..

youre at under 12k for all that..?
fine the motor is out.. so to do work for the major is easy..
but I was under impression, to do the head work, guides etc.. could push easy up to 20k..

 

Top end rebuild isn't too bad. Bottom end starts getting pricey.

 

very true

 

I'd suggest not being "that guy" that butchers up a car to try to do a belt service without removing the engine.

The owner that cut the frame and relocated the gas tank on that red F355 Berlinetta in Florida has been trying to sell that car forever.

Buyers are not interested at all. Because of those changes... Yes that was silly, I agree.

I'd stick to known practices with your own sweat equity if you are trying to save costs. But do it the right way. Plenty of guys here to help you, in your garage even - if there is beer involved

Robb

 

One of the biggest takeaways that should be highlighted from this thread - A Ferrari dealer operates under the impression that all OEM parts are going to be used. All potential issues are going to be fixed. The customer is willing to pay more, sometimes a lot more, for convenience and/or piece of mind that comes from taking it to a Ferrari dealer.

These differences can be huge. Especially when comparing a engine out invoice from a Ferrari dealer in a high cost of living area versus an independent shop in a low cost of living area.

 

It's good that you are checking that!

It may be environmental. I live in the desert so I'm not expecting as many issues (if ever) as the guys that live on the coast.

I do not have the GC kit yet. It has helped many owners that have had problems. It is on my long term list but since my car has been in a dry environment its whole life, and religiously serviced, I don't run into many problems. (Knock on wood). That may change over time.

Dave Helms at Scuderia Rampante is a very decent guy who is very busy running a shop first. Owners ship their (million dollar) cars across the country to have them serviced with him and his family. He has a passion for the F355 and Testarossa and has come out with cost effective and preventative fixes where none were available. Like the TR fuse board... Ask in the TR section if they are happy with that solution. He is currently trying to extend the service cycle of the belts and other parts to further reduce our running costs and extend the years.

So I think sham is the wrong word to use. So next time you are in Colorado, go pay him a visit. He is not repackaging water and selling it at 10x the price.

So talk to the guys that bought the kit and what benefits they had. Or don't buy it and go with your own solution.

There may be great results with either direction. People would love to see your connections and how they are holding up or what you have replaced. Start a good thread with photos.

Robb

 

Ok, let's not go into the GCK again, cause if this thread heads that way am not going to lay off.

 

I think I missed the nuclear war the last time, so I'll just do a search to catch up. We can skip that in this thread I think...

Here are the links we do not need to rehash:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/419851-status-update-gck-install.html

And the original:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/414232-installing-sri-gold-kit-today-little-help.html

I think it's all been said and battled over there.

Let's move on to more positive topics.

Robb

 

Just had a great phone call chat with a new fchat member who lives in SC, a new 355 spider owner and a fellow dentist. He's on the other side of the state from Charleston but in soeakkng with him for awhile, he's a guy who isn't afraid to get hiß hands dirty.

He posted on another thread regarding an sdl issue. Go say hi 😉

 

Robb,

Here is one 2 years earlier that is just a report no backstabbing:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/technical-q-sponsored-algar-ferrari/312756-sri-gold-connector-pin-kit-strikes-gold.html

 

Ferrari's can be improved in reliability and mechanically in many ways. It's great when owners take those steps whether from Ricambi, Fabspeed, SR, their local shop or their own creation. Its important to get the car in a place where owners can ENJOY it the most.

Good info Carl. Thanks much for the link.

Robb

 

Back stabbing? I think you mean dissenting opinions.

Should I start posting the links to connector manufactures which warn against mixed metals; or the auto manufactures who ordered recalls to correct the electrical problems in their vehicles due to mistakenly installing gold on tin contacts; or the research done at Penn State in 1999 which showed that the long term stability of a gold on tin contact was worse than the stability of tin on tin? Perhaps we should argue creationism vs evolution. It's the same thing; what you chose to belief vs what science tells you.

 

Nor this sheet again.

 

Not that Sheet again.

 

Gentleman, I am just offering my input. I think dave helms has an amazing operation Robb, no doubt there. However, the benefit from gck could be from the connections being tighter, not from them being gold. He has great products that's just my opinion.. Gas tank in front is just silly !!!!!

 

Today i am working on the underside of this beautiful gts.What connectors would you all like to see? I went over all suspension and inspected all under carriage. The exhaust is aftermarket I cannot find a stamping on it..half the size of factory can. I am going with challenge exhaust if I had to guess looking at pics.

-GTSNJ
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