F40 bodied F355

Drivetrain?

https://erepairables.com/salvage-cars-auction/cars/ferrari/458/2013-ferrari-458-13678877

 

very cool project

 

Ouch, thanks but set my mind on a v12 now

 

Brought these over from the 355 section. Big tyres and some bigger brakes being test fitted. Seem to fit nicely 335/30/18 rubber and 330x32 rear discs with integral handbrake shoes retained using standard front calipers at the rear.

Pic size means they wont orientate correctly sorry!
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Fantastic work

Those molds of front hood and roof was posted in Madmechanics??? do you have molds of quarter pannels?

Regards

 

Those were non original kit car copy moulds on madmechanics, these have not been photographed before, and they were simply on loan until my own actual panels are produced.

Before anyone asks, no panels are available to be purchased sorry either via me or the owner of the moulds.

 

Hi Paul, I'm out of CA and am looking to take on this same project, F355 chassis, F40 bodywork, but with F355 twin turbo engine just to keep it close to the F40 powerplant and like you said before not have to re-engineer major components. Do you have any updates? would you recommend starting with a 355 convertible chassis as like you mentioned the windshield varies slightly at the top? Did you have to modify the front of the chassis to get the front bonnet to fit or did it mate perfectly? I have spoken with Nick at F40heaven.com. he has all the bodywork in fiberglass to make this project a reality but on a 308/328 chassis. His moulds fit like oem, so I would just have to figure out how to mount them to the F355. He says he can also get a hold of the originals carbon/Kevlar, but they are pricey. Any updates would be appreciated, Thanks! Javier

 

Hey Javier.

The 308/328 option is probably the most straightforward route if you simply wanted a lookalike, but you are then falling into the territory of having a car that's no better than the original donor, in fact probably worse, as you have to alter wheelbase, track etc so essentially a hacked about kit car. With 308/328 prices heading north I imagine donors are hard to find now as well.

For me, that was not what I wanted my end result to be, hence taking the more modern and better engineered 355 as a base, but it's a far more complicated conversion, not much needs to be changed to the very bare 355 chassis itself but the key detail is in getting the f40 body to marry upto the 355 chassis as they are essentially two very different cars just with the same wheelbase, where as there is some lineage in the architecture between 308/328/f40 such as location of windshield, doors etc. With the 355 nothing mates perfectly, it is all sort of in the right place but needs a heck of a lot of fettling.

Any 348/355 would be a suitable donor as the windshield surround is an addition to the base chassis of all the models if you look at the naked drawing in one of the early pages of this thread.

A convertible version had extra floor strengthening so would make it a heavier donor than say a hardtop, stronger yes but that is not needed as a cage has to be added anyway to attach the bodywork, just as per the F40.

Using a glass body would devalue the end result in my opinion, I want my car to be as good as, and hopefully even better engineered than an original F40, so as a min the materials I plan to use will be those used by Ferrari, composites have improved significantly since the mid 80s so my bodywork should be lighter and stronger than those of an F40 and my powertrain more modern/powerful.

I did originally think of a 355 turbo motor, but it's a fragile/expensive engine anyway, they are getting older, and going the turbo route is a dark art, where as a recent V12 is light, powerful and in fact cheaper! fit and forget is the plan.

Horses for courses really and budget is the deciding factor for all of us I guess.

We managed to gather our base components prior to the big price rises in recent years, I don't think I could have made it a reality if starting out now, the end result would cost far more than it would actually be worth.

I would say as a minimum you need a budget equivalent to buying a very nice, low miles 355 if you do plan to go ahead, and that's with you doing most of the work.

Mine is still coming along slowly, one complete test side is now mounted and lined up onto the chassis, the other side should be in place in a week or so and the roof/screen goes on a week after that, then once it is all in place the mock up roll cage can be fabricated.

Then once that is all done is will be dis-assembled and off to the fabricator to have the real cage installed, and that should be when things really start happening

Keep us updated with your progress, have you found a donor yet?

Steve on here (Sevminasyan) would be a good guy to chat to about a donor and local to you as well.

 

Great project Paul - just come across this now..

 

Thanks Dave, appreciate that.

Reading my long reply above back to myself today it sounds a bit condescending, apologies Javier if that is how it came across, heck mine is just a glorified kit car anyway and I am also on a tight budget but if you can go for the carbon option, it should only be a couple of grand more for the extra cost of material over and above glass, they cost the same in labour to make regardless and then maybe a few hundred on top to swap from polyester resin typically used with glass to epoxy resin normally used for carbon.

A standard 355 mechanically throughout with a F40 style body would still be a heck of a car, a carbon body would be the icing on the cake.

 

Well it looks like it fits!

Mock up roll cage next.
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I wish my body was that far along.

 

Cheers Gregg, any links to your project? would love to take a peek.

Its a slight illusion, all currently held in place by crocodile clips, wire and a bit of faith! but everything is where it needs to be, no more of the 355 body has to be removed now, panel gaps within tolerance etc.

Its only a test body to make sure the integral rollcage is installed correctly so that the new carbon kevlar panels can be bonded onto it as per the F40.

 

Hi Paul.

No, no links to the project.

I'm afraid I'm not as brave as you, especially on a Ferrari forum.

I'm attempting a proper-wheelbase 288 build with a good amount of accuracy to the body as in your project.

I realized the pics you posted were just mock-ups but it is those inspirational moments that give us the drive and motivation to continue.......just like getting it running or seeing it on it's wheels for the first time.
It's easy for people to sit back and comment but I don't know how many truly realize the amount of work every little bit of something on this scale requires.

Looking forward to seeing you "crack-on" as it were.

Cheers, Greg.

 

Ha! we are safe from the naysayers down here in the bowels of fchat, they don't venture this far south

Mine had been on hold for so long, I know where you are coming from, frustrating at times, but it's full steam ahead at the moment whilst I have some free time to work on it.

Did some cross dimensional checking today and it is all symmetrical to a couple of mm, that was a big buzz to find out, gave myself a pat on the back. Made the first hoop of the mock rollcage as well, I did not want to pack up and come home, loving it.

 

Mock roll cage now constructed (in black tube, rest shown is just stabilisation for now)

A removable triangulated cross brace above the engine as per the LM F40 will also be included.

Next step, off to the fabricator to be reproduced in 45mm tube to FIA spec
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Great to see an update, Paul.

Looks like you're making some cracking progress now.

Hope all is well in your world,

Dom

 

Thanks Dom, yes moving along now, the fabricator is away for a couple of weeks so I am taking the template cage upto him on his return, so not a lot happening until then, just catching up with all my other odd jobs in the meantime.

The bare chassis is sat on stands, levelled and ready for the cage to be welded into it, and off we go again

Might start bead blasting the suspension etc while I wait if I have some free time.

 

When you compare it to the roll over protection in an original f40, mines going to be a fair bit sturdier hopefully.

There is effectively nothing there on an F40, just thin tubes to bond the roof to, and the windscreen in!
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Cool project. Subscribing!

 

Looking great! Nice progress.

 

Great Project

 

You've really cracked on well... Love me some bead blasting so get some more pics up

 

Not a lot of progress as waiting on funds to be released from my house sale, but my dad has treated the project to a new heart in the meantime.

It is going to be powered by a V12 575 SuperAmerica spec motor we sourced last week.

Stripped of all non essential emissions junk, a set of 6 into 1 headers and decent ecu we are hoping for around 600 bhp.

 

That should certainly make it move.

All the best,
Andrew.