I hear that. That's partly why we keep it all "in house" here. Full PDM came a couple years ago and Driveworks is being implemented now. IMO, Onshape a good start for people who want to do personal work at not much cost. I failed to include Jim as part of my quoted response above... sjd
I had the pleasure of interviewing Elliott for the Podcast show, and have to say it was one of my favourites to date! In fact it was so good that I didnt want to edit anything out, and I have split it into a two part series. This week we talked about the 20 year build up to Elliott owning his beautiful F355. If you would like a listen, details are below: EPISODE 15 – A CHILDHOOD DREAM FOR THE PERFECT FERRARI F355 Our guest in this episode is Elliott, the owner of an F355 in Sydney, Australia. He fell in love with the F355 when it was released, and at a young age aspired to own one. By working hard and setting goals he was able to achieve his boyhood dream of owning his dream car at 27. Its a great listen, and you can hear the passion oozing out in his story. If you are passionate about Ferrari, you will love this episode! iTunes: www.ferrarihub.com/itunes All others: www.ferrarihub.com/ep15 Image Unavailable, Please Login
Elliott's podcast is fantastic and well worth a listen. It reflects his passion with cars, Ferraris in particular. I enjoyed it, especially the part about that f40 tyre!! Well done gents.
Elliot, nice to hear you speaking about your experience with Ferrari and in particular the F355. I can draw a lot of parallels with my feelings and experience whilst growing up in Australia. The F355 was 'the' Ferrari, 'the' car.
Looking forward to part two. Your passion and dedication to the 355 is simply wonderful, Elliott. Well done my friend.
Found this thread after listening to the podcast ... truly wonderful job Elliot, I'm only a few pages in, but loving it!
Time for some updates as work continues to happen on my car. When I first got the car and removed the seats for cleaning I noticed one of the seat bolts was cut short due to the thread being burred out and wouldn’t allow the screw to go in fully. I finally got around to re-tapping it and replacing the seat bolt with the correct length. While I was doing this I removed the center console entirely to clean underneath it and remove the remains of the plastic film on the carpet that you could see at the edges of the console. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Following up with interior improvements, I pulled the dash enough to clean in between the dash and the windscreen as over time it had quite the build up of dirt and grime. While it was out I removed the dash vents and sent off to Dave at Sticky RX. I had purchased a spare set and refinished them myself (without markings) so I can drive without three holes in the dash while I wait the lead time for my vents to be refinished to perfection. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The inner door mirror triangles needed to be refinished as they were corroding on the backside and had marks from the door rubber. I removed, paint stripped, sanded back, expoxy primed them and painted in a satin black and I think they came out great. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Last item that was needing attention for now in the interior was the radio bezel was missing an insert and subsequent screw and concave washer. I purchased new items to address this and the radio is now better secured. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
It was time for me to perform an annual service so I purchased the required fluids, filters and sump plugs and did it myself. I also replaced the inspection gaskets on the gearbox as a matter of course. Changed the gearbox fluid from Redline to Liqui Moly and it feels great. Engine oil Castrol 10w 60 fully synthetic. Hill engineering engine and oil tank plugs, new magnetic gearbox plug and all new copper washers. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Having recently going from gutted OEM catalysts to the Larini Sports Cats I was very happy with the cars performance but wanted to eventually go back to a stock look. I had two sets of spare catalyst bodies and decided to take the chance of recoring them at a specialist exhaust shop. The result was perfect! Installed metal core 200 cell high flow catalysts into the bodies and welded it back together before polishing the weld out so there is no evidence at all of the process. I removed the Larini cats which only had about 2 drives on them and are now for sale at a great price. Now the only noticeable mod to the exhaust setup from an all original look is the Tubi headers and capristo exhaust despite the whole system being much improved. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
While the exhaust was being worked on I took the time to refinish the exhaust heat shield to refresh it and get a uniform finish with the wrinkle something which wasn’t achieved by whoever painted it previously. End result is much better and it’s all back together and looking sharp. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
When you are refinishing items that require paint are you rattle canning it or using a more sophisticated paint system?
Hi Ian my friend did them for me. Cost was reasonable (considering cost of replacement cats) but obviously would charge more for a normal customer.
Nothing too fancy, I’m an expert modeler too and use things like airbrush and booth setup for the interior parts the large parts are just rattle can but it’s all in the technique and conditions when painting that obtains the result as well as proper prep.
Hi Elliott. Over the last few years I've used Agip (now ENI oil) and Agip gear lube. Based on your post however I ordered Liqui Moly gear oil (and engine oil) and changed it out tonight. Usually I obsess about researching these things but fwiw, appreciating your attention to detail, ordered it only based on you using it.
Good to hear James! I just serviced my friends F355 with Liqui Moly, it has been great. 2 other Ferrari techs I know and trust use it too.
I had a leaking radiator on the right hand side and couldn’t source a new OEM unit. I removed my radiator to have it recored only to find out under pressure test the core was ok it was the end tank that had a small crack. So I elected to fit an alloy upgraded one. I took the opportunity to clean up this area and the air duct as it hadn’t been apart since it was built. An OEM Ferrari rad fan was purchased and I refreshed the oil radiator too. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Air duct and behind radiator all cleaned up. Was wanting to do this for awhile and a busted radiator was the perfect excuse. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I flushed out the oil radiator and then paint stripped and refinished it in a Matt black paint, to freshen it up. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login