Possible purchase, 1990 348ts

Interesting find. You remind me of me, a few months back. I too wanted to buy a Ferrari and the 348 was probably going to be the only one I could rationally afford. My objective was to get a car in good shape, no accidents, cleaner the better. My plan was to take it completely apart and restore it even if it didn't need it.

We bought a 92 TS in the end, very clean and I have since taken it apart and have learned quite a bit over the past 6 months.

Slow windows are normal. If you said they were going up fast I woudl say that is because they have been fixed. Most if not all 348s require a retrofit circuit for switching grounds if you want them to work right., So don;t worry about that!

If your car is not leaking that is a good sign! Most do. I am sure your car has had an engine out service done to it (or two), the red hoses on the front of the engine were probably changed at that time. Don't bother fretting about engine lights if they are on, the 348 CEL circuits are way to stringent, keeping the lights from coming on is like a game. The European spec versions didn't even have engine lights . Many 348s have the bulbs taken out so that you don;t have to look at them. If you want to know if your bulbs are actually in there just take a look during start up, both CELs should illuminate for a number of seconds during start up.

But aside from all the suggestions to look at this and look at that, the truth is it would be best to have the car tested to some degree. Compression and leak down on the engine tells a world of information. At 25k miles and no accidents the paint on that car should be factory. Measure the thickness everywhere!

Only you can decide if the overall condition is OK for what your expecting. A saggy roof liner and pulled back door leather sounds like the car lived in a hot climate, that would bother me.

One last note .... remember there are lots of 348s for sale, you don;t have to jump right away if your not comfortable. Go on Bring a Trailer.com and see what they have sold for these past few years. You can see lots of pictures as well for you to compare with.

I'm happy with mine!

 

Have leak down done. If it checks out and price is right go for it. My self I bought a late 90 but unlike some bought it not because its what I could afford its what I wanted, wanted for 25 years actually. Driving it has a very different feel than modern cars, different than other Ferrari that came after it as well, there is no question about that. Its a complete hoot. Not super car fast but around town on city streets its a total blast, actually is just a big go kart. It is also easy to work on it is mechanically simple and everything you could want from windows to steering rack to full engine out is on this forum with pictures and all.

Your probably looking at mid 50's? Just a guess. Really nice ones are low 60's, clapped out ones are mid 30's with well worn but decent ones in the high 40's low 50's. Just a ball park.

Many many parts are not actually ferrari parts so you can cross reference and find much cheaper parts. 02 sensor for example ferrari like $350 but its the same Bosh unit used in volvos for $85. Expect issues most are not any worse than an audi or similar if you do work yourself and xref parts. Its 25 years old so things happen.

Good luck!

 

The engine out will obviously factor in the value.

The missing toolkit and missing manuals will also have an effect on the price. You may not care now, but a future purist who you could end up selling to will.

 

With 25k on the clock and no records, you will likely want to go a little deeper than just a belt and tensioner service. (30k kit). Look up "TSB 10-34" basically, there was a garbage roller bearing used on the engine side that is replaced with a new ball one with a cage/shield on it. The oil pan comes off, the front cover comes off. It's deep. I'm just finishing mine. I have an '89 with 21k on it, so they're still out there with the bad bearings.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

The best advice I can give is to read as much as possible before jumping. There's a tremendous amount of knowledge and some really really good people here, sometimes it takes a little weeding, though.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/348-engine-out-major.438576/ this is the thread to read if you're considering DIY'ing your own 30k. It's an excellent reference, especially half way down page 11 to about page 17. (he admits to installing the TSB bearing backward on the final couple pages.)

Good luck with you're hunt, it's scary as **** at times, but oh so worth it!

sjd

 

I agree with the above. With no service record you will want to take it apart. My car's last service record (major service) was only 7000m previous, but also 10 years ago. My leak down test showed #6 and #7 sharing a bit, each recording 12%. Compression was good in all cylinders. Either way I decided to take it down to the head gaskets, pull out all the valves, etc ... and attend to all bearings, guides, o-rings, yadda yadda. The head gasket is a special topic, if you ever get there be sure to look into the head gasket manufacturer issue. Here are a few pics of my car, when I got it and in its current state.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Famous last word !
I admire your tenacity but this statement is too optimistic. The additional degree of difficulty will be timing belt, cam timing, oil pump chain drive, oil pump bearing, flywheel grease, valve adjustment, TEVES ABS. And yes, the parts will be 5x more expensive, that will be correct.

But, a Ferrari 348 will be way cooler than anything from Bavaria of the same era, with a single possible exception of an E30 M3 (I miss that car).

 

Agreed, parts are expensive! We finished a Jaguar E Type last year from the ground up. I thought those parts were expensive, the Ferrari is in its own class. Luckily our valve train is perfect, guides, valves, seals, etc... if not a re-built top end can cost big time!!!!

 

This is pretty spot-on. The car your looking at would be a mid-50’s car if it had records/manuals/toolkit and was up to date on service. If this one has no major findings (they all need something), then 45-50k would be a fair buy IMO.

 

Just looking at the engine out service, if you can get a "needs a service" one sufficiently cheaper than another one that has had a "recent engine out service", I think it is better to go for the "needs a service" one then, when you do the service yourself (or you choose who is going to do it), you know it is done properly. Who knows how well the "recent engine out service" was done. I wouldn't worry about the tool kit or manuals (you can always buy them separately for not too much money).

 

For the record, i'm 30+ hours in on mine, and i'm about to put the front covers on and finish the valve cover gasketing.

sjd

 

If I were to buy a car like this, I'd have to "buy it right." That said, I wouldn't go higher than $35-40k because there are way too many unknowns.

 

PPI can make it known but you can apend a lot of money doing so. ppi and compression and leak down can run up to 2k depending on whos doing it.

Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

I mean buy the car hoping for the best but expecting the worst. These cars can get very expensive and quickly. The seller knows that, and he's likely into this car for wholesale as he purchased a large collection of cars. He knows what he has, but in the same token he also knows what the marquee entails. The best case scenario you buy the car and put $5k into it and in the worst case it's easy to spend $30k.

I'm not trying to scare you away, these are great cars and nothing will give you the experience of a Ferrari. Sometimes more expensive cars in the short term are less expensive in the long run - so buy it right!

 

i've got some stuff on instagram, not much in terms of a writeup. I'll do one soon, but there's so much good info out there on pulling the engine with floor jacks, and Ernie wrote up that link above about your engine out better than I ever could have, and I've got another thread around here about the oiling hole in the chain tensioner.

For me, it's been the funny little things I've forgotten to order along the way, or the fact that to change a part i ordered, I had to disassemble something else and needed an oring or a gasket or something little...

sjd

 

LOVE the sub-frame leveler/balancer/equalizer/4-corner aligner

 

I'd say you MUST drive it first and see how you like the model. I had one for about a month and honestly being a Porsche guy and having the same year 1991 911 964 i couldn't believe that ferrari put out this car at the same time..it is just a pig to drive, strange steering, not put together well, even its sound wasn't that great- and this was a clean car with engine out just done- i hated that car, it was nice to get to experience it for a month but towards the end i felt it was a chore to even drive the thing. so happy i sold it- Of course we each have different opinions so maybe you will like it.