Hello fellow enthusiasts, I sold my gated 360 spider and I am once again in the market for a manual transmission 360, my question is: how do I know the car was built with a manual and not a conversion? I’ve noticed whenever you run a carfax it always says F1. Does it normally state it on the original window sticker? Is there a way to decode the vin? Thanks in advance for your help! Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
For a 360, you can pretty much bet the car is a manual from the factory. The kits to upgrade (really, downgrade) to the manual seem to be more expensive than the differential between the two options. That said, there are probably a handful out there. One clue would be the lack of a cavallino on the gate. Depending on the level of the change, it could also be seen with extra bits in the engine compartment for the F1. A brand new clutch pedal might also be a clue it's Frankenstein's monster. A build sheet from the My Ferrari website would also prove it as the F1 was an option and will appear there. The VIN doesn't break down options as far as I know. If the conversion was done professionally and all the parts were properly sourced and switched, the end result should be the same. As long as the conversion was done properly, I doubt the difference in sales price between the converted and factory will be that significant. Personally, I see this as more of a 430 issue than the 360.
Euro cars have a sticker under the hood called 'ECE Approval'. The Codes are: F131 ABM = 360 Modena 6 Speed Manual F131 ABE = 360 Modena F1 F131 ADM = 360 Spider 6 Speed Manual F131 ADE = 360 Spider F1 Non-Euro cars do not have this sticker as far as I tell
Checking with Ferrari is the only fool-proof way, but top tip would be to look for plugs on the steering column where the floppy paddles would have been.
The copy parts are easy to id. The clutch pedal and shifter tower are not exact copy and do not have Ferrari pn’s.
The copy parts sure, but there are certainly a few conversions out there that used all factory parts.
Brogan—. I bet you could see where the f1 pump was bolted to the engine area…. Should be tattle take marks. I bet you could interrogate the ecu’s for swap footprint? look for the f1 paddle plastic trim covers…. Which were not factory??
Agreed - there will be evidence in the engine bay of where some F1 parts used to be, or still are. Problem is that these might eb hard to identify unless you really know your stuff. As for the ecu's, most commonly people will reflash the engne ecu's, but they will still have the original sticker on from the factory build. If the ecu says "CE" on it, then its F1. Image Unavailable, Please Login This isn't 100% though, as at some point Ferrari stopped putting the c.e on, but you could still note down the 6 digit Ferrari part number and have a look on Eurospares and see if that relates to an F1 car or not.
Depends what records you can find, but its a bit of a red flag if you find "F1 System Fluid Change" in an old receipt. I think I'm correct in stating that Ferrari never stated a fixed interval for F1 system service however, so you might be limited in what you could get from the dealer. Then again, if you're at the dealer, then its the work of a moment for them to look up a VIN number and tell you what options the car came with. If you're in the engine bay, then an obvious clue would be if the previous owner who converted the car swapped out the hydraulic power unit for the manual version. Manual 430's still need the power unit for the e-diff, but will only have a couple of connections on the manifold, whereas the F1 cars will have loads more for the gear/clutch actuators.You could look out for evidence that these connections have been blocked off.
