When I first saw them that's what I thought they were, or at least something similar, clear coated over.
… so Ferrari charges $15k for painted shields option. If I go to an authorized Ferrari shop to get them painted, will it also cost $15k?? I can’t imagine the labor hours + materials adding anywhere close to $15k.
I’m not entirely convinced Ferrari 355 fenders are standard fenders individually de-bossed on demand. I believe they created new tooling molds and they are stamped out with shield embossment already in place. Reasons: 1. I see too much consistency in the embossment. I see no variation. I mentioned Ferrari 355 embossed fenders are slightly different LH & RH and that is consistent across the board on all cars I’ve seen. As if a mold is stamping these out. 2. The embossment itself is too clean. It looks stamped. I see no human error/flaws in it like you see in Ratarossa’s die de-bossing. 3. Steel fenders are usually immediately coated with a black oxide coating. If de-bossing occurred after coating, you should see some discrepancy in the coating as you mentioned earlier when Ratarossa de-bossed a painted fender. Of course, a steel fender could’ve been coated post de-bossing, but that would require timely management. 4. If all it takes is to get Luigi off his lunch break to de-boss a fender, the driver’s side wouldn’t have been unavailable for 15 years, while the passenger side was still available. 5. Investment cost to build steel fenders isn’t nearly as high as building aluminum fenders. My buddy did a run of 100 pairs of wide S2000 fenders in steel and he is just a small privateer. We’re talking $50-100k range (in today’s dollar). His fenders are identical in quality to Ferrari 355 fenders. If he can do it, Ferrari certainly can as well. I asked him why he didn’t build them in aluminum like factory S2000 fenders. He replied the costs to build them in aluminum were multiple times higher and way out of his league financially. 6. Ferrari first released embossed fenders in 1997 when they built Cornes Edition 355’s for the Japanese market. I’m sure they viewed it as a great opportunity to upsell pricey shields, so deciding to create new tooling for the fenders for another 2-3 year run isn’t far-fetched. 7. 355 fenders are the same as 348 fenders, so they had already milked the tooling costs for nearly a decade. The 355 was highly successful by 1997. Not far-fetched to think they were willing to sink more marginal tooling investment to create embossed fenders for their #1 seller. 1997 was only halfway thru 355 production. 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 Image Unavailable, Please Login
Today, Ferrari fenders are mostly embossed and they are trimmed open. So if someone ordered a 458/488 with no shields, they had Luigi cover up the hole?? I highly doubt it. It is more likely they have separate molds for embossed and non-embossed fenders… just as they did in the 90’s. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I don't care for them and frankly, that they charge that much turns me off to Ferrari. $152.99 + $200 for paint. https://stencilstop.com/products/custom-layered-stencils
I see high and low spots on that OEM fender. I think you grossly over estimate Ferraris production quality control. The OEM paint on my 355 is garbage, so a slight variation in the depth of fender shield stamping would be par for the course, as you've shown. I'm not surprised the factory 355 fenders don't match side to side, that's Ferrari quality for you, an aftermarket stamp would likely result in higher quality and uniformity side to side.
I recall when I bought my 308 the first time I tool it in for service the the shop manager asked if I had it repainted. I said , No, why? He told me the paint looked too good to be a factory job and that I was lucky. Then he showed me an earlier model 308 with red rocker panels. The entire left rocker was one big sag.
I believe they didn't use stencils back in the day. Today's definition of hand painted is stencils and a spray gun. Probably less then a hour to do before they apply the clear to the fenders. I'm thinking of getting the stencils made and painting one on my Tacoma.
Where are the high spots and low spots on Ferrari OE fender? That stamp is as high quality as it gets. So who has after-market embossed a pair of LH / RH 355 perfectly enough for you to draw that conclusion? Is that based on assumption or real world experience? Got a sample? The fact that Ferrari couldn’t place the shield exactly in the same spot left to right shows the difficulty of the task and you shouldn’t auto assume any joe schmoe doing it could do better because none have yet to prove they can. I could probably pull up 10 samples showing after-market de-bossing being off. Can you find one example where it isn’t? Would you de-boss fenders on a La Ferrari or 458 Speciale considering you think after-market is better quality than OE?
Ferrari certainly have their fair share of quality issues. The appearance of their embossed fenders/shields isn’t one them. Half of 355 owners would spec their 355’s with them if they could today.
The OEM is deeper on the sides than the top and bottom, pretty easy to see. Looks like more of a difference than the non oem one to my eye. I don't like shields on the cars that weren't prepped by the race team. It's one of the money grabs Ferrari does that I hate, just like ornamental carbon fiber. They used to mean something, now they are just another peacock.
They were hand painted by a local painter. I am speaking of the originals done in the 30's. He was still alive in the mid 80's and repainted a P3.
If the sides are deeper on the OE one, it would be by design. Afterall… they designed it, so if that’s how it looks, then that’s how it looks.
By design or by ****ty tooling? I'd wager money on the latter, especially in the 355 era. Just like the paint, timing belt tensioners, throwout bearing, exhaust etc., if aftermarket is better, give me that. That said, unless I had a challenge car or a CS (like Scott/Ratarossa), I wouldn't be adding them so it's academic to me. Also, the placement in the video was spot on, he used the template to drill the holes and after the embossing the sticker gets stretched or can slide so its completely irrelevant where it's at after the embossing is done.
How could it be ****ty tooling if the results are perfect ?? I’ve never heard a single complaint in regards to 360/F430 fenders, it’s embossment or shields. Have you? If anything, it’s the gold standard. Ratarossa is trying to replicate OE-look. He wouldn’t dare claim it’s better than OE. I’d wager that.
Ratarossa posted a Youtube short where he plops a shield into his embossment. Top portion of the shield sits noticeably deeper than lower section. You be the judge. Image Unavailable, Please Login
