I have a friend getting a really nice looking 308 2Vi running again (running fine when parked ten years ago). He asked me for some advice on fluids etc. I of course told him Redline MTL for the transmission, Rotella NF ELC for coolant. Baldwin or UFI for filter (not Fram). All the usuals. Then it occurred to me I never bought belts before. I've always left that up to Ron in Atlanta. All the other peripheral stuff I've always done myself. Who do you guys call for belts snd tensioners these days? Rutlands? Recambi? Maranello Classics? Superperformance?
Yup, there's also GT car parts, Ferrari parts exchange and we also supply parts, though I'd have him talk to our guy Wayne in charge of that stuff.. I just get to play the slide rule and pencils.
I have purchased the belts and the Hill bearings from Ricambi over the past 17 years... Very pleased with their products/response.
A W Italian Car Parts sells a complete major service kit for the 328 for $995, including belts and Hill tensioners. Alan N.J.
The belts, called poly belts as they are thin with a stiffening spine inside, are made by either Continental, Dayco or Gates, and even some other lesser known brands. Each belt has the product code, and the specifications stamped on them. With that data, the belts are available from many industrial supply places who sell, belts. The noted Ferrari suppliers are all fine no doubt, and probably have the turnover such that the belts are reasonably fresh, ie. not sitting in a warehouse for 12 years before being sold. The Dayco belts generally seem to be the best priced. The Hill Engineering bearings have the quality control that used to be the norm many years ago, that is a great niche they are satisfying. Other bearings probably have a higher statistical failure rate, if anyone is even measuring this anymore.
Interesting trivia about the Baldwin - I swung by my local Grainger a few months ago to pickup a Baldwin for my 328. My store is a stones throw from San Francisco International airport. While I was checking out I mentioned they always seemed to have them in stock but should I call ahead and check. They guy told me they always carry them: United Airlines uses them (the Baldwin 253) on all their airline tugs so they always have cases of them. And in typical CA fashion SFO is moving to electric tugs.
Baldwin is the less expensive quality choice. UFI went thru a weird period. Something was wrong with some of them at some point many years ago. I don't recall now what the problem was. Fram just isn't worth the risk. They were good once but those days are gone. Some things are not worth skimping on. Especially when the cost savings is imperceptible. Take care of your car and buy good stuff.
It's interesting (and sad) how product brands can go from excellent to questionable. Fram is a good example; Champion is another. Back in the day, they were pretty much THE brands for oil filters/spark plugs in the USA.
Yep. All to make that extra couple % of margin while tricking customers with "new packaging, same low price" marketing bs. Personally, I'm happy to pay more, a lot more, if it translates into a higher quality product and piece of mind vs being stranded on the side of the road with expensive repairs.
