Current Engine Out Costs

The question remains Brian, if you did the engine out timing 5 years ago on John's car, and he brought it in for a routine service with the request for the timing not to be checked would you do it? I respect whichever way you go, but please say why, which I'm sure you will.

 

Asked and answered many times. It saves about 1 1/2 hours of labor. On TR, 348,355 etc it does not eliminate the need to remove the engine. Timing it is not why its removed. Doing a complete job is. In car belt changes on 348/355 are butchery, pure and simple.

 

Let's say you do this once every 4 years. At $16K that's 4 grand a year. Not bad for a car that's 30 years old. Its the entrance fee for owning one. Like paying for insurance for one.

 

Ferrari has had a deserved reputation for high operational costs since Enzo first started building them. No one in their right mind believes otherwise. If it is too much for someone thats OK just quit demanding Toyota level prices. I can recommend many very good cars that cost a lot less to drive. No shame in having one.

You also touch on a truth many refuse to accept. They cost more as they age and not just because of inflation. Do not buy an old Ferrari to save money.

 

If someone thinks owning a 355 is expensive, try owning an airplane!

 

Have at it guys.You completely missed the point.

 

Thanks, Brian, for the answer. I was not advocating for doing anything without removing the engine. If the total labor for the timing is 1.5 hours while out, that is not much labor cost in the over all cost of things, so it makes sense to just do it.

 

No we did not. You fail to have any understanding of the real world market place. You are trying to impose your very narrow experience on it. Well you have a great understanding of a singular car and a singular owner.

 

Exactly. Everybody is handwringing over the cost equivalent of a tire rotation.

 

You're welcome to come over, drop my engine and check the cam timing and feel yourself good if it's set wrong... If it's not then move on and stop assuming that because I or you haven't checked it means it's necessarily wrong just because someone else set it. I know my car, you don't, and if you don't trust me that it runs correctly then I won't have the slightest issue sleeping on it. As always, my car, my money, my decision. Same goes for the psychos who are hell bent on having the cam timing checked every other week.

 

The reality is that you're likely to get ****ty cars that were maintained by Stevie Wonder rather than well maintained cars owned by conscious and competent owners who can service their cars properly. That's the tough life of pro mechanics - working for a majority of inept owners.

 

The ****ty cars I dont take in. The reality is few are well maintained. Its why the good independents are so busy and turning so many away.
Since my move I have taken one and turned 3 away.

 

They are called "pretenders", not newbies....pretenders are guys who want to get into the Ferrari game but don't want to play by Ferrari the rules. The models we are referring to were designed for the engine to be removed in order to do the service properly. If guys can't accept that, then perhaps they should invest in an E-Bike instead.