Cam belt and annual services done in situ---------------------

It's my pleasure to report that these jobs were done today at Verdi with absolutely NO drama whatsover.Many thanks to Karl for letting me hang around and ask daft questions , and to Abi who performed the surgery.
I'm hoping to post pics soon.

 

Tony,

Didja happen to see the black 308GTB he is selling?

 

Parked in bay next to mine , m8 ......Had a "SOLD" to Stig sticker on it.

 

I thought you were buying a 328 GTS?

 

Great stuff Tony, look forward to seeing the pics as I don't know which camp I'm in on this one yet.

Richard.

 

Tony looking forword to the pic's of the said surgery,
realy need the boss to throw the towel in,so i can do two of these,one engine in and one out job,just to get my own honest opinions on the 355 in or out sarga,will be a freebee to any 355 owners who are willing to donate there cars to automotive science,and if i destroy 40 valves the insurance will buy you a new engine,its a need to know thing,

cheers
Dale.

 

Tony

Was that you I heard/ saw on the M3 at Sunbury around 9.20am this morning?

 

Very possible , Mark. Came on M3 for a while before scooting off on M4.

 

By the way, the belts were changed within 2 1/2 hours....and that was at a leisurely pace by Abi.

 

Yeah, that was the plan, but my central heating has packed up at home, so that has munched off a fairly large chunk of my budget, so I am forced to set my sights a little lower.

 

I should qualify this statement before i send Karl out of business. It took 2 1/2 hrs to prep the car and remove the old belts.

 

You're going about it the wrong way Stig - you should tell your bank manager to set his sights higher!

 

New boiler - it's summer and when the cold winds start again won't wolly jumpers do the trick?

 

Tony,

What was the cost saving, if its not a rude question?

Robert.

 

Belts and service £1400 inclusive. Maranello et al £2000 + VAT.

 

So you've saved about 20% over Verdi's engine-out cost.

Was your car in good health apart from routine stuff? I need cheering up after all the recent talk of £8k maintenance costs...

 

Hope so Robert. It's been pampered beyond belief , especially in it's first 5 yrs of existance. The previous owner only did 5.5 k miles from new before selling it to me.
Karl hasn't phoned yet to say anything major's gone, so fingers crossed.

 

To be honest, I'm just as happy having a bonfire in the livingroom, but somehow this "no compromises" lifestyle carries less cridibility when the missus can't wash her hair.

Women eh? Can't live with them......pass the beernuts!

 

Here is the link to the pics-----------

http://homepage.mac.com/ajm7/belts/

 

I wouldn't let somebody with hands that dirty near my car

 

I thought on the F355 the engine had to come out... Am I missing something ???

 

Justin,
the whole point about this and loads of other threads is that it CAN be done with the engine in. I'm trying to show the Ferrari community it can be done with minimal disruption and NO damage to the engine or anything else.Ferrari recommend doing the belts IN CAR with 8 hours of work involved.
Regards.

 

Cheers Tony. Quite interesting.

I understand why of course, but the pictures do leave a hole in the explanation as to how the crank pully bolt gets removed. This will leave the doubters still in doubt, which is a bit of a shame. It leaves me still undecided as to which way is best.

 

Thanks for going to the effort Tony, you have done a great job. I am surprised how much room there is once the fuel tank is removed. It has answered most of my questions. Still undecided though, kinda comes down to money in the end.

 

The crank pulley bit is very simple but i was asked NOT to post pics showing the method.