Yes it is possible, but I want to have the chrome anyway even if it is not original... (can not be said here officially!
A little update on this thread... Since last time I posted here, I have chromed the grill which was a great "touch" to an already perfect design. Image Unavailable, Please Login
It sounds maybe a bit strange, but after being far far away from home in really bad weather, I decided to outfit the car with a pair of umbrellas which I bought in Maranello. I have been so unhappy when the screen and side windows is full of mist and it takes time to get it off. Sometimes you need to drive off immedeately in town, and then it is outright dangerous to drive without seeing perfectly (especially in narrow streets at dark with pouring rain). Now, I can put up the umbrella even before I go out and after I get in. That way, 95% of the mist on the windows is eliminated. I installed the small brackets so that the base plate of the brackets are underneath the carpet so it looks more clean, and no screws are visible. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Erik, your grill looks excellent, fit's perfectly to the small amount of chrome used on the back-side of the car (horse, exhaust tips...). Have to renew the TÜV (technical/mechanical check) to make the car roadworthy and just some optical improvements, otherwise the car run's faultless.... Even my mechanic just advised me to do a just a general check after two years and appr. 1.000 miles.....
sticky RX job on the interior early spring. Tires almost 5 yrs old. Four coats of Trackclaw then finish them off on a track day. Michelin SS to follow.
Almost done converting my 575 to a gated 3-pedal manual. It runs and drives and shifts great, just working on the electronics now.
My apologies- I saw that Erik (F456M) started it, but didn't see that is was only about 456Ms...thought it was about mods to 550s and 575s, too. Again, my apologies.
Bryce- Actually, I was wrong since Eric traded or sold his 456M and got a 550. We would like to see something on your conversion, too.
Erik, I love your umbrella holders. Looks OEM, and very tasteful! I love mods that make these cars more user-friendly. Thanks, Terry. I've debated whether to post something or not. My 550 dashboard removal thread benefitted the community, but a manual conversion thread seemed more sensational than helpful. I am working on putting together a conversion kit for others, and I might post about that at a later time. Erik, I didn't intend to hijack your thread. My apologies about that. I hope you are doing great. Thanks again for your help with the new interior- it's still wonderful and looks fantastic.
Great Bryce, please upload some photos! I was in Italy and France and it rained for tree weeks, and I just hated to never be able to keep the interior dry. These days I drive my fantastic E46 M3 but again, no umbrella when you REALLY need it. I guess I have to get some kind om M Motorsport umbrella for that one... Next is exhaust and new timing belts. It is not a directly cheap "hobby" these cars!
Completed so far this winter All performed by me, with some assistance from some very helpful members which are fantastic! - stripped and Painted air conveyor crinkle black per OEM - replaced the 19 year old hood liner OEM - Replaced front bushings - superformance - rebuilt front shocks with shraeder valves - detailed interior and engine - re trimmed rear leather parcel shelf at window - OEM Ferrari Leather - All fluids changed - oil, brake, clutch, diff, coolant and steering Pending - Leaky Oil Pipe! A second oil change is required :-( - new tires, wheel alignment and corner balance - still sorting actuators - rebuilt one broken actuator - Capatain Z - polish / remove swirls from paint That is it 6-8 weeks to go!! Back out on the road, weather permitting
Just curious as to what electronic issues you might have if it already runs, drives and shifts great? P.S. I spotted this thread over on the 360 forum about a recent successful F1-ectomy. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/360-430-sponsored-yellow-compass-group/538999-why-isnt-there-much-f1-gated-conversion.html
Mogulboy, I turned the key without all the sensors on the F1 unit connected, so there's a hard fault just like Terry experienced. The instrument cluster also expects to see an F1 signal, and while it doesn't interfere with the engine's performance, the cluster display defaults to Neutral (N). I'd like to find a way to display the actual selected gear, which is different from the OEM gated manual. I'm also experimenting with several different ECUs, including the F1 units, to see what functions and what doesn't. It's not my intention to exactly replicate an original gated car; I'd like to design a system that allows an owner to convert back to F1 in relatively short order with minimal effort. It's been a lot of work to get to this point. So far, the car does run great on a couple of late-production NOS manual ECUs I was fortunate to obtain, and the clutch and shifter function exactly like they did in my 550. I'll share the results in due time. For now, though, let's return the thread to the original intent of people sharing their own mods. Along that line, I also swapped in the cuoio interior from a 550 that Erik graciously sold me a while ago (the interior, not a complete 550). That required some work too, but I'm happy with the result. I love both interiors, but this gives me some flexibility and variety. Currently I have the 575 dash and center console installed along with 550 seat, carpet, and door panels. Had to move the power mirror switch to the 550 door pull which required a little fabrication work. Ron, that's a lot of great work on your car! How do you like the Superformance bushings?
It would certainly be a cool modification if you could get the dash to display the actual gear selected but it sounds like it could be a lot of work. Here is a product that could form the basis of a solution... https://www.datatool.co.uk/digi-gear-indicator/
Not much Ferrari work these days as this fu*king winter seems to never stop. Today I had 5” of snow here in Norway. BUT soon it summer and I am working slowly towards it. Installed an extra battery in the trunk last season along with a main switch that parallell wire the extra battery with the main battery. I also wanted to be able to see the voltage of them, so now I have made a prototype display that is soon to be fitted into the ash tray. Sometimes I find the mobile phone chargers to have weak connection when put into the cigar lighter. It drives me nuts when the power is suddenly out due to no good connection and no charge when you really need to call or use the navigation. When on longer trips, I use the phone to navigate, call, send sms, Facebook, update Instagram, taking pictures, work/checking emails AND listen to music etc., and the phone need continious charging as it drain the phone battery very quickly. Really clumsy when you suddenly see something really cool and want to take a photo or video. So in another car I replaced the OEM cigarlighter with a double USB, and it work 10 times better. So now I do the same with the Ferrari. I have also installed two separate voltmeters so I can know exactly what is going on. Quite important to know the charge and voltage when on really long trips, and the day the alternator breaks down, it is really handy to switch to parallell and be able to run double the distance before charging as to leave the car at a workshop waiting a week for a new alternator is not a realistic option during a vacation. Also, it will be good to follow the voltage when in a few houres of traffic jam in 30-40 degrees C in southern Europe. I suspect the heat and continious cooling fan operation + all other power consumers actually over time drain the battery more than the engine is charging. Now I don’t need to wonder about that any more. Now I will know with with 100% certainty. The little switch is to turn them off (breaks the minus lead) so both switch off at the same time when driving in the dark and when you need to see as much as possible. Another good thing is that I can see the charge voltage at a glance trough the window when the car is charging in the garage. And then the lid is closed, it looks perfectly stock. I made it out of clear lexan and painted it with tint spray for rear lights...... The volt meters will be glued in place with epoxy from the underside. (Loose on the pictures). Just need to go to the car and have it installed. The wiring is already there. Will need some small modification for sure, but should be not very difficult. Happy weekend. And what are you guys doing? Peace, Erik Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
This is now under my trunk plate. It is really good to have some stuff with you on trips crossing Europe. I also did the steam went line as per Dave’s recipe. However, still overheating. I also cleaned the outside of the radiators very thoroughky and they now cools better. But at long idle, the temp still climbs... So next is to add a radiator cleaner «System cleaner» to clean the inside canals of the radiator. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Erik, this looks just great. Havn‘t driven my car more than 100 km this year, been frustrated by a sticky part in front of the windscreen.... So every time I intended to drive it, I lifted the cover, looked at that piece and frustrated closed the cover again..... Saluti,
Nooo Jürgen, thats not a reason good enough for not driving your car! I will have Norwegian registration on monday and look very much forward to it. Haven’t driven mine in about 10 months now. But I need to solve my overheating problem and made a Excel work sheet to more precisely figure out why my car does not stay at normal temps... Observations: (With no AC on, and no heater on, headlights on, 17-18 degrees Celsius outside temp, new battery, car at standstill/stationary at idle). 1) The engine reach normal coolant temp in a matter of minutes. Fans work like they should. Goes on and off and the needle varies slightly around 90 degrees. 2) The battery voltage is around 13 V when no fans run and around 12,5 when the fans run. 3) After about 15 minutes, the fans run constant. Do not lower the coolant temp enough to switch off the fans... But the temp is steady at 90/95 degrees. (At 18 deg outside tenps) 4) When I turn on the AC for max cooling, the engine temp start to rise slowly. Climbs and climbs. 5) Raising the revs to 2.000 rpm. increase the voltage about 0,5 V and accellerate the overheating. Temp goes quick up! 6) Oil temp steady at 95 degrees C what so ever. 7) When I lift the hood open, the car does not overheat with AC on. The air blows much faster through the radiator. Needle goes down. 8) Voltage is the same at the battery as in the cigar lighter or at the rear mounted auxillary battery. 9) With jumpercables from my 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche (with no lights turens on) and the engine running, the voltage increase some 0,5 V. That car had 13,6 V when disconnected to the Ferrari, measured with the same voltmeter as in the Ferrari. Still when parallell wired with the cables the Ferrari measured 0,5 V less than on the Chevy!! (How is that possible?) It seems like the Ferrari draw power from the Chevy! 10) With one fan relay taken out, the engine start to overheat very quickly!! Another reason for having a manual override for safety. 11) Not alot of heat come out of the front fender side vents. Most of the heat comeback out under the car (heating up the cabin!) Hood very hot. Looks like I need to check the alternator. If the fans go faster, the engine should stay colder. And this was at a very modest Norwegian late summer temp of only 17-20 degrees Celsius! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Erik, I see......, your problems seems to me more substancial than mine… ;-) I face this problem with my De Tomaso Pantera which is even more prone to serious overheating problems. Try to solve it since 1 1/2 years by now. Saluti,
Erik, here are some suggestions for your overheating issues: 1. After you clean the whole cooling system with the chemical cleaner, I would then remove the radiator and have it professionally cleaned by a good radiator shop. 2. I would then replace the stock 550 radiator fan shroud with the 575M fan shroud. The stock 550 shroud is only as large as the fan diameters, so it only covers about 65-70% of the radiator core........and the fans are only pulling air through that 65-70% area at idle. When the car is moving at high speed, air flows through 100% of the radiator core and this is one reason why we don't have cooling issues under those conditions, only at idle. The 575M shroud is a better design which covers 100% of the core and it permits the fans to pull air through 100% of the core area at idle so it helps a lot under those troublesome conditions. 3. Both of the above should help reduce your overheating problems at idle, however if your cooling system still needs more help, you could consider adjusting the coolant mix. Like most owners, you're probably running a 50/50 glycol/water mix, which is a very conservative mix for freeze and boilover protection, but if you were to reduce the amount of glycol to, say, a 30/70 mix, it will help the system "carry" more heat to the radiator because water has a much higher heat capacity than glycol. Just be sure to run enough glycol to provide adequate freeze protection for your climate. There are charts out on the internet where you can determine what is an adequate percentage.
