30k/Fabspeeds/Restoration Complete!

She's home! NJB of Westerville, OH delivered my 355 home this morning. It sure was good to see her. Rather than add to the already lengthy previous thread, I'll just summarize here.

NJB performed the full 30k service restoring my driving confidence by replacing the 12 yr old belts, which frankly looked amazingly good when removed. They also installed Fabspeed headers, test pipes and the 2ndary cat bypass pipes. Peering down into the engine bay, these new parts look ... well they look like what sex would look like if it were car parts. Simply erotic. They enhance the look of the newly detailed engine, including fresh paint on the cam covers.

Regarding the new Fabspeed pipes, with just about an hours driving time before the 1st flakes were due to fall in todays winter storm, I headed straight to some nearby two lane blacktop (movie reference), as I was anxious to see if there was any "seat of the pants" difference that I could feel in my "seat". Things seemed fairly normal in standard driving, but the sound was already clearly louder and somewhat more f1-ish. When I dropped the hammer things were very nice, then at just above 4,000 rpm, maybe 4300, it felt like I hit the nitrous switch. The rush of power startled me at first and I backed off. Then after I new what to expect, it was fun to play with. A couple of times the tires broke loose in 2nd gear when it hit the magic spot above 4k. Granted it was about 10 degrees out, so the pavement was cold, but there was clearly a change in the power band. The new Fabspeeds are allowing this beast to breath at the high RPMs. I can't wait until Spring so I can really do some driving.

The meat & potatoes of the car's trip to Westerville was the mechanical service work at NJB. It's hard to grade service work because it is what it is, but the difference for me is how those doing the work involve you in the process. Jack and Craig kept me in the loop all the way through the process, emailing status and pictures, and not making me feel like an intruder when I decided to do a site visit to get a good look at the process. The final result is a car that still starts easily, drives like a new car, with no surprises, other than the new 4k RPM kick.

While there, I authorized Jack to have the previously shrunken dash cover replaced, and the new leather is beautiful and the scent adds to the new car experience. He also utilized the well known talents of "Stickynomore" to rework all console parts, door handles and vents, and they look amazing.

Last but not least, Todd Cooperider of Esoteric Auto Detail in Columbus performed the detail work inside and out. When I pulled the car out of the hauler, and stepped out to take a good look, all I could think of to say, translated to todays text language was OMFG! If I tried to lay a buffer on a car, the finish would look like a mass of Hurricane tracking images from the weather channel. This car has no sign that it has been touched by a pad, yet has a mirror-like quality that is hard to describe. He clearly went over every square inch of the vehicle, as the new finish is uniform. The car looks new. I've already had two people make the assumption that it was new paint. Wow. Now my big worry is how I'm going to protect it.

I'd like to thank Jack, Craig & Todd, and Joe Fabiani at Fabspeed for all of their help and guidance. A special thanks goes to Fchat member Gershwin, who directed me to NJB in the first place. Fchat is and has been a invaluable resource throughout my Ferrari experience.

Below are some pics I shot this morning. Wish you could all see it in person. If you're in the area in July, you can check it out at the Keeneland Concours July 17. I'll be posting info about that event soon.

Semper Ferrari!
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Always nice to get fun things done to the F car. How are you dealing with the cat deletes? Are you getting any codes?

Also I am in the process of getting things done on my car and I also need to recover the dash. Could you PM me about who did it for you and cost?

Thanks,

Steve

 

only goes to show how needlessly scared we are of the damn belts. Although, if it were my car, I would change it at 5 years ...

They don't do that even at the Lexus dealership my wife takes her car to.

.. Don't protect it, just drive it.

 

No codes so far. I expect because I used Fabspeed's O2 sensor simulators. Looks like they are doing the job. The dash removal/recover re-install was $2,500. I don't actually know who Jack had do it. You can reach him at NJB's website - weserviceferrari.com.

Thanks,

Geno

 

Looks excellent Geno, enjoy!

When the weather breaks you need to get some video

 

Very nice, Geno!

 

Geno,

Congrats on your "new" 355!

It was a pleasure to work with you on this project, and I am very happy to hear that you were thrilled with the outcome. I know I'm a bit biased, but the the transformation that your car went through was truly amazing.

Enjoy, my friend!

Todd

 

Geno, terrific write up, it's really refreshing to get such a positive report on all aspects of a service. I've spoken with Jack at NJB numerous times and have great respect for him as well. Glad to hear that Todd and the other services you had performed turned out so well. It really does look like a new ride, congrats!

 

Really amazing job !

 

Looking good---Jack at NJB is a great guy!! I have done numerous jobs for him. Glad to see it was another Fchatter those parts belonged to that I refinished...

 

Getting it back in this condition must have felt like you bought it new. ENJOY it every chance you get. AWESOME!

 

Geno,
Car looks great, lets hope the weather breaks so we can all go running
Fabspeed is a top notch company and Joe and his team are very serious about customer service, I recommend them highly.
E N J O Y !!
Captglen

 

Love the vanity plate!

 

Geno,
Congratulations on a great outcome! Sounds like a great experience following the progress as the work was done. Thanks for sharing the process. Videos would be great when weather get better

 

Looks great!!!

 

WoW!!
What a beauty!

 

After all that......you must be dying to take her out for a long drive!

 

You got that right. And damned if we didn't get 5 inched of snow overnight. Doh!

Geno