Are you referring to the 355 challenge grill? Are some pretty signficant mods. needed to make that fit on the 348?
Am in, I would love a challenge type grill and roud tail lights on my 348ts. Let me know if we can do a group purchase...
Before we can contemplate a group purchase, we have to have a SOURCE for these "kits" as we see posted. The only one I am aware of is GAREDCARS.COM. Is anyone willing to divulge other sources for the kits to consider? Of all of the past postings on this subject, the SOURCES seem to be elusive.
chenshan, Seems like you have one fo the coveted Yello conversions. Do you have info on where yours was produced? Was it one off or could we get a production run done? Perhaps the US source of the carbon fiber kit would be able to make a challenge kit? Anyone know the US guys personally - or business?
chenshan, Seems like you have one fo the coveted Yello conversions. Do you have info on where yours was produced? Was it one off or could we get a production run done? Perhaps the US source of the carbon fiber kit would be able to make a challenge kit? Anyone know the US guys personally - or business?
Its not that anybodys being elusive, its just that no kit exists for the challenge grill,as stated before I made my one from a ferrari supplied 355 challenge grill,it can be done again its just very difficult and time consumeing. If anybody wanted to try i would help all i can its just difficult being the other side of the atlantic. Andy.
Andy, Ok so no one makes challenge grills for the 348 ala 355. You did this on your own. Seriously then what does it take, besides patients. Would you be willing to those who care an instruction email/booklet/ANY KIND of Help? If you had the time that is. Another thought is to go to garedcars and ask if they would produce them. Or if anyone else know someone else? Speak now...
Albert...if enough were interested, there is a guy here in Amarillo that would do a fine job. He's an outstanding body and fiberglas guy. I could go visit with him. However, I am sure the first 1 or 2 would be quite expensive because of his research, fitting, etc. So I feel like we would almost need to guarantee him a set # of orders at a certain price for him to want to do it. I guess we need to get a feel as to how many would want a "challenge" grill and what they would be willing to pay. Any other ideas? Otherwise, I think that garedcars unit is going to be our best option. I bet we could do a group purchase with them. Their units are $1900 (Xmas sale!) plus $50 shipping. But if several went in together, perhaps we could do better?
You guys also realize that 355 tail lights "self-destruct" over the course of a few years as the center portions melt....just take a look at a few 355's and 360's for examples...first the center clear portion will develop a small horizontal crack..then it will begin to melt and melt and deform. At least they only cost $140 each to replace.
Yse, I get one, the one with white speedline wheels. It's the left one of these two 348s. As I said, it is a totally hand made perforated grille by a skillful mechanic. It is more than US$1200 here in Taiwan and only produced by order.
Chenshan...can you share with us his contact information? From the sound of it, quite a few of us are interested! Name of maker? email/web address? phone #?
I can assure you that there is no way he can speak English, nor the email/web address also. Even though I know he can still make it by order, it's too difficult to mail from here to US, sorry for that. At least you can have some idea about how the look will be and I can post more pics from any angle if you want.
Hi, I'm in Singapore & I've did some of such metal/fibre work in my school days. But I don't have a workshop now. It shouldn't be too difficult but time consuming. To make it mass, I would probably make a wooden mould & press/hammer a pre-cut metal over it then a lot of grinding & fitting. A bit of spot welding mght be necessary as well to create strong joints & mounting brackets. Perhaps some 348 owner in Thailand can help since the labour there is a lot lower than even here/US. It can be made by hand as well but won't have nice bends, a metal press would be helpful. A big sheet of perforated metal is not exactly cheap (maybe US$200?) & comes in 4'x8' by 2mm thin? We can probably make 10 pieces? Do you guys know how much does the 355 lamps cost? We'll probably need the complete set so that the wire harness will plug & function properly. I'll visit Zertec this weekend & explore on this. I would like to have LED lamps as it seems to be the trend now & has better "response time" & lifespan than conventional bulbs.
Andy's excellent write up is in this thread; have you guys seen it yet? http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10558&page=1&pp=20&highlight=modified+grill
I would be well up for a group manufacture/buy of a 348 fittable 355 Challenge rear panel. I think this looks superb, particularly on yellow 348's. For me though the conversion would have to be entirely reversible, with no panel cutting involved at all. Also the lights would have to be at the correct scarf angle, not the incorrect fit shown in the Gared conversions (I suspect this is necessary to prevent hacking too much of the car panel away behind the lights). Does anyone know who the actual manufacturer is who produces the OEM challenge grills for Ferrari (I'd be suprised if they press them in house)
For mine, it is totally reversible, that is why I still keep the original one. Maybe someday I will put it back.
If you guys decided to mfg. in Taiwan or here in the states, count me in. Not sure if I would got all out with led rear light conversion, I think the regular 355 rear lights would be enought, IMHO.
Like Albert I'm happy with standard 355 light setup, not really fussed about the 'Bling' LED lights. Wow this discussion is really gathering some momentum now, hope a kit comes to fruition. That standard rear is the part of the 348 I am most unhappy about visually (with those awful wheels running a close second). IMHO the 355 rear on the 348 makes it look superb. The picture of the two side by side yellow cars blew me away, even happier I went for a yellow 348 now.
Riki...looks nice. But the lamps, are they angled upward? It looks as though they are, 10-15 degrees. Can they be altered so that they are parallel to the ground?
parallel to the ground would look pretty funny. you must mean perpendicular to the ground or parallel to the bumper.
I really love the SL Comp kit, looks the best I think. Altough I like the idea of extra cooling with the challenge grill. I'll just have to wait till I get a 348. Great pics guys!!
