355 ENGINE OUT (with 4 post hoist) THE SAFE WAY with pictures

OK, I decided to utilize my 4 post hoist to complete the major engine out service. I have seen some scary (I think anyways) 4 post and some 2 jack engine out services and I thought there was a better way and this is it.
My hoist is a 7500 lb capacity 4 post hoist with 1200 lb capacity cables.
The process is as follows: drive your car on your 4 post hoist and disconnect everything you normally remove for the engine out service (this has been covered before) except the 20 frame mounting bolts.
Place fence posts (4"x4" x 4' x 4 posts) under the drive on ramps . Re-install your rear tires and manually push the car (keeping your tire chokes handy to control the momentun) slowly back onto the now HORIZONTAL ramps until you reach the point where your engine clears the rear of the hoist.
Place 2 (small 6", 2 ton capacity each) hydraulic bottle jacks in the normal rear frame mount jacking positions and raise the rear of the car till the rear wheels just clear the ramps. Do not raise the front wheels-let the tires just sit on the hoist. Remove the rear wheels and place 2 metal dolleys (covered with wood , 1 ton capacity) under the motor and transmission and using the 6' bottle jacks, lower the rear of the car till the weight of the engine/trans is on the dolleys.
DONOT LIFT THE CAR AT THIS POINT USING YOUR HOIST.
Disconnect the 12 frame mounting bolts (front of the motor) and then the 8 frame mounting bolts (in the wheel wells).
Using your hoist, slowly raise the body of the car off the motor/trans/susp assembly (leaving the motor assembly on the garage floor) checking to make sure that all is disconnected and clearing.
Note: the 355 weighs in at 3000 lb and the motor/trans/susp assembly weighs around 1000 lb leaving 2000 lbs for the balance of the car. The empty engine bay overhanging the rear of the hoist is only a few hundred lbs at best leaving the majority of the body weight between the posts of the 4 post hoist. THERE IS NO STRESS ON THE HOIST.
The hoist lifts the body with no stress what ever and there is no way the car can fall off the hoist. Its actually safer than a 2 post hoist with the majority of the cars weight between the 4 posts.
I am doing a thorough engine out service this time going over everything including cosmetics.
Note: in a 348 engine out service a few months ago it was shown that the a/c compressor can be left connected (but hanging) to save the cost of evacuating and refilling the freon......however in the 355, I found that the compressor lines were simply not long enough to clear the body (I tried but failed) and had to evacuate the lines.

 

Problem with pictures-will try to post again
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I just went to the garage and measured the clearences.

From the hoist rear posts to the rear of the bumper is 58 inches.
From the hoist rear posts to the garage door is 76 inches.

So there is no problem with closing the garage door....the only issue is that I can only open up the garage door up to around 5 1/2 feet high (clearence with 355 roof to open garage door)......not much of a problem though.
If space was an issue I could unbolt my 4 post and move it 2 feet deeper in the garage and gain even more clearence at the opening or one could unbolt the rear bumper and gain that additional clearence as well.

 

It took a half day of preparation including preparing the dolleys, ramps, draining fluids, disconnecting elect, ect....and another few hours to completely drop the motor out of the car.
And if I had all the parts I could have put the motor back in in 1 more day max......so 2 days in total ( a weekend) for the complete job.

I am currently waiting for some parts (water pump) ....but in the meantime I have degreed the motor (with the old belts on) just to see how well the car was timed ....and you know....the cam marks on the cams and bearing caps are dead on. As well the marks on the clutch flywheel assembly line up perfectly (as well as the dimple on the crank pulley). I did find however that the factory cam marks on the 4 cam belt pulleys were wrong....it appears with my car that the ferrari dealer removed the cam pulleys (to put on new o-ring seals I expect) and didnot bother to line up the cam pulleys factory marks (although in fairness they did re mark the alignement marks with paint on the pulleys, so its really not an issue). I don't have to take the cam pulleys off but if I did I would make a point of lineing up those marks as well.
I have also taken the time to repaint the cam covers with VHT paint and removed the radiaters and had them pressure tested.

NOTE: with the left radiater on a 355 you MUST remove the a/c cooling rad with the radiater because they are not only bolted together but the bolts are mounted in reverse.....requiring a a/c evacuation if you must ever just repair a bad radiater.
The fix is simple....I removed the mounting brackets on the a/c rad and welded the nuts on the back side. I also dremelled some plastic off the nut holding slots on the radiater. This simple mod allows you to install the a/c rad first, then bolt on the radiater on top. In the case of a radiater leak, just unbolt the lft rad (DONOT touch the a/c rad or its connections) repair or replace and top up the coolant. At some point the rads will fail and this saves the cost of a a/c evacuate/refill.

 

Thanks Pap,

Working on these cars is fun and even more so when its your car.
I am going over everything .....while this car was serviced only by the dealer I have found numerous little issues that need to be addressed before they become a problem.

 

Here are the refinished cam covers.
When I removed the covers most of the paint had peeled off or was a dirty red colour.
While the VHT wrinkle paint is not true to the factory red I think it will clean up the motor compartment along with yellow silicone hoses (for the intake manifold)
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Thanks Jay,
The 4 post lift has got to be the most versatile ,safe and practical hoist you can get. Some people think this hoist is only good for storage of your vehicle.
Previously I have done the following services on this hoist......replaced halfshaft boots, clutch replacement, suspension height adjustment, brake jobs , suspension re & re, and the usual fluid changes, ect.

Safety is paramount for me and also your back will thank you if you get a hoist.
If you get one though, make sure you buy a USA hoist as their safety standards are first rate.
Chris

 

You can buy quality hoists in Canada but they are triple the cost of USA hoists.....so its just a more cost effective way to get a quality hoist. Which is why I imported my hoist from Texas.
In Canada the hoist is more of a niche product, hence more expensive.

 

The 2 jack method works well however with a hoist the job can be done quicker, with less effort and its much safer.
As well you get the bonus of using the hoist for all your future services (changing the fluids is a breeze) .
The hoist also serves for storage and if you have the ceiling height....you can park another car under it as well.
Once you get a hoist at home you wonder why you waited so long.

 

I thought I would attatch more photos.

I removed the left rad because I thought I saw a coolant leak.
Well I pressure tested both rads and they are OK (to do this requires the removal of the left a/c cooler and right oil cooler).
I did note on removal that the coolant overflow hose was not mounted in the incorrect position (against the lft bottom corner of the lft rad....hence my sighting of fluid)... but to be safe I re&re for the pressure test anyways.

One mod I made that I mentioned earlier was to weld the nuts on the back side of the a/c cooler brackets which are mounted between the a/c cooler and the lft radiater.
This results in all 4 main corner bolts being installed from the wheel well side (see picture of lft rad after install) and if I have to pull the rad for replacement in future (between major service)....I can simply remove 4 bolts and the water hoses and seperate the rad without removing or evacuating the a/c cooler.
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Thanks,
This car was at Ferrari of Ontario in 2005 and is a 1995 Neuro Metallic/Bordeaux w/ black seats.
When I checked its entire history it was sold & serviced at Maranello's.
I looked at many 355's before I settled on this one and was not considering a bordeaux car until I saw this one/bought it on the spot.

 

Thanks Jay.
These cars are getting older and rads will fail so when I work on cars I look for the little mods that will make the service easier and cheaper in future and incorporate them into the car. The mods are subtle and I always try to make the mods appear part of the original design.

Another mod I made is with the exhaust. I have a Tubi race exhaust however if you need to service, for example the clutch, you have to remove the muffler which requires the removal of the rear bumper. I have taken off the bumper in the past 3 times doing various services....and thought how much easier it would be if the muffler could be removed through the engine bay.
So I cut off the tips (I also weld as a hobby) and welded flanges onto the cut pipes allowing me to simply unbolt both tips and pull the muffler up and out of the engine bay .....like the 360's or 430's. Another advantage is it allows me to line up my tips in the bumper better as there is some minor adjusment in the flanges.

 

I'll take a few shots and post them here

 

Heres the photos of the tubi muffler mod.
What I did was obtain generic muffler flanges / cut and weld them to the output pipes.
I also had to narrow the width of the flanges.....where the bolts go in....this small mod allows the muffler to slide in through the top and the tips are easily bolted on from below once the muffler is bolted into place.
I also zinc sprayed the welded parts to prevent rust.
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