355 Fabspeed Headers

Jimmy, Dave's comment to me was that they were the best option out there. I asked the questions regarding reengineering, etc. from the shop that installed them answers from Ferrari.

Ricambi sells these. Maybe Dan would be willing to weigh in. Maybe not. 😉

 

Fab,

That should really be a poll.

do you have original headers

do you have original valve guides

I bet the poll will show that the 355 is much better than the reputation it has earned. The 355 rep is so bad that it has infected all other ferraris where potential owners are demanding leakdown tests in ppis. I think it is an issue that is blown way out of proportion.

 

Bob, IMO both of these "beliefs" are separate issues. We've seen in the valve guide thread that many owners had original guides up to 60,70,80 thousand miles which was pretty interesting and sort of debunked the theory.

Now, as far as headers are concerned, I'm one of those believers that the Oem ones are bad and all of them fail. I wanted the new thread to be more of a way to discover if perhaps some owners had high mileage cars with original headers and possibly see if my beliefs are wrong and the Oem ones aren't that bad. Not a poll but more a thread to share info.

 

Fab you state you sold your headers before they failed and the buyer is still enjoying them. So, are you the product of bad data on this topic? Too much of that is going around.....

Warm your car up via idle and it will explode ;-)

 

To be honest, I bought my car with very little knowledge...I didn't even know what a header was nor that a manifold & header was the same thing.

Always dreamed of having a Ferrari, got a deal & bought it. Mine needed a major & lots of cosmetic work so I immediately got on Fchat, started a thread on my restoration and was learning as I went along.

As soon as I posted I was getting the major done, I got flooded with posts telling me I HAD TO CHANGE THE HEADERS...So I panicked, ordered the full Fabspeed setup right away and took my oem ones off because I litterally was brainwashed into thinking that my OEM headers were the DEVIL!!!

Now it's been 2 years, I'm happy with the Fabspeeds but I've also realized that Fchat is full of major paranoïa and myths so I'm more reticent to believe everything I read here and I'm open-minded enough to the possibility that I may be wrong about the oem header's quality.

 

As much as we research, first time buys are without a great understanding of all issues - we are all guilty of this...

I was Lucky , I only got burned with lack of keys, fob's and the PIN.

 

^^ This^^

I agree with this, my original stock headers were never replaced in the car's 33k mile history and were still good when I removed them at that mileage...having said that, I would fire any fabricator in my shop if he showed me that quality of work going on one of my cars or a customer car! I HOPE the "new" OEM replacements are much nicer.

 

Well,technically that is really not a Ferrari factory PN(your site,eurospares,ferrparts,etc. show non valid PN when searched)....it is a made up number from non other than Maranello-Concessionaires.

Improved??? What a joke......show me something in writing from ANSA stating the great improvements.....the factory will not comment on this.

Everything I've seen come out of Maranello-Concessionaires taking over all parts of the older ferraris is at the very best equal to the same crap that was originally on the cars when they were a viable production run....a lot of the parts being offered now are even worse crap than before.

Ferrari didn't care about making hardly any changes to the 355 while in production despite all of the complaining and failures, sooooooo do you think that some 12+ years later they are going to invest in making better parts, heck they can't even take care of the models they produce today.

Now that is why we have independant vendors(fabspeed, tubi, etc.) who develope and produce products that the factory has washed their hands from.

 

I agree with Bruce 100%. Show me the physical difference between the two different item numbers, or a statement from Ferrari saying changes were made to the design.

Otherwise, I'm just not buying it.

 

FChat is notorious for that. One guy has a problem and it becomes the latest failure mode for every car.

However, I think it's a pretty sure bet that the original OEM headers will fail at some point. I also believe that that point will be very dependent on how the car is driven. If you think red line is the shift point or track your car frequently probably sooner than later. But I have no idea what later is. I looked at a lot of cars over my 3 year search. Most with between 15k-20k miles. Only one had after market headers and it was beat.

 

First off your statement on part numbers has been refuted by Dan at Ricambi It is a valid Ferrari part number and mine were bought from an authorized Ferrari dealer. You're mistaken on that issue. Go ask an authorized Ferrsri dealer yourself if it is a valid part number. One has already responded to this thread

I asked the questions I asked of Classic Coach and they asked Ferrari and gave me those answers. Good enough for me with the endorsements of people I respect who have no axe to grind one decision.

Mine are authentic OEM parts that have ANSA on them. No debate

I asked what you want pictures want you didn't answer. My offer still stands

 

On this specific issue, your information is not correct

1) Please do not assume our website lists every single part number ever issued. It does not. I specifically chose which numbers get listed on the public domain site. There are thousands and thousands of numbers we do not list on the public website, but remain visible in our internal system.

2) The 7000xxxx numbers are issued part numbers, not some "made-up" thing as you imply.

3) YES, the 7000xxx numbers are kits, which are usually composed of other active 6 or 8-digit part numbers.

.

 

Daniel, to the best of your knowledge and based on your experience, is it possible that Ansa would change the way the original 355 headers were built and make them differently/better than they were originally 12 years later?

Seems improbable to me but your experience is obviously more valuable than mine so what do you think?

 

Not Daniel but why not? ANSA has their name all over the headers and if they continue to fail it isn't going to do their name any good. It would not take much effort to use a slightly thicker walled tubing. If FabSpeed, Nouvalari and Tubi can do it why not ANSA?

 

I don't really know. We only stock with the re-tubed ones (retaining the factory heat-shield) and haven't sold a factory new set in several years.

I will say, there's a whole lot of complaining about the quality of Ferrari parts -- but on some of the superseded numbers and revised "kits" being offered, there IS an improved quality. On other pieces, the quality has greatly diminished. I simply don't have first hand experience with those newly issued manifolds.

 

Bob,

You will never convince those who have already made up their minds. We have too many Fchat threads that go this direction. To preserve you mental sanity just walk away. They will not get it. They might not get that Ansa might do something as easy as using a different stainless steel like 304 vs. 409. All headers start out as straight tubes. They may not understand that the physical properties of one steel over another makes all the difference in the world like how much continuous heat it can handle. There are important things we call strength but engineers call stress, stain, yield etc. is what counts when we try to build things. Marketeers use the word strength to convince you it is good. Engineers us stress, strain, creep etc to define if a material is right for the job. Unless you have a sample to test it is tough to see if Ansa did anything different. However, all you with oem headers never touched since they left the factory are your headers magnetic? Bob are yours magnetic? That would tell you if the stainless steel header class is ferritic or austenitic and those are two primary different stainless steel classes (used most often in exhausts) with very different properties. That could tell you right there is the new Ansa's are different just in case you want to know. Then there are a whole bunch of other things we don't know like metal thickness. That does not need a total header redesign. That means lugi grabbed a different tube off the shelf for his tube bender.

 

I agree with Bruce and Luke on this. I am suspicious on improvements to the OEM headers as well. As I stated before, a vendor was trying to sell me a set 1 year ago. I had asked him if there were any improvements done to them, but no answer was given. I told him that I didn't want to put a new header on my car that was made with the same quality that was already on there. If these headers are being marketed as being improved, you would think that Ferrari would make it well known on the improvements, or at the very least provide information when requested. At least the price was decreased.

 

True LOL ^


I don't know of any company that still has the same machines and supply chain as they did in the 90's. Seriously no way it could be the same, just makes no sense at all if they were made in the last 3-4 years they have to be improved.

Heck were a small player in manufacturing, we change everything at 3-5 year intervals.

 

FYI, 300 series stainless steels are not magnetic but 400 series are.

So when checking like FBB suggests, you will know the series right away..

 

I think all of this chatter (fchatter?) about quality is missing a more important point -- performance. I have heard conflicting data about this issue. Fabspeed claims hp gains but OEM supposedly has more mid range torque. I generally discount what the dealers recommend since they want to sell stock parts but recommendations from respected independents like Dave Helms are meaningful. Bob, did you ask him why he preferred OEM headers?

The debate about the quality of the new ANSI headers is a bit of a non sequitur in that most of the posters will have sold their cars or be dead of old age before they put another 20-30k miles on their cars after replacing their headers. If I needed a new set of headers I would be most focused on performance for this very reason.

 

Second paragraph is probably true for most owners. As for the first, is the difference in performance really that important? It certainly isn't to me. HP is about top speed. I'll never see the top speed of my car. Torque is about acceleration. I think that for street driving midrange torque would be the more important, but I doubt I'd notice the difference between Fab and OEM.



By the way, just came back form a short ride. Maybe the last of the season as my insurance on my F cars ends Sunday.

 

Jimmy they did just that. The owner of Classic Coach who also owns Ferrari of CF and Ferrari of Tampa was the one who told me of the price reduction and who also recommended the OEM solution. He was totally aware of it. The service manager at the shop was the one who asked the questions about them specifically and told me the answers he got from Ferrari. This is an authorized Ferrari dealer not an aftermarket vendor.

I am not sure how much further is required on this. It was good enough for me.

 

FBB..we all defend the dog we have in the race. That is what is going on here, myself included. The Fabspeed folks will defend their choice, The Stainless folks will do the same. In my time on this board this threader thing has been a major topic of discussion and never has a new OEM choice been in the mix until now.

I will again just say that the price point of the new OEM product, which included fitment pieces in a kit as Daniel has said and my invoice show, make this an especially attractive option I think. The documentation on improvements and material used , etc. will be difficult to prove as the Fabspeed origin thing is also still on the table.

I trust the people that I trust and that works for me. They have been chosen carefully.

 

I wouln't put any header on my F355 that doesn't use a 4-2-1 collector. The 4-1s might yield a small bump in peak hp but they neuter the shrill metal-ripping sound that is the F355. I've heard them in person and my stock-headered F355 sounds much better.

My '97 also made 4+ rwhp over a 4-1 headered F355 back to back on the dyno.


It was a fabled HiPo '95 model at that. (runs/hides)

 

Bob, I guess I am a little confused. I read that the dealer got the answers from Ferrari, but what are they? All I have read so far is that they are improved from what the dealer stated. The dealer should be able to get the information on the materials being used and the thickness of the tubes. The old oem headers are 1.2mm thick and are 409s/s. I believe the 360 and 430 also suffered from header issues which you wouldn't think would happen after the 355's problems. It would be nice if Dave or one of the dealers would state the improvements. I probably would have went in this direction if the vendor who I talked with gave me the information that I was looking for.