575 Gated Swap and More

Hey guys, starting this thread so I can learn more from the community and hopefully provide some value as well as I'm trying to do the F1 -> Gated swap and other things in my garage.

For starters I recently bought my 575, https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2003-ferrari-575m-maranello-7/.

The plans I have for the car:
- OEM Gated 6-speed swap (major parts acquired)
- MSC Coilovers or finally find the HGTC springs, rear sway bar + suspension cu tune? (feels like unobtanium)
- Fabio or Supersprint exhaust (sound vs whp gains, can't find any good video on the SS sound still, debating)
- Fix the dash (any recommendations in the SF Bay Area CA? feels like shipping it is risky)
- Fix the visor (done, thanks Dave!)

I'll be posting updates and some kind of DIY pictures in case they're helpful.

really hoping to learn from you all! I did spend a few days going through the 575 threads, thank you all for putting your knowledge out here, folks!

p.s. pls don't slam me for the account name, it goes way back to when I was into bmw e30s, s54/52 swaps and etc. if you guys started from ferraris, I salute you

 

So, posting on the F1 -> Gated OEM swap:

- I was lucky to get OEM parts for the conversion. They cost me an arm and a leg, but OEM's worth it and with the EAG out of the picture this is the only reliable way for now it seems. I'd say that, looking at the parts, they don't seem too hard to replicate given scale (if you make 50 kits for example or so), but that'd need further exploration of course.

- I also have the clutch pedal, the seller of the parts didn't provide the pedal box as it's the same. but it seems like I'll need to get the brake pedal from him, since otherwise I'd have to cut/modify mine. My goal is to have the full OEM swap with 0 modifications and preserve all F1 parts in case the market goes wild and people start valuing F1s more (doubt that happens of course).

 

Further on parts:

- I also got the new master cylinder (and the used one to reuse the bracket)

- Seems like I'll need stoppers for the clutch pedal, that the seller of the parts graciously agreed to provide

- It's not clear to me if the brake fluid reservouir can be reused. Will I need to cut into it from the side? Isn't the clutch line should be in the bottom? I guess I need to find pictures of a reservoir from a 550 and compare or better to order one. Something that I'll explore tonight.


- The throwout bearing is still in question. It seems like the F1 bearing can't be reused as is, due to the difference in seals (found it out thanks to the other fchat thread). I reached out to hill engineering and ordered the bearing for 6-speed, but that wouldn't work either since it needs a different flange and etc. The seller graciously agreed to provide the seals, so waiting on them at the moment. The car has 7k miles, should I replace the throwout bearing? Given the amount of work it takes to take everything out and lower the transmission - I'd say yes, to be safe. A Hill Engineering new F1 bearing will be ordered tonight.

 

The fun has began:

First step was to remove the interior. It seems like it's well covered:
- by Dan:
- by EAG techs:

I was debating on removing the seats, but decided to do it and I don't regret it since it just gave so much space to work in and saved them from any accidental rips/cuts

-Interior before

- interior after

- hope won't see this switch again in the car!

 

Exhaust is out as well! Just starting from the back and working your way towards the front of the car is what's needed. also somewhat covered in the videos above. It's a bit of a tight space to work in and also annoying that to remove the cats/front you need to remove everything.

As any stock ferrari exhaust, it's pretty heavy. No wonder why the SS exhaust claims 33kg weight savings!

Fabio responded that the wait time is 1.5 - 2months. Same for the SS it seems. Does anyone have any videos of Supersprint exhaust. The one from 10yrs ago on SA sounded not great (compared to Fabio), but could be just the way they recorded it. 170 whp and a better torque that @360trev mentioned definitely sways me towards Supersprint, but Fabio's exhaust just sounds so glorious!

 

While the interior is out, time to fix the Becker radio, will reach out to the guys in NJ and probably send it to them. I like having OEM radio, so not looking to upgrade, but would like to fix it!