Anyone modified their F-cars?

I'm the sort of guy who likes any mods he does to have a performance advantage. The best thing in my opinion would be an ECU software upgrade. I currently offer these for the 348, 355, 360, 456M, 512TR, and the Testarossa(and all versions of each). Gains of 15-20 rwhp are very common, it depends on the make of your car. It is a very tasteful mod, and is easily reversed, or you can leave it in as a bonus for the next buyer. Prices range from $1,400-2k depending on your car and what's required. All programs are for 93 octane. You won't be disappointed.

Feel free to shoot me an email if you're interested and we can talk it over.

email: [email protected]



-DC

 

most done by previous ( great ) owner , headlight circuit mod with xeonon, new fuse block, no cats, Ansa exhaust, all 4 carbs by Pierce Manifolds, no air pump, set of aluminum pedals, 16 in QV wheels, stainless brake lines and new calipers, et al. euro valance, euro bumpers, power window upgrade, keyless entry, pre wired for Valentine one radar detector( looking for euro bumper lights and a grille horsie) i plan on ignition upgrades, all new bushings, sway bars and i hope to lower the car.i have had it about 48 hours !!!!

 

The "C" word...big topic for those of us who own cars where the original equipment was pretty awful in spots. The real question is what should be changed on older Ferraris to make them liveable? I'll let owners tell us; some cars like my Europa and the Lamborghini Miura really need a few things if you want to make them anything close to a daily driver. Unobtrusive but must be done (email me for details).

What Ferraris SHOULD have original equipment replaced so as not to spoil the car, but to make it useful as a driver? Like on non collectable cars like the 308's, 412's etc.

Ken

 

I think my 328 has too many mods already. The basic CIS was a clever idea, in its day. But when I look at all the bells and whistles added to meet US standards, plus cold start, altitude compensation, et cetera ad Rube Goldberg -- I begin to think this is an example of an idea taken to its illogical extreme.

Besides, that big honkin' plate in the intake just looks wrong.

The Marelli ignition was pretty good for its day -- but when it was designed, the average desktop computer was an 8088 or a Lisa. Original Marellis are getting hard to find, as they're all coming up on the end of their "use by" dates.

I sometimes wonder how much value the car would lose if I replaced both the Marelli and CIS with a modern EFI controller. An EFI wouldn't be quite as "bullet proof" as the CIS (was when new), but it could have built-in diagnostics to reduce down-time for debugging.

On the other hand, if the car ran that much better as a daily driver, I'd run the clock pretty quickly, so the high miles would kill the value anyway.
But heck, I still have the Alfa I bought in '79: Resale value doesn't matter if you never sell it.

 

I've wanted to see the 308 xenon upgrade done for a long time. Post some pics of your lights.

 

Alas, that view doesn't typically represent the general buying public.

And with reason, I suppose. A Ferrari shop may know the CIS/Marelli system (and is more likely to know the Webber carbs), but may not be as familiar with an aftermarket system.

If I were to mod my 328, I know I'd have to keep the original parts, in case I wanted to trade up. I find myself surfing web pages on lost foam and other casting methods while daydreaming about an EFI intake manifold for my 328. (Yes, I know that Norwoods will modify my original manifold, but if I want to keep the original part ...)

The 328's plug extender system seems tailor made to adaptation to a plug-mounted individual coil system, but I suspect the heat in the extender area would make that impractical.

 

I agree. For reliability, DIY friendly upkeep, I went 'back to the future' and retrofitted/replaced my Bosch/Marelli (both of which had stranded my daily more than once) with Webers and a single electronic distributor on a 3.2. Simple, elegant, effective and much of it OEM retrofit. Oh yeah, and picked up about 28 hp on the dyno.
I think another popular upgrade example would be using a Sankyo rotary A/C compressor.
best
rt
"No Ferrari factory parts were harmed or removed in this production"

 

I have added a stainless steel coffee bean roaster just above the Tubi,
and an espresso machine in the passenger side foot well.
Purest hate me for it, but I have pulled out the spare tire and spare well,
and replaced it with a refrigerated section, which is great for keeping ice cream and beer cold.

 

I think I saw your car on MTV's 'Pimp My Ride'. I just wish I had a cup holder.
best
rt

 

Cute.

But we're not talking about adding undercar neons or park bench wings or "multi-horsepower" stickers, here.

We're talking about a comparison of different techniques to meet the basic design issues in an internal combustion engine. Fuel, air, spark: every gasoline powered engine has these in common, whether it's in an Enzo or in a garden tractor.

These are cars, not holy shrines. (Well, at least the common 3x8s aren't. -- the 250s may be a different matter. )

And do you think Enzo was wedded to all the junk layered on a US model in the '80s? That stuff came more from Washington than Maranello. If you get into the internals (as an engineer), you start to get a feel for the parts the designers cared about. The other stuff, they just out-sourced to someone with a handy solution. Heck, the original aircon thermostat in my 328 came from a Coke machine. (A GE Industrial part designed for a "drinks machine".) It wasn't a part that mattered that much to the designers.

I'm showing my age, but the CIS system came to the 308 in 1980, when carbs simply wouldn't meet US standards. It was the same year that Alfa abandoned the Spica system that they had been using to meet US standards in the '70s, and wouldn't meet 1980 requirements. (No place to add an O2 sensor.) Prior to 1980, only California required cats. In 1980, virtually every euro machine sent to the US had a Bosch system in it ... because Bosch had systems that would pass US regulations, not because it was the best performing solution.

A car is a harsh environment for electronics. In 1980, there were virtually no microprocessors that would survive for long outside a temperature controlled office or lab. (In 1984 I remember trying to find 80286s that would meet MilSpec temperature requirements.) Computers have come a long, long way since then. When the 328 was designed, there were no discman's, MAFs hadn't been imagined, and "OBD" meant "One Bodacious Dude". "Star Wars" was a Lucas film. (George, not the British one.) Magnum, PI was on the air (first run). Today, the Renesas M32R MCU was designed for automotive use, and will out-perform any 1980's computer a fork lift could carry in one trip.

While the techniques used on classic cars deserve a place in automotive history, it's a balance of tradition against practicality whether these techniques belong on a car not parked in a museum. A Ferrari is, to an extent, a piece of history. But it's also a well balanced car. Why let a perfectly good suspension go to waste while debugging an injection system that wasn't designed by Ferrari in the first place? Especially when there are better performing systems available, now.

CIS is such a minor footnote in the Ferrari world (compared to Webber'ed V12s) that most Ferrari mechanics will dismiss the system as "never goes wrong". Most VW/Audi mechanics might find that rather funny, but those CIS systems have seen a lot more miles than most Ferrari mounted ones ... so far. But we're reaching a point where the CIS gaskets are getting old, the Marellis are reaching the 20 year limit on '80s electronics (mostly due to the capacitors), and OEM replacements for these parts aren't being made, anymore.

 

Eureaka! ("ancient greek for 'this bath is too hot'")

The intake manifold isn't a high pressure application. A custom bushing could be clipped into place in the stock intake manifold with a standard circlip ("seeger"), and accept a normal gasket press-fit EFI injector. Now where do I get a CAD drawing of a stock bushing?

 

A freind of mine as done this to a 308 engine using honda motorcycle coils, it looks great, but I don't think he's run it yet, at least I haven't hear. I think he got the idea from someone in the fiat crowd, it's supposed to work just fine on those cars. I considered doing it to mine, but I already have a DIS systen that is working fine and I have enough other things to do at the moment.

 

It should be is the supercharger is working right

I don't think you can make that work, at least not very well. The injector tip wants to be down firing into the air stream and I think if you try to raise it to use an adapter you'd have problems with the fuel hitting the walls an puddling. Call T. Rutland, I'm sure they will have an intake for you to modify. It might also be possible to use 348 stuff. I also saw someone fit 2 sets of injector bodies off a sport bike, FZR100 I thing with a pretty simple custom intake. The last I new you could pick up a set of 4 injector bodies for about $400, not bad.

 

As far as I can tell, the Norwoods mods stuff the injectors down the bushing openings on the manifold. I can't tell from the pictures what kind of seals (if any) are used on the bottom of the injectors. A clip plate over the tops of a pair of injectors is then connected via a long bolt to a rail welded between adjacent injectors openings on the manifold. The problem thus addressed is that, with the injector in place, the circlip (seeger) cannot be placed in the injector opening. The Norwood solution is effective, but a smidge kludgey looking.

A modified bushing could have the press-fit o-ring near the bottom. But if the bushing is inserted first, it could then be clipped in with the seeger, before the injector is inserted into the o-ring press fitting. The fuel rail would then be inserted over the top of the injector, as in most EFI applications. This would require a relatively narrow injector, which may not be the most precise type -- but more precise than CIS.

This should be fine for most non-boosted applications -- in fact, my 8psi turbo Celica used a similar injector mounting system. I need to check my EVO tech CD to see how Mitsu handles the 19psi boost situation. I don't know how much boost the Norwood turbo conversion produces, so the strap down used on their manifold mods may be the best solution for that case. But where no turbo is being added, it may not be necessary to mod the manifold itself, just to hold down the injectors. (In turbo apps, some kind of end clips on the fuel rails may add support, but would add "aftermarket" appearance to the installation. I'd like the installation to look like an integral part of the engine, not a "bolt-on".)


Let us know how your friend makes out with his motorcycle coils. The 308 plug well doesn't have the ventillation that a bike engine would likely get, so I still worry about heat build-up.

 

Bike rack on 550.

--Dan

 

I love your 348 SS!! It looks so clean!
You know what ...I have this picture of a normal 348 with a spoiler. (its not a 348 Competizione )
The pic is somewhere in my HD, I will try to find it .
The only thing I can say about the spoiler
.....not nice.

 

DGS & Snj, we were separated at birth, share the same opinions. DGS, took the words right out of my mouth. IMO, the bosch FI systems were a quick fix, whatever was on the shelf available that would work to satisfy the nazi EPA mandates. I am not impressed whatsoever with bosch quality, they are average at best.