This F355 came in for a much needed major service and reseal. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Almost bought one bought one in Verde Silverstone. Couldn't come to terms with the seller. Two years later he auctioned the car off on Ebay and got $35k for it.
Looks like a Tubi muffler as well (can barely see the '3' of '355' on the side bracket). I love these cars in green metallics, it's just so classic and a true negative of the common red color(s). Perfect foil to the tan interior! Eagerly watching this thread!
Engine dropped. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login Why do your mechanics insist on using the air boxes are tool tables? Not the first time I've seen this in your threads. Sloppy! And it looks like the car is up in the air too (wheels off). Hope the tool didn't fall off and hit someone in the head. Someone needs a talking to.
Believe it or not we don't stage photos in the shop and this is what a real mechanic shop looks like. I guess if we didn't service 30-40 Ferraris at time we could wear lab coats and stage photos with all the tools laid out like an operating room. They stand in the engine bays, lay on the engines to unhook hoses in the rear, rest coffee cups on engines while working, etc. They also curse all day long and have offensive political views. The horror....
Working on cars is certainly a dirty, messy job. I doubt anyone would argue that fact. But what is wrong with finesse and general workmanship standards? Dan, you have made a serious investment in equipment within a very short period of time - that speaks volumes for the commitment you have made to your business. I'm sure you will agree, most business owners recognize that equipment is only a fraction of what it takes. Our people are by far the biggest asset - I'm certain you will agree. That said, as owners, it's our job to instill culture within our organizations. You likely wouldn't be too pleased with the tech who just spent an hour rolling around the floor under a car to get into that customers's car without protecting the interior - right? So, why not protect the plenums with a foam pad or alike so that tools can be laid down in the engine bay? Relentless attention to detail is a practice strong in my company. It's difficult to train and slows growth. But, slow steady growth always prevails in the end. So, wearing lab coats may or may not be a good policy for a particular business, general care for our customer's property certainly is a well desired policy. Oh, yeah, we curse plenty in my shop but coffee isn't allowed anywhere near finished parts
Understand both sides as I am very particular. Would also say, less damage would be done by dropping this entire car in a dumpster and saving it a week later vs whatever damage may be incurred from a rubber\plastic impact sitting on a plenum.
It's not so much that the tool was laid on the plenum for a moment while the mechanic was reaching for something, but that it appears to have been left there. There is nobody working on the car. There is no mechanic in sight. The car is up on the lift, maybe only a foot or two, but still up. You can justify it any way you like. It's a bad practice to leave tool in the engine bay. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I am pretty particular about my cars as well, but this isn’t a big deal. If I saw that happen with my car, it wouldn’t bother me at all. If the tool was left on the roof, hood, or on one of the seats, that might be different. It’s okay to be picky, but come on guys...
John, with regards to the pictures, there is no mechanic in sight in any of the pictures or picture times posted, so I am not sure what that means. In the second picture you can clearly see that more engine pieces were removed, and in the last, the engine is out with no tool sitting on the intake. Clearly work was being done on the car. Again, not sure what the big deal is about. Keep up the good threads Dan.
Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but perhaps Dan told the tech to "step away for a minute so I can get some photos". Just a thought.
I’m sorry guys, but I’m not going to start editing or staging photos, or really breaking my guys balls in the back that do an excellent job servicing cars all day long, over leaving a plastic covered drill on a plastic intake plenum. Coming from someone not in the trade, I can see how it stands out when compared to the staged, filtered photos that they're used to seeing all day long. Or visiting shops during open house/tech days where they had the shop cleaned for 2 straight days beforehand, rolled their best cars into the shop and have the techs wear new clothing with fresh shaves and hair cuts. I’ve been in most dealerships and independent shops during normal business hours doing PPIs to really know what goes on and how shops look. I do take what we do very seriously and constantly invest in the best equipment and hire the best techs I can get my hands on. We have 30-40 cars in for service at a time, year round, and have a waiting list of 16 cars waiting to come in for service as of today. We don’t need to advertise or post on Fchat, I enjoy sharing what we do only a daily basis. Customers come in educated and familiar with the process and guys abroad have a better understanding to get the service their car needs out of their local techs. I can’t tell you how many people call, pm, and email me on a daily basis asking for help. I wonder and ask sometimes why dont you post it on Fchat and honestly most people are afraid to after threads like this that go sideways over petty details. It's supposed to be a community of Ferrari enthusiast, experts, mechanics, etc all sharing information about a common passion. Not a constant ego-driven, petty argument that makes themselves feel better or to try and discredit a user/business out of jealously. Look at how many great mechanics and users stopped posting over the years because of nonsense discussions like this. My best advice to people that don't like how we do things is when you see a thread that starts with “Bradan”: just scroll past it and save yourself the greif. Or better yet, lead by example and post hundreds of service projects done to the high standard that they preach. I can’t take anyone seriously that doesn’t service cars on a commercial basis and only has working on their own individual car as a basis for how things are done. I applaud anyone brave enough to tackle their own service work, but I also didn’t become a life coach or write a book on fitness the first time I got myself into shape. Moving forward, I’m just going to post photos of this service project and answer questions regarding the service. If you feel you have more to say about leaving a plastic drill on a plastic intake plenum, please continue to exchange Pms amongst yourselves about what a bunch of hacks we are.
I for one enjoy every post from Dan and the Bradan Group, we are very lucky to have him onboard as he makes a constant positive contribution, this section would be all the poorer without him. Many Ferrari fans would never get to see the work involved and the results that can be achieved if he did not take the time to document these jobs with huge enthusiasm and detail. Previously I have invested in a Ferrari Factory approved service center along with part owning a Ferrari Specialist Center, being very hands on myself, I honestly don't know where Dan finds the time or has the patience to make all these contributions - then to be shot down because of this, shame. Some of the jobs on these cars involves the technician to be contortionists or a gymnast to get at a faulty component, the original design was not always the most considerate to the guy repairing it years later. There are several jobs the actually require the technician to effectively climb into the engine bay, thank god we had a little guy on the team as the rest of us were all 6 foot plus and weighed a few pounds more than we should have! On this occasion, a tool was left on a plastic phleum chamber, on an engine that was coming out for a major, next picture it has been power cleaned before stripdown. Given the work we have seen Bradan produce before, i can bet that the end result after final preparation will show no trace of where the guy left his tool or doughnut. A few years ago i done a restoration thread on my 275GTB, over 1200 posts and one of the all time highest viewed projects ever on FerrariChat, but i spent a lot of time fighting off armchair experts and justifying personal decisions I made for my own vehicle! In the end I persevered, got over the frustrations and enjoyed all the positive comments. keep up the great work Dan, it is hugely appreciated
Phil, that was exactly my point. A picture is only one second in time. We are on the same page. Again, Dan, thank for these great threads.
Dan - Don't let the guys getting upset about this minor infraction get under your skin. The quality of your shop's work speaks volumes about the guys in the back doing it, and I thoroughly enjoy every picture and story you put up here. I follow you on IG and FB as well to make sure I don't miss anything that you post. While I am a stickler for a clean workshop and bench, it is inevitable that a tool is left on an engine or a wrench placed 'somewhere wrong' during a complex repair procedure such as an engine out job. A drill placed on top of an engine (and NOTHING ELSE out of place in that picture, BTW) is business as usual in ANY shop. Note that the Y-pipe is still installed in the very next picture, but missing in the 'drill on the engine' shot. Perhaps your guy was carefully moving the Y-pipe to his parts bench, and rather than let this heavy item fall into the engine bay, and potentially damage something below? Perhaps he put the drill on the engine to support and remove the part only for the few seconds that Dan was in the shop snapping pictures? Hard to tell without having been there at that exact moment, and I place no judgement. TL;DR: Let the shop techs do their work and do it how they know best. Enjoy that these procedures are shared on this forum, and ask questions that are relevant to the operation - don't tell the surgeons where or how to cut.
