FINALLY!! FERRARI ROCKS!!!

A package arrived at Ricambi this morning that literally has me smiling from ear-to-ear. Giggling like a school girl! Thank you DHL for delivering it safely!

A long standing problem with a very common Ferrari part has FINALLY been fixed -- and fixed damn well. Somebody actually listened to the market; somebody actually studied the problem; somebody in Italy made me very happy this morning!

With a new part number issued to an old item, I was wondering what the changes might look like. In a nutshell, if the new item (I'll post pictures shortly) are an indication of the new quality controls at Ferrari, we're all in for a treat.


Pictures, details to come.



-Daniel

 

If you drive anything from an early 308 to a brand new Scuderia with stock wheels, you likely have the wheel center cap 108947 on your car. The caps, while nice when they're new, are really pretty crappy plastic and often crack, craze, and fade. Sometimes, the damn things fall right out. Other times, they get stolen by tifosi-crazy kids. The quality control on the old caps has been absolutely horrible. I used to hand-polish each and every cap, prior to shipping. Sometimes the yellowing was a bit odd; sometimes they had deep scratches in them, etc. etc. The only good thing about 108947 is that they are pretty darn cheap (compared to a dealer) at only $99/box.

Well, a few weeks ago we were running low on the 108947 and I fired off a Purchase Order for replacements. The reply from Ferrari? "NLA. Superseded to 226245". I thought, "Oh great, Ferrari found an even CHEAPER manufacturer for these....". Nonetheless, we needed to replenish our shelves so I bought a very small quantity of them for evaluation. This morning, my friendly DHL dude brought the new caps. I opened the box with extremely low expectations.

I was wrong. Ferrari has absolutely made a significant leap forward in the quality of these caps. The yellow is much 'tamer' and has a deeper tint; the plastic edges are much smoother and more consistent. And most importantly, the crappy press-fit plastic tabs are gone -- replaced with a very stout integrated steel circlip (like the early F355 caps). In a word, I'm VERY impressed.

They are not as cheap as the old ones -- but I suspect these will be the last set of caps you ever need on your car. Check out the pictures below.

** The old 108947 caps are still in my inventory. We have about 20 boxes left (80 caps). We will continue to sell them, but when they're gone, they're gone. **

The new caps are available here:
http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?products_id=335937
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Just a quick note: we are breaking the seals and opening each of the boxes that have been ordered today, simply to ensure consistent quality and packaging. Ferrari still uses the old kitchen paper towel on these packages, so we're adding a few peanuts to keep everything from shuffling around. Don't freak out if the caps you ordered today look 'open'. That's intentional, and we're checking each cap's color and finish.

The good news? They all look very consistent and a vastly improved quality.

I think Mike and I are going to pop a set onto my 348 later this afternoon and show some before/after pictures.

 

UPDATE: I just installed a set on my Speedline Challenge wheels. Mike took video and will post it on YouTube tomorrow.


PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING CONSTRUCTION/INSTALLATION TIPS:

1. Construction of these caps is actually very cool. The yellow shield/black horse section is a very nice aluminum sheet which wraps around the plastic body. If you look at the pictures of the cap's underside, you'll see the wrap-around tabs that secure it in place. In other words, these are NOT plastic, and should not crack or craze. Yipee!!

2. With the wheels on the car, I used a small drill bit to drill a small pilot hole in the center of the cap. I then used a junk aluminum screw to thread in, and pull the whole cap out. Obviously, you'll destroy the old caps but it saves the hassle of removing the wheels from the car.

3. You must press these into place perfectly square. If they don't go in straight, do NOT bang, hammer or otherwise pound these into place. The aluminum sheet on the front will bend, and your cap will be ruined. If you're installing these with your wheels off, no biggie -- just press it back out and try again. If you're installing these with the wheels still on the car, you really need to remove the wheel and press the cap out from the interior of the wheel. Don't try to pry them, they'll bend.

 

Video now available. (Thanks Mike!)

For even the most ham-fisted Ferrari owner, its as easy as pie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sndtTKmGHLc

btw, that is not my melodic voice