How bent is too bent: 348

Unless they are paying you to haul it away, it's bent too much. Where will you get the gigs to make sure the frame is straight? Without them you are asking for trouble. And you will end up with a car that has absolutely no resale value.

Art

 

Anything can be fixed but Art has a point about resale.

Straightening the car might be the easy part. Fixing the broken stuff that can't be straightened will probably cost more than you can imagine. Almost certainly it's a parts car, and unless you have another one that isn't bent that needs the good parts, you would be wise to avoid it.

A 348 doesn't require an apology, it's a Ferrari.

 

The cost of parts kills most of those projects. Many before you have done it and wound up way upside down before the project was complete.


I wouldn't do it but if you do, proceede very carefully.

 

FWIW-
since you SPECIFICALLY REFERENCED "1980's CAR", i can assume you are looking at a 1989 TB/TS, as a 90, 91 or 92 year model is-while visually nearly undistinguishable from each other-are substantially, if not comletely different cars in all the areas which made 1989 cars such dreadful cars and, and without question, these were the worst cars they ever made...

The spring rates were wrong(ask the Challenge guys who had to set these things up), the trannies need(ed) updates which cost 30+K if customer pay, and not covered under warranty pay, front gog drive cover needle to roller conversions for internals of timing belt drive, heads needing drilling for oil drainage as cam seals would puke oil before being off loaded from the transporter prior to PDI!!!
...the list is long and distinguished(as in costly and expensive!), yadda, yadda, yadda
the 2.5 Motronic is the crudest Ferrari ever employed...this model, and this model only...
the seat belt systems are a notorious PIA...delaminating, 7-layer mylar fuse panels...
the electricals, alternators, the ACC(if you are generous, call it automatic!),....all weak...

a perfect car, which runs flawlessly, is slower than a 355 needing all the valve guides!

You will NEVER get out from under this thing-the previous poster said it correctly: this is a bad car that you will lose money on even if they pay you to tow it away.

IMO-and I've been doing this for almost 40 years...and I was also a former shop foreman for ****-a new car delivery point in the top 6 west of the rockies, so I am a good judge of your skills which ARE NOT in question here, its the car-period...DON'T do it....
the old used car adage: "it could be a bad deal even if they give you the car" was never truer than in this instance.
NO OTHER model they've manufactured-ever-was within 11 time zones of being this weak of a car...
As for unit body construction, of a "drive line/suspension sub-frame unit" car...
without race car chassis fab experience, and a frame table-or a million dollar Celette laser bench-you pretty much can't get the tub straight...
back in the day, prior repair/paint work killed sales on alot of these cars-crash history was a deal killer, as so few had the ability to "do it correctly"...
this got much worse with the 355, and completely culminated in chaos with the 360(there was a time when less than 6 places in NA which were OK'd by FNA as qualified crash repair facilities)....
Jeez, i remeber seeing 30+ cars at Classic Coach....parts availability were a problem as well as length of time to "do it right"...(insurance companies were going nuts),
and I doubt there is anyone who will disagreee with "Franks place" being a "do it 100% right" facility....
thus, even if a later model car, it is an extremely ill advised undertaking...parts were thin and ridiculous then-how do you think it is now, in the midst of the greatest price run up in history?
;-{

 

My take: save up and get a good one. Most likely it will cost you less in the long run and 348 prices aren't going anywhere for a while.

There are expensive Ferrari's and then there are expensive Ferrari's that look cheap.

 

Buy it, completely disassemble it and then take inventory of what you'll need to make it right. Under no circumstances do you buy anything until you've taken full inventory of every last nut and bolt you need to complete the car. Then total that up and see if you still want to put it together. When you decide it's not worth it, sell the parts and use the profit to buy a better car.

 

Go ahead, tell us what you really think, Mr Knowitall.

 

He's working on expressing himself better.

 

Then get a not so nice one that hasn't been in an accident and fix it up. The problem with fixing a Ferrari isn't the work of fixing it. It's easier to work on than my Boxster and especially my 928. The problem is parts costs. The price of parts for a 348 is marginally lower if not the same as a 348 or 355. Some parts aren't available.

I thought about a 348. I really like them and want one in addition to my 360 one day. I could personally give a rats about what other Ferrari owners think of them. I think they're sexy and a great design. What made me get a fixer 360 (so to speak) was the lack of airbag in the 348, the improvements in design (it's the new 246), performance, and having dealt with maintaining a 928.. I was done with the "it might not be available part".. reliability that is on par with fiat era standards. etc.

Agree that if you decide to get it. Do your research ahead of time for parts costs, Disassemble it, find out exactly what you need and price it. If its too spensive then part it. You can space the repairs out.. but it really might be cheaper to get an imperfect example in better condition.

 

Run Forest...Run!,

 

Starting with a needy Ferrari and trying to 'tame' it to becoming a good, reliable one seems like a huge ask. If this is your first Ferrari, you might also consider going back to a 328. Timeless looks, adequate performance, and great reliability. I have faster, more modern cars in my garage, but I don't hesitate to take my 328 out, especially late afternoon when the heat of the day is gone and the song of the V8 surrounds you.

 

Why don't you buy a nice 308 instead? If I had it all to do over again I'd have bought the best 308GT4 on the planet 25 years ago.

 

Cool Deal. If you can fix and and make it they way you want then by all means save the old girl before someone parts it out and she's gone forever.

Good Luck and enjoy it

 

This!!

And out of curiousity, how much is it?

And I've owned 3 348's in my time and i love the frickin car, I would choose something else for the track for the same money that will outrun a 348 all day long....

 

Each of the posts here have elements of truths. I forgot about the 7 layer laminated weird fusebox. I took mine apart to fix it once. What a POS! But this thread is not about all the known problems with 348's. But to raise those points especially the gearobox the aftermarket has fixed all that. The gearboxes need cheap minor tweeks to make them bulit proof. I was the first known diy'er with the help of FoH parts guys to rebuilt these boxes. They are simple and I've done more than 6 of them. In around '92 the FNA dealers wanted $17k to rebuild mine I idid it with home made tools for less than $3k and that box ran strong for a few years of wheel to wheel racing before I got wrecked. The 348 was the original sticky interior car and we fixed that too before there was "sticky no more." As a racer you would not beleive what we wreck and what we fix with nothing but brains, brawn and simple home made tools. There is no laser station or factory repair jig for an average race car. You wreck it you figure out how to fix it. When you win races you figure you fixed it right. Racing places more demands of chassis and chassis straightness and durability and toughness than any street application. They are rebuilt all the time. This 348 can be rebuilt too. I would say off the top of my head if you remove the subassembly and see that the frame at the gastank is not damaged at all you got a simple rebuild by sourcing a used subassbmly and bolting that in the fix could be way easier than you expect. In fact you might want to do that anyway to get the prefered later geometry in the rear subassembly. If one side of the subassembly is good it would take almost no effort to cut the other side off and rebuild it. Easy! In fact that whole subassembly is light and you could move it around and flip it to weld/fab on it easy. You could measure the pickup points on a later subass and then change the early subass to a late on by changing to the later subass pickup points. Easy! I forget that guy in orange county, Ca. Mike is the ferrari junck yard and he has got used parts you can buy. The rancho cordova guys advertise on Ebay they got parts too but are expensive. Call those guys and price out bumpers, lights, grill, control arms, shocks etc and the prices of will wake you up! Like RifleDriver said it is all in the cost of parts.

 

no other comment necessary! The only car I would trade this for would be a daytona and then I would have to sleep on it......
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Take the good advice these guys have already given you. Walk.

 

You have the skills, you don't care about resale value, you have the tools... The world is full of unloved and abused 308s ready to be your grateful and loving and affectionate mistress. Think Henry Higgins and "My Fair Lady", with a happy ending.

But if you have your heart set on this *****y and demanding 348 who has promised to clean up her act but hasn't even made it out of unibody rehab yet... Be sure that you know everything you're going to need to buy up front, don't assume that anything will be either available or reasonably priced without checking first.

 

It's a shame really, we all love to see one brought back from the dead but the reality is that these warnings are coming from people who have been there before you and know the pitfalls.

 

I got involved with fixing up a 355 that had been bought cheap after being involved in a heavy shunt. The guy wanted to DIY the damage himself, using used parts where possible. It came to me to have the engine out and the rear frame replaced, along with suspension. He bought two useless frames off eBay before we got a useable one. Most of the used parts he bought were damaged in some way, some beyond use. Last I heard it is still sat unfinished and forgotten about. You need a decent budget to fix these things, and if your on about building a modified engine for it too I hope you have a friendly bank manager....

 

You did not state where you are located. If you are in the northeast, Classic Coach has the frame machines and jigs to straighten out the chassis. Not a problem. Also, before you start purchasing body parts, take the car to a GOOD body shop that works with metal - not some cheap panel replacement shop. You will be surprised how much they can salvage/ fabricate. If you go that route, you will probably be in for $18K -$20K, including paint, doing the mechanical work yourself. I know, I've been down this path. Now, I am talking about reconstructing a racing car, not something that you will be taking to a FCA concours and expecting a trophy.