Missing cam belt gear cover?

The F355 Challenge cars had a rear belt cover on each side (174689, 174688), but the road cars do not. I suppose it would be useful to have, in rare cases where debris could get up in that location (the 348 had rear covers). The actual Challenge covers would also be super simple to copy -- they appear to be simple laser-cut pieces of thin steel.

 

I have never seen any issues with the rear cover being open and I have been working on these cars since 1995 when they were new. I am not saying it can't happen, just haven't seen it, I would not waste the time and effort. The issue with Challenge cars is rubber chunks. It damaged all kinds of stuff. Inner fender liners were beaten every race and had to be repaired. We had replaceable screens and they were replaced frequently. I can see where not having a cover on that car could have been an issue.

 

Most modern engines with belt-driven cams have rear covers. It's a durability thing - especially when most are calling for belt changes every 8-10 years and 80-100k miles.

However, with belts being changed every 15k miles and 3-5 years (depending on your personal beliefs on the subject) the 348/355 missing the rear covers is not a huge deal. As mentioned above, the Challenge cars have is because of the track debris that might find it's way into that area.

With all of that said, there are cars that have NO timing belt guards, and this is also considered normal...

 

My 1995 F355 Challenge has the rear covers...


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Yes, the rubber chunks (tire marbles) do a job on the undertrays, inner fender liners and screens.

You can hear what's happening on my Sebring onboard video when I was sharing the track with the Porsche pro teams...





10:48 - 11:24

 

That was a great vid, Dr. Barry!!

 

Thanks, Alan my friend. That was only my second time at Sebring. I had the rhythm of the track down and asked my coach, Rolex Series driver Peter London, to keep up the patter so I could use it as a personal training video. I was out there with pro and semi-pro Porsche Team drivers but I did okay.

 

I'd use the cover for a template.

 

For those yes belt off. If I wanted to protect it from the top you could make one that slips down like a U. Not much happening from underneath. You count measure with calipers and make template from card stock and trim and adjust to fit then transfer it to CAD or even Visio and make final contours and have it water jet cut. There is a lot of tolerance there to play outside the 2 bolt hols. A few hours of work is all.

 

I have them on my street car. Just mounted behind stock cover Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

A lot of stuff in the seems to go in waves/trends/fads. For a time, the Challenge Grill was the hottest item going, then clear front F355 signals were all the rage, after a while it became the 355 Challenge radiator screens (170904, 170906), then came these rear belt guards, and of course Speedline Challenge wheels never went out of style.

In other words, there was indeed a bunch of legitimately cool stuff -- but not really 'necessary' for normal road-going F355 cars. IMHO, if you wanted those rear belt guards, I'd just wait until your next engine-out service to mess with the project.

 

Leo,

I agree with Wade, Matt, Eric and Daniel's advice. The F355's front belt covers in conjunction with the undertrays adequately protect a road-going car's timing belts. Rear belt covers aren't necessary so don't obsess over this.

The track environment is a completely different affair. At high speeds, tire marbles and other bits of track debris can be very destructive to the undertrays and it's possible for debris to ultimately find its way into the timing belt area. Early 308s were vulnerable which is why Ferrari added rear belt covers later on during production. There was no shielding from underneath in that car series.

If you track your car, you can always have some rear belt covers made up and installed at the time of your next major service.

Barry