Need help identifying a 355 part

Hi All.

I could use a little help with identifying a loose part I found when pulling the battery from my '99 355 F1 Spider. It was sitting unattached behind where the battery was mounted.

It has five components (all names are my own and likely incorrect/imprecise):

(1) The black frame. This hold the other parts and has a couple of holes which look like mounting holes (for a screw or bolt) or alignment holes (for pins).

(2) The black plunger. This is the piece that pokes out from one side and narrows. There is a spring that pushes the plunger back toward its resting position.

(3) The light gray latch with 8 raised dots. When the plunger is in its resting position, the latch can't really move much. When the plunger is depressed, the latch can be pressed down to prevent the plunger from returning to its resting position. There is a spring that pushes the latch in the direction that will release the plunger.

(4) The spring for the plunger

(5) The spring for the latch


I've attached a couple of photos of the part in question, as well as one showing the general location where I found it.

Any clues as to what this might be?

Thanks!

- John
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Thanks!

I'm afraid the fuse had blown so completely that there was nary a sign of its former existence.

 

Yes. Either it was always loose or was freed by my battery removal efforts.

 

Here's an update on the mystery part.

First, the mechanism in the little part freed up a bit after playing with it. The light grey latch can now be pressed, causing the black plunger to retract.

I spent some more time trying to identify it, including:
- Looking through the parts diagrams for other 355 variants and some of the 348's and 360's.
- Google image searches for terms related to battery clamps, retainers, hold downs, latches.
- Browsing the web sites of several battery manufacturers and online stores
- Chatting with a knowledgeable-sounding guy at a local auto parts store
All turned up nothing particularly useful.

It does look like the black plunger fits nicely into the notches found on several sides of the bases of some batteries, as shown in the attached photos.

My guess is that this part was designed to help retain car batteries, and the light grey latch is a push-button release.

I re-installed the battery this morning. Again I noted that there was no place to attach the mystery part. The battery has the triangular indentations on three sides. When sitting in the car, the long edge facing the car's nose has no triangular indentations, and the one facing the wheel has the indentations but is clamped by the Ferrari battery clamp. However, to install that clamp, the battery has to be moved toward the nose of the car slightly, at which point it doesn't sit as securely.

So, with the battery being just slightly too big to fit as intended, I suppose that the mystery part somehow helped hold it in place. How? I don't know - there are no attachment points for it.

Unless I learn anything new, that likely brings this thread to a close.

If there were a prize for the closest guess, it would go to vracer

Thanks for the help!

- John
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