"new" 550 purchase

After starting in 2008 with a 430, which I could never really warm to, but never could really explain why, I went to "98 355, 3 pedal. It was love from the beginning. After Kevin Taylor at Penske-Wynn finished with it, I could not have been more pleased. I drove it daily, Capristo exhaust 5 valve V8 sound and gated shifter made going anywhere a pleasure. I wish I had not sold it, but the V12's siren song was too strong and I wanted a 550/575. After much discussion with Kevin who cut his teeth on 250's and knows the ins, outs and in betweens on everything since, I passed on 575 and focused on finding the right 550. For about a year I searched and called, finding myself just a little too late everywhere I looked. I missed both a NART and a Pozzi blue that both looked in good shape. A rosso barchetta was under serious consideration, but the black one got away. I went with a guy from whom I have bought and traded cars with for maybe 10 years and bought him not the car. Rosso corsa, tan interior, reputed to have speedine wheels, but upon inspection, after purchase naturally, no one can find any indication of what kind of wheels the are. They are nice looking, not too light, not too heavy, but Speedline--I don't know.

So, after what I thought was "major service" and all new hoses--the car was delivered. Life with the 355 taught me, to get it Kevin to see what the car really was like. In 20 minutes, I learned just how could be wrong. the list is too long for everything, but just a few highlights-mounts, not just gone, but to hell and gone. exhaust resting on chassis in at least 3 places-leaking AC compressor-the drier bottle marked '98--power steering fluid leaking onto alternator--fuel line leaking--multitude of other leaks--spun actuators-rear bumper mis-aligned--both windows fail to seal,bad regulators---etc, etc.

In a near panic I had Kevin do a compression check. All was good, except #9 wire was cracked.

the good news ( not to mention the stand up guy I bought the car from) is that Kevin, Rich and guys and Penske-Wynn, FChat, polar bear, and F1 imports all combined to put my 550 right at a price that will not kill me. That is assuming, that a fellow Fchatter, known to you all, still has a couple of used actuators he will sell me.

Having a shop you can count on along with the resources found here have made answering that siren's song a much better end than that which met those greek sailors.

this is now a car to drive and drive.

 

Excellent!
Enjoy your car and drive it as much as possible.

 

William if it's any consolation those are all fairly common issues with the 550, except the leaking fuel line, and the misaligned rear bumper. Could you expand on the fuel line a bit? It would be interesting to know more. And what year is your 550? Hopefully once it's sorted, you'll have many happy miles ahead.

 

I had the same issue is two places. the line failed with age, but fuel was not dripping, but sort of "weeping" and sort of congealed to a point and clung to and dropped off the line. the fuel was sort of a green color and from the build up on the line and the under tray must have been happening for some time.

the rear bumper--someone who took it off for whatever reason didn't put it back on correctly. fix was to take it off and put it back on correctly.

 

Thanks, but where exactly was the point of failure of the line(s)?

At the connectors to the fuel rails, at a bend, or ???

 

the leaks were in both the RH/LH rear return(178778) and RH/LH Rear delivery(170432) at the elbow by the tank.

 

Great, thanks for those details. Something for others to watch for.

Was there any fuel odor that tipped you off? Or was it the leakage onto the under tray?

Wonder if those lines suffered some "trauma" previously, which might have been related to the misaligned rear bumper?

 

I had the same question, but it appears the lines had just deteriorated. no smell, it was found on the lines and on the under tray.