So there I was on beautiful summers day, taking the 348 into the office, it needed a run. I decided to leave early, and as I was navigating the on-ramp onto the motorway, I heard a light clunk under the car. What had happened, is I had run over a lead wheel weight which had obviously come off another car and was lying on the road, I never saw it, the colour of lead blends well into the road surface. I then noticed a vibration, this got worse, then I heard a disturbing clunk and clang sound, the tyre deflated very quickly and so I pulled over. The lead weight was thrown out of the tyre, went through the inner guard, damaged the radiator then impacted the outer guard and put a very noticeable dent in the panel. So, all good, insurance will cover it. But still, quite annoying, not much I can do about it though. I want to replace the radiator, can anyone tell me if there are any aftermarket options? I guess I could try the usual Eurospares and Maranello and so forth for OEM, but thought there may be other options? I have a good body repair guy who could probably sort the inner guard out and the other bodywork, we'll probably just repaint the whole car, tidy it up, there's quite a few stone chips and so forth.... I also wasn't expecting to replace the tyres so soon...lol.... Pics of the adventure... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ouch! Such a shame. I have brand new aluminum radiators left and right for the 348 sourced from the UK via Superformance, I can sell but only as a set.
Few years back a guy out here ran over a coin and it made its way to lower cam belt and skipped timing and belt valves. So it could have been worse. [emoji3] Sent from my SM-G990U using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Quite unfortunate . Sorry for the missed driving days as it takes a while to get the car repaired and back on the road.
Yeah, a bit annoying but soon it will have new radiators, some repaired bodywork as well as getting rid of the stone chips and scrapes off the front bumper, bonnet and sills. The liner can be repaired or I might see if I can get one off a wreck. Shame about the tyres, they only had a few miles on them.... I do all the work on the car, apart from the paint, the insurance company are happy with that... This is what happens on the North-Western motorway, its a battlefield out there!!
My condolences Repairing the wheelhouse part seems to be the way to go. There are no second hand panels currently for sale and it may be NLA (new). Is the radiator actually leaking? Maybe it can be sealed off. Only two channels out of dozens seem to be dented. Anyway, if you're going through your insurance company, I guess cost really isn't an issue.
Yes, we'll just repair the wheel liner, and maybe something will turn up in the future. Just damage to two tubes, radiator is not leaking, it might be fine, but in my experience that kind of damage can turn into a leak, I have the opportunity to grab both left and right radiators from a F chat member in Sydney, so it will work out nicely, insurance company footing the bill. Quite incredible the amount of damage that thing did!! I'm glad I found it jammed in the liner so I know exactly what happened...
Kevin, I had something similar happen to me at Sebring International Raceway three years ago. My right rear slick threw up a large tire marble shed by another race car which smashed through my Challenge hardware cloth screen (equivalent to your inner guard) breaking off three fan blades and badly damaging the radiator core. I don't have pictures of the damage that day but here's the Challenge screen I'm talking about, albeit on the left side... Image Unavailable, Please Login Daniel at Ricambi America helped me source new Saldana aluminum radiators. New heavy-duty fans were also installed and my shop fabricated thicker hardware cloth screens. Your inner guard can be easily repaired. Check the condition of the fan blades and take Elliott up on his offer of new aluminum radiators. It's time for an upgrade anyway. Barry
Yes we'll repair the inner guard. I was actually thinking of doing something like that grille in the style of your car. I have seen marbles of rubber on race tracks do that sort of damage before, its incredible the amount of damage that can occur. I've spoken with Elliot and have a plan to get his radiators, quite convenient that he's across the ditch in Sydney...
You can bond a panel of heavy hardware cloth to your inner guards behind the louvers. You'll have double protection that way. The Porsche racing team was out that day at Sebring shedding a lot of tire marbles. The damage occurred at the end of the day when the amount of debris on the track was at its greatest. It happened on the long straight before Turn 17, the fastest part of the track. My fans were on and I could feel a vibration in Turn 17 resulting from the loss of the fan blades. Pit-in is right after that turn and so I did just that. It's good to hear you'll be upgrading your car with Elliott's radiators. Don't forget to check your fan blades. Barry
Finally I have had time to follow this up, and find the right company to do the panel work and so forth. I found a company who can make a custom radiator for a fraction of the cost of buying them off the shelf, they do the local Ferrari dealers work so are familiar with Ferrari's, they specialize in custom builds. I glassed up the liner after staring at it trying to figure out the best option, I figured it couldn't be any more difficult than repairing my windsurfing boards. It worked out well, the guys going the bodywork are doing to tidy it up a bit for me.... I am about to go pick up the wheels from the tyre shop complete with new tyres which took a couple of months to get here. Couple of pics of my fiberglass work. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
As are the wheel weights on my car, the weight that caused this damage was not from my car, I ran it over after it has come off someone else's car. its the knock on spring type used on older steel wheels.
A quick update. Took the radiator out today, going to drop that off tomorrow morning. This place I am taking it to are old school, they are great to deal with and have an exceptional reputation, not only that, they have done quite a few custom radiators on various Ferrari's including 355's and 348's, the chap I am dealing with knew exactly what the radiator configuration is in the 348....I am confident it will be better than new. I finally got the tyres fitted, we threw the damaged tyre but I kept the other one for a spare should I ever need it.. I am enjoying the progress, it should be all done in the next couple of weeks. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Got the custom radiator, its a 3 row instead of two row, brass tanks copper core. I think the guys did a great job. So, I got that fitted, coolant added and road test, was sure great getting out for a drive in the 348, just a brilliant driving experience. All I have to do now is to sort out a time I can get it into the body shop to sort out the dent, and then the repairs are complete. I'm not stopping there though. There are a few more things I am going to do. 1, Get another radiator made for the other side. 2, Replace the brake rotors and pads 3, Purchase the Link ECU and injectors. 4, Look at some throttle body options. Im sure there are a few more things I'll do along the way. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
