Project-Scuderia

Yes, I had to laugh when I saw the nuts were on the inside on the rear, and I had to remove BOTH undertrays, because Ferrari didn't think to make a single access panel for an alignment. Yours is an excellent idea, and probably a good opportunity to install longer bolts for more shims.

 

I looked at the Ferrari 430 Challenge adjustable drop links for the Anti-Roll Bars. Including all the extra hardware, the price was well over $2000.00 for a complete set of four. Examining the stock drop links, I found all the fasteners to be standard M10 fine pitch (1.25); not common hardware but not impossible to source.

With the Ferrari up on a 4-post lift and the suspension under static load, I measured the stud lengths to position the drop links as vertically as possible, and measured the thread depths in the ARBs and the receivers on the uprights to calculate the lenghts of the various bolts and spacers.

Then using some smart design work, I came up with a single adjustable drop-link design using all off-the-shelf parts that would work at any corner of the car. The 4 stock drop links are all different; you cannot install one from any corner at any other corner. The rear drop-links are 20mm longer than the front drop-links (see photos below). For this first-generation design, I used the same rod end setup that Ferrari uses; a male rod end threaded into a female rod end, with a tightening nut.

This first-generation design has a couple limitations:

1) Dialing out the pre-load requires removal of one bolt through either the top or bottom rod end, and the adjustments are not infinite. The adjustments have to be in increments of 180 degrees of thread, or about 0.625mm of drop-link length. The Ferrari solution has the same limitation.

2) The bolt heads and the spacers that position the drop-links both limit the spherical travel of the bearings in the rod ends. This could be an issue at the extreme ends of suspension travel (see photos below). I don't know whether the Ferrari drop-links have this issue.

I am working on a second-generation design that will address both of these issues, with reduced weight and increased strength.

In the mean time, I sourced a complete set of drop-links with hardware locally, for less than $800.00.

It was a pure bolt-on upgrade that took about an hour. Both wheels have to be off the ground (suspension unloaded) in order to R&R the drop-links from either ARB. You must use a wrench to remove the stock drop-links, and some of the threaded studs can only be turned a sixth of a turn at a time. Multiply that by 20 threads and 4 studs, and that's a lot of wrenching. You can use a ratchet wrench (or an air wrench) to install the adjustable drop-links, so it literally takes seconds; another advantage of this design.

The thru-bolts shown in the first four photos are not the bolts used in the install (shown in the last four photos).
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Yes, the 'stand-off' with the spacers is to get the drop-links to be as near vertical as possible under static load. That addresses the geometry problem that F430GT mentioned above. The stock drop links are actually positioned the same, but it is difficult to tell because the bearing housing, boot, and wrench fitting mask the actual stand-off of the stud.

The spherical bearing rod ends are self-lubricating bushings on stainless bearings, so they are pretty durable. I've used them on ARBs for 22 years, and never worn one out before.

 

Air compressor = 2.325 kg (5.1 lb)
Tool kit = 1.165 kg (2.6 lb)
============================
Trunk Items total = 3.490 kg (7.7 lb)
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Here are some shots of the car, while I corner-balanced it. I pulled the brake rotors off, which makes it easier to adjust the spring perch collars. While they were off, an engineer at the shop collected all the dimensional data from the rotors, hats, bobbins, and hardware.
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Here is some of the wheel and braka data collected so far.

Wheel-Brake Measurements
============================================
Clearance from rotor face to stock wheel spokes = 67mm
Inner diameter of stock wheels (smallest point) = 438mm (suitable for 380mm brake rotors)
Inner diameter of Dymag wheels (smallest point) = 400mm (suitable for 350mm brake rotors)
Front brake caliper piston diameters: 30mm (low), 34mm (mid), 38mm (high)
Caliper mounting base radius on upright (front/rear): 4.569” (116mm) from hub center
F and R Caliper mounting bolt spacing: 132mm center-on-center

More data to follow.

Interesting facts - The front and rear uprights are the same (FR=RL, FL=RR). So, the brake rotor-caliper combinations are interchangeable front to rear. E-brake calipers could be installed in the front, and rear-wheel steer could also be installed (to a much lesser degree than the front).
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I had noticeable wear on the front brake pads, so I obtained a better set of track pads to replace them. Ferrari does not make it easy to get pads anywhere besides the dealer. Working with the Pagid distributor for North America, I was able to obtain enough data to verify the Scud uses the same size brake pads F&R as the F430 Challenge. The only compound that Pagid offers in the correct sizes is RS-19. Fortunately, I know from several years of racing on carbon-ceramic brakes, that RS-19 is a very good pad compound for that application.

Full thickness on new pads is 10mm. My stock pads had worn down to 6-7mm. I noted some taper on the inside pad from each front caliper (6.0mm to 7.2mm). So, even though the piston sizes in the calipers are staggered, the pads still do not wear evenly. However, I have seen subtantially worse taper on PCCB pads.

Front brake caliper piston diameters: 30mm (low), 34mm (mid), 38mm (high). The front calipers are 'trailing' calipers, so the rotor rotates low to high through the caliper. The smallest piston is on the 'leading edge' of the pad.

Here are pictures of the pads. I did not have anything handy to include in the picture to show the scale of the pads. They are absolutely gigantic. The pad backing plate measures 189.6mm (7.46") x 97.2mm (3.83").

Note the "PAGID 5600" stamping at the top of the backing plate on the stock pad (black), and the "RS19" stamping at the top of the Challenge pad (yellow).
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While we were adjusting the rear camber, I discovered this appendage attached to the back of the transmission housing. It appears to be a crash attenuator, although the design is not as sophisticated as others I am familiar with, and the material is not the best choice for that application. I could not find a part number or name for it in the parts catalog.

Out of curiosity, I pulled it off, tested it with a magnet, weighed it, and re-installed it. It is aluminum, and it weighs 0.820 kg (1.8 lbs).
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They did not look bedded in already. Normally, Pagid includes bed-in instructions or a note saying it's not required. I did not find either in the box. I have scheduled time to bed-in on Friday, if needed.