Quarantine Project: 355 major

When it became apparent that we were all going to be stuck at home for a while, I figured it would be a good opportunity to do the major on my 355.

This particular car is pretty well-known on Fchat…..Rob's former car. Though there was an owner in between him and myself, it's great to still have all of the documentation that Rob compiled during his ownership.

I did everything in my garage on my 4-post lift. It's a bit of a pain, but definitely doable.
Huge thanks to Mitchell (Yelcab) for a couple of pointers along the way, and to Daniel @ Ricambi for helping me out with most of the parts. His knowledge and responsiveness were much appreciated throughout the process.

This car already had the guides done, so this was just a "basic" major, with attention given to any and every area of need, as well as some preventative items which I believed prudent to address with everything apart.

I also changed the exhaust setup from Fabspeed headers & Cat bypass pipes to Tubi. Fabspeed items are listed for sale in the classifieds section (shameless plug).

Enough rambling. On to the good part!


Disassembly:
Image Unavailable, Please Login 929524BC-7221-40B5-8E13-C91FAD159560 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Engine out:
Image Unavailable, Please Login 33B78F43-3B24-4474-957C-BC2D9CCA02BF by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Image Unavailable, Please Login 35FE6D9F-EAA4-4514-B8DE-5C9CFCDFCF40 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Plenums off:
Image Unavailable, Please Login EE015E54-6453-48B2-AD36-CEC64DD8F282 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Throttles and valve covers off:
Image Unavailable, Please Login 348A3929-DD50-4BEC-ACA1-7F6CB68BC33C by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Cams out to check lifters:
Image Unavailable, Please Login DB6248B1-CC89-45FC-BF92-02EEB5A881EA by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Great use for an old bathmat!
Image Unavailable, Please Login E98C17D8-116A-4B9C-9BF8-BB517ECCDA03 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

The heat exchanger is a common failure item, and though mine looked ok, I went ahead and replaced it preventatively with a much more robust unit:
Image Unavailable, Please Login 9B4BD325-F31F-4833-8C89-597221B9C14E by Chris Grande, on Flickr

While everything was apart, I decided to take the time (many hours) and clean/recondition everything as much as possible. It's amazing how dirty these engines get with relatively few miles (34k).
A clean engine allows you to identify and trace future leaks far more easily, so it is absolutely worth the time investment.
Some before and after shots:
Image Unavailable, Please Login D04C9F2D-5C4B-449E-8FF9-AC8D70585E0A by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Image Unavailable, Please Login E323FB2D-343D-43E2-BD70-A566F7F5C57A by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Image Unavailable, Please Login F9220FAB-687D-4AA9-8FEE-05B3B3026B5E by Chris Grande, on Flickr

New AC compressor installed (original was leaking from the front seal):
Image Unavailable, Please Login 6F915DA1-806A-4067-9366-0C8EDED635EC by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Image Unavailable, Please Login 0BFB4A0D-1C31-4A53-BF9E-D43A7E059902 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Fuel injectors rebuilt and flow matched:
Image Unavailable, Please Login BA9A0A71-A0F5-417E-BCA3-58EF842DEC22 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Cam timing:
Image Unavailable, Please Login 67A81C02-2A95-4B35-B9E5-C420D9527112 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

New belts, tensioners, Hill Engineering tensioner bearings installed. Properly gapped, and cams degreed.
Image Unavailable, Please Login BA65CB8D-77D9-4C75-AA1D-35F9A7404079 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Some more cosmetic refreshing:
Image Unavailable, Please Login A0209573-0AC1-43C9-97A8-0442A3ABF7DB by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Image Unavailable, Please Login B83430FD-E80F-4928-BDB5-93910D0DB7FD by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Image Unavailable, Please Login E99FAA28-59C1-4BF4-B723-7515D292901C by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Image Unavailable, Please Login 814F1BE9-7A1D-4536-A4B0-5311A0E5528C by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Image Unavailable, Please Login 23C0E881-B2F1-4449-8D14-916BA9E9F925 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Image Unavailable, Please Login CD56B57B-1B99-49CF-A4D9-432A074ECFF3 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

More reassembly. All clean and shiny!
Image Unavailable, Please Login 337C702C-3ED5-41D9-8D67-8BCA1C184199 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Belts on and tension set:
Image Unavailable, Please Login CAA1E729-370B-46DD-A0D6-3E36DC230B86 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Image Unavailable, Please Login EC33A582-E942-402C-B537-DC0447FCF2A0 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Tubi headers installed and everything ready to go back in the car!
Image Unavailable, Please Login 37C1772F-CD1E-4C6C-96AB-296F8A6D557C by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Image Unavailable, Please Login F3B05EAB-90DF-4C7B-B6A7-A07031984EF0 by Chris Grande, on Flickr

Many other small items addressed which aren't pictured here (some new hoses, all new plug wires, etc.)

All in, the project took about 2.5 months. Everything is back together and the car runs great!

 

what a work of beauty. pure inspiration! thank you!

 

Great to see the car in good hands. Great photos on the cleaning you put in.

Robb

 

Great work. Car is in good hands. What did you swap the Capristo exhaust with? Tubi headers look the business.

 

Thanks for the kind words!
Elliott- I replaced with a Nouvalari. I had one on my old '97 GTS and loved it. I've now owned 355s with Nouvalari, Tubi (old style), and Capristo, and the Nouvalari is my favorite of the bunch. I was very tempted to spring for the Tubi Evolution, but the Nouvalari made more sense from a cost standpoint right now.
Agreed on the Tubi headers- they are works of art!

 

Was the Capristo too quiet before bypass opening for you? It sounds very tame on a 2.7 before bypass opens. I have run 3 different exhausts on mine including Capristo 2/3 and Tubi Evolution. On the 2.7 the Tubi is very nice - but the only downside of that muffler is drone. But at idle and lower rpm it sounds more Ferrari on a 2.7 car.

 

Much respect! I'm glad I could play a tiny little part in making your quarantine more productive.

 

Exactly. Anything partial throttle or even rev-matching at higher RPM was too quiet for my personal liking. I prefer the Nouvalari in this respect. Would love to try the Tubi Evolution at some point...

 

I know exactly how you feel. I will likely fit a Tubi Evo again to compare the two. I have tried many combinations to find the right sound.

 

Beautiful work!!

A couple questions:

How did you move the car back into the garage after dropping the engine? I see it’s hanging off the lift outside the garage door

What products did you use on the muffler heat shield?

I have a 4 post lift and have been contemplating this project for awhile. Great to see someone do it successfully.

 

Great job, Chris. Those look like my shorts in that one pic...lol.

Let's go drive.

sjd

 

Forgot to give you a shout out for the cameo! haha
Thanks for the help with the cam timing!

 

It’s hard to get the Capristo in the right sound spectrum all the time with the bypass operating imo. Also, another thing to note, the Fabspeed headers most likely killed the F1 sound on the top end. Changing out to Tubi headers was the perfect move.

I’ll be opening up the Capristo exhaust I just bought from you . I’m gonna figure out where the magic is and see if I can modify it internally for better sound when bypass closed. Not sure how much packing there is if any. Will be an interesting project .

 

Hi Bob,
Mitchell (Yelcab) has a lot of experience doing this with a 4-post lift so he was a great resource, along with a couple threads here in this section.
I used 2 regular floor jacks with a long 2x4 forward of the gas tanks and pushed/rolled the car on those. Obviously there is no weight on the back after the lump is out, so it's not difficult to push. Feel free to PM me and I can talk you through the details of what I did.

I used VHT Black Wrinkle paint on the muffler heat shield. Same as what I used on the oil tank. Check out some youtube videos on how to aid the curing/wrinkle process with a heat gun.

Good luck! It really isn't that bad. I know some people who have done this with a regular floor jack and jack stands (like Steved033 on his 348). To me, that seems like it would be more difficult than the 4-post...

 

I had heard rumor of that with the Fabspeed headers. I did bolt the Capristo on after just to compare directly with the Nouvalari. Sounded awesome once the bypass opened, but was still too quiet for my liking with the bypass closed. I have a Capristo bypass which is easy to force open (just yank the vacuum hose), and it sounds good throughout the rev range, but was WAY too loud for normal driving.
My guess is what you'll find when you open it up is very little packing (if any) in the top chamber, and quite a lot in the bottom chamber. Please keep me posted---would love to see the pics of that!

 

Great job! Thanks for posting. That is what I should have done during my shutdown......maybe this winter.

 

Ok. Just to clarify, you tried the Capristo with the new Tubi Headers correct?

 

Awesome work, looks very good!
BTW any 4 post lifts have casters that you can step on like a lever and lift it and roll the whole 4 post lift.

 

Ken I have the Capristo with Tubi headers it’s the same deal quiet as before bypass opens and way to loud for normal driving with the bypass open all the time.

 

Exactly the same reason i went for Nouvalari Super Sport muffler and headers to get the right sound as the Fabspeed is merged 4-1, don't understand why Fabspeed went for this design really.....

 

My BendPak 4 post has a caster option that looks pretty cool. When you lower it, the casters engage and are removable. I didnt get it as I just use the 4 post for storage and have a 2 post for service.

https://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com/fp9k-dx-xlt-car-storage-parking-service-9k-lift-p/AutoLift-Car-Park-9.htm?gclid=Cj0KCQjwrIf3BRD1ARIsAMuugNs3mTL88UywNXs3fK_X7cyce63yv5amyU4hzqhVxI7TfPa8lf08uT8aAg-pEALw_wcB

 

Ernest. I have a bend pack lift. And have the casters. They work great although I have never had a car on it when moving it. If doing the service the engine is out and it’s just the body so maybe it’s reasonable to do that.

In my garage when putting the 355 on the lift I move the lift away from the side wall a bit as I have it pretty snugged up against it for normal storage.

It takes a few minutes to put the casters on. Large pin and cotter pins hold them. You just lower the lift down and the wheels take the load off the posts. If your floor is smooth it’s a one man job to move it.

 

Nice work Chris! I doing the same with my berlinetta now as well.

 

Chris. Beautiful job! May I ask - where did you source the more robust Heat Exchanger?

 

Very Nice! I still miss that car. It was the fastest 355 I have ever driven, and the primary motivation for me getting a 2.7 car this time around. When you get a moment, can you take a look at your build date and let me know? I bet it's prior to Oct '94 because that car had the different heads and everything. I remember trying to do a compression test on it and my tester wouldn't fit down into the hole. I thought I was going crazy because I had just done one on my '97. Then I did some reading...
Please share some pics!