Some are steel, some are aluminum, and some are fiberglass. (Actually, there's a mixture of all of the above on most of them.) Trying to close the front lid without releasing the piston is the most common cause of bends. The paint on the older ones can be brittle, so a sharp blow (such as hitting it with the T-top) can cause paint chips. Wide hands. On the old ones, they up the price to say, "Why didn't you do that yourself?" No no no. The spark plugs are cheap. It's the little box with the horse on it that costs you. Compared to pounding the rocks together, yes. Compared to a Toyota (e.g. a turbo Celica), the Ferrari is a dream to work on.