mistake, i mean right side, not left for oil cooler
Sent my bad manifolds to QV and spoke with them yesterday and they say I should recieve them on the 26th. Whoopie!
I just got one of "AIRCON"s 355C manifolds repaired by my local race shop fabricator. The car has had an intense race campaign before it's road retirement, and when I saw the state of the manifold I wasn't confident of a reliable fix and advised accordingly. But the decision was to repair. The repair was US$850 (500US?) plus r+r, while the engine was out (but not necessary). It has now been repaired by one of the best fabbies I've seen, and so far has been perfect, and THAT is the bit I think most important. Two track days in high ambient conditions, and a bit of road work, and no sign of trouble yet. The really hard part is doing a nice job of removing and re-fitting the heat shields, around the sample plugs especially. I got him to cut it off from below, so it looks perfect from the top, with a few joins underneath only. So, while I think the QV part is a good deal, you can still spend less to effect a repair if you have good resources. "Spending less" isn't always the same as "saving money" though, so the decision is up to you!
I just finished installing the exhaust manifolds on my car I have to say that so far I am very pleased with the quality of QV's product. The car runs and sounds soooo much beter and as I figured it was not as hard as I expected to replace. My next move is to have it checked out to figure out if the 30K service was done and if not I will seriously consider pulling the motor out and changing them myself. I will update upon completion.
Ferrari spa should recall all 355s to install new headers redesigned for maximum horsepower and durability. think that's the right thing to do.
QV London rebuilt headers update. Replace mine in 2009. These headers lasted 13 years & approx. 37,000 kilometers, about the same life as the OEM. What to do now?
Depends on the failure mode. In my case, QV London only rebuilt my manifolds by replacing the tubing just beyond the first bend (2006)...so logically they failed just past that point 6 years later (2012). I sent them back and they rebuilt them again (I only paid return shipping), replacing ALL the tubing to the collector, like they should have been originally. Obviously QV London improved their process as they learned of failures. You could also send them to Quicksilver in the UK, they rebuild them the correct way. Note when QV London rebuilt my exhaust manifolds a second time, they did not install any insulation under the heat shields and they rattled like crap. Ferrari of Seattle opened up the shields and installed some insulation, then tack welded them back. QV London sucks....
It's expensive..but so is the car. Bite the bullet and install the tubi headers and be done with it. I refuse to install anything else on them. I know they fit, and I know they work. No reason to look elsewhere. JMHO..worth exactly what you paid for it.
