The First Year with my F430 is in the books

It hasn't been [I]quite[/I] a year yet, but this is the time for an update.
I purchased my first F-car, an '06 F430 Spider from Dan "Whatheheck" (forum member) on April 28 of '20. In the midst of the earliest parts of Covid, we were relegated to a "virtual" walkaround of the car. Getting to know Dan on that call led me to have a very high level of confidence that I was getting a well-sorted, well-loved and well-maintained example; just what I needed to buy a car sight-unseen.
Forgoing the traditional PPI, we simply made the agreement, exchanged the funds and shipped the car from him (in the Pacific Northwest) to me (in the Salt Lake City area). The shipped told me it would be picked-up mid-week and be to me on the weekend. This turned-into the longest couple of days of my life, so far, haha.

Anyway; fast-forward 10 months.

In the last 10 months I've put about 9k miles on the car (it's about to crest 50k miles). These were fantastic, epic miles. One of the first outings in the car was with a local group of enthusiasts (it's not a club, they assure me) organized by forum member "Stackhouse". The run was well-attended, and some of the cars there made mine feel like it sort of faded into the background. It seems like the Mclarens in our local group outnumber everything else. I don't know why that is, exactly, but it leaves the Ferrari guys sort of "sticking together".
I've done a number of runs with this group, and some others, in the meantime; always enjoyable. My wife and I have also spent a number of weekends exploring the mountain roads and small communities, sating in some cute boutique hotels and B&B's. This was somewhat unexpected, as every other mid-engined Ferrari she's ever sat in, she found too small and cramped for her tastes. But the F430 she can "lounge-about" in, with lots of room to stretch. We've done an 8-hr day in the car, and she enjoyed it, even with the top down.

I'm a track instructor for the PCA. I've had the car on the track twice because it deserves it. I don't intend that to be a frequent thing because I find It's not as fun as a track-prepped car with sticky tires, racing brakes, stiff suspension, etc. I can't "rally" it the way I can a race car. But there's still something quite special about an F430 on the track. Everyone stops what they're doing to come watch and listen.

As far as the costs of ownership in this first year:
I received a book of receipts and service records from Dan when I bought the car. I entered all of these into a spreadsheet, so that I could see at-a-glance what has been done, when it was done, and then enter when it will be due again. I'm a racer, and a tinkerer; I do ALL of my own services on ALL of my own cars. Sometimes this means buying some additional tools and equipment, with Ferrari being no exception.

One of the first purchases I made was a quickjack, just for this car. because there really aren't any places to put jackstands under the car, except for the point where the jack will be, the quickjack was the easiest solution to allow getting it in the air. It's still somewhat awkward to have to lower it back down after removing the screws for the underbelly, so you can remove it, and then lift it back up. Odd design, that. But I'm okay with "quirky".

Next purchase was the Launch X431, so I could read anything going on with the car, and monitor things like clutch usage. This being my first F1 clutch, and it being a single-clutch, I found I was (perhaps overly) nervous about using it properly. After a year and 9k miles of monitoring the usage, it seems I know how to drive it after all. But the X431 has been useful for so many other things, too.

I've never really been one to keep receipts or records, as that only has value to the next guy.... but I'm hoping to be a little better about that with this car. Dan sent to me a car with some mods that included:

- tasteful high-quality Stereo / Speaker / Sub upgrades
- Agency Power Headers with Capristo blankets
- Kline valved exhaust
- ECU tune by MASE eng.
- Scud Ing F1 relay
- Scud Ing Tail Light kit
- Scud Ing DRL's
- Front and Rear parking Cameras
- Carbon shift paddles

From my desk-chair memory, the maintenance & repairs list this year has looked like this:

- Oil & Filter Change (I've done this three times now. Each time with Mobil1)
- Gearbox oil change
- F1 Fluid Flush & Bleed
- Welded a repainted a cracked bracket on the exhaust dog-ear hanger, and then moved the exhaust outlets back 3/4", so the condensation would no longer drip on the paint below. it was staining the paint permanently.
- Replaced the Kline exhaust controller with the Forza unit. (I just couldn't get that Kline unit to work consistently. Beautiful tech, but troublesome for me.)
- Replaced the Brake rotors (all 4)
- Replaced brake pads twice
- Installed braided brake lines that Dan had included in the sale
- Flushed the brakes and filled with Motul RBF600
- Ceramic coated the Calipers
- had the curb rash repaired on two wheels (one was like that when I got it, and one was my poor judgement) and then ceramic-coated the wheels
- Did the "Mod for Sound" on the intake tubes (basically taping-off the sound-attenuating ports)
- Added some soft lights in the intake tube and the intake in front of the rear wheel. (Not sure I love this yet. they may come back out.)
- Replaced all front ball joints (upper & lower), shock mounts and Tie-Rod ends with updated HE items.
- Flushed the coolant. I elected not to replace the thermostat I bought, as it's not leaking and not overheating. I'll hang on to it.
- Installed old-skool FIAMM air horns in front bumber
- had front bumper repainted to adress 50k miles of rock-chips. (I know they were earned, but the clear-bra wouldn't lay correctly on the chipped paint.)
- New Skid-Plates on front bumper
- Thoroughly Cleaned and Lubed EVERYTHING
- Nut-n-Bolted the car from underneath (replaced many nuts/bolts with new, stainless where possible)
- Had the front of the car clear-bra'd. (Hood, Bumper, fender, mirrors, rocker panels / sills)
- Ceramic coated the entire car.
- adjusted the windows so the top seals a little tighter (there was a small amount of road / air noise at some speeds)

I'm not going to add-up what I've spent on all of this, as it would simply serve to distract from the amount of fun I've had, and how perfect this car really is. Much of this maintenance has been what I call "scope-creep". It's the "while I'm here" disfunction which drives so many of us.
Right now as we speak, the car is at the best detailer in town, having the leather cleaned thoroughly so we can see what needs to be done to make it perfect. (50k miles has taken its toll on the drivers' side bolster).

So all-in-all, the first year of ownership has been spectacular and everything I wished it would be. The next year holds in store some FCA events (I'm on the local chapter's board now) and an epic "SanDiego to Seattle in 3 weeks via PCH HWY1" trip. I'll blog that when we do it.

Here's a quick little video of a lap of the track, with a "seasoned passenger", lol. (You can tell I'm a bike-guy, as I lean into the turns, haha)


And, some photos, to capture the imaginations of the guys who are where I was less than a year ago.






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Oil was due when it arrived to me (age, rather than miles, necessarily, and that was a good opportunity to look under the skirt.
I did it again mid-summer, and then last month, before I put it in storage.

Brakes: I was chasing a squeak. Hence: new pads twice, then new rotors. ;-) I really didn't go hard at the track.