Hello all, I am looking to purchase a '95 355 and I was wondering if you could all suggest what I should look for before making the purchase. I have heard some talk about valves but I was hoping someone could go in depth for me as to what I want to make sure that has been done to the car as far as service and update wise, rather than having that liability on my shoulders as a new owner. Things to look out for an inquire would be of great help to me. Thanks all in advance for your experience and suggestions.
Do a search and you will find a gaggle of info!!!Then if you have very specific questions ask here...That is the best way to get the info you need...Good luck..
As I am listening to the little voice that keeps whispering, "You must have a Ferrari in the garage..." I drop a specific question, besides valve guides and headers, what would you consider and absolute deal breaker? Would lack of paperwork qualify? If not, why? Thanks!
When I was looking for a car I cared mostly about 'current condition' of the motor, body, electrical and mechanisms. A recent major is great. Past care/paperwork is nice for alot of people too. But it does not mean he did not run it low on oil or float the valves yesterday . All three sets of keys can't fix that .
Agree with above. Do as much search & research here as possible and soak up as much info as you can. Once armed with info & knowledge then arrange a proper PPI on the car of your choice (because by then you should know what cars to eliminate and avoid from your list of possible purchases). A good and proper PPI should give you lots of info on conditions of the car as well as an indication on how well the car was cared for and maintained by privious owner(s). Past records of maintenance don't mean jack if the car couldn't even pass present PPI. Know what I mean...? Good luck searching here and for your "right" car. edit: OK, I'm feeling a bit generous today (actually got some time to kill)....so I'll list a few things to look for just to help out. 1). Valve guide issue (on a '95, yes) 2). Headers (on all 355's) 3). Leather on dash shrinkage (on all 355's) 4). Sticky interior trim pieces (on all 355's) 5). Stress fracture/crack C-pillars (on Berlinetta & GTS)
Great points. I wouldn't think of doing a deal without a good PPI. Thankfully there is this fine crowd to help locate a good place to get one done! As an aside, what is the cause for the stress cracks on the c-pillars? Would the GTS be more prone to them? A GTS is probably my first choice with a Spider being a close second.
IIRC, stress cracks on the c-pillars are due to the way they're welded to the rear quarter panels (don't quote me on this one as I can only vaguely remember reading it somewhere here long time ago). I did see a pretty bad case on a '95 GTB where BOTH sides were cracked.
If you look very very close at almost any 355B you will find that the paint may have a small hairline crack at the base of the pillar. This does not mean that the pilar itself is cracked. The 355B is a very rigid car and that is why it is much better than a spider on the track or simpley cornering on the street. In fact tracking a spider is dumb IMO. The fact that it is so rigid does not mean that there is no flex in the body and when it does flex the paint may crack a little at the pillar base. The valve guides on the early 355 are another story but most of the 355s now have enough miles on them that either the valve guides have been done or they are not going to go. There is a very good explaination on here somewhere on the valve guides from someone who did a lot of research including contactiing the factory in Italy a couple of years ago. In short the bad valve guides were changed out under warranty in the very early 95 355s.
