Where do you stop? When to draw the line?

Yeah, I had a heck of a time identifying exactly WHERE the rocking was coming from. I ended up completely disassembling one, separating the top from the bottom, so I could get in and really get a good look at it. Initially I thought it was the ratcheting mechanism itself, but it ultimately turned out to be the "inside" screws. I borrowed a picture from another thread tho show the screws I mean. Tightening only the "outside" screws had no effect, and even tightening the 1 "inside" screw per side that was easy to get to didn't make a difference. Once I had 2 "inside" screws per side tightened there was a noticeable difference. The third inside screw on each side was a HUGE PITA to get to, but once those were tightened, the rocking stopped.

I babbled a good bit at what I did in this thread here, starting with post #37:
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170126&highlight=348+rocking+seats&page=2
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Omg! Those are some AWESOME videos! I'll be spending some time with the online translators for the next few hours...

 

Wow! My last post in this thread was late May! Oi! ><

Well, I HAVE had a few distractions, but have also been making slow and steady progress. Apologies for the post whoring... but I think I have my photos organized in clusters, so I'll try one post per cluster. I think I have six incoming.

Anyway... here is what I've been up to over the past several weeks. All feedback and comments welcome!

First set here are photos after FINALLY painting the main body itself. Car is swimming in clearcoat, but no polishing has been done yet in these.
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Targa top painted to match, and finally started some re-assembly on the bits that where painted a while back. The engine deck lid has been painted to match the rest of the car, rather than the flat black section in front of the vents that was there before. Better photos of that coming up.

Oh yeah... a huge internal debate I had was about the gloss black/flat black issue. This car was two-tone originally. Nice shiny nero up top, but the lower sections on all the panels was a textured flat black. This included the bumpers, the door sills and the lowest most air intake under the doors. There was also some flat black on the engine deck lid, as just mentioned, and also lining the air intakes behind the quarter panel windows. All of these were painted in the same gloss black as the rest of the car. Before this was done, I was SERIOUSLY second guessing this decision... but now seeing the results, I've extremely happy with the direction I went. The ONLY part that is still flat black is behind the front grill, as seen in the third photo below.
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Here are a few photos after a bit of polishing and some of the masking removed. The recently colored calipers are more easily seen here:
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A close up of caliper detail. Just took a little filing...
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Another decision I wrestled with was what to do about my fairly scarred up steering column cover. In hind sight, it would have been FAR smarter, faster, and easier to send the parts to "Ferrari285" at www.stickynomore.com but I somehow overlooked these bits when I sent in my vents and mirror triangles. Anyway, I decided to go out on a limb and see if I could wrap it in leather. It took me the better part of a day, and the two parts don't fit together quite as tightly as they did before, but it now perfectly matches the rest of the dash and interior. The pictures here really don't do it justice. Also... the VIN plate is just resting on the leather in these photos. Once it was glued down, it was properly flush in the space provided for it.

Oh! Also, I need to apologize for the SUPER dusty interior. I should have cleaned it up a bit after all the sanding and before these photos. ><
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Here are some closeups of the areas that I think are usually flat black on all 348s, if they haven't been modified already. This includes the "lining area" of the air intake behind the window glass, the outer mirror triangle (or do these usually match? It was too many weeks ago that these parts were sanded down), The three bracket pieces below the rear glass. These were originally covered in the rubberized coating on this car. Since the flat black section of the rear hood was being repainted in the gloss black to match the rest of the car, I figured I would go ahead and do these bracket pieces that would be right next to it.

Once again, apologies for all the smudges and spots of polish that were slung off the orbital. I really should have done a quick detail first for better pictures, but I ended up snapping pics after polishing each panel before any kind of wipe-down.
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Oh yeah... WHEELS! My wheels have been "backwards" ever since I've had the car. I received that way, and always intended on having them corrected the next time I get tires. However, after repeated comments and abuse... and since I had the wheels off anyway, I FINALLY got them corrected. I can't describe how much this one minor detail pleases me! Notice the tire rotation direction relative to the wheel in the first photo. Second photo shows a sample of my old wheel center caps next to one of my new ones. Wheel bolts are being replaced as well as the center caps... my old bolts were VERY chewed up and rust tinted on the corners. Also, after pestering Daniel at Ricambi America for some guidance on wheel spacing and bolts, I got some really solid advice. Sooooooo.... the end result will be corrected wheel orientation, new caps, new bolts, and rear wheel spacers. I'm looking forward to the results, but they haven't been mounted yet. Photos there soon. Anyway, the two to share on this post:
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And finally... at least for now... some pics of my initial test fitting with Husker's Lemans Grill. The grill has been painted to match here, and has been somewhat modified to fit a bit more flush against the fenders, and also has been "notched" to try and match the deck lid.

Also to note here... during the sanding and shaping process, the grill was tested for fit repeatedly against the fenders and lid. Sadly, I never thought to test against the rear bumper. So in these photos, the bumper is just hanging on the bolts, and hanging about half an inch too low. I plan on spending most of tomorrow to finish the rear end here. Next week will be either starting on the door reassembly, or the front end. I'm not sure which will be first just yet. I'm sure I'll decide over the weekend. Anyway... photos here:
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Thanks guys... appreciate the kind words!

 

Ugh... had a bit of a set back today. No fun. ><

No way I'll be ready for next weekend given said setback, but I should be there in the DD, provided I can get my a$s out of bed at crazy early hours. >.>