|
I had a Viper for a brief while, and then Chrysler bought it back. I wanted to detox from the power and fury, so I shopped around for a pure handling car. While shopping for that car, I stumbled and got this instead:   1991 Ferrari 348ts 3.4L, V8, T-shaped motor+trans configuration, Spider with a targa top. Compare this to a comparably priced Boxster Spyder. It's down on power, heavier, doesn't have as flexible an engine, and is obviously not in the same league of reliability (and the Boxster's engine with its own share of issues). But when you break 4000RPM on a back road, everything about the car just makes sense. The 348 doesn't need any of your justifications or defensiveness. It speaks for itself. I got it titled today and hope to have it inspected tomorrow. I'll make posts in the following areas: - the quirks and foibles of the 348 - minor DIY stuff I can manage - service history of the car and upcoming shop work For now, here's a few more pics.  This typeface is what convinced me to look at the car in the first place:  Get a loada those strakes: 
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2015 09:05
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 19:31 |
|
|
CAT INTERCEPTOR posted:Whats the gearbox / gated shift like to row through? I've only driven flappy paddle shitfest Ferraris and I would looooove to try a real gearbox It's more stiff than purely precise, but it's a much better shifter than both the Spyder (rubbery as hell) and the Evora (fairly anonymous). The throw is pretty big, but that meshes with the bigger jumps between the 5 gears. I like being back in a dog leg shift pattern, though on the test drive, I was trying to heel-toe from 4th to 3rd, and my mind told me to try to grab the shifter on the back row and shift forward, so I was bamboozled when I couldn't push it "out" of 4th. meatpimp posted:What's the dirty public's reaction when driving it in comparison to the Viper? Don't have a fair comparison yet, but more people seem to know it's a Ferrari. At least two people asked what year it was in the parking lot where the delivery guy was dropping the car off. Gonna go drive it for a while, give it an Italian tuneup, take it to an inspection place, and hopefully sail through.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2015 18:03
|
|
|
I'll try to get some real pictures of the car. For the "tour of 348" stuff, I'll just use my phone camera. Got the inspection done today. Local gas station by me, where I once got the 2.3-16v inspected. I'm almost positive they didn't do a single actual check of the car. The guy asked me to pop the engine lid, and I obliged, and he predictably told me he just wanted some shots of the engine. e: oh yeah, and to pull it the 20 ft into the shop bay, he revved it several times in neutral for every 3 ft he crept it forward. Massachusetts requires front and rear plates, so just to be legal beagle, I got a tow-thread mounted plate mount:  The plate position on the mount is adjustable so you can try to minimize blocking airflow. But the 348 has rear radiators (the strakes feed into 2 radiators), so this front grill is just for looks, and I don't care how much is blocked by the plate. This was my first exercise of the FerrariChat forums as a DIY reference. I got the working link to the mount, but no convenient pictures of where the tow thread was, or how to access it. After poking around, I decided to see if it was in the same place as the 355's (the cars are pretty similar and grouped together in one subforum). Found a big rubber grommet cover. Had to pull that out with pliers, but threading in the mount was easy. At least one thread complained that the threading in tow hole was rusty and resisted the mount. Whatever, now that inspection is over, the plate mount going in the frunk... kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Sep 19, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2015 20:34
|
|
|
Old Ferrari was quirky. Sometimes, there's redundancy that you wouldn't expect in a car, and sometimes, obvious features are lacking. Here's how the owner's/technical manual describes popping the frunk:  "If the normal switch doesn't work, here's where to find the backup cable pull." Notice how the manual pull is misreferenced as Ring D in the instructions. Similar redundancies are documented for the engine lid and the fuel door. And here's the frunk:  Narrow but very deep. A small and very flexible person could definitely fit in here. Yup, the "gentleman's stranded on the roadside" toolbox is strapped down with a leather belt:  Stuff like this is part of the theater of the car. I actually made a Along Came Polly style spreadsheet comparing all the cars I was test driving, and the 348 got the 10/10 for the "magic" category. The quality of the box in construction and material is really really high:  I'm guessing everything is fresh from 1991:  Nothing reassures you that you're driving an old Italian car like the toolbox having a tow hook. The pouch labeled Agip is a slime inflator. Lifting out those trays (made of plastic flocked with alcantara, I think) reveals the wrenches:  The seller also included a 348 car cover:  I'll only use it for carrying fake cocaine for my Miami Vice Halloween costume. track day bro! posted:That instrument cluster is so 42k mi, in driver condition. The AC works, which is a buyer's guide checklist item, but the electronics are not perfect. The leather seat is worn enough where I don't feel guilty spinning and sliding on the seat to get in and out. There's nicks in the paint here and there that I'm not going to obsess over. My plan is to keep it in good mechanical shape and do a reasonable job with everything else.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2015 21:10
|
|
also i'm not a big fan of T-Bars as a whole but on a white 348 you cant not have them I guess!
|
Following up a few more qs so far: I don't have any other car. I bike 3.5mi to work, and can take public transit if I need to, so my one garage parking spot can be for an unadulterated toy. The car definitely gets attention. Some sample interactions: - the fill up guy at the gas station would just say "Ferrari" over and over again at random. I'm pretty sure he said it over 10 times. The 348 has an obscene 25gal tank, and maybe 5gals are still in it when the low fuel light comes on. - some hobos hanging out on the corner at a light all noticed it. A couple got up to take it in from different angles. - a guy in a stanced E36 stayed behind me on the highway to snap a few pics
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2015 22:24
|
|
|
Mat_Drinks posted:Are the frunk seals getting replaced? I see a little mildew fuzz I need to look into it. The hole in the first picture is the intake for the cabin air -- I wonder that's a source of water getting into the frunk? The other seal thas is really bad (and super squeaky) is along the front of the targa top. This car definitely isn't modern stiff, so any left-right shakes will rub the top of the windscreen and the targa rubber. iwentdoodie posted:Iirc, engine out on this era of cars isn't actually THAT difficult. The Ferrari-recommended engine-out timing belt replacement interval is 30k mi or 3 years. Most private owners and shops say 5 years is fine, and more is probably fine, too. It's been 3 years and 2500mi since the timing belt, so I have a couple of years before I should do it. I was looking at one other 348. It was 10k cheaper, but had been sitting for 10 years since its last engine-out service, and had only racked up a few hundred miles. That one sounded like way more of a maintenance hog.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2015 00:05
|
|
|
leica posted:I use Shin Etsu grease for seals, works awesome. How greasy is it? The targa stows behind the seats in a way that might spread the grease everywhere if I overapply and tap the leather with the seals. I read in this awesome 90s car comparo that the 348 uses Connolly leather: https://www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/6941468787/in/album-72157629482452909/ I had a tub of Connolly Hide Care lying around, so I applied it to the seats a couple days ago while the car was sitting waiting for registration and inspection. What caught me off guard was how much leather there is in the cabin. Not just the seats, but also the doors, the dash, the console, trim around the floors, the parcel shelf behind the seats... I stuck to doing just the seats because that's where the most wear is.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2015 18:33
|
|
|
Ok, first DIY item -- I tried to write this up for FerrariChat, but it's pending moderator approval. Might as well c/p here. This is the small-time stuff I'm not afraid of doing on the car. My engine lid wouldn't keep itself up. The lid is supposed to lift on its own when you pull the release in the cabin. The existing FC threads on doing the replacement make a few leaps in what needs to be done. I tried to give it more detail: The Sachs SG404018 strut (application: Ford Focus) is much cheaper than the Ferrari-specific part, and has easier to use ball joint securing clips. If you're going to keep maintaining your car, you might as well switch to the SG404018, even if it pushes up a little strong. You can get it on RockAuto here: https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=576779 I suspect RockAuto will be here even after the bombs drop and only roaches crawl the earth. Here's a comparison of the factory strut and the Sachs (right):  I thought I had done a better job of lining up the bottom ball joints, but as you can see, they're very close to the same length. Note that the piston body of the Sachs is wider. This factors in later. A shot of the 348 engine lid lifted up (with the replaced struts):  Anyone looking to DIY should be able to find the struts easily. Note that both struts have their bolts and nuts mounted facing left. Tip: assuming you're replacing shot struts, you don't need to worry about not scratching up the bodies of the old struts while unmounting them. Be careful not to bang into other stuff in the engine bay, of course, like the hoses and wiring looms all around the struts. This next series of pictures is what I really wish I had when I was doing this work -- a closeup of how the factory ball joint retaining wire works.  The wire goes across the face of the cup, holding the ball in place. I bet it'd be possible to pry the cup off the ball, but I didn't feel safe using that kind of force in situ. More pictures to show you how the wire wraps around the base of the cup:    In the last two pictures, you can see the end of the wire that you need to grab to undo the wire from the cup. The needle-nose pliers I was using did not have great grip, and space issues meant I couldn't use certain angles. You'll have to play around to find a way to grab onto the 'cobra head' end of the wire. Because you don't need to keep the wires or struts, you have some leeway to clamp hard around the C shape of the wire and pull away from the cup. Once you've got the C shape free, you can use your fingers to pull the wire along the axis of the strut away from the cup. This will free the imprisoned ball. Maybe this is old hat for some folks, but I'd never seen this kind of ball retention. Tip: don't forget to have something propping up your engine lid. A work light or being outside will let you actually see what you're doing. Recommended unmounting order is: - right top joint - right bottom joint - left top joint - left bottom joint I'm right-handed and found it easier to access the space around the cups when leaning on the right side of the car. I figure it's easier to get familiar with the procedure on the easier side first. When you undo the top ball joint, you can lean the strut against the intake manifold or hosing. It's not very heavy. When you undo the bottom joint, then you can just take it out. Tip: Leave the two ball joints bolted to the engine lid supports and firewall. You can install the new struts against the old ball joints. If you got this far, congrats, you're pretty much in the clear. Installing the new struts is a cinch. Apologies for not having an actual picture of the SG404018's cup. Here's a generic picture:  Each cup has a metal C-clip wrapped around the back of the cup opening. The ends of the clip are "teeth" that clench around the ball joint and secure it. The C-clip has gaps under it where you can pry up with a narrow flat blade screwdriver or similar implement. Be careful that you don't push the C-clip off the cup -- it holds itself in place by tension once you pry it far enough open. My cups appeared to be pre-greased. To put in a Sachs strut, you just need to have the C-clip pulled back as you place the cup over the ball. I did this two-handed -- one hand holds the strut and the other has the screwdriver prying the C-clip open. Maneuver the cup over the ball and press on gently. The C-clip should yield and let you slip the cup into place. Orientation -- this is what caught me off guard. Other threads have discussed whether to mount the strut with piston body up (factory orientation and probably prefered) or piston down. My Sachs struts have a wider piston body than stock. That body pushes against the engine lid support bracket that the strut installs on. If I mount mine piston up, I can't get the necessary angle to install the other end. So I have no choice but to install piston down, even if that's worse for wear and tear. I'm ok with that if they last a couple years. Recommended mounting order: - left bottom joint - left top joint - right bottom joint - right top joint Honestly, this part was a cinch. I did a quick check that the ball joints were bolted in firmly, but popping on the cups was easy once I knew I used the only possible strut orientation. The engine lid pops up pretty snappily with the new struts. They're about 10% higher force than the factory struts. Some people have suggested replacing just one side at a time to dial back the strength some to reduce whiplashing the engine lid supports and lid itself.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2015 18:34
|
|
|
leica posted:It's not bad at all, if you use it sparingly the rubber absorbs it right up like a conditioner. It's great stuff, I find myself using it for all sorts of poo poo. Cool, will try it out. Not much today -- just drove it around. It's a really pleasant cruiser on smooth roads. On rough, the targa seal squealing is too distracting. I was sweating a parallel park I did until I got out -- the car is really really small. I'm still thrilled every time I see a reflection of the car or its silhouette cast on the road.  The weirdest thing was when I parked in an almost empty parking garage for dinner, and an X3 was parked behind me when I got back. The people were still in it. They didn't say hi or asking me anything about the car, but followed me for a few turns. I took a convoluted way to an exit, and the X3 was waiting with its blinkers just past the toll gate. Could have been a coincidence, but it was weird.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2015 05:02
|
|
|
LloydDobler posted:Those clips are all over old SU carb linkages, like on my old Volvo. I always just used a mini screwdriver to pop them loose, by pushing on the little loop end. Way easier than trying to get a pliers on it. Yeah, the first ball joint I worked on had the clip completely hidden under the cup. It probably would have been easier to feel out the clip with one hand and then pry under it with a small screwdriver. I'm debating whether to do the frunk struts, which are weak but still holding the frunk lid up. I'm sure I could be in and outta there in 10min.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2015 18:14
|
|
|
Ormy posted:Gorgeous. Now do a burnout, I wanna hear this thing! This motor is really quiet under 4k. It might be the acoustics of the engine bay, though, because it's easy to hear standing on the street behind it. On the long-term list is looking at aftermarket exhausts. It's extremely rev happy; I've never driven a car that feels like it needs to be cruised at 3k and higher -- not the S2000, not the FC turbo. I dunno what a practical RPM ceiling is; it hits 7800 pretty quickly and certainly seems like it still has juice left.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2015 20:21
|
|
|
I need to make a playlist for driving songs for this car. That song will be on it, as will Night Drive and In The Air Tonight. Does anyone have experience with specialty insurance? After updating my policy, mine took a few days to decide to use declared value, and when I give the sale price, it's coming out to 2800/6 months, which is uhhh, pretty steep. Cheaper than the Viper, though. Hagerty doesn't cover stuff this new. I'm gonna call Grundy and Amica tomorrow.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 22, 2015 01:10
|
|
|
I should call them. They have 1990 as their default newest year, so I put everything in as a 1990 instead of 1991, and the site came back with "you don't satisfy the criteria." Not sure which factor was holding me back.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 22, 2015 12:51
|
|
|
Except that one super-long O))) song. IOwnCalculus posted:There's a good chance it's this, especially if it was a computer that decided against you. You might have better luck actually talking to someone there; this type of insurance is still better handled by people than machines. But it's always been my understanding with them that they won't insure any car unless you have at least one daily driver car as well. Seems fair. I do 90% of my travel by bike, in town, but I still use the car for random tasks sometimes. Just today, I drove my boss and me to the data center. e: was puffing white for the first several minutes of the drive this morning. I know it's a bit down on oil right now, but haven't checked the radiator/overflow situation yet. It only blew white for a little bit when the delivery driver took it off the truck. kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 20:22 on Sep 22, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Sep 22, 2015 19:44
|
|
|
Das Volk posted:
Not sure what the model is. The Z06, for comparsion, was like $1000/6mon. Hagerty said the same thing on the phone; no budge on the daily driver requirement. Still need to call Amica and Grundy.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 22, 2015 23:30
|
|
Holy poo poo dude, I've been pulled over half a dozen times in the last couple of years and I don't pay that much per year. Are you getting hit with a zip code tax? Maybe try insuring it at the 'rents in the suburbs?
|
I got a really nice 2 car discount with my current insurance -- basically the 2nd car would be $100/6mon (I dunno why I keep using the pay period instead of per year). That said, I wouldn't get the discount if I split between normal insurance and Hagerty. Let's say a beater would cost 3000 a year for amortized cost, insurance, maintenance, gas, etc. I need to get $3000/year or better with Hagerty to make it worth it. I think that's possible. Though I only have the 1 indoor parking spot, and street parking is a huge drag, even if I only have to move the car once or twice a month for street cleaning. Just called Amica, and I'm down to 1200/yr for the same coverage. So definitely switching.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 23, 2015 20:36
|
|
|
InitialDave posted:Pretty much! In fairness, a 348 like Kimbo's isn't crazy money though. The jump in price from 348 to 355 is crazy. You can get a decent 348 for 50-60k. A similar condition 355 would be 70-80. The 355 also comes with a raft of extra issues (cracking exhaust headers, weak valve guides) that are scary. I think now is the right time to buy a 348, before the nicer ones start appreciating. It's already too late for 355s. Ok, so I've been meaning to get a video, but I'm gonna write it up before I forget. Recall what I said about Ferrari putting in weird redundancies into the car. When you pop open the door, this is what you see:  Ok, a lap belt. But this car is from 1991? On the left edge of the frame, you can see a buckle. That's the "mad mouse," an electric belt runner that starts there and runs down the door sill. I've been spooked twice by its scuttling up and down the track. So if that's where the buckle is, where is the belt? The 348 flouts convention and has the shoulder belts dangling from between the seats.  It works, and the ratchet catches you upon deceleration just fine, but it's so unusual. Finally, if you don't like the automatic seat belt, you can always use the buckle mounted on the seat:  Yes, the 348 is a car with safety restraint options. You can make out the discoloration and slight cracking on the seat bolster. It's not gonna eat me up. Oh, the parking brake -- because it's on the left, it can get in the way of your exiting the car. It folds back down once you've pulled it up. To release, you pull it back up high enough to press the release button. So it's important to check that the PARK light is off.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2015 20:26
|
|
|
The factory tires are 215/50 17, 255/45 17. Support for 17" performance tires is still pretty good, but those sizes are a bit unusual, so I don't have any max performance summer tire options in those sizes. After consulting the track thread, I opted to go with ZII Star Specs in 225/45, 245/45. I'm not thrilled to be going narrower in the back, but I figure the Star Specs will be stickier overall than the best factory size option, BFG gForce Comps. Right now, it's running different model tires front and back. I got the rears to squeal a little on tight turns out of a roundabout and at an intersection. I definitely want to upgrade. So I have Tirerack ship them to a Firestone I've used before. Some installers have restrictions (like call before shipping), but this one had none listed. They're delivered today, and I call to make an appointment. The tech who answers asks what car it is, upon which he says he'll need 2 hours to carefully dismount/mount the tires. Which seems crazy, but whatever, I go with it. A few minutes later, his foreman calls and says he won't do it -- he just doesn't want to risk it with these wheels. So... I have 4 tires at a shop that I can't pick up (well, I'm sure I could do one or two at a time with the 348). I emailed Tirerack to see what my options are. There are a few other tire shops close by there that I trust no more or less to do the work. I think a couple are even Tirerack approved. I just feel like I'll be in a spot where both Tirerack and Firestone will want to put the burden on the other party. Lazy rear end that I am, I'd rather return the tires to Tirerack and then reorder them to a shop I've gotten the ok from.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2015 02:35
|
|
|
jamal posted:Yeah they aren't super low profile really wide tires. Maybe just stop by? I mean if they can't take off a wheel and put on a tire without scratching it up what the gently caress are they even doing? That's what I said -- how can you be worried about scratching up a normal 17" alloy wheel if that's what you do all day? He genuinely sounded unnerved by the prospect.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2015 06:49
|
|
|
At my peak AIness, my 3 cars were an NA Miata, a Group 2 rally Focus, and that supercharged SVT Focus. If I got a 2nd car, I"m positive the same thing would happen -- I'd buy something cool and impractical and less reliable instead of something reliable and capable of carrying 4 tires in the hatch. I currently own 9 bicycles; I need to thin that herd to have more time to focus on cars, too. My local Ferrari shop is Aston Martin of New England, who has a Ferrari-certified tech who works on a wide age-range of Ferraris. They do tires in-house, and quoted me  $280. The next most expensive place locally is $120. I also found out their labor rate is $135/hr, which seems reasonable enough. I would like to check these guys out more -- I need them to install these Ricambi skid plates under the front lip and do all the real maintenance work on the car.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2015 14:51
|
|
|
Octopus Magic posted:C5 Z06 > C6 Z06. From a price standpoint, maybe, but as with 911s, buy the newest you can afford. I would say the C5Z looks slightly more distinctive from the outside, though. CornHolio posted:That's an amazing car in that color. Did I miss how much you paid for it? meatpimp found the original sale thread from June on FerrariChat. It was going for $45k. I bought it from the dealer in Sept for $51k. Even factoring in a $1500 shipping from the west coast, I got took a bit. Nodoze posted:I can find out pricing at work for it if you still need it, the guy who does tires at BMW can definitely do it no problem Yeah, lemme know. I haven't heard back from Tirerack, but I'm sure I will eventually.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2015 17:48
|
|
|
iwentdoodie posted:It's sad how most of us started as late teens early 20s assholes, now we're all bitter late 20s++++. I've noticed the same thing about AI membership. Is the entire demographic of SA staying stagnant and aging? Tirerack strong armed Firestone to drop the tires off at a shop half a mile over by threatening talking to their corporate. This shop still wants a couple hours to do it, but they're up for it. Another amusing thing is that everyone I e talked to and heard from at Tirerack calls it The Tirerack. Today, I'm completely wiped by this cold that's been building over the week. I need to schedule the tire mounting and touch up the targa top next.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2015 20:07
|
|
|
On my registration, the TS apparently translates to Convertible. Here's why: There's a latch at each end of the windscreen:  The way it tents up the sunvisor is one of the few annoyances I have about the cabin -- I keep noticing that end of the visor in the edge of my vision.  The lever just squeezes a small tab against the windscreen top bar. There's no elaborate hook or mating system to better secure it. Just pull back the lever and the tab opens up. Push up the front edge of the targa top and pull a bit forward, and then it's free. You can remove and stow the targa top standing outside one open door. If the windows are down, you could probably do it with both doors close. I'm sure if you really wanted to, you could do it seated in the car. It weighs maybe 25lbs and is unwieldy but not too bad to deal with solo. But let's assume you have one door open. This is what you see behind the seats:  I forgot to take a picture of the targa top itself, but the rear is secured by two 3" metal stakes. The top faces forward, and the stakes plop into those holes.  Note that the shoulder belts are under the top. If you actually stopped and got out while the top was stowed, you'd have to be extremely anal to tuck them behind the top. Ferrari being Ferrari, they did not put any kind of limit on the seats to prevent you from sliding back and crushing your top. That's how the dealer dinged a chip into my top. I'm juuuust short enough at 5'10" to slide it back without touching the top. I have to keep the seatback pretty upright, through, which I feel is antithetical to the standardized Italian driving position -- leaned back, arms straight out, legs scrunched up and to the right. When I first test drove the car with the top stowed, I couldn't clutch or brake well because of how bound up my legs were under the wheel. There's supposed to be a leather tonneau type cover to snap and drape over the stowed top, which would be nice to hold it in place and keep it from tapping into the seatbacks under braking. I'll probably just use a big tan beach towel.  A picture of the chip, which is about a nickel across the long way:  I'm gonna tackle that this weekend with a Dr. Colorchip kit. Not sure if I should fill it mostly with primer and then do the surface, or go Dr. Colorchip all the way. I Shinetsu greased the front and rear seals (which are on the car, not the top). I'll drive it tomorrow morning to go get the tires done. Will see how much it squeaks.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2015 03:19
|
|
|
iwentdoodie posted:Please post how well that grease works. I have some seals on the GTI that are intact, just very dry. Itd be awesome if that poo poo could save them. The seals in the car are actually all in pretty good shape. I'm hoping the grease is enough to quiet the squeaks. It spreads easily and doesn't have a separated oil component like some silicone greases I've used.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2015 04:02
|
|
|
Got the tires swapped on this morning. Holy poo poo is there a difference from the old Advans (and something something in the back) to ZII Star Specs all around. The steering effort is noticeably lighter, but nothing like the modern dead and overboosted sensation. I can drive one handed now -- as soon as you get rolling, you can steer without having to heave yourself down on the wheel. The pedal box is a bit cramped, though, and my knees and hip joints were complaining once I got out of the car. I have achy knees from kickboxing, and my go-to excuse for not liking a car is that its clutch seems heavy and would wear my knee out. If I could tilt the wheel up a bit to get my legs more under it, I would, but it's not adjustable. The Shinetsu grease helped a ton -- the squeaking is reduced by 80%. I'm gonna redo it this weekend to try to really get it dead. e: oh, when the tech pulled the car into the shop garage, someone yelled out "Magnum PI!" I was amused. And a bunch of Asian girls pointed and stared when I was stopped at a light. kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Sep 30, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2015 04:21
|
|
|
jamal posted:Is there an airbag and would it help if the wheel was closer? Maybe a hub spacer would help. No, delightfully thin and airbag-free. I'll look into it. spog posted:OP - what's the car like as a practical drive? Putting aside costs, could/would you use it instead of a Civic? I'd say 6/10. I'm betting it would be pretty leaky in the rain, but I don't intend to drive if rain's forecasted. A Civic could easily carry its own track wheels to the track. The 348 frunk can get you plenty of groceries for one or two people, though. It's a two seater, so you can't bring 4 friends to an event. The AC barely works, but would be tolerable enough. Front approach angle is really low. Thanks to the not-stock front tire sizing, I lost 6mm at the wheels, which doesn't help. Every speed hump, I approach at an angle. I take more care to let the engine warm up, though this mostly means I watch the gauges in addition to driving gently for the first several minutes. In the Z06 or Viper, you'd have plenty of power even puttering around. Visibility is actually pretty great. The car never feels unwiedly in close quarters. Of the many sporty cars I've driven over the years, this has the easiest to use clutch, in terms of pressure and progressive uptake. The C6 Z06 was pretty good, but the torque helped. If I were in Cali, it'd be much closer to a daily driver than out in Mass. Das Volk posted:By the time I've got a house with a lift I think I'll be prepared to come back to DIY work, but only with the right tools and equipment. That is a nice life goal. 2 post lifts don't seem that expensive. With air tools and a lift, you can take on any major mechnical stuff. There's still bugbears like doing electrics in the cabin that are painful no matter what.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2015 21:46
|
|
|
K, adding hub spacer to list of things to look into. Here's one more weird tidbit before I forget -- the key: https://vine.co/v/eQKuVJeWE99  Not really sure why they put a fold into it. In the ignition, the fob part hangs vertically. Could it be a safety-minded feature like Saab's console ignition? To fold slightly more out of the way? The mystery fascinates me enough that I don't want to research it and find out. The key blade is apparently some very common one that any hardware store should have in stock. I've only got the one, so I guess I should have a spare cut.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2015 01:50
|
|
|
Apparently there's a Nardi 6-bolt spacing that's different? Ricambi America had the right part. I doubt it's functionally significant, but it has a small lip on the inside: http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?cPath=600_543&products_id=224427
|
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2015 18:56
|
|
|
The vast difference in premiums between Progressive and Amica made me wonder how insurance companies maintain their models, and whether the models are mostly tabular or formulas. Maybe 1500 knows? I just can't get around the fact that Progressive wanted $5600/yr while Amica only wants $1200. In the past, I'd never seen more than $100 difference in quotes.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 2, 2015 02:42
|
|
|
NitroSpazzz posted:Gorgeous car and good choice if I remember the list of cars you were considering. Ok, I mentioned that I'd done a spreadsheet comparing cars leading up to buying one. So here it is:  The Corvette is my C6 Z06 with RC5+ brake pads, and the Miata is Muffinpox's tracked out NB. The categories are kind of arbitrary, but highlight how I view the driving experience. The exact numbers aren't super important, but I did want to quantify how I felt about the cars in more detail than just "it was awesome" or "i really liked it."
|
|
#
¿
Oct 2, 2015 05:01
|
|
|
Cakefool posted:I like how close run it is between the evora and miata Because of the dealer location (short straight roads in a burb) and weather (raining), I drove the Lotus the least hard of all these cars. But everything about it felt so uninspiring. Even with the Sport Exhaust and the sport exhaust button on, it was like, "big whoop, you're a Camry motor." It just couldn't sound good. I guess I was just expecting a 4-seater Elise, which the Evora is not.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 2, 2015 06:36
|
|
|
Just got off a 7 hour emergency work session, where the usual MySQL guy was not available and our Ops staff has been zeroed by layoffs and attrition. The closest I got to anything automotive was when I mistyped tail as tial. First, one more quirk. Some cars have reflectors on their doors. The 348 goes ahead and lights up:  When one door is open, the other light goes on, doing this cool Cylon effect:  Who says panel gaps are all bad? Earlier today, I did a few preventative maintenance items: - replaced frunk struts. This took like 5min now that I knew how to unclip the old ones. - replaced the expansion tank cap. Looks like I was beaten to this at some point. The rubber seal on the old one seems fine, but the corrosion gave me excuse enough to replace:  Glove is for Dr. Colorchip below. It looks pretty cool:  New one looks much more standard, and all the writing is in Italian:  The coolant in the tank looked nice and green, but pretty low. The manual:  I'm guessing 6cm from the top is the max fill? It seemed like 3-4cm from the bottom. I think I'll top it with distilled water and get it changed in the spring with oil and brake fluid. I like how the manual gives specifics for the other fluids but just says "Antifreeze." I wonder if there was only one kind of AGIP Antifreeze back then? Reading the manual is fun because it still has the leather smell from its leather sleeve. Dr. Colorchip -- I masked off the big chip on the targa top:   Then spent the next hour struggling with the Dr. Colorchip kit. The instructions make it seem like you should hit it with the cleanup liquid / finishing rub within 5 minutes, but the touchup paint seems pretty normal, in that it's still liquid at that point. After googling around, I found this: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/83526-how-use-dr-colorchip-paint-chip-repair-systems.html which jibed with what I was learning about it. The only thing that's nice about it over a normal touchup brush is that you can overapply and then "wet sand" it down with the cleanup liquid and cloth, instead of settling for waviness in your touchup. Results are not great, color match wise:  The triangular tip at the top is the cleanup cloth. The spots are about as noticeable in real life as in the picture. It's ok for 10ft, but closer is pretty glaring, especially without clear over it. The big chip I started on was so deep that I'm doing like the link recommended and curing in a layer before finishing tomorrow. I couldn't confirm the color for my car. There are some charts out there, but nothing for 1991 348s. Of the 3 colors that Dr. Colorchip had, I think I picked the yellower one and got burned. Amusingly, Bianco 212 and White 100 are the same. I should have gotten Bianco Beta, I think. The kit was like $50. I probably could have gotten a color matched spray for $300, which I'll consider down the road. I touched up a few chips along the lower fascia, but opted to leave the few other chips on the body alone. e: there's one more strut I could replace -- the one that holds the glovebox open when you lift it. It's like 4" long extended but $50: http://www.amazon.com/Stabilus-SG437001-Pack-of-1/dp/B004A3DEWE I'm thinking about it. kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 05:20 on Oct 4, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Oct 4, 2015 05:08
|
|
|
wallaka posted:I would imagine that the age of the car comes into play a great deal. Do they have a "paint color + car age" system? I doubt it, paint aging must have so many factors, not just age but also exposure and composition.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 5, 2015 03:58
|
|
|
Das Volk posted:How much could painting that panel really run you? I remember getting the flying roof on the Corvette redone for a few hundred bucks. I don't think you could ask for an easier panel for a body shop to work on. I could get a quote and see, but I'm not that motivated to, since the targa top is aftermarket and not a perfect fit. Even after regreasing the seals, it still rubs/squeaks a bit in one corner. If I got my hands on an OEM top, I'd definitely get that painted. I tried to measure my coolant using a ruler through the cap, and I don't think it was more than a couple cm low, which is better than I thought. Topped it with a few cups of distilled water, splashing the engine bay a bit in the process. I decided the best way to dry it off would be to drive it. Went on a short night drive -- there was a ton of construction with parked cruisers along my pleasure driving route, so I didn't rev it out that often. On smooth roads, this car is a dream to cruise around in. On rougher roads, it's still very competent, but definitely shows its age in overall rattliness. I learned two more things -- 1. the popup headlights are very quiet in operation. I haven't been in that many cars with popups, but all of the others, you could feel the clunk as the headlights popped into place. Here, you have to sit up a bit to look down the hood and see that they're up. 2. when all of your power train is behind you, air vented in from the outside has no chance to be heated up by the engine compartment, so it's pretty close to ambient temperature. It was maybe 50 outside, and I couldn't get over how cool the fresh air coming out of the vents was. Getting more used to the shifting. Even though I never look down to see it clacking between gates, I still grin when I hear it. Actually, if you shift it perfectly, it doesn't really hit any of the metal, so it's only when your shifting angrily that you really hear it. The throw from front to rear is about 6", and I'm still getting used to shifting fast enough with my hand to match clutching out without the engine dropping too much. It is fun, though. After I got back, I checked the oil and saw I was in the middle of the 2L range, so I added in another 500mL. I'll keep it there til the spring oil change. The 348 oil cap is all metal, and you're supposed to check the level as soon as you park the car before the oil starts draining out of the reservoir. You have to have something to grip the cap or you'll burn your hand. I just used my T-shirt.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 5, 2015 07:36
|
|
|
i like Ham posted:I had never realized how badly I wanted one of these until reading your thread. I've been spending the whole day looking up ownership info and reviewing the ones for sale on autotrader and eBay. My girlfriend's boss collects all kinds of cars including some exotics and a plethora of antique Porsches and his warehouse/shop/mechanic is right around the corner, so I keep telling myself that maybe that means I won't go hilariously broke owning one of these. Supposedly, 328s are the cheapest to own and simplest to work on, with no need for engine-out service. That said, the styling is from a different era that I don't love as much.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 5, 2015 21:29
|
|
|
i like Ham posted:There is an absolutely gorgeous and clean, albeit high mileage, gray one that was just listed today and is only 150 miles from me. Thought I was silly to even look at it given the 55k miles, but then I saw that it was previously owned by the owner of an incredibly reputable exotic shop here in town, and just had an engine out service. The one in Houston? I called up Moorespeed about that car, and they said it hadn't been in his possession for some miles. It might have had an engine out service not that many miles ago, but when I asked, the guy said it'd been 10 years  since that service had been done, in 2005. Fwiw, I offered 40 and they immediately countered with 42.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 6, 2015 01:02
|
|
|
Got the steering wheel spacer today and 30min to kill, so I put it on. This job's pretty simple, and there was a decent reference: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/254830-348-steering-wheel-removal.html The wheel is gorgeous:  Here, I've already pried the top lip off on the right there. Once that's loose, you grab the lips on behind either side of the bottom spoke, and the horn and cover just come off. The quality and detail of the prancing horse (or Cavallino, apparently) is top-notch:  There's not much wiring under the cover:  I took this pic just for posterity, but I actually had to refer to it to plug things back the right way. Unbolt the 6 bolts. Set aside. Inside each sleeve is a pair of plugs, one of which needs to be unplugged to run through the spacer hole:  Run the wires through the spacer and then mount the spacer and wheel. Hold the wheel up on your knees/quads. Hear the relay go off several times as you bump contacts and press the horn buttons. Bolt up the longer bolts through the wheel and spacer. Run the wires (using the pic, black paired with red, green/yellow paired with green/yellow) back through the sleeves and marvel at the good shape the plastic is in. Plug them together and then onto the cover. Red+black to the center of the cover, green/yellow to the side. Push the sleeves back down. Pop the cover back on. Test. Put the fuse back in. Here's what the spacer looks like:  Nice that it's painted black. This buys me A LOT of clearance. Compare the 0 clearance from the shot in the OP to this:  The feel is definitely more natural, but I'll have to fine-tune on a drive. For this operation, I'm glad this car didn't have an airbag. Oh yeah, to pull up the fuse through the access panel, I had to use my  Ferrari screwdrivers: E: oops, meant relay, not fuse in that one step. kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 09:25 on Oct 7, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2015 03:06
|
|
|
This morning, I got a call from the vendor for this paint pen: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M9MM046/ref=pe_385040_30332260_pe_301860_26203570_n_id They couldn't look up a formula for Bianco Beta 222, so they offered to look over other Ferrari models for another white. Some of the things in their database for Ferraris, according to the rep: - there is no 348 or 328 - there is an F48, though. Which has no colors associated with it. - the F40 was built from 2004-2008 I told them I wanted to try 222 just because White 100 didn't seem right, but I'm not sure why it needed to match up to a car for them to make or find the paint. Had to cancel the order in the end.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2015 21:41
|
|
|
I got the glovebox strut. New heights achieved in overpacking:  I guess Sachs just doesn't have smaller sleeve available to pack the strut, so the store followed suit. Can't overpack a $65 part, I guess. I spent an hour out on the road testing the steering wheel spacer. It really helps, simply so I can scoot forward and reach the shifter better. I'm still having trouble with my muscle memory mapping of the gears. If I shift into 3rd (bottom row, middle) and drive for a while, I'll remember that I'm in 3rd gear. But when I need to shift again, I'll instinctively reach for 3rd on a normal pattern, overshooting where 3rd is. Weirdly, I don't recall having this problem when I was in the 190E 16v, which was also dog-leg. Maybe because that shifter had a less lofty throw and I could still grab it?
|
|
#
¿
Oct 9, 2015 04:28
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 19:31 |
|
|
I've toyed with mentally bumping up the gear numbers by one, taking it from: R 2 4 1 3 5 to R 3 5 2 4 6 , as though it's simply missing 1st. But it feels like too much of a hack. Given much I spend running around in 2nd and 3rd, though, it's not a bad way to describe the car's gearing. That and the fact that it doesn't feel taxing to be spinning 4k just cruising.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 9, 2015 05:22
|
|