Ferrari 348 TS - Sophia

[sameerrao]

9. Post-detail photographs?   

Pics will be taken for most of these steps . Hopefully will get rid of a couple of micro scratches on the body.

[sentra_dude]

What kind of car hating bastard would do this to a Ferrari?! 



I'm just glad you've found out about it now & were able to fix it, and not after it caused some type of real problem.

[TT]

If this isn't a detailed report!!!

[Daggernite]

Im enjoying this thread. Very unique, and intresting. I cant believe the chunk of metal that was missing from the frame, but it is good to see how it was resolved.

Thanks sameerrao

[sameerrao]

James performed the compression / leak down test after the cam was timed to check for any issues.

He identified  a 20% leak in cylinder 1 at the exhaust valves. The other cylinders were within spec. He had to remove the right side head and re-lap the seats /valves and re-install everything. Fortunately, there wasn't any valve guide issues - That would have been very expensive.

The PPI in 2006 (By Steve Harris Imports) showed that the compression / leak down for all cylinders were within spec. Don't know if the PPI was not that accurate or whether my driving caused a problem.

I do about approximately 45% city driving / 40% highway and country driving / 5% track driving. I use Shell/Chevron fuel as far as possible and run the Techron cleaner about 1-2 times a year. With the city and highway drives, I take it to 6K rpm range a couple times after it has warmed up. At the track, the car is usually above 5k rpm.

Could the ethanol in the fuel have an impact? Don't know if I am doing something wrong.

Norwoods gave me a very good price for the R&R work too.

The engine will go through a BG 44 treatment to clean up the carbon deposits. I should get the car on Monday. Can't wait!!

[Stanae86]

(Image removed from quote.)

 

[Saadie]

i'd die laughing if pictures of this car end up in wrecked exotics or something 

[sameerrao]

i'd die laughing if pictures of this car end up in wrecked exotics or something 

It better not. I won't be laughing then.

[Saadie]

^^ haha no no .. not in that way !!!
i remember some pics of a F50 at wrecked exotics .... the car was actually in a workshop .. the engine was removed and the chassis was on little trolley wheels!


it seems its leaking oil here haha 

well you get the idea 

[Driy]

^^

 
not really man.

Hope you car stays safe and in working order Sameerrao.

thanks for the pics 

[sameerrao]

I got my car back from the service about 2 weeks back. It was fun driving it back home.

Thanks to proper cam timing and valve adjustment, I could feel that the engine was a lot peppier than before. The car is superb now. The car is all squared up for the next 5 years / 30000 miles.

Put more high(er) res pictures here: http://rides.webshots.com/album/570887462Yamemg

Sorry but you will have be satisfied with 1280 width pics - that was the limit of their camera.

[sentra_dude]

I bet you are glad to have this out of the way now. And as a plus the car is better from it! 

[sameerrao]

Just wanted to bump up the topic to reflect upon another year of ownership of Sophia.

This year was expensive due to the major service being performed with a few unexpected issues that padded a few Gs on the bill. I have spent something like 75% of my time in Europe since April and so have hardly driven the car. I believe the odometer read ~25,000 miles last week.

Year 3 Costs:
(5 year/30,000 mile) Major service - $9,200   (you have to laugh!)
 - Standard major service ($6,000 - comprised of parts worth $1,800 and standard 30k labor of $4,200)
 - New Water pump purchased separately ($1,100)  
 - Hill Engineering Tensioner bearings purchased separately ($300)
 - Fix frame ($980)
 - Repair exhaust valve seals on the right head ($392)
 - Engine + gearbox Oil flush ~$140
 - Shop supplies ~$280

I had no other expense for the year but the big ticket item was more than enough.   The funny thing is if I had taken this to an authorized dealer, I would have paid $15,000+ for it.

The water pump price is a total rip off. The market rate was $1700 when I was doing the service. Fortunately I found a cheaper source. I kept the water pump that came out of the car. For the next service, I will send it to be re-conditioned - should cost me a total of $300.

Fortunately the next major service will be in 2014 (I hope) and so my poor bank account has a couple years to recover.

[danidmas]

Well... I guess that's what you get when you own such a car! and you didn't even take Sophia to an official dealer!!

[goodduck]

omg there arent enough of these to express that bill: 

i can understand your love for her, but damn shes expensive.

[sameerrao]

Well... I guess that's what you get when you own such a car! and you didn't even take Sophia to an official dealer!!

You said it brother! It ain't a Toyota! Somehow, after owning the car for sometime, you feel a sharp pain for paying mega bucks but then it goes away and you completely forget about it (till one brings it up in the year end review)

omg there arent enough of these to express that bill: 

i can understand your love for her, but damn shes expensive.

Yep

[sentra_dude]

Daaaaaamn! Daaaaaaamn! That is an expensive 30K service.

At least they don't come very often... What would that same service cost on a more complicated/electronic Ferrari like a 355 or 360?

[Stanae86]

What was the problem with the frame?  Was it the cut that you showed in the upper pics?

What's involved in the service, generally?  Is it a full - pull the motor type of service?

When I was looking at 348, one of the things that worried me was that the car was getting older and the mechanics told me that the parts would start getting more and more pricey.  Also, it wasn't until the 360 that Ferrari put an access through the firewall, making service much more easy...otherwise, much service involves pulling the motor out, which is pricey?

-S

[sameerrao]

What was the problem with the frame?  Was it the cut that you showed in the upper pics?

What's involved in the service, generally?  Is it a full - pull the motor type of service?

When I was looking at 348, one of the things that worried me was that the car was getting older and the mechanics told me that the parts would start getting more and more pricey.  Also, it wasn't until the 360 that Ferrari put an access through the firewall, making service much more easy...otherwise, much service involves pulling the motor out, which is pricey?

-S

Daaaaaamn! Daaaaaaamn! That is an expensive 30K service.

At least they don't come very often... What would that same service cost on a more complicated/electronic Ferrari like a 355 or 360?

Hopefully, all I will need to do is oil and filter changes for the next 4 years

Stan - it is a full major service to be performed every 5 years and/or 30,000 miles whichever occurs earlier. The engine and sub-frame comes out and cleaned, the heads come out, the timing belt and water pump are changed, cams and belts are degreed, new spark plugs, re-paint the cam covers and any of the engine bay parts that need it, radiator flush, a/c flush, engine oil replacement, brake and clutch bleed and flush, and some other stuff.

The cut frame was done by some idiot who thought it was a good idea to avoid dropping the engine and do the service by removing the fuel tank and then ran out of space. He then stupidly cut the frame to get the job completed.

Surprisingly the 348 frame is so beefy that there was no discernible issue in the handling department. I tracked the car 3 times without sensing anything was wrong. Also the Pre-purchase inspection did not detect this problem. You only find it out when the engine is dropped.

True statement about parts being expensive for the 348/355. Also a true statement about the timing belt replacement through the interior of the 360 - a quicker and cheaper process. The major for the 360 would run about $4k if you do the belts, degreeing of cams and the rest of the activities detailed in the paragraph over. However, the clutch service on a 360 will cost about $4k compared to $2.5K for the 348. So they are nearly the same over a 5 year period.

But any servicing cost savings you get in the 360 is peanuts compared to the depreciation. If I had bought a 360 in Nov 2006, I would be looking at depreciation of about $40-50K versus about $6-8K for the 348 - enough money to keep the 348 serviced for next 25 years!

Keep in mind that the parts costs for the 360 will also go up in the future as the model ages. And there may be new issues that emerge which don't necessarily make itself known when the model is during production. For example, it took some years to find out about the valve guide, header and cats issues on the 355. And only now, we are learning about the header issues on the 360s.

Another point to note is that with increased electronics in the 458 and California, you are slowly but surely being forced to go to expensive dealers. Ferraris are making the SD3 and future readers to be limited in availability and super expensive in cost ($15K for a SD3 reader). This is going to drastically reduce your servicing options.

One of the respected independent techs of Ferrarichat has stated that he will not service cars newer than the 430/599. Period!

[Stanae86]

It's been a long time since we've gotten an update...how is the 348 holding together and how was it completing the service?