Sorry for the lack of updates, just not had the time to devote to getting this finished. I am a lot closer to the first test drive but the weather is really crap here at the moment. Here is a some photos of one seat back from the trimmers, should have the other one in a week or 2. Plan is to get it on the road by end of March. Keep you all posted Sorry for the poor quality photos they are from my phone Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Paul, good to see you back at the 348. Would be great to see it this summer, all things being equal. Do you plan to go to any events?
Paul, could you elaborate some on what kind of work/modifications you have had to make in order to use these seats? I would love a pair of those in my 348.
I did the mods over 3 years ago so I will try to remember what I have done. The main issue with fitting non standard seats in the 348 is the width. The 348 seats are quite slim and even putting 360 carbon seats in you have the leave off the adjuster knob on the side and squeeze them in. This is where a picture would speak a thousand words) but I have not took any of it yet. I wanted to make it look as factory as possible. What I ended up doing is moving the handbrake (E brake) more over to the door sill to give me more room around the seat base. This gave me some issues as the handbrake cover now needed modifying extensively which also holds the lever for the engine cover. I ended up slimming down the cover and relocating the lever under the handle of the hand brake. I then had to make a new cable to open the engine cover as it was now too short! Next I attached the seat runners from the 348 to the Recaro seats, and offered them up into the cabin. It was clear they would not line up with the factory holes so I had to make new ones. This required a bit of thinking as the seat belt is anchored to the seat so it needed to be strong and safe. The original holes are 8mm thread but when you look from underneath they are welded into the floor pan. So I turned some steel top hat type bushs with a 8mm thread, re-drilled the floor and welded them top and bottom just like the factory, I then needed to drill the side of the seat base to fix the seat belt to. Then the lever you pull to move the seat forward and backwards was now to narrow so I had to cut it in half and add a section re-weld and powder coat it. All in all quite a lot of work and only really doable with the all the trim out of the car, but I am very happy that I have seat which looks factory and is very comfy.
Hi there Pete, well not so back on it as it a bit cold at the moment but getting there. Not sure about "events" i did a few with my local FOC but to be honest the Head honcho and his side kicks are (to put it mildly) very rude and UN friendly. Its a shame as the members were very nice. So I have decided after 6 years of being in the FOC not to re-join, so not sure where that leaves 2013 for car events I do plan to use the 430 a lot for long weekends away so this will take up my time, the wife and I have a very long list of places to we want to go, some in the uk and some in mainland Europe. Scotland is on the list as i have never been north of lakes ever. Have you any car events for 2013 ?
Paul, thanks for your reply. What you describe for fitting of the seats is clearly way beyond anything I would take on. Guess I get to stick with the stock seats. Oh well . . .
Paul, I'm thinking of running a couple of events this year, one will just be an open day to an air show where our cars will be on display in exchange for getting into the event. It'll be pretty low key but is normally a closed door event, not open to the public. I did the same last year and got a good turn out - Aventador, 458 spider, Scuderia, 599 GTO, 430s, etc as well as a bunch of slightly older motors like a Testarossa, a 348 GTC and mine. Pretty much everyone that attended said they'd like to come back this year and places will be limited, but can pencil you in if you think you may like to come - will be in September probably, date to be confirmed. The other event will hopefully be a charity airfield driving event and may involve a local club over this way. It's basically a driving club for 'nice' cars - Lambos, Aston Martins, Ferraris, that sort of thing. It's at the early stages of planning right now but again will let you know if I manage to sort something out. Both will be in the lincoln area, let me know if you'd like me to keep you posted.
Paul,,,, You are truly one of a rare breed. Awesome work. A true craftsman. I deal with guys that restore warbird to near mint condition. You my friend are right there with them.. Cheers Doug
Hi there all, thanks for all the kind comments. I have spent 2 nights in down at the workshop where my 348 is, temp was 0 deg but I wanted to get on with it so needs must. This is the first time this year i have worked on the car. Apologize for the photos, they do make the car looks dirty but I think it is dust being picked up from the flash. As you can see by the photos i have been fitting the interior back in, I have now fitted the driver side seat and I am now just got to fit the passenger side one. You can see in photos 5 and 6 the hand brake cover that i had to make up so i could get these seats to fit in the 348, i wanted to try and make it as factory as i could. I have also fitted the speakers and been testing the stereo set up but I am getting lots of electrical noise though the speakers, it is quite bad to be honest! When I put the indicators on you can hear them interference, well any electrical part is giving interference, and when I start the engine it get worse, need to look into this. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Today had been D- Day !! It has been nearly 7 years since i drove the 348 and today i drove it out of the workshop over the road to fuel it up and then around the block back to the workshop. It goes for its MOT tomorrow Image Unavailable, Please Login
Excellent Paul, your car is looking magnificent. The guys at the MOT station will no doubt be well impressed!
Paul, excellent news! Been a long old slog, hasn't it? Look forward to seeing her in the flesh, perhaps this summer we can have the long awaited 'Brotherhood meet'.
Thanks for your reply's, sorry for the crappy photo it was taken on my phone. The wheels are 360 option ones, it's the plate that came with the car. It will be changed back to the original plate G348 LXC when i get it taxed. Thanks Terry, its not a patch on yours though. A friend is doing the MOT so not to many surprises Yes it has been a long slog 29-01-2006 i brought it, drove it home and started work on it, still not 100% happy with the paint but will get that rectified in due coarse. The plan is to MOT, tax, then take it home for some shack down runs. I will then book it in to Northampton Motorsport for a 4 wheel alignment and corner weighting.
Re the paint, you know I had some similar snags that we talked about, didn't look too bad but there are bits that aren't perfect. She's currently in Graypaul's having a new windscreen fitted (mine was a tad old and had a small patch of delamination in the corner) so I've decided to get it all sorted through them. I've got 6 areas that I'm having done, couple that just need sorting a bit (ie local repair), but a couple of panels being totally redone as they weren't up to scratch. Will let you know how it goes. Darren there has done all the dealing with the bodyshop etc so it's been pretty easy to sort.
They use two. Chartwell (Ferrari approved) and another one, forget the name (BMW approved). Both are apparently much of a muchness although Chartwell is usually a tad more expensive. They do the local repairs themselves, apparently their chap is pretty good.
There is some photos on post #61 http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/137582428-post61.html catch ya tomoz
