355 Intro to my new '98 355 F1 GTB

Intro thread for my new to me 355! Couldn't be happier adding this to the stable. I recently became enamored with '90s era cars (along with everyone else and their mother), and have been driving and modifying a 964 C2 in manual trim. Thankfully, I purchased before prices went crazy. When this 355 popped up locally, I couldn't resist. Shoutout to Matt @ 415 Motorsports for helping me make this happen!

Car is completely stock and here are the specs as delivered from the factory:
Grigio Titanio
Challenge Grill
Standard Sport Seats
F1 Transmission

Car has lived in CA the whole time, with only 2 prior owners, no accidents, records from new and a great service history. So many things about the car stand out for me, but I have to call out my top 5:
#1 the sport seats
#2 that curved rear window
#3 the color combo (I am not a red or yellow car guy)
#4 the feeling of being transported back in time everytime I look / get in / drive
#5 the F1 transmission. I personally love it now that I've had some time with it, think it matches the engine / chassis very well, and it's a great complement to my other cars (which are all manual).

Looking forward to learning from everyone here and enjoying every second in this car.

A few obligatory pics from my first drive down Hwy 1 to Stinson Beach...




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At the end of my first drive, I pulled into the garage and noticed that the car had a radio. Coming from Porsches, I'm used to ignoring these items as they generally perform worse than a 1980s Civic. But I thought why not let's give it a go. I sat looking at this thing for 5 minutes, trying to figure out how to turn it on. Where's the "on" button? There's an "off" button... My wife then comes down to checkout the car. First thing she says is cool, it's like the radio I had in high school. She hits the "tuner" button reflexively and the radio fires right up. Of course you'd hit the "tuner" button to turn it on!

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Thanks Matt, this one may be the first but won’t be the last car that passes between us! Wouldn’t hesitate to work with Matt again. The fact that he’s 20 mins from me doesn’t hurt either.

 

Wow! What a great pic and thanks for the tip. It’s going to calm my OCD this weekend. Haha.

 

Thanks everyone, in just the couple hundred miles of seat time, I’ve realized how easy it is to drive fast or slow and it’s been so so fun. Oddly enough, I draw less attention than I expected (which to me is a good thing).


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Well it's been about 7 months with the car and I've been enjoying it immensely. Finally had some extra time to do a bit of work on it that I had been planning. In no particular order, I got to do:

1) Capristo Sound 1 Muffler
2) Capristo exhaust valve with new solenoid
3) Replaced F1 accumulator per WATSON's DIY (thank you!)
4) Cleaned up the F1 heat shield
5) Replaced all of my wheel inserts (some where cracked)
6) Installed Scud Ing Swiss F1 solid state relay with status lights

Well where to begin, except WOW! The Capristo Sound 1 is amazing. I was looking for OEM+ and I think this is exactly how the car should have sounded from the factory. Crisp bark on cold start, followed by a beautiful build up to a banshee howl over 6k RPM. To those who thought the Capristo Sound 1, 2 and 3 are all the same, I certainly can't believe that to be the case. If I had ordered Sound 3 and gotten this I would have been sorely disappointed as it is not nearly as loud as the Sound 3 videos I've seen. For me, I needed OEM sound levels for my neighbors. It's the perfect Jekyl and Hyde for me and I could not be happier. Thanks to Ryan and the team at Vivid Racing for getting this to me in 2 days from Germany! Car now sounding perfect, check!

F1 tune-up: Well this was a while I was in there sort of a decision. My pump was taking what I think was longer to prime than normal and was cycling a little more frequently but I didn't really know because this is the only F1 car I've been in. Couldn't find records of an accumulator replacement in previous files, so figured why not let's do it. Thanks to Nick in the UK for getting me the accumulator and adapter right quick. Followed Watson's DIY and did key on to check for leaks. F1 light flashed 6-7 times on initial start, versus at least 14 times or more previously. The pump now runs half as long as it did before and does not cycle nearly as often while idling / stopped. I also have no error lights on the Scud Ing Swiss unit that I had before. So pleased with the results. Shifting is also butter smooth now. If I'm coming to a stop, 3 - 2 - 1 auto downshifts are nearly imperceptible whereas before there was a noticeable shift happening. Don't know if this is accumulator or F1 relay or both, but couldn't be happier and highly recommend these if you haven't done them.

Lastly, the cracked wheel inserts. So all of my rear inserts were cracked but only a couple of the front ones were also cracked. Since I bought 20 I just replaced them all. Handling is now just that bit sharper and everything feels tighter. Didn't think I'd feel a difference, and someone tell me if it's just placebo but the whole car just feels more put together than before. Placebo or not, very pleased here.

Thanks for reading this far and I'll keep updating my adventures with this amazing beast.

 

and of course some pics...

 

Well I have to say, humbled by all who take great driving videos. My first time today and it was a hot mess. Here is a clip using my iPhone sitting on top of the center tunnel below the radio. This is a Berlinetta, windows down about 1/3 of the way, second gear between 4 - 6k RPM for the first half and then one acceleration to 8k towards the end. Cats are stock, Capristo 1 is the only change to the suspension. I would say surprisingly, the phone did a pretty good job of capturing what it felt / sounded like in the cabin in terms of sound volume, pitch and quality.

I will find some of the videos I saw before deciding on my purchase. Could have absolutely been 2.7 cars with other exhaust mods that I'm recalling.

 

Here's one. Description says F1 and Stage 3 but hard to know if it is F1 and hence what year. Also no idea if other exhaust mods. Experts lmk if you can tell. Sound is higher / louder / sharper and angrier than mine. Based on mine being labelled Stage 1, this being a Stage 3 is what I would have roughly expected Stage 3 to sound like.

 

Super helpful, Ken, thanks for sharing your knowledge. As I’ve driven the car a few more times, the muffler has broken in and the sound is now more consistent. I’m also starting to think I will need to look at the vacuum system managing the exhaust valve. I switched to the Capristo valve at the same time I did this so default is open without vacuum. I checked and after startup the valve goes from open to closed. After driving for a while, I parked and got out of the car to check. Valve seemed to be partway between open and closed and sounded open as the idle now was noticeably louder than just after cold start. Anyone else noticed / observed this?

Think I’ll start by investigating the 2 check valves on the vacuum lines along with testing and replacing if needed the vacuum accumulator. Would welcome any additional thoughts. A vacuum pump was going to be my next tool acquisition along with possibly a smoke generator.


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Took a break from the vacuum line investigation and installed some LED headlight bulbs since I’ve been driving early in the mornings and the Sylvania bulbs weren’t doing it for me. Based on another thread, chose the Hikari Acme-X 2022 bulbs, 9005 and 9006. Getting the headlight assemblies out was a bit finicky. Bulbs went in plug and play and they had no issues clearing the back even though they protrude slightly more with the fan units. Light output is night and day and I’m very pleased. No flickering with either bulb.

Easy upgrade. Now looking to do the Morimoto 90mm foglight assemblies vs just replacing those with H1 LED bulbs.


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