F40 Custom Build Thread

We have been involved in the build of this Ferrari F40 for awhile now but have just recently become a sponsor of this site. This car was dropped off in bad shape, barely able to pull itself off the trailer it was a sad sight.

The goal of this build is to effectively update the F40 to modern performance standards without taking away from the awesome simplicity that makes the F40 what it is. I'll be posting up the build in a few sections as I get time, we've done everything from electronics to the turbo kit to the suspension. This is truly the ultimate F40 build.

First up was diagnosing the various issues from some unfortunate work that had previously been done on the car. We found the crank bolt loose, cam timing was off, the wiring harness was beyond saving, fuel pumps were bad, regulators were bad, and we were just getting started.

We started by sorting out the wiring and building a new engine harness from scratch, the body harness was still in relatively good shape and just needed a little straightening out. We use Raychem heat shrink, Tefzel wires, and Deutsch connectors on our standard wiring but we can use Autosport or Mil-Spec on request.

We went with a MoTeC M800 and CDI-8 instead of the stock ECU and ignition which allowed us to convert to coil on plug for a much cleaner ignition system and way more spark energy. We also got away from the old school Bosch injectors in favor of their new EV14 injectors and went from 2 per cylinder to 1 per cylinder to eliminate the possibility of a dangerous lean condition resulting from a single failed injector. We also added 3 sub connectors directly behind the firewall to allow for easier maintenance. For example the entire intake can now be removed while only disconnecting a single connector rather than all of the sensors, injectors, etc.

Here's a few pictures of the wiring along with a teaser of what's to come:
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A lot of the audio probably isn't very good quality. We should have some better stuff from the track soon but here are the few videos I have right now. I should have a good mic and someone that knows how to use it at the next event so be sure to stay posted. The car really just sounds like a louder version of stock, maybe a little deeper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INKnIWetZpc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHsuw-ZTRwA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM2Lm8qr9xk

 

I'll make sure to post up an intro thread when I get a minute later but the short story is, we're a small shop in Wilmington, NC. We have 5 guys including myself with a variety of backgrounds we are all tech's, fabricators, or tuners. We have no front end overhead and no investors so we keep our costs reasonable even on high end work like this. We work on literally anything and everything, the only thing we don't do is body work but we are partnered with a great local shop.

We have a full service fabrication shop including a mill, lathe, sheet metal tools, a Bluco jig table, tubing benders, TIG welders, and much more. We have an in house Superflow AWD dyno with three tuners with a variety of experience. Our services include everything from CAD design to maintenance to building a full tube frame car and everything in between. We also off track prep, transportation, and support. We all have racing experience and are familiar with not only track setup but also expert dynamic suspension modeling & modification, on track tuning, etc.

I've attached a few examples of our work that show a little bit of the shop. I wish I had some better pictures but like I said we don't have marketing guys or even a sales guy for that matter so we don't get as much media as we probably should. I'd be happy to take some more pictures if you're interested in anything in particular!
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A few more pictures, you can see the new injectors and the blanks machined for the unused ports. These injectors are way more precise than the old EV1's Ferrari used back in the early 90's and should be a noticeable improvement in drivability & idle quality.

For the headers we stuck with relatively small primaries although still a bit bigger than stock. We use Burns Stainless collectors & hardware with custom machined 347 stainless flanges and 321 stainless tubing. We use double slip collectors for a leak free collector joint that still allows for thermal expansion.

We weld the flanges on the inside with regular stainless filler rod and on the outside with Silicone Bronze. The Silicone Bronze filler rod allows for vibration and thermal expansion without cracking. All of our headers are back purged and TIG welded for the best possible durability. We install them with copper lock nuts to ensure they will never vibrate loose or seize even under extreme heat.
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I've seen his thread, I wish we had the opportunity to do a full restoration on this one like they were able to do but I don't really see a "leg up" when it comes to the mechanical or fabrication aspects of the build. He is doing great work but we went for a much different look in the engine compartment. We wanted the sleekest possible look, we hid all of our vacuum lines, the breather tank is tucked away where it can't be seen, the wiring is all hidden, etc.

We have also been able to convert to coil on plug and get everything working perfectly with the MoTeC. We built custom bar & plate intercoolers in house vs old school tube and fin... I could go on.

Not knocking their build at all but we definitely went a different route, at the end of the day their shop is obviously more geared towards body work and interior where we focus on fabrication, electronics, and mechanical.

 

A few more pictures of the headers, you can see we converted them to run dual TiAL gates as close to the collector as possible to improve boost control response. We also cut the collector in a tear drop shape and use a tangent bend to mount the collector allowing for optimal flow. This also allowed a lower mounting point for the wastegates which I think makes the exhaust system look a lot cleaner.

Also pictured are the new bar and plate intercoolers manufactured in house using Bell Intercooler cores and 1/8" 6061 aluminum sheet for the end tanks. These are as big as you could possibly fit. We went with two TiAL blow off valves mounted as close the the throttle as possible to keep the air flowing towards the throttle even on decel for better throttle response.
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We definitely want to do this, I would have no problem running it with higher compression even 10:1 especially with some modern cams, cam technology has come a long way since the late 80's and would really make this thing a monster. Hopefully when it's due for a timing belt service we can at least put a thinner MLS head gasket on it instead of the OE one if not put pistons in it. It's really up to the new owner though.

As for the intercooler, the other thing we went for was a decent entry angle, especially on these rear engine cars we see way to many intercoolers with questionably shallow end tanks especially in rear engine cars where the fitment can be tight.

 

Meant to upload this one earlier. We also pulled the transmission to install some drop gears and resealed everything (Silicone must be expensive in Maranello).

After driving the car with the new drop gears I was pretty disappointed honestly. I would not recommend them to anyone, I feel like it kills a lot of what makes the F40 what it is. The top speed is obviously much lower but it also feels like it doesn't pull long enough in each gear like it should. I would be willing to bet lap times are worse with the new gears.

Maybe we can convince the owner to go back to the old gears and add a little compression to the motor next time the car is in our hands!
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