My 355 mini-Restoration story | Page 24 | FerrariChat

My 355 mini-Restoration story

Discussion in '348/355' started by treedee3d, Oct 20, 2011.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. Targatime

    Targatime Formula 3

    Feb 22, 2014
    1,211
    Los Angeles
    Nice radiator, who's the manufacturer?
     
    treedee3d likes this.
  2. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

    Apr 1, 2011
    3,721
    Montreal
    Full Name:
    Fab
    The brand is Saldana Racing, I replaced both of them shortly after I purchased the car since they both failed. You have to go via their retailer Euroquipe in Illinois, I had paid approximately 1000$ a piece (about 7-8 years ago).

    It is IMHO one of the best aftermarket upgrades you can do to your 355.


    Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
    Yassa and Targatime like this.
  3. Targatime

    Targatime Formula 3

    Feb 22, 2014
    1,211
    Los Angeles
    Beautiful. My rads are fine right now, but original to the car. When they fail, I'm going aluminum.
     
    treedee3d likes this.
  4. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

    Apr 1, 2011
    3,721
    Montreal
    Full Name:
    Fab
    Update of the day:

    My Fabspeed headers and pipes after ten years of use are still in good shape but I decided to refresh them by having them recoated with a ceramic finish using the same process and same place that did them a decade ago.

    The only downside to this Fabspeed setup is the heat (my stubbornness in not getting a challenge grille probably doesn’t help) but I am using the heat shields Fabspeed provides and have also made my own stainless cv boot shields and engine mount shields which I have also coated.


    Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  5. f355spider

    f355spider F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    May 29, 2001
    17,913
    USA
    Nice work. Note sure if room allows, but I would like those CV boot shields made even larger. During my ownership of 10 years and roughly 35k miles, I replaced my CV boots twice due to heat and the boots subsequently splitting. I don't think the factory shields offer enough coverage...but space is limited as well...so maybe that is as good as it gets?
     
    treedee3d likes this.
  6. Targatime

    Targatime Formula 3

    Feb 22, 2014
    1,211
    Los Angeles
    You should wrap your headers. Ceramic coating doesn't do anything, at least not nearly enough to matter. Having exposed headers inside the engine bay on a high-revving V8 is nothing but trouble.
     
  7. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

    Apr 1, 2011
    3,721
    Montreal
    Full Name:
    Fab
    Well, been running fine this way for about a decade so I'm gonna stick to my current setup.

    When I first put them in my CV boots and motor mounts took a beating but I made shields for those things and the shields Fabspeed provides also do the job so I am good to go. Tried, tested and true!

    Hate to disagree with you on this also but ceramic coating does help actually and is totally worth it. Otherwise why does it even exist? Even if it's not highly significant but every little bit helps...and I haven't had any trouble and now doing my major after 10 years.
     
  8. Carmellini

    Carmellini Formula Junior

    Jul 16, 2019
    814
    Yassa and mymelody12 like this.
  9. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

    Apr 1, 2011
    3,721
    Montreal
    Full Name:
    Fab
    Agreed, they looked pretty effective. However they seem like a thinner material than what I have used.
     
  10. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

    Apr 1, 2011
    3,721
    Montreal
    Full Name:
    Fab
    Realizing that the parts for 355s are becoming more and more scarce as these cars age. In 2011 I remember having no trouble at all finding what was needed at reasonable prices but nowadays some parts are either impossible to find or highly expensive.

    For example, the little rubbers that hold the cables 163861 are 50 to 70$ each! Luckily I found them for 21$ a pair.

    And don’t even get me started on the head gaskets 150311. There is almost no stock anywhere and the interchangeable options are no longer available. Price range is 300-400$ US each. Luckily, my wife found them on eBay for 175$ each but I purchased 2 out of the remaining 3.

    Once this major is completed I really won’t be looking forward to the next one... I feel for the 308/328/Mondial guys...


    Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  11. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

    Apr 1, 2011
    3,721
    Montreal
    Full Name:
    Fab
  12. WATSON

    WATSON Two Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 9, 2010
    21,607
    WI
    Wow.... Carry on!
     
    treedee3d likes this.
  13. MAD828

    MAD828 F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Oct 8, 2011
    2,539
    Sydney
    Full Name:
    Elliott Caras
    Brings back memories of my last engine out with the valve guides being done.

    The grey air tubes going to the plenum have seen better days! I wasn’t able to find them new from any vendors either in the grey. The 5.2 cars were a black tube.
     
    treedee3d likes this.
  14. mymelody12

    mymelody12 Karting

    Apr 22, 2018
    61
    Hong Kong & South Korea
    Full Name:
    Kevin Chang
    I've been following your restoration saga with great interest!
    "my wife found them on eBay" - wait, do you have your wife to monitor ebay for parts you need? wow! That's some spartan husbandry sir.
     
    treedee3d likes this.
  15. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

    Apr 1, 2011
    3,721
    Montreal
    Full Name:
    Fab
    It's in her best interest to save money so she can buy outfits, purses and items that will be worn never more than once!
     
  16. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

    Apr 1, 2011
    3,721
    Montreal
    Full Name:
    Fab
    355OXO likes this.
  17. Targatime

    Targatime Formula 3

    Feb 22, 2014
    1,211
    Los Angeles
    How much wear are you finding on the old valve stems?
     
    355OXO and treedee3d like this.
  18. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

    Apr 1, 2011
    3,721
    Montreal
    Full Name:
    Fab
    On the old valve and valve guide you can take it with your hand and see there is some play where you can move it slightly side-to-side as opposed to the new ones who fit together perfectly and only goes up and down.

    The car was running great and, unless I had that 1 bad cylinder loosing 58% I never would have bothered with the valves and the guides. However, at this point I am glad it's being done.
     
    355OXO, Carmellini and Targatime like this.
  19. Cicio

    Cicio Karting

    Apr 14, 2021
    141
    Atlanta
    Full Name:
    Nathan Cicio
    Awesome read! thank you for documenting it and sharing
     
    355OXO and treedee3d like this.
  20. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

    Apr 1, 2011
    3,721
    Montreal
    Full Name:
    Fab
  21. mymelody12

    mymelody12 Karting

    Apr 22, 2018
    61
    Hong Kong & South Korea
    Full Name:
    Kevin Chang
    So valve guides are from SI Valves and valves are OEM? And they fit perfectly? Wow.
    May I ask how much I am looking at if I were to replace all valves and valve guide (parts alone)?

    On SI Valves website, i also see that it manufactures valves too.
    I am curious about reasons behind for 1. getting valve guides from SI Valves and 2. not getting the valves from SI Valves.
     
  22. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

    Apr 1, 2011
    3,721
    Montreal
    Full Name:
    Fab

    Yes SI valves also makes the valves but they are currently out of stock and produce them in batches and I spoke to a guy there named JD who was very nice and told me it would be a while before they got around to it so I had to source the valves elsewhere.

    I never even imagined that sourcing them from the same place was important if they are produced according to spec. No issues came up from the shop so it looks like we are good to go.

    Superformance had by far the most competitive price for the valves and they've been making/selling them for a while with zero comebacks as far as I know so I went with them.

    Valve guides from SI Valves came out to about 500$ total for all 40
    Valves came out to 1700$ for all 40 (24 intake and 16 exhaust)

    I couldn't get too picky either because a lot of sellers either didn't have in stock or didn't have enough or didn't even bother to get back to me so it left me with very few options but I think I did ok.
     
    mymelody12 and tatry68 like this.

Share This Page