Ferrari F430 Spider
Discussion
sc0tt said:
Great work.
I can't imagine why you didn't get much joy with the mobile mechanics
Hi, yeah it's a Ferrari ... Click ...
Ha, yes nothing came of it.I can't imagine why you didn't get much joy with the mobile mechanics
Hi, yeah it's a Ferrari ... Click ...
Today I fitted the Hill Engineering front track rod ends. A quick sanity check revealed these are shorter than the OEM version so this must be taken into account when refitting to ensure the tracking isn't too wildly out for the drive to get the car realigned.
Next it was stripe time. I've gone for a 16M inspired stripe in silver.
Fitting the stripe was quite nerve wracking, especially when down to the final section! I used soapy water to allow for repositioning on the car and a hard squeegee to move all of the water from underneath the decal once it was in a position I was happy with. My Dad helped by finding the centreline of the car and marking it up on pieces of tape.
The stripe ties in with the new handles and also the wheels. I am really pleased with it.
I was particularly pleased with the front badge recess which was all cut out off of the car. The OEM painted stripe fills the recess and I managed to achieve that look with the vinyl.
Excuse the dusty car!
Hill Engineering TREs, Cont...
I found when replacing the N/S track rod end that the 'balance spacer' was slightly knurled around its edge, so I decided to replace it. Worth noting when re-inserting them that the split in the spacer should be aliogned with a smooth portion of the securing bolt bore.
O/S/F Hill Engineering TRE fitted.
Clear Repeaters and LED Bulbs
Next I wanted to replace the amber side repeaters with clear, as the amber doesn't look great against Grigio Silverstone. The first links I came to was a very useful article from Voicey's blog: http://aldousvoice.com/2013/11/15/ferrari-360f430-...
Here are the new repeaters and 5 SMB LED replacement bulbs.
Fitted.
Titainium Look Inner Door Handles
The Titainium accessory handles are also available for the inner door handles. I set out to replicate them. The standard handle is soft feel black paint:
I flatted the handle and sprayed the underside in a matte silver.
I wrapped the top in 3M Di-noc brushed finished wrap.
Fitted. It looks much better.
I found when replacing the N/S track rod end that the 'balance spacer' was slightly knurled around its edge, so I decided to replace it. Worth noting when re-inserting them that the split in the spacer should be aliogned with a smooth portion of the securing bolt bore.
O/S/F Hill Engineering TRE fitted.
Clear Repeaters and LED Bulbs
Next I wanted to replace the amber side repeaters with clear, as the amber doesn't look great against Grigio Silverstone. The first links I came to was a very useful article from Voicey's blog: http://aldousvoice.com/2013/11/15/ferrari-360f430-...
Here are the new repeaters and 5 SMB LED replacement bulbs.
Fitted.
Titainium Look Inner Door Handles
The Titainium accessory handles are also available for the inner door handles. I set out to replicate them. The standard handle is soft feel black paint:
I flatted the handle and sprayed the underside in a matte silver.
I wrapped the top in 3M Di-noc brushed finished wrap.
Fitted. It looks much better.
Thanks both 
I decided to bite the bullet and get the clutch changed. Off she goes!
The clutch will be a new OEM part and the release beaing a Hill Engineering uprated part with seals.
The Crankshaft Rear Spigot Bearing and oil seal behind the clutch release bearing shaft will be changed too. Total cost including vat is £2595.64, which seemed pretty good.
I think I've now tackled the major weak points - peace of mind for the upcoming road trip.
I decided to bite the bullet and get the clutch changed. Off she goes!
The clutch will be a new OEM part and the release beaing a Hill Engineering uprated part with seals.
The Crankshaft Rear Spigot Bearing and oil seal behind the clutch release bearing shaft will be changed too. Total cost including vat is £2595.64, which seemed pretty good.
I think I've now tackled the major weak points - peace of mind for the upcoming road trip.
Edited by mwstewart on Tuesday 15th March 13:21
mwstewart said:
Thanks both
I decided to bite the bullet and get the clutch changed. Off she goes!
The clutch will be a new OEM part and the release beaing a Hill Engineering uprated part with seals.
The Crankshaft Rear Spigot Bearing and oil seal behind the clutch release bearing shaft will be changed too. Total cost including vat is £2595.64, which seemed pretty good.
I think I've now tackled the major weak points - peace of mind for the upcoming road trip.
Frankly I'm disappointed you didn't do the clutch yourself. Slack work I decided to bite the bullet and get the clutch changed. Off she goes!
The clutch will be a new OEM part and the release beaing a Hill Engineering uprated part with seals.
The Crankshaft Rear Spigot Bearing and oil seal behind the clutch release bearing shaft will be changed too. Total cost including vat is £2595.64, which seemed pretty good.
I think I've now tackled the major weak points - peace of mind for the upcoming road trip.
I have a question Mark.
As conventional wisdom says that a full manufacturer's service history is essential to preserve the value of any vehicle do you have any concerns that your own fettling (even though it's probably of a much higher standard than a main dealer) will adversely affect it's value? I'll add that I don't subscribe to the notion that only the official dealer can service or maintain your car properly. In fact I'd say that often the manufacturer's schedule and allocated workshop times are unrealistic to do a thorough job, particularly for servicing, when the demands of the fleet market force down servicing costs for the first 3 years or so (obviously not the case with a car like yours!).
I'm sure you've considered this and I'd be interested in your views.
As conventional wisdom says that a full manufacturer's service history is essential to preserve the value of any vehicle do you have any concerns that your own fettling (even though it's probably of a much higher standard than a main dealer) will adversely affect it's value? I'll add that I don't subscribe to the notion that only the official dealer can service or maintain your car properly. In fact I'd say that often the manufacturer's schedule and allocated workshop times are unrealistic to do a thorough job, particularly for servicing, when the demands of the fleet market force down servicing costs for the first 3 years or so (obviously not the case with a car like yours!).
I'm sure you've considered this and I'd be interested in your views.
PGN said:
I have a question Mark.
As conventional wisdom says that a full manufacturer's service history is essential to preserve the value of any vehicle do you have any concerns that your own fettling (even though it's probably of a much higher standard than a main dealer) will adversely affect it's value? I'll add that I don't subscribe to the notion that only the official dealer can service or maintain your car properly. In fact I'd say that often the manufacturer's schedule and allocated workshop times are unrealistic to do a thorough job, particularly for servicing, when the demands of the fleet market force down servicing costs for the first 3 years or so (obviously not the case with a car like yours!).
I'm sure you've considered this and I'd be interested in your views.
It's been brought up before and I believe he basically writes the car off as an asset so he can tweak it all he wants and not have to worry about how much money he is losing on it. As conventional wisdom says that a full manufacturer's service history is essential to preserve the value of any vehicle do you have any concerns that your own fettling (even though it's probably of a much higher standard than a main dealer) will adversely affect it's value? I'll add that I don't subscribe to the notion that only the official dealer can service or maintain your car properly. In fact I'd say that often the manufacturer's schedule and allocated workshop times are unrealistic to do a thorough job, particularly for servicing, when the demands of the fleet market force down servicing costs for the first 3 years or so (obviously not the case with a car like yours!).
I'm sure you've considered this and I'd be interested in your views.
Thanks all.
On the servicing topic – for now I will maintain a dealer service history. I do own the car outright and as pointed out above accept the hit from actually using it and adding mileage (heresy in the Ferrari marketplace!), but there is a balance between cost savings from self-servicing and continuing with a garage history. Servicing the car myself would be needlessly throwing away money.
If the parts I replace myself outside of the service schedule have devalued the car in some buyers' eyes then so be it, I wouldn't want to sell to someone who was that short-sighted anyway I'm not sure what I would ever replace it with anyway - a 16M that I'd convert to a manual gearbox would be good, but the prices of those have gone crazy.
On the servicing topic – for now I will maintain a dealer service history. I do own the car outright and as pointed out above accept the hit from actually using it and adding mileage (heresy in the Ferrari marketplace!), but there is a balance between cost savings from self-servicing and continuing with a garage history. Servicing the car myself would be needlessly throwing away money.
If the parts I replace myself outside of the service schedule have devalued the car in some buyers' eyes then so be it, I wouldn't want to sell to someone who was that short-sighted anyway
I'm not sure what I would ever replace it with anyway - a 16M that I'd convert to a manual gearbox would be good, but the prices of those have gone crazy.PGN said:
That makes sense to me Mark. I guess the other questions are a) are you satisfied that the main dealer does a good job and b) happy that the schedule is adequate or will you do some extra planned maintenance yourself?
I'm not impressed with the service work performed on the car to date; for example the pollen filter wasn't changed at the last annual service (I've also had this on my M3 after a service at BMW). I've heard good things about Meridien Mondena Ferrari in the New Forset so I'll give them a shot for the upcoming 31k service, which is a combined annual & mileage.Schedule and content wise the servicing is very rigorous. The cars are servied annually regardless of mileage and undergo a major service at the folllwing intervals:
6,250, 8,750, 31,250, 43,750, 56,250, 68,750, 81,250, and 93,750.
Mileage and annual based can be combined if they fall around the same time. Full service details are here: http://www.ferraridatabase.com/The_Downloads/The%2...
I don't see any need to reduce the oil change interval on this car unlike the M3 which I reduce by half (my own change inbetween the dealer schedule of 15k miles). The only things I tend to do are the usual fluid checks and a visual inspection.
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