Modding my 430
Discussion
bluesatin said:
Hi Ian,
Nice to meet on Sat and your car looks great!
Guy
Hey Guy - thanks and good to see you too. My daughter took a video of my first run, I stayed longer and managed to get 4 runs in. Didn't use Launch Control and you'll notice the restrained takeoff until the clutch has fully engaged in first, there were a couple burnt clutches in the paddock afterwards Nice to meet on Sat and your car looks great!
Guy
My plan was to launch it and not lunch it! 
Have to say the launch control on your 458 was impressive. You took off like a scalded rat! Looked great. Cheers.https://youtu.be/dlY41HZRcw4
thecook101 said:
Thanks all. OK so seat installation pictures below. Pretty easy to remove the OEM seats and disconnect wiring. I have just left the wiring tails tucked away under the new seat. Didn't get any warnings and lights when I disconnected everything.
Once the OEM seats were out I removed the plastic delivery wrap still stuck to the carpet
and then fitted the brackets. In order to get as low as possible I went for the simplest option https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/sparco-fia-steel-si... These bolted into the existing threaded holes in the floor. From there I just dropped the seats in and bolted them up. I re-used some of the spacers from the original seats to ensure that the belt attachments could still rotate when the nuts were tightened up. You'll see that in order to get the driver's seat tilted back further I needed to fashion a couple extensions for the front bracket mounting. The seats have a removable cushion which I remove when tracking in order to gain an extra half inch for my helmet. They're comfortable, feel great on track, and 20 kilos lighter per side. The wife and daughters don't like them...
The wheels are OZ Ultraleggera in matte black. https://www.rtecshop.com/wheel_range_detail.php?br... Front are 8.5x19 with a 27 offset (standard are 7.5x19 and 31), rears are 11x19 with a 35 offset (standard are 10x19 and 39). So both are an inch wider and both have 4mm less positive offset. By my dodgy maths that puts them half an inch plus 4mm further out (hmm.. 16.7mm). No rubbing even with the car 40mm lower.
Couple of comments... firstly, love the finish on the wrap, very unusual. Big fan of OZ super/ultraleggeras, I have a few sets on other cars and they are a very strong/light wheel.Once the OEM seats were out I removed the plastic delivery wrap still stuck to the carpet
and then fitted the brackets. In order to get as low as possible I went for the simplest option https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/sparco-fia-steel-si... These bolted into the existing threaded holes in the floor. From there I just dropped the seats in and bolted them up. I re-used some of the spacers from the original seats to ensure that the belt attachments could still rotate when the nuts were tightened up. You'll see that in order to get the driver's seat tilted back further I needed to fashion a couple extensions for the front bracket mounting. The seats have a removable cushion which I remove when tracking in order to gain an extra half inch for my helmet. They're comfortable, feel great on track, and 20 kilos lighter per side. The wife and daughters don't like them...The wheels are OZ Ultraleggera in matte black. https://www.rtecshop.com/wheel_range_detail.php?br... Front are 8.5x19 with a 27 offset (standard are 7.5x19 and 31), rears are 11x19 with a 35 offset (standard are 10x19 and 39). So both are an inch wider and both have 4mm less positive offset. By my dodgy maths that puts them half an inch plus 4mm further out (hmm.. 16.7mm). No rubbing even with the car 40mm lower.
Regarding noise, you're right, any kind of aftermarket manifolds will be too loud - my car was blackflagged at silverstone @ 108dB on drive by (AP manifolds, the rest of the exhaust is standard).
I was looking at your seat mounting arrangements - not sure I'd go with the 'extension' at the front to get the height - you can buy different shape mounts with more 'lift' which are potentially a better solution. the seat belt lower anchor point should definitely not be mounted to the seat bolt as you have it now - that bolt isn't very strong and it's only bonded into the seat - either mount it to the subframes somehow (which should use a much finer UNF pitch bolt which is strength rated) or bolt it to the floor with an FIA anchor point welded onto the floorpan. I have a few cars with 'road' belts and harnesses, I tend to run the 'road' belt through the harness holes to get them as low as possible on the body - particularly the 'lap' part needs to be snug so the enertia / pre tensioners have a decent chance of holding your body in an accident. I wouldn't go to full harnesses without at least a rollbar.
paulmnz said:
......
I was looking at your seat mounting arrangements - not sure I'd go with the 'extension' at the front to get the height - you can buy different shape mounts with more 'lift' which are potentially a better solution. the seat belt lower anchor point should definitely not be mounted to the seat bolt as you have it now - that bolt isn't very strong and it's only bonded into the seat - either mount it to the subframes somehow (which should use a much finer UNF pitch bolt which is strength rated) or bolt it to the floor with an FIA anchor point welded onto the floorpan. I have a few cars with 'road' belts and harnesses, I tend to run the 'road' belt through the harness holes to get them as low as possible on the body - particularly the 'lap' part needs to be snug so the enertia / pre tensioners have a decent chance of holding your body in an accident. I wouldn't go to full harnesses without at least a rollbar.
You're absolutely right - was meant to be a temp arrangement just to get the positioning right but stuck around for far to long. I have sourced better mounts which negate the need to use an 'extension' I was looking at your seat mounting arrangements - not sure I'd go with the 'extension' at the front to get the height - you can buy different shape mounts with more 'lift' which are potentially a better solution. the seat belt lower anchor point should definitely not be mounted to the seat bolt as you have it now - that bolt isn't very strong and it's only bonded into the seat - either mount it to the subframes somehow (which should use a much finer UNF pitch bolt which is strength rated) or bolt it to the floor with an FIA anchor point welded onto the floorpan. I have a few cars with 'road' belts and harnesses, I tend to run the 'road' belt through the harness holes to get them as low as possible on the body - particularly the 'lap' part needs to be snug so the enertia / pre tensioners have a decent chance of holding your body in an accident. I wouldn't go to full harnesses without at least a rollbar.
. I had a PM from another concerned PHer pointing that out as soon as I posted it. The belts are still attached to the same bolt that connects the seat to the mount which I figured if the FIA are happy it will hold the seat in place then it should be able to hold the belt end in as well. I take your point though and am going to investigate attaching it directly to the lowest slot in the mount with it's own bolt and backing nut- thanks for pointing it out. Running the road belts through the harness holes is good advice - thanks.Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 7th August 10:03
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 7th August 10:05
thecook101 said:
You're absolutely right - was meant to be a temp arrangement just to get the positioning right but stuck around for far to long. I have sourced better mounts which negate the need to use an 'extension' . I had a PM from another concerned PHer pointing that out as soon as I posted it. The belts are still attached to the same bolt that connects the seat to the mount which I figured if the FIA are happy it will hold the seat in place then it should be able to hold the belt end in as well. I take your point though and am going to investigate attaching it directly to the lowest slot in the mount with it's own bolt and backing nut- thanks for pointing it out. Running the road belts through the harness holes is good advice - thanks.
The FIA wont be happy . I had a PM from another concerned PHer pointing that out as soon as I posted it. The belts are still attached to the same bolt that connects the seat to the mount which I figured if the FIA are happy it will hold the seat in place then it should be able to hold the belt end in as well. I take your point though and am going to investigate attaching it directly to the lowest slot in the mount with it's own bolt and backing nut- thanks for pointing it out. Running the road belts through the harness holes is good advice - thanks.Edited by thecook101 on Tuesday 7th August 10:03
Edited by thecook101 on Tuesday 7th August 10:05
those are seat mounts only, 5/6 point belts have to be attached to the vehicle either via rollbars or FIA plates with harness hook like these:
there are some seat floor rails that come with seat belt mounts, I have them for one of my other cars, similar to this:
The seat mounts (which can be aluminium or steal) and bolts for the seats (which are small) are designed mostly to hold the seat in place in an accident, not designed to take the moving weight of a person (look at the difference in size of bolts for seat belts vs those seat bolts)
Not trying to labour a point, but I went through all of this building a race car to MSA / FIA specs - there is a section in the MSA blue book detailing the required mounting and strength of bolts etc.
Although mixing 'road' belts and 'race' seats makes it a bit more complicated, I'd recommend having a look at how the OEMs do it with Recaro fixed back seats (think 968 clubsport, audi TT sport, e46 M3 CSL) they are different to the 'race car like' seats, such as the OEM Ferrari Sparco 'racing seats' in the F430 as these aren't side-mount FIA seats and are really just normal chairs which look a little racy
at the very least you want the belt attached to the steal lower rails which are bolted to the floor (like the picture above, can substitute that mounting eye for the seatbelt bolt) rather than the FIA hardwarepaulmnz said:
The FIA wont be happy those are seat mounts only, 5/6 point belts have to be attached to the vehicle either via rollbars or FIA plates with harness hook like these:
....
I get your point re 5/6 harnesses and I have those in my race car but these are 3 point road belts and in almost all road cars (including Ferrari) these are attached to the seat. those are seat mounts only, 5/6 point belts have to be attached to the vehicle either via rollbars or FIA plates with harness hook like these:....
Anyway - point taken and as I said above I will attach them to the steel plate bolted to the floor pan with a dedicated high tensile bolt and backing plate. Thanks again for the info.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 7th August 12:19
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 7th August 12:19
I replaced my pre-cat O2 sensors today and took the car out for an Italian tune up to clean up the cats after running a bit rich on the old sensors. Car felt like it had found another 50hp! Genuinely astounded me when I floored it down my favourite stretch of country road. Granted I've taken 100kg out the car and had a DMS map that took it up to 525bhp, but the rears were lighting up constantly. First time I have properly s**t myself in this car for a while :-)
Thought I'd post in case others feel their car is down on power a tad. Tell-tell sign is even just the slightest of sooty deposit in the tailpipe - they should run absolutely clean. Could be other causes of course (restricted intake, dodgy MAF, cracked manifold!!, failed ECU, etc) but with new O2 sensors costing just £50 online and fitting really straightforward it's worth investigating. Pre-cat sensors measure A/F ratio, post-cat sensors measure cat efficiency by comparing readings with the pre-cat (my understanding at least). Seems that these can start failing anytime and it's seldom a catastrophic failure, more often a slow degradation in sensitivity leading to the pre-cat sensor sending lean readings to the ECU and thus causing over-fuelling. Mine was worse on one bank.
Still loving this car and no plans to rest it for the winter - although cheeky front ARB bushings refresh scheduled for the weekend hence back on the ramp.
Thought I'd post in case others feel their car is down on power a tad. Tell-tell sign is even just the slightest of sooty deposit in the tailpipe - they should run absolutely clean. Could be other causes of course (restricted intake, dodgy MAF, cracked manifold!!, failed ECU, etc) but with new O2 sensors costing just £50 online and fitting really straightforward it's worth investigating. Pre-cat sensors measure A/F ratio, post-cat sensors measure cat efficiency by comparing readings with the pre-cat (my understanding at least). Seems that these can start failing anytime and it's seldom a catastrophic failure, more often a slow degradation in sensitivity leading to the pre-cat sensor sending lean readings to the ECU and thus causing over-fuelling. Mine was worse on one bank.
Still loving this car and no plans to rest it for the winter - although cheeky front ARB bushings refresh scheduled for the weekend hence back on the ramp.
thecook101 said:
Cheers guys. I wanted a historic racer feel and I think it's worked well. The car feels really special now and with the upgrades weight is down to 1426kg (48% front, 52% rear). If the DMS dyno is correct at 525bhp then power weight ratio is up to 368 bhp/ton.
Is that weight with fuel? You in it?Good to see an F430 modded and those wheels and seats look right at home.
Gibbo205 said:
thecook101 said:
Cheers guys. I wanted a historic racer feel and I think it's worked well. The car feels really special now and with the upgrades weight is down to 1426kg (48% front, 52% rear). If the DMS dyno is correct at 525bhp then power weight ratio is up to 368 bhp/ton.
Is that weight with fuel? You in it?Good to see an F430 modded and those wheels and seats look right at home.
Or as evo puts it "The kerb weight that we like to quote here at evo is the the DIN figure – that’s Deutsches Institut für Normung, or German Institute for Standardisation. This is the weight of the car with all the fluids necessary for operation, including a 90 per cent full tank of fuel."
Great day out at Silverstone with Circuit Days yesterday. Track was icy in the morning so a delayed start but once things warmed up a little the conditions were a great mix of dry and almost dry - just enough to keep you on your toes. Well organised and only one red flag which meant I went through two tanks of fuel over 100 laps! Always amazes me when people complain about the F1 gear-change on the F430 being cumbersome - check out the video for performance in Race mode. Only two other 'supercars' in attendance - a red Scud and a green HP.
https://www.facebook.com/circuitdaysevents/videos/...
https://www.facebook.com/circuitdaysevents/videos/...
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 21st January 14:30
the cook101,
I simply love the fact that you've broken the unspoken rules of never modifying a Ferrari. I have always been a fan of the "make your car the car you want" school of thought, and not the "protect the resale value and the originality at all costs even if you hate it" mindset. Congratulations! I've previously modded my 2010 Jaguar XKR, and I've just gotten my 1972 De Tomaso Pantera back from 4 years of restoration and modification. I hated even trying to start the Pantera so the carburetor was chucked in favor of fuel injection, cooling upgrades, new high horsepower engine installed, headers and exhaust, and new C-4 Corvette seats along with an all leather interior including the dash. I didn't buy this car many years ago to prepare it for the next owner, I bought it so that I could enjoy it and occasionally track it. I applaud your efforts. Good job!
I simply love the fact that you've broken the unspoken rules of never modifying a Ferrari. I have always been a fan of the "make your car the car you want" school of thought, and not the "protect the resale value and the originality at all costs even if you hate it" mindset. Congratulations! I've previously modded my 2010 Jaguar XKR, and I've just gotten my 1972 De Tomaso Pantera back from 4 years of restoration and modification. I hated even trying to start the Pantera so the carburetor was chucked in favor of fuel injection, cooling upgrades, new high horsepower engine installed, headers and exhaust, and new C-4 Corvette seats along with an all leather interior including the dash. I didn't buy this car many years ago to prepare it for the next owner, I bought it so that I could enjoy it and occasionally track it. I applaud your efforts. Good job!
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