Every day tips for living with a 599

[DeejRC]

Outstanding work that man

[willy wombat]

I think we could, a little tongue in cheek, rename your car “Trigger’s Broom”. More seriously, are you keeping a note of how much all the work you’ve had and are having done is costing?
Beware of the “I am never going to sell it” statements. I had a 599 from February 2008 which I said I was going to be buried in. Other Ferraris came and went but I always kept the 599. I therefore took a lot of good natured stick from friends in 2021 when I sold it, the reason being that it just wasn’t getting used (not a problem in the case of your car). I now have, among other cars, a 458 spider which I have owned from new in 2013. While I have no plans to sell it, I am wary of saying I never will as, in honesty I probably will sell it at some point.
Enough of my rambling. Keep enjoying the 599 and I look forward to your updates.

[cake eater]

willy wombat said:

I think we could, a little tongue in cheek, rename your car “Trigger’s Broom”. More seriously, are you keeping a note of how much all the work you’ve had and are having done is costing?
Beware of the “I am never going to sell it” statements. I had a 599 from February 2008 which I said I was going to be buried in. Other Ferraris came and went but I always kept the 599. I therefore took a lot of good natured stick from friends in 2021 when I sold it, the reason being that it just wasn’t getting used (not a problem in the case of your car). I now have, among other cars, a 458 spider which I have owned from new in 2013. While I have no plans to sell it, I am wary of saying I never will as, in honesty I probably will sell it at some point.
Enough of my rambling. Keep enjoying the 599 and I look forward to your updates.

Hi WW,

I do appreciate the sentiment and the teasing but the car is already named.

I have come so close to selling my Caterham but kept it and got locked into a cycle of upgrades where the car is unique to me but not worth the value of work put into it and I'd have had something probably faster and saved a bunch if I'd sold it, bought a 620r and done a few choice upgrades on that.

I can see the same for the 599. Sell it, take the maintenance / upgrade money and put it into an F12. Total sense, no need for man maths. And I do have spreadsheet of all maintenance, upgrades and daily costs. I don't look at the bottom line, just add to it. If I looked I'd cry and might sell

Unfortunately I am stupid and take a perverse pleasure in doing stuff that people say you shouldn't do.

Did you know there's a 6.3 conversion for the 599 that gives you 730bhp. Match that to GTO gearbox internals and differential along with Ohlins and I'll have a monster for the Nurburgring and my dream of going sub 8 in the 599.

I tell myself I'm never going to sell it but I also think who would buy it after reading this thread?

[cake eater]

cake eater said:

Clutch
So I had previously noted that the clutch was not always smooth. Another MDL customer had his 599 in at the same time as mine and MDL took some data off his car and compared it to mine. My clutch is definitely showing more wear in spite of what the SD3 diagnostic says. So that is getting replaced too. This is going to go hand in hand with the gearbox and diff inspection in case the jerky operation is not just clutch related.

So MDL have found, at least in part, the fault with the clunky gearbox. The clutch release bearing it worn out



So it is getting replaced.

Pagid pads have also arrived.

[cake eater]

Gearbox and differential are out. The diff is cutch type, the plates and shims are worn. New will be required and the preload adjusted. Recommendation from MDL is to run more preload.

[cake eater]

MDL have sent me another update.

The rear pads are out now. Rears are standard Ferrari, the fronts Endless MX72.

All rear pads show heat cracking as well as a little surface pitting.
Front not cracking but quite a bit of surface pitting on just one of each pair.


My thoughts are that this is possibly due to corrosion from wheel cleaner (the pad on the outside is most exposed when cleaning). I always use a pH neutral cleaner from Bilt Hamber but wonder if this is having some effect? Maybe just heat / gas build up and worn pads but why just one side?

[cake eater]

The diff is also all back together


New shiny bits are clear to see.

[DeejRC]

Cake - I admire your commitment to the cause son, I really do!

[cake eater]

The suspension has also been rebuilt with new springs. As I'm changing to GTO springs there's a very different setup recommended by Ferrari.

Before pic of the shocks


New and old bits


Rebuilt


Ferrari have very specific instructions on the geometry of the car with these springs. The springs are actually colour coded as there are two spring options available: yellow and white.
The manual states "different load characteristics" but strangely the excerpt I have doesn't state the exact difference.

Shock length


When setting up the car the following checks are to be made:
F2.10 Set-up check and adjustment
Checks and preparation of vehicle
Check the following before inspecting the set-up:

wheel fastening;
tyre pressure;
clearance between pinion and rack in steering system;
clearance between ball studs and steering tie-rods;
state of the gas shock absorbers;
play between the stub axle pillar and the ball joints;

Set the vehicle on a flat surface, filled with the correct quantities of fluids, with a full tank of fuel and with the parking brake engaged.

If the tank is not full, place 0.735 Kg on the transmission tunnel for every litre of missing fuel.

Toe-in is measured over a diameter of 495 mm.

What's interesting to me is that the car is supposed to be set up with a full tank of fuel.

Front
Adjusted vehicle height 131.3 mm
Wheel camber - 1.18° ± 0.17°
Front caster 6.70° ± 0.72°


Rear data
Adjusted vehicle height 159 mm
Wheel camber - 1.67° ± 0.17°
Rear caster 5.4° ± 0.5°


Toe-in Total / On wheel
Front 3.6±0.5 mm / 1.8±0.25 mm
Rear 1.7±0.5 mm / 0.85±0.25 mm

[cake eater]

DeejRC said:

Cake - I admire your commitment to the cause son, I really do!

Thank you

the balance in my bank account as a result of my commitment

[Stedman]

cake eater said:

MDL have sent me another update.

The rear pads are out now. Rears are standard Ferrari, the fronts Endless MX72.

All rear pads show heat cracking as well as a little surface pitting.
Front not cracking but quite a bit of surface pitting on just one of each pair.


My thoughts are that this is possibly due to corrosion from wheel cleaner (the pad on the outside is most exposed when cleaning). I always use a pH neutral cleaner from Bilt Hamber but wonder if this is having some effect? Maybe just heat / gas build up and worn pads but why just one side?

Your brakes are carbon ceramics if I remember correctly?

[cake eater]

Stedman said:

Your brakes are carbon ceramics if I remember correctly?

Yes, CCM

[cake eater]

Suspension back on the car

[cake eater]

cake eater said:

Stedman said:

Your brakes are carbon ceramics if I remember correctly?

Yes, CCM

There's an interesting web page here
https://aldousvoice.com/2016/10/16/ferrari-maserat...

My disks have started to show similar wear pattern but to a much lesser extent and hence why I plan to change in the near future.

This generation of Ferrari CCM used chopped fibre and I'm going to change to the latest generation 3D continuous weave
https://www.carbobrake.com/

https://m.facebook.com/CARBObrake/posts/5087798717...

Edited by cake eater on Wednesday 22 March 04:03

[cake eater]

Shock length set, front ride height to be set. 20mm spacers

Edited by cake eater on Wednesday 22 March 01:16

[Stedman]

cake eater said:

cake eater said:

Stedman said:

Your brakes are carbon ceramics if I remember correctly?

Yes, CCM

There's an interesting web page here
https://aldousvoice.com/2016/10/16/ferrari-maserat...

My disks have started to show similar wear pattern but to a much lesser extent and hence why I plan to change in the near future.

This generation of Ferrari CCM used chopped fibre and I'm going to change to the latest generation 3D continuous weave
https://www.carbobrake.com/

I doubt it’s anything to do with it but I was under the impression a ‘fallout remover’ should not be used on carbon ceramic brakes. Just spitballing here. Love the thread by the way - thanks for updating it.

[cake eater]

Stedman said:

cake eater said:

cake eater said:

Stedman said:

Your brakes are carbon ceramics if I remember correctly?

Yes, CCM

There's an interesting web page here
https://aldousvoice.com/2016/10/16/ferrari-maserat...

My disks have started to show similar wear pattern but to a much lesser extent and hence why I plan to change in the near future.

This generation of Ferrari CCM used chopped fibre and I'm going to change to the latest generation 3D continuous weave
https://www.carbobrake.com/

I doubt it’s anything to do with it but I was under the impression a ‘fallout remover’ should not be used on carbon ceramic brakes. Just spitballing here. Love the thread by the way - thanks for updating it.

Yes, I've been told the same thing.

Do not use the wheel cleaners that turn purple.

I can't find anything scientific why though theres lots of information that states the rotors are porous, absorb the cleaning products resulting in damage and reduced brake performance

Good cleaning tips here
https://www.prodetailertips.com/how-do-you-clean-w...

https://youtu.be/MtTV6QksouY

[cake eater]

cake eater said:

Stedman said:

cake eater said:

cake eater said:

Stedman said:

Your brakes are carbon ceramics if I remember correctly?

Yes, CCM

There's an interesting web page here
https://aldousvoice.com/2016/10/16/ferrari-maserat...

My disks have started to show similar wear pattern but to a much lesser extent and hence why I plan to change in the near future.

This generation of Ferrari CCM used chopped fibre and I'm going to change to the latest generation 3D continuous weave
https://www.carbobrake.com/

I doubt it’s anything to do with it but I was under the impression a ‘fallout remover’ should not be used on carbon ceramic brakes. Just spitballing here. Love the thread by the way - thanks for updating it.

Yes, I've been told the same thing.

Do not use the wheel cleaners that turn purple.

I can't find anything scientific why though theres lots of information that states the rotors are porous, absorb the cleaning products resulting in damage and reduced brake performance

Good cleaning tips here
https://www.prodetailertips.com/how-do-you-clean-w...

https://youtu.be/MtTV6QksouY

Interesting video here. Not Ferrari but surely still relevant
https://www.facebook.com/BamfordRoseLTD/videos/558...

[cake eater]

On a completely separate note, if your bolt / Uber turns out to be a white Prius with TRD stickers make sure you strap in tight!!



Has to be the fastest Prius ever!! And a driver that thinks he's in grand theft auto, though most are like that anyway but to a much lesser extent.

[cake eater]

Ball joints, lower suspension bushes and drop links all changed out.







I'm expecting the car to be transformed handling wise.
I hope my expectations are not set too high