Ferrari F430 Spider
Discussion
mwstewart said:
MarkwG said:
I know you've said what they're for, but I was expecting the punchline to be that they're the pivots for the replacement carbon ashtray 
Funny you should say that...the ashtray is no more. It is deleted on the carbon centre console 
Mark, been rereading your thread and came back to the bit where you sharpied the stitching on the seats.
Couple of questions
Hows it holding up x years later?
did you use a particular type of sharpie
Would you have attempted it with alcantara seats?
I'm trying to decide if I'm asking for trouble or just need to be braver
Couple of questions
Hows it holding up x years later?
did you use a particular type of sharpie
Would you have attempted it with alcantara seats?
I'm trying to decide if I'm asking for trouble or just need to be braver
markiii said:
Mark, been rereading your thread and came back to the bit where you sharpied the stitching on the seats.
Couple of questions
Hows it holding up x years later?
did you use a particular type of sharpie
Would you have attempted it with alcantara seats?
I'm trying to decide if I'm asking for trouble or just need to be braver
Mark, apologies - I completely missed your post. I do not recommend the approach is used on Alcantara unless you have an extremely steady hand. It is inevitable that some ink will end up on the seat material, and with leather there is a few second grace period when it is possible to wipe off any mistakes with a damp cloth. That won't be possible with Alcantara.Couple of questions
Hows it holding up x years later?
did you use a particular type of sharpie
Would you have attempted it with alcantara seats?
I'm trying to decide if I'm asking for trouble or just need to be braver
In terms of longevity my dashboard and trim pieces have held up reasonable well. They have faded a little bit after a few years of top-down motoring in very warm climates, in line with what I'd expect from the original thread, but on the higher 'traffic' areas like the seats it has worn off approx 50%.
Stick Legs said:
Awesome thread. Keep it up!
Thank you.Front Suspension Refresh
The suspension components take a beating in these cars. The Hill Engineering track rod ends were new only 7k miles ago, but poor road surfaces wear them out in no time. I put together a spare set of wishbones to make the swap easier with less time off of the road.
I had the arms vapour blasted. I'm going to replace all ball joints, track rod ends, and the flamblocs. The arms will be assembled by AV Engineering.
Here's what the titanium wheel spindles look like after vapour blasting. Now I will send them for hard anodising, which is the final surface treatment process before they are ready to use. The end result will be a perfect match for the OEM titanium wheel bolts.
The suspension components take a beating in these cars. The Hill Engineering track rod ends were new only 7k miles ago, but poor road surfaces wear them out in no time. I put together a spare set of wishbones to make the swap easier with less time off of the road.
I had the arms vapour blasted. I'm going to replace all ball joints, track rod ends, and the flamblocs. The arms will be assembled by AV Engineering.
Here's what the titanium wheel spindles look like after vapour blasting. Now I will send them for hard anodising, which is the final surface treatment process before they are ready to use. The end result will be a perfect match for the OEM titanium wheel bolts.
Avian flu was a distant memory, and with it the consideration that something remotely similar could happen. The last 18+ months have felt extremely strange indeed. Life has changed for me: marriage, and being hugely fortunate to spend most of last year on a tropical island off of the coast of Cambodia, a place where - incidentally - cars were a fairly distant memory, but towards the end of the stay I was craving driving my own together with being involved with a sufficiently advanced mechanical project for a creative outlet. Prior to that, in London I had tried to wean myself off of cars - purely from a practical perspective rather than out of free will - doubly so as someone who likes to drive them properly rather than pootle around, with rapidly diminishing opportunities to do so.
COVID has bought WFH and a move back to my roots in rural farmlands, and with it frequent access to better roads. I've also somewhat accepted the often regular frustration of sharing our tarmac with an ever increasing amount of cerebrally anesthetised fellow motorists. Life generally is alright. Maybe we'll be bankrupted by inflation and/or total collapse of the fiat monetary system, but for now, whatever; I'm enjoying cars once again.
A boat is on the horizon. Thanks to my Dad I have a long-standing admiration for Tom Murrant's designs, and fond childhood memories in some of his Sealine models. The build quality is fabulous prior to Tom's departure and subsequent American ownership. A Murrant-era S28 with full interior restoration is in my mind, but the engines occupy most of my thoughts: I'm not at all interested in diesel, and unlike a lot of the boating community to me a V8 is a plus; I have plans to marinise a pair of reliable car-based V8 that don't have roots in the '60's. Solenoid operated exhaust for those occasions when an above-water V8 howl is desired. I really like the idea of a something 'normal' but with ridiculous engines and performance.
Reet, beer time.
COVID has bought WFH and a move back to my roots in rural farmlands, and with it frequent access to better roads. I've also somewhat accepted the often regular frustration of sharing our tarmac with an ever increasing amount of cerebrally anesthetised fellow motorists. Life generally is alright. Maybe we'll be bankrupted by inflation and/or total collapse of the fiat monetary system, but for now, whatever; I'm enjoying cars once again.
A boat is on the horizon. Thanks to my Dad I have a long-standing admiration for Tom Murrant's designs, and fond childhood memories in some of his Sealine models. The build quality is fabulous prior to Tom's departure and subsequent American ownership. A Murrant-era S28 with full interior restoration is in my mind, but the engines occupy most of my thoughts: I'm not at all interested in diesel, and unlike a lot of the boating community to me a V8 is a plus; I have plans to marinise a pair of reliable car-based V8 that don't have roots in the '60's. Solenoid operated exhaust for those occasions when an above-water V8 howl is desired. I really like the idea of a something 'normal' but with ridiculous engines and performance.
Reet, beer time.
mwstewart said:
A boat is on the horizon. Thanks to my Dad I have a long-standing admiration for Tom Murrant's designs, and fond childhood memories in some of his Sealine models. The build quality is fabulous prior to Tom's departure and subsequent American ownership. A Murrant-era S28 with full interior restoration is in my mind, but the engines occupy most of my thoughts: I'm not at all interested in diesel, and unlike a lot of the boating community to me a V8 is a plus; I have plans to marinise a pair of reliable car-based V8 that don't have roots in the '60's. Solenoid operated exhaust for those occasions when an above-water V8 howl is desired. I really like the idea of a something 'normal' but with ridiculous engines and performance.
Reet, beer time.
As a long time admirer of your efforts, and a chap born/bred in Worcestershire, an admiration for Sealine watercraft is another 'plus point' for you - have fond memories of driving past their factory on the roundabout and seeing boats/yachts in varying states in their car park. Reet, beer time.
Glad to hear you've rediscovered the passion for driving, as you say opportunities to enjoy driving can be disparagingly rare nowadays.
mwstewart said:
Avian flu was a distant memory, and with it the consideration that something remotely similar could happen. The last 18+ months have felt extremely strange indeed. Life has changed for me: marriage, and being hugely fortunate to spend most of last year on a tropical island off of the coast of Cambodia, a place where - incidentally - cars were a fairly distant memory, but towards the end of the stay I was craving driving my own together with being involved with a sufficiently advanced mechanical project for a creative outlet. Prior to that, in London I had tried to wean myself off of cars - purely from a practical perspective rather than out of free will - doubly so as someone who likes to drive them properly rather than pootle around, with rapidly diminishing opportunities to do so.
COVID has bought WFH and a move back to my roots in rural farmlands, and with it frequent access to better roads. I've also somewhat accepted the often regular frustration of sharing our tarmac with an ever increasing amount of cerebrally anesthetised fellow motorists. Life generally is alright. Maybe we'll be bankrupted by inflation and/or total collapse of the fiat monetary system, but for now, whatever; I'm enjoying cars once again.
A boat is on the horizon. Thanks to my Dad I have a long-standing admiration for Tom Murrant's designs, and fond childhood memories in some of his Sealine models. The build quality is fabulous prior to Tom's departure and subsequent American ownership. A Murrant-era S28 with full interior restoration is in my mind, but the engines occupy most of my thoughts: I'm not at all interested in diesel, and unlike a lot of the boating community to me a V8 is a plus; I have plans to marinise a pair of reliable car-based V8 that don't have roots in the '60's. Solenoid operated exhaust for those occasions when an above-water V8 howl is desired. I really like the idea of a something 'normal' but with ridiculous engines and performance.
Reet, beer time.
B is for build on you tube put / is putting some crate V8's into his boatCOVID has bought WFH and a move back to my roots in rural farmlands, and with it frequent access to better roads. I've also somewhat accepted the often regular frustration of sharing our tarmac with an ever increasing amount of cerebrally anesthetised fellow motorists. Life generally is alright. Maybe we'll be bankrupted by inflation and/or total collapse of the fiat monetary system, but for now, whatever; I'm enjoying cars once again.
A boat is on the horizon. Thanks to my Dad I have a long-standing admiration for Tom Murrant's designs, and fond childhood memories in some of his Sealine models. The build quality is fabulous prior to Tom's departure and subsequent American ownership. A Murrant-era S28 with full interior restoration is in my mind, but the engines occupy most of my thoughts: I'm not at all interested in diesel, and unlike a lot of the boating community to me a V8 is a plus; I have plans to marinise a pair of reliable car-based V8 that don't have roots in the '60's. Solenoid operated exhaust for those occasions when an above-water V8 howl is desired. I really like the idea of a something 'normal' but with ridiculous engines and performance.
Reet, beer time.
The conclusion of my winter suspension maintenance: 2.44kg of sprung, and 1.01kg of unsprung weight saved. I wouldn't normally go in to such small detail, but when a maintenance job is required I will take the opportunity to optimise or improve whatever parts are involved.
Wheel uprights machined to Challenge spec
Challenge car uprights undergo two modifications:
1) Rear handbrake caliper/front vertical acceleration sensor mounting bosses are milled off;
2) Brake cooling vents machined out.
A road-going F430 requires both handbrake caliper/front vertical acceleration mounts, so I opted to machine the brake cooling vents to save a little bit of unsprung weight.
Standard (360/430) upright:
My uprights (16/Scuderia) after machining:
Refurbished and rebuilt front arms with Scuderia flanblocs
I have in stock each type of flanbloc to investigate their construction and weight. My findings are below:
I sent my arms via courier to AV Engineering to be built up. Great communication throughout - it's nice dealing with someone whom you can trust to do the job well. New HE ball joints, and Scuderia flanblocs.
New CCM discs
Thanks to my friend Gary I have a set of new front & rear CCMs to go on. These won't save any further weight - the fronts were quite worn but I'd put off changing them because the bite is really good, the downside being that they ate pads! Challenge discs are bed-in during manufacture, which is nice.
Hubs rebuilt with bespoke titanium spindles
I've covered these in a previous update, but these are fitted after being hard anodised.
Camber shims replaced with aluminium spacers
As a general guide, the following applies:
Front + 1 mm shim = -0.20 to -0.25 degrees of camber.
Rear + 1 mm shim = -0.30 to -0.40 degrees of camber.
Removing front UCA washers = -0.6 to -0.7 degrees of camber.
Removing rear UCA washers = -0.5 to -0.6 degrees of camber.
I've removed the upper RCA washers (top right in photo) to gain some camber, and based on that I ran the calcs for my new ride height to determine the thickness of shims F&R, and used that to have a set of aluminium spacers machined (top left in raw form, and bottom left with etch primer). The weight soon adds up with the steel shims (bottom right) when chasing a more focused camber configuration - I've saved a shade under half a kg for very little outlay.
Vertical acceleration sensor hardware
Titanium and aluminium fasteners used to save a few grams.
Wheel upright rear cover plate
I remade these in carbon, used lightweight fastenings, and lightweight cable management clips. 338 grams of unsprung weight saved.
Calibration optimisation
AV Engineering have my ECUs: 360Trev has been undertaking some great work on the Bosch ECUs, and he has discovered many improvements. AV and Trev have teamed up to offer an electronics service, and I can't wait to get these back and in the car: even though my car in its current form is quicker than the 06 F430 I owned, it still lacks some of the punch that car had. I'm quietly confident that Trev can produce some magic.
Weight Saving Total
Unsprung weight saved: 21.59 kg
Sprung weight saved: 111.86 kg
Total weight saved: 133.45 kg
Wheel uprights machined to Challenge spec
Challenge car uprights undergo two modifications:
1) Rear handbrake caliper/front vertical acceleration sensor mounting bosses are milled off;
2) Brake cooling vents machined out.
A road-going F430 requires both handbrake caliper/front vertical acceleration mounts, so I opted to machine the brake cooling vents to save a little bit of unsprung weight.
Standard (360/430) upright:
My uprights (16/Scuderia) after machining:
Refurbished and rebuilt front arms with Scuderia flanblocs
I have in stock each type of flanbloc to investigate their construction and weight. My findings are below:
I sent my arms via courier to AV Engineering to be built up. Great communication throughout - it's nice dealing with someone whom you can trust to do the job well. New HE ball joints, and Scuderia flanblocs.
New CCM discs
Thanks to my friend Gary I have a set of new front & rear CCMs to go on. These won't save any further weight - the fronts were quite worn but I'd put off changing them because the bite is really good, the downside being that they ate pads! Challenge discs are bed-in during manufacture, which is nice.
Hubs rebuilt with bespoke titanium spindles
I've covered these in a previous update, but these are fitted after being hard anodised.
Camber shims replaced with aluminium spacers
As a general guide, the following applies:
Front + 1 mm shim = -0.20 to -0.25 degrees of camber.
Rear + 1 mm shim = -0.30 to -0.40 degrees of camber.
Removing front UCA washers = -0.6 to -0.7 degrees of camber.
Removing rear UCA washers = -0.5 to -0.6 degrees of camber.
I've removed the upper RCA washers (top right in photo) to gain some camber, and based on that I ran the calcs for my new ride height to determine the thickness of shims F&R, and used that to have a set of aluminium spacers machined (top left in raw form, and bottom left with etch primer). The weight soon adds up with the steel shims (bottom right) when chasing a more focused camber configuration - I've saved a shade under half a kg for very little outlay.
Vertical acceleration sensor hardware
Titanium and aluminium fasteners used to save a few grams.
Wheel upright rear cover plate
I remade these in carbon, used lightweight fastenings, and lightweight cable management clips. 338 grams of unsprung weight saved.
Calibration optimisation
AV Engineering have my ECUs: 360Trev has been undertaking some great work on the Bosch ECUs, and he has discovered many improvements. AV and Trev have teamed up to offer an electronics service, and I can't wait to get these back and in the car: even though my car in its current form is quicker than the 06 F430 I owned, it still lacks some of the punch that car had. I'm quietly confident that Trev can produce some magic.
Weight Saving Total
Unsprung weight saved: 21.59 kg
Sprung weight saved: 111.86 kg
Total weight saved: 133.45 kg
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