[Guest]

.....What are you going to do

.....What are you going to do next??? And don't say "I'm going to Disney World. hahahaha!!!!!

How's she running? Give us a status report!!!!

JL

 

[Guest]

No, I'm hooking a trailer

No, I'm hooking a trailer to her and I'm on my way to Disneyland.

(just kidding)

 

[Guest]

Jeremy:
Thanks for asking abo

Jeremy:
Thanks for asking about my baby!
I had great help from the best Ferrari Guru(he is not a mechanic, he is a magician), JRV.
Let me start by saying that the car is totally diferent. It is the fastest 355 I've ever driven (I had a 355 F1). This thing "rocks".
There are some minor issues mostly related to the age of the car and to the "craftsmanship" of my fellow Italians.
The car has been "bewitched". Is so fast that I am in talks with some friends who have 360's about engaging into a friendly match and I have the feeling that I may surprise them.
I'll try to post a couple of pics of my baby coming back home.
The day I got her back JRV drove it around my neightborood and I'm still getting my neightbor's complaint letters about "disturbing the peace". (wathever!, they'll get over it)

Greetings

VS

 

[Guest]

The fastest 355 that I've

The fastest 355 that I've seen is my old one. Now owned by Doug Daniels. It was faster than my 360 (until I made a change or two to the 360) by about 2, 3 car lengths up to 60mph.

Be interesting to see which worked better. Daniels lives in Modesto.

Art

 

[Guest]

Art,

I'm working on a 6

Art,

I'm working on a 6 part article about the "real way" to service & tune 355's at the moment. I'm a mechanic not a journalist so it's slow going. However, before the last chapter you'll understand why Dr. Sabellas 355 will smoke your old 355.....and your new 360...

.

Dr. Sabella,

thank you for the kind words!!! It's truly a pleasure building cars for Real Car Guys that go out and drive the wheels off these machines as they were intended for!!! You're a great Driver and I enjoyed immensly the adrenalin rush you gave me!!!

 

[Guest]

That's awesome Doc.!!!! I

That's awesome Doc.!!!! I hope to meet up with you when my baby is back on the road. JRV is quite the magician with these machines. He's the only one I trust with my baby, other than myself of course. I have learned volumes about these cars, inside and out, from JR.

I hear that you are quite the driver.... We should all meet up for a karting event in the coming months...

 

[Guest]

What kind of performance mods

What kind of performance mods are available for a 355 and what hp increase can you expect?

 

[Guest]

jvr:

That'd be good. We

jvr:

That'd be good. We estimated my old 355 had about 440HP or so. Based upon what we did. My friend is a tuner for motorcycles, and we thought that the 355 cylinders were about the same as the 428 Yamaha motors. In those he gets about 10 - 15% more power. We did exactly the same thing that he did to the Yamaha, and it sure felt stronger when I got to drive it. Basic point is that the intake ports will flow more than enough to fill the cylinders up to the red line of 8500. Problem is that the exhaust can't keep up (that's one reason why the 355s eat headers). When the exhaust porting was done, the thing felt like a scalded cat. You can change the chip, fiddle with the exhaust, unless you clean up the port, you're going to be fighting a war that you can't win and your HP increases will be hard earned. The weak link in the engine is the exhaust porting, it's too low, and needed a little weld to make it higher, and a little grinding to change the shape, and then you need a shoe to blend it into the exhaust pipes. At any rate that is what we found sure seemed to work.

Art

 

[Guest]

OK Art,

you're versed o

OK Art,

you're versed on this a little moe than I thought!! Good for You!! Guess that's why you are here instead of the other boards...

Article is coming sans weldong!! Real numbers are 430!!

 

[Guest]

Dr.Sabella,

Dr.Sabella, I am glad to see that your car is performing so well. I also wanted to thank you for the hospitality during the visit to your house upon delivering your car. You seem to be very real as a person. Thanks again!!! I look farword to meeting up in the future. Thanks Troy

 

[Guest]

Troy:

Thank you for your ki

Troy:

Thank you for your kind words. It was a pleasure to meet you too. And as they say around this town: "Mi Casa es tu Casa".
It is always comforting to know there are some nice guys out there who have the same "disease" that we have, it makes us not only feel better about ourselves, but also helps us to "confront" our wives with slightly better chances of success (if that would even be a possibility).

Greetings

VS

 

[Guest]

Dear F-T guys:

Just as a fo

Dear F-T guys:

Just as a follow up, I want to say that my 355 is performing as I never thought it would!
I'm now driving the "beast" to work (weather permitting).
My daily driver, which is a 2002 M5, is a turtle!
I'm kind of getting used to have plenty of power available to my right foot and to the sound to the new exhaust combo.
Greetings.

VS

 

[Guest]

VS,

That is awesome. My c

VS,

That is awesome. My cams are going back in this weekend and the rest of the work is just putting all of the "extra" stuff back on. Once she is all back together again we Houston guys will have to make a road trip to visit your awesome beauty.

Enjoy the drive!!!


JL

 

[Guest]

JL:
It would be very nice if

JL:
It would be very nice if we can meet some place between HOU and SAT. A nice drive would be around the "Hill Country" (as we call it here).
There are many twisty roads surrounded by trees (and a lot of deere meet walking around and jumping in front of your car when your turning flat out at around 60 mph),it makes you feel as if you were in a european road (except that there we don't have such car destroying animals there).
Ferrari of SAT has organized drives on Grand Prix race days. After an early race watching at the dealer (coffe and donnuts included). Usually we gather between 10 and 20 Ferraris, and we all go for a group drive after the race (it is an awsome view to see all this beauties on the road). I'll check with the dealer and keep you posted.
Greetings

V.S.

 

[Guest]

Wow, I can't wait to read

Wow, I can't wait to read what JR did. I have been toying with the idea up trading in my 355 for a 360. But if JR has the magic touch, I will wait before selling --tony

 

[Guest]

Tony:
I wouldn't sell tha

Tony:
I wouldn't sell that 355 just yet if I was you.
I beleive they will hold their value (if not go up), especially with the EURO/Dollar exchange.
430's are now in the market, which is going to decrease the value of 360's. Consecuently, the demand of 355's, 348's, 328's, etc will increase because they are excellent performers at a more affordable price(have you seen the amount of 360's for sale in e-bay?).
A well maintained 355 or 348 will be a "more attainable" (and desirable) purchase for a lot of people, not to mention that the difference in performance between a 355 and a 360 may not be that great (besides, the 360 is a "japanese" car, doesn't look Italian any more).(Disclosure: I have nothing agaist Japanese cars).
Also think that the "gremlins" on 355's are all figured out by now, and in general they are by now far more reliable than the newer models.
I'm having a blast with my toy, and best of all, I don't have to declare bankrupcy if things don't go "perfect".
Get someone like JRV to keep your car running good and enjoy it. Maybe we'll see the days when older models will be more desirable than the new ones. After all, in the early 60's the 250 Testarossas would sell for about $12,500 and now they are worth a couple of million (at least).
Greetings
VS

 

[Guest]

Thanks VS, I agree with most e

Thanks VS, I agree with most everything you said. I like the look of the 355 better than the 360, but I would like to get the extra performance and basically try something knew. I think reliability is OK with the 360. Friends that have them do not report many problems.

I was offered $82k today for my 355. I figure it is worth closer to $92k but am giving the "$7k 30K miles service discount". If JR can do magic with the car, I may reconsider. I am patiently waiting to read what performance enhancements he does.

I love my 355, I even tend to caress it when I walk by it (I am sick!). The known gremlins with most 355s, airbag, center console, etc... are well known and solutions have been found. That is the good news but, I am still mad as hell that Ferrari did that. I actually do not mind one bit paying for 15k, and 30k mile services. I hate that if I want a perfect airbag cover I have to pay $300 to a dealership to have it redone!

I am so very happy that you are enjoying your 355!

--tony

 

[Guest]

Tony,

the 'secret'

Tony,

the 'secret' if you want to call it that is the knowledge, experience, desire and follow thru to carry out exacting precise work in every phase of a service operation, with meticulas attention to details no matter how seemingly small.

Extracting more power starts with:

Indexing the engine to achieve "exact" TDC:

 

[Guest]

Once the engine is properly in

Once the engine is properly indexed, it's time for "actually" degreeing (timing) the cams with more exacting precision:

 

[Guest]

Meticulas Attention to Detail

Meticulas Attention to Detail at every step of Service: