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I had a Viper for a brief while, and then Chrysler bought it back. I wanted to detox from the power and fury, so I shopped around for a pure handling car. While shopping for that car, I stumbled and got this instead:   1991 Ferrari 348ts 3.4L, V8, T-shaped motor+trans configuration, Spider with a targa top. Compare this to a comparably priced Boxster Spyder. It's down on power, heavier, doesn't have as flexible an engine, and is obviously not in the same league of reliability (and the Boxster's engine with its own share of issues). But when you break 4000RPM on a back road, everything about the car just makes sense. The 348 doesn't need any of your justifications or defensiveness. It speaks for itself. I got it titled today and hope to have it inspected tomorrow. I'll make posts in the following areas: - the quirks and foibles of the 348 - minor DIY stuff I can manage - service history of the car and upcoming shop work For now, here's a few more pics.  This typeface is what convinced me to look at the car in the first place:  Get a loada those strakes: 
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Sep 19, 2015 09:05
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 12:27 |
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Requesting thread tag change to HOT
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Sep 19, 2015 09:10
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14 INCH DICK posted:Requesting thread tag change to HOT Yep. Beautiful car. That open door shot makes me shudder at thinking of detailing it, though... so many areas for wax lines... it would take me literally 2 days to do that car. And it would be worth every second. What's the dirty public's reaction when driving it in comparison to the Viper?
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Sep 19, 2015 12:16
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Oooooh a real Ferrari! Whats the gearbox / gated shift like to row through? I've only driven flappy paddle shitfest Ferraris and I would looooove to try a real gearbox
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Sep 19, 2015 12:30
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god I love that instrument cluster
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Sep 19, 2015 13:53
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ADINSX posted:god I love that instrument cluster I want that cluster in every car from now til I die. That's amazingly perfect.
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Sep 19, 2015 14:10
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Strakes own Ferraris that aren't red own Very nice car
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Sep 19, 2015 14:28
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 It's beautiful
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Sep 19, 2015 14:43
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EXCUSE ME SIR WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING
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Sep 19, 2015 15:25
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AI remains the best place for car poo poo on the internet
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Sep 19, 2015 15:36
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It looks surprisingly a lot like an SW20, just a lot bigger Voted 5, congrats man. Also let me drive it sometime  e: what is your DD now??
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Sep 19, 2015 15:38
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meatpimp posted:What's the dirty public's reaction when driving it in comparison to the Viper? its a not-red F car. I like it better than the Viper already.  several years ago I did some service on a 308. They aren't so bad. The electrics though. haha.
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Sep 19, 2015 15:50
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your going to make me show you my "Oh" face.
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Sep 19, 2015 16:13
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Fan-drat-tastic. A couple of years ago this exact year and model (in red) came into the shop I worked at. Dude had just bought it and it had a flat battery. Given that the shop I worked in usually worked on ratfucked fleet GM pickups, rusty cars and semi trucks, the whole shop was a bit awed and I was especially happy that I got assigned the ticket. The battery is more or less under the rear left fender, the bit that slopes in to the pillar. I am not good at making pictures with words. Anyway, the old battery ended up being the wrong size and shape for the car and had been raised by a ceramic tile, which I still have somewhere.
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Sep 19, 2015 16:36
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You're going to need a moustache now.
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Sep 19, 2015 16:39
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Is that a Fiero?? 😂😙
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Sep 19, 2015 17:29
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Seems kinda strange that the tach would display 2500 RPM it would never use, but the coolant temp cuts off about 600 degrees too low. I love how oil pressure made the cut for the main cluster, but fuel gets kicked to the console. Also, you should see if the plate "nofiero" is available.
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Sep 19, 2015 17:40
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CAT INTERCEPTOR posted:Whats the gearbox / gated shift like to row through? I've only driven flappy paddle shitfest Ferraris and I would looooove to try a real gearbox It's more stiff than purely precise, but it's a much better shifter than both the Spyder (rubbery as hell) and the Evora (fairly anonymous). The throw is pretty big, but that meshes with the bigger jumps between the 5 gears. I like being back in a dog leg shift pattern, though on the test drive, I was trying to heel-toe from 4th to 3rd, and my mind told me to try to grab the shifter on the back row and shift forward, so I was bamboozled when I couldn't push it "out" of 4th. meatpimp posted:What's the dirty public's reaction when driving it in comparison to the Viper? Don't have a fair comparison yet, but more people seem to know it's a Ferrari. At least two people asked what year it was in the parking lot where the delivery guy was dropping the car off. Gonna go drive it for a while, give it an Italian tuneup, take it to an inspection place, and hopefully sail through.
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Sep 19, 2015 18:03
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Powershift posted:Seems kinda strange that the tach would display 2500 RPM it would never use, but the coolant temp cuts off about 600 degrees too low. Because Italy. Also 80s design cues were all about symmetry, everything was made by COMPUTERS and LASERS!
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Sep 19, 2015 18:08
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That instrument cluster is so  also i'm not a big fan of T-Bars as a whole but on a white 348 you cant not have them I guess!Is it a very low mileage example or has it been used regularly?
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Sep 19, 2015 18:17
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Nice Ferrari bro. no really Im supper jelly.
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Sep 19, 2015 18:33
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I saw the thread title and was literally shouting "FERRARI FERRARI FERRARI FERRARI" as it loaded. Dude. Wow.
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Sep 19, 2015 19:26
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14 INCH DICK posted:Requesting thread tag change to HOT 100% agreed. Even though I'd personally experience a lot of trepidation about owning an old Ferrari I think that's a gorgeous example of a great looking car. And really I think my concerns would mostly be due to the difficulties in getting good work done on it as there aren't a ton of mechanics for them in the PNW. I'm interested to hear more about your maintenance plans as it sounds like you're approaching ownership from a very practical standpoint. Can I make a request? Will you post some detail shots of the car? We all see cars at museums, car meets and whatnot, but ownership is a lot different and you'll get to see things we'll never get to see unless we're assholes and get in someone else's car. Maybe close up shots of the underside of the dash, of the strakes and frunk, of parts of the engine bay? Show us the craftsman work you're impressed by or satisfied with and show us what you're surprised doesn't look better. Oh, and congratulations!
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Sep 19, 2015 19:26
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Mat_Drinks posted:there aren't a ton of mechanics for them in the PNW. I dunno, Portland has the oldest Ferrari dealer in the US, there's bound to be at least a few techs in the PNW who know their way around one. Also if you want lots of close up details about these, check out the Harry's Garage ep with the Testarossa: http://youtu.be/1XlPUQjmJyk He also does similar in depth episodes with a Countach and several other iconic super are.
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Sep 19, 2015 20:13
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I'll try to get some real pictures of the car. For the "tour of 348" stuff, I'll just use my phone camera. Got the inspection done today. Local gas station by me, where I once got the 2.3-16v inspected. I'm almost positive they didn't do a single actual check of the car. The guy asked me to pop the engine lid, and I obliged, and he predictably told me he just wanted some shots of the engine. e: oh yeah, and to pull it the 20 ft into the shop bay, he revved it several times in neutral for every 3 ft he crept it forward. Massachusetts requires front and rear plates, so just to be legal beagle, I got a tow-thread mounted plate mount:  The plate position on the mount is adjustable so you can try to minimize blocking airflow. But the 348 has rear radiators (the strakes feed into 2 radiators), so this front grill is just for looks, and I don't care how much is blocked by the plate. This was my first exercise of the FerrariChat forums as a DIY reference. I got the working link to the mount, but no convenient pictures of where the tow thread was, or how to access it. After poking around, I decided to see if it was in the same place as the 355's (the cars are pretty similar and grouped together in one subforum). Found a big rubber grommet cover. Had to pull that out with pliers, but threading in the mount was easy. At least one thread complained that the threading in tow hole was rusty and resisted the mount. Whatever, now that inspection is over, the plate mount going in the frunk... kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Sep 19, 2015 |
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Sep 19, 2015 20:34
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kimbo305 posted:
Ah a fellow Masshole. If I ever see you on the road I'll know it's you. You've probably got the only white 348 in MA.
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Sep 19, 2015 20:48
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Old Ferrari was quirky. Sometimes, there's redundancy that you wouldn't expect in a car, and sometimes, obvious features are lacking. Here's how the owner's/technical manual describes popping the frunk:  "If the normal switch doesn't work, here's where to find the backup cable pull." Notice how the manual pull is misreferenced as Ring D in the instructions. Similar redundancies are documented for the engine lid and the fuel door. And here's the frunk:  Narrow but very deep. A small and very flexible person could definitely fit in here. Yup, the "gentleman's stranded on the roadside" toolbox is strapped down with a leather belt:  Stuff like this is part of the theater of the car. I actually made a Along Came Polly style spreadsheet comparing all the cars I was test driving, and the 348 got the 10/10 for the "magic" category. The quality of the box in construction and material is really really high:  I'm guessing everything is fresh from 1991:  Nothing reassures you that you're driving an old Italian car like the toolbox having a tow hook. The pouch labeled Agip is a slime inflator. Lifting out those trays (made of plastic flocked with alcantara, I think) reveals the wrenches:  The seller also included a 348 car cover:  I'll only use it for carrying fake cocaine for my Miami Vice Halloween costume. track day bro! posted:That instrument cluster is so 42k mi, in driver condition. The AC works, which is a buyer's guide checklist item, but the electronics are not perfect. The leather seat is worn enough where I don't feel guilty spinning and sliding on the seat to get in and out. There's nicks in the paint here and there that I'm not going to obsess over. My plan is to keep it in good mechanical shape and do a reasonable job with everything else.
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Sep 19, 2015 21:10
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Following up a few more qs so far: I don't have any other car. I bike 3.5mi to work, and can take public transit if I need to, so my one garage parking spot can be for an unadulterated toy. The car definitely gets attention. Some sample interactions: - the fill up guy at the gas station would just say "Ferrari" over and over again at random. I'm pretty sure he said it over 10 times. The 348 has an obscene 25gal tank, and maybe 5gals are still in it when the low fuel light comes on. - some hobos hanging out on the corner at a light all noticed it. A couple got up to take it in from different angles. - a guy in a stanced E36 stayed behind me on the highway to snap a few pics
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Sep 19, 2015 22:24
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meatpimp posted:Yep. The Viper got tons of attention from everyone, I think mostly due to being red, loud, and not an immediately recognizable car. You would be sitting in the passengers seat and aware that every car and person on a street were looking at you. The Ferrari seems to get less of that, but those that do look almost always approach you and get a photo. Nodoze posted:It looks surprisingly a lot like an SW20, just a lot bigger It's a tiny car in person, it's like a foot bigger than my '01 Miata. It's also so late 80s in person it hurts. It's wonderful. CAT INTERCEPTOR posted:Oooooh a real Ferrari! It's actually pretty weird at first, if you try pushing in a diagonal it doesn't work. You really have to guide the lever.
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Sep 19, 2015 23:07
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HotCanadianChick posted:I dunno, Portland has the oldest Ferrari dealer in the US, there's bound to be at least a few techs in the PNW who know their way around one. That youtube channel... There goes my weekend!  Re: maintenance I'm thinking now and while I only know of two or three places in the greater Seattle-Tacoma area that has to be due to my plebeian non-Ferrari owning status because I've seen more than enough of the cars to support plenty more. Are the frunk seals getting replaced? I see a little mildew fuzz 
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Sep 19, 2015 23:40
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Nice! How are these for servicing? Relatively ok, or lots of  stuff of the "yeah, that's an engine-out one" variety?
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Sep 19, 2015 23:55
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InitialDave posted:Nice! Iirc, engine out on this era of cars isn't actually THAT difficult.
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Sep 19, 2015 23:59
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Mat_Drinks posted:Are the frunk seals getting replaced? I see a little mildew fuzz I need to look into it. The hole in the first picture is the intake for the cabin air -- I wonder that's a source of water getting into the frunk? The other seal thas is really bad (and super squeaky) is along the front of the targa top. This car definitely isn't modern stiff, so any left-right shakes will rub the top of the windscreen and the targa rubber. iwentdoodie posted:Iirc, engine out on this era of cars isn't actually THAT difficult. The Ferrari-recommended engine-out timing belt replacement interval is 30k mi or 3 years. Most private owners and shops say 5 years is fine, and more is probably fine, too. It's been 3 years and 2500mi since the timing belt, so I have a couple of years before I should do it. I was looking at one other 348. It was 10k cheaper, but had been sitting for 10 years since its last engine-out service, and had only racked up a few hundred miles. That one sounded like way more of a maintenance hog.
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Sep 20, 2015 00:05
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kimbo305 posted:
   Great buy dude, can't wait to see more of it. The Royal Nonesuch fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Sep 20, 2015 |
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Sep 20, 2015 01:12
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Awesome toolkit and a pretty awesome toolkit holder too. Always loved the 348 more than other Ferraris.
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Sep 20, 2015 01:44
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Holy poo poo. Congrats man, that is a loving gorgeous car and I'm incredibly jealous. Pics as Sonny Crocket with it please 
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Sep 20, 2015 01:48
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That is absolutely amazing. I'm jealous man, it looks awesome 
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Sep 20, 2015 01:49
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Engine photos: 
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Sep 20, 2015 02:17
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Gonna need some videos brah. Preferably a go pro mounted right above the exhaust when you give it the Italian tune up.
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Sep 20, 2015 02:22
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kimbo305 posted:I need to look into it. The hole in the first picture is the intake for the cabin air -- I wonder that's a source of water getting into the frunk? You could also try gummi pflege from einszett which a lot of old school german guys swear by. Supposedly it keeps seals fresh, but can often recondition old ones such that they're usable again. I just bought a bottle to try on my 2002 as the window and door seals are borderline. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TXP2F4CDrA
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Sep 20, 2015 03:24
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