Adrian's 355 musings

[Garvin]

Brave? My hand was forced somewhat as it started giving a brief flash of the right hand bank slow down lamp followed immediately by a brief flash of the check engine lamp although the engine continued to perform without any apparent problem - rinse and repeat at varying intervals of time between 10 and 30 seconds. This took an age to diagnose as a voltage drop across the main fuse/relay board which resulted in all the extraneous additional wiring being removed which then fully uncovered the dire state of the board. Deep breath required followed by requirement for deep pockets!

 

[A348W]

My 348 has 3 nineties immobilisers fitted, only the Cobra works. I want to get the lot ripped out too, but not as brave as you yet.

I went down this route on my 348 when I had a very intermittent dead engine issue (only happened 2-3 times) and seemed to resolve itself after 5-10 minutes but very annoying. After lots of pondering and tinkering the only thing I could come up with was a doggy immobiliser. So not having done this before and generally hating electrics/ electronics (they cant "really" be fixed with a hammer :wink3 I took the plunge and removed the immobiliser.

Although done by an "approved installer" to say the wiring was amateur would be an understatement; it looked like I had done it!:laugh: I reckon the issue was a doggy earth connection in the end. Still, 2 years on I've never had the problem re-occur (fingers crossed).

As to the 355, whilst the black boxes have come out and the power and earth connections (I've found to date) removed the car still runs:hmmm:, the wiring is an order of magnitude more complicated than the immobiliser on the 348, so I've yet to decide what to do there with respect to leave it or remove it, we will see when the dash comes out and I can get a better look at it.

The plus as far as I'm concerned, is that the insurance company doesn't seem bothered if the 348 or 355 have an alarm/ immobilise fitted or not, so one less thing to go wrong in my book. And if it does get nicked, I'm insured :thumbsup:!

 

[A348W]

First track day in the 355:thumbsup: Oldest and only manual; but probably the best sound, other than maybe the 488 evo challenge.:hmmm:

Wet and blustery but brilliant day. Great to meet some new owners and catch up with others not seen in some time!!!

Was initially a bit disconcerting leading a group out with a P1, 488 evo challenge , 488 challenge and a mini gp driven by an ex lemans driver who was happily hunting pistas!!!!:laugh:

 

[francisn]

First track day in the 355:thumbsup: Oldest and only manual; but probably the best sound, other than maybe the 488 evo challenge.:hmmm:

Wet and blustery but brilliant day. Great to meet some new owners and catch up with others not seen in some time!!!

Was initially a bit disconcerting leading a group out with a P1, 488 evo challenge , 488 challenge and a mini gp driven by an ex lemans driver who was happily hunting pistas!!!!:laugh:

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Know what you mean, driving my GT4 at Silverstone with modern race cars closing at 50mph faster down the straights and going into corners and trying to work out whether to give way before a corner or stick to the line. Always worked out OK for me and I didn't find it too much of a problem but the mirror was as important as looking forwards.

 

[A348W]

Know what you mean, driving my GT4 at Silverstone with modern race cars closing at 50mph faster down the straights and going into corners and trying to work out whether to give way before a corner or stick to the line. Always worked out OK for me and I didn't find it too much of a problem but the mirror was as important as looking forwards.

Fortunately its wasn't like a FOC track day of, "put as many cars on track as we can", it was limited to 6 cars at a time, so easy to find your own space :thumbsup:

 

[A348W]

As the weather has turned and we are locked down, time to take the dash and door cards out ready to take to the trimmers when we are free. (Thanks for the instructions!!!)

And access to all that “additional” wiring and black boxes (an additional three taken out, so I think that makes nine in total!!!). A little tidying up to be done and wire the speakers back to normal etc. Fortunately it’s easy to figure out what is oem and what is aftermarket.

Also some little leds behind the vents; alarm or radar jammer?! :hmmm:

 

[Mike01606]

I think it might be an ex Q branch car Adrian.


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[Nosevi]

I think it might be an ex Q branch car Adrian.

:laugh:

 

[MWStewart]

Ha ha

 

[A348W]

I think it might be an ex Q branch car Adrian.


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Still looking for the ejector seat button and missile launchers :laugh:

 

[A348W]

A little problem all resolved. The recirculating heater flap wasn’t working. A little investigation and it wasn’t the motor; but the plastic boss which is a known weak point.

New one ordered from Superformance, and all fitted today. Just the trim pieces in the boot to put back in this afternoon.

Given the flap motor switches off on resistance of the flap it’s not surprising the plastic boss fails; that and a small inclusion in the plastic!.

Just now waiting for the dash and door cards to come back from the trimmers...oh yeah and to be let out with some dry mud free roads:thumbsup:

 

[A348W]

After a few drives this year, the 355 is missing a key piece of motoring kit...cup holders!!!

I’m certainly not brave enough to put my coffee mug between my legs and go for a drive.

Knocked up a quick trial. We will see how it goes and if it works I’ll probably make one out of wood this winter and cover it in some leather I have left over from doing the dash.

 

[milkshaker0007]

snap, but i could only fit a single cup holder in my tiny 328 storage console, drivers cup only :grin:
makes a huge difference on a long trip

 

[MWStewart]

A little problem all resolved. The recirculating heater flap wasn’t working. A little investigation and it wasn’t the motor; but the plastic boss which is a known weak point.


New one ordered from Superformance, and all fitted today. Just the trim pieces in the boot to put back in this afternoon.


Given the flap motor switches off on resistance of the flap it’s not surprising the plastic boss fails; that and a small inclusion in the plastic!.


Just now waiting for the dash and door cards to come back from the trimmers...oh yeah and to be let out with some dry mud free roads
...
...

Nice fix - all the more rewarding knowing that you've upgraded the part.

 

[A348W]

Completely forgot to update on the re trimmed dash!

There was some good shrinkage of the leather on the dash and airbag, plus some rubbish repairs.





Sorting the warping on the corners of the airbag was fairly easy; a bit of gentle heat gun and the plastic backing seemed to retain its memory so went back no problems; just slightly nerve racking taking a heat gun to an airbag for the first time. :shocked:

Taking the dash out also gave an opportunity to tidy up the mess of alarms/immobilisers/stereo equipment!!

I also had the door cards partially retrimmed so where the dash flows into the door cards the leather matches. Who knew how many shades of black and grains there are!!!!






Thanks for the recommendation for Dave :thumbsup: He did a great job at a really good price. He also did a soft top bag for me, thanks guys for letting him use your template; much appreciated. These seem to go missing so whilst I won’t use it, I thought I’d get one to complete the car!

Now to resist the temptation to do the rest of it; which whilst looks great, against the new dash...!:hmmm:

Overall I’m really happy. Not a job for the faint hearted but very satisfying.

I will probably get Dave to redo the soft top cover over the winter as the foam in it is deteriorating, and leaves little bits all over the soft top and car, so needs taking apart and new foam put in...bit ocd but hey!!!

 

[A348W]

snap, but i could only fit a single cup holder in my tiny 328 storage console, drivers cup only :grin:
makes a huge difference on a long trip

Nice. How did you cut yours? I can’t seem to cut without melting it and making crap edges?

 

[milkshaker0007]

used a hole saw,(one of my sons Dimond bit ones) very slow, stopping to let it the plastic cool, then repeat again and again, then smooth up the edges with paper.:thumbsup:

nice dash:thumbsup:

 

[Bryan Baker]

Nice, do you have any recent updates about this build?

 

[A348W]

Car came fitted with a little momo wheel which was ok; but small, obscured part of the instruments for me and had an annoying non oem yellow horn button (bit anal I know!)




I do also have the original airbag wheel but I think it’s ugly and too big! I thought about an oem non airbag 355 wheel but they are silly money! So I sourced a 348 wheel which I like. Fitted today and much happier. Better feel, oem and I can see all the dials now. Just need to wire the horn up tonight.



A side by side comparison! If anybody would like the momo, let me know; got to hide the evidence of spending from the boss :laugh:

 

[A348W]

Not much has been happening with the 355 this summer. I found a small coolant leak earlier this year that I can’t fix easily so have been reluctant to use it for obvious reasons.

So today it’s off to Carrs for its annual service, MOT, to have the leak fixed and the a/c sorted.

Looking over the car I’d forgotten how good looking it is!

Can’t wait to get it back and drive it!!!