Jules - 1990 360 Modena - Manual

[Club Scuderia]

October 05

Well I finally let go of my sweet little 348TS. Having completed the Graypaul Run (2,200) miles, I decided that it was time to upgrade and subsequently called Nick Cartwright for a ‘trade in’. I had my eyes on the standard issue 360 Modena but with a tan interior and manual box. Manual was required to allow the good lady to occasionally pose – not that she’ll ever drive the car!.

I refused to go on the Poseurs Run for fear of either getting recognised (whoops) or putting another few hundred miles on the car, so I took the car on the following Wednesday for a 150 mile sprint north whereby I concluded the deal. Up until this point, I’d never driven a 360 or even a 355, so to say I was shocked by the difference in performance was an understatement.

Nick wanted a few weeks to prep the car. It’s a late 99 car but with a tad over 10,000 miles on the clock. It was last serviced in June (great selection of invoices to review) and came with Scuderia Wing Shields, Fire Extinguisher, Rear Challenge Grill and Red Brake Calipers. I’m always weary about low mileage cars, simply because they’re not used and thus more likely to attract little seizures (more to come on that), but this car was a real beauty as all of Nick’s cars are.

Later that day I headed south with my new beast. Nick was good enough to provide lunch, a tour of his collection and a sports exhaust!

That evening on the way home, nothing passed me – absolutely nothing. I smiled for 150 miles..

Once the euphoria of the change of Ferrari had diminished, I noticed a rattle emanating from the front footwells. I inspected the front luggage compartment, nothing there, then took it to QV for a quick suspension check – nothing untoward. Then off to my local specialist – Bob Houghtons, who spent an hour dismantling the front, yet they found nothing. So a further conversation with Nick resulted in a planned visit ‘Up North’ in November.

 

[Club Scuderia]

November\December 2005

November\December 2005

October saw 1,000 miles added to the car. November was the Hills & Peaks run, so it was time to play catch up with the other Fcar boys. The engineers at Bob’s said that the car handled very well and I have to say the 170 mile drive to Leeds was a breeze. The following day we blasted through a 200 mile round trip across the peaks. I didn’t push the car as much as the rest, but had a few lock-ups and tail happy moments – Hazy witnessed one!

I didn’t feel too confident with the brakes, perhaps that was due to the quicker acceleration or just a case of getting used to the difference between the 348 and 360. I don’t think decelerating at speed onsingle lane country tacks helped – blame sparticle!

Nick arranged for the car to be looked at to identify the rattle. Graypaul took a look at the car and due to excessive movement replaced the bottom front ball joints. The rattle was still there, but they had now identified the cause, which was some form of seized interior on the suspension arms – please excuse my ignorance on this technical part. These aren’t lubricated and if stood or unused for a period of time, then it’s likely that they’ll start to fail – I guess this is good reminder to make sure that whatever age our Ferrari is, just drive the damn thing!

By the end of the month, I’d added another 1,000 miles, but with a busy social diary due to xmas commitments, the cars outings have been somewhat limited.

So, having driven just over 2,000 miles in 3 months, I’m extremely pleased with the car. The rattle still needs to be sorted, but this will be addressed over the next couple of weeks.

 

[Club Scuderia]

January – Mid February 2006

January – Mid February 2006

Mileage: 500
Problems encountered: Front Suspension Ball Joints, Clutch Release Bearing
Total spent: Warranty work

January was a pretty uneventful month. Away Skiing, then a small matter of a 40th to organise and finally a week in Atlanta, meant that use of the 360 was limited. I’m glad in a way, as the rattle coming from the front suspension would have seriously annoyed me. So with the end of the month fast approaching, I called Nick Cartwright to get an update on the planned fix date (under warranty).

Since accepting that my car has a ball joint problem, its amazing that it’s now become apparent the earlier cars are well known for it! Only with Ferrari

I would advise anyone considering a 360 of any variant, to get the whole front suspension set-up checked. I understand it’s a common fault, to the point that Ferrari has manufactured a combined wishbone/ball joint part. It can be rather expensive too.

In order to identify the problem, I contacted Russell at Bob Houghton’s to give me an estimate. My train of though was that if the cost was acceptable, I would offset that against the logistics of getting the car back ‘up north’ to be fixed under warranty. Stick in at least a tank of fuel, a few more miles on the clock and you’re looking at best part of £200. So as long as the cost was no different to that, then I’d get it done.

After a few hours at Bobs, they confirmed the top ball joints needed replacing (Graypaul did the bottom), and the wishbone arms may need to be replaced too. Bear in mind that this car had only travelled 10,500 miles in 6 years! Additionally, there was a leak coming from the clutch housing. Given this, Nick suggested I get the car back to his workshop so he could address the faults. This was always going to be the case under the warranty, but logistically, travel and timings became a problem.

I picked up the car from Bobs and took it to the office for the day. The journey from Northleach to Maidenhead is about 75 miles. Halfway on-route, one of the guys from the office tailed me in his 5 series. Entering the office, he commented on the fantastic sound of the exhaust. That at least brought a smile to my face.

Time to drive 150 miles to Matlock, plus another 150 for the return leg. Back at Nick’s, Gary got the ball joints replaced, replaced some other parts including the clutch release bearing and boy what a difference it makes. Firstly there is no front end rattle. I can best describe the noise as a bag of spanners not tied down residing in the front foot-well. That has now gone. The major difference is in the handling. The steering is razor sharp and instant. The car feels tighter with improved feedback and finally, when turning the car whilst stationary, the car’s front wheels don’t jump as much (something to do with the width of the wheels being smaller at the front to the back?).

In summary, I finally feel as though my 360 handles the way it was intended to.

The following day, I took the car for a blast across the Cotswolds. I’m glad I did as the car felt stable and correct. It even felt quicker, quite how I don’t know, but perhaps it was the fact that I was more confident with the car as it was a vast improvement on previous drives.

So a big thanks to Nick, Ben and Gary for sorting out the car and for putting a smile on my face! More to come soon