In a previous post I covered how the car had gone in for registration and required the CV boots changed amongst a few other things. One of the things that needed looking at was the tyre valve on the passenger’s rear, which was proving hard to use. When the car was retuned after having the valve changed to a genuine F355 one it was ‘discovered’ that both rear wheels had gashes on them.
The one in the in the second picture above was on the same rim that has the faulty valve. Now the tyre people were positive it wasn’t them but I am pretty sure I would have notice something like that on the rim before hand but unfortunately couldn’t be 100% sure. So was I was now also up for 2 rim repairs. (Note to self – next time photograph all rims before going to tyre place).
So off came the old CV boots as you can see above.
and on went a shiny set of new boots.
As mentioned previously, this was something that had been noted when I first purchased the car so it was not a surprise that they needed changing after all these years. Now with them done it should be right for quite a while.
You can see the heat shields that the boots sit under to protect them from the heat of the engine.
The other thing apart from the CV boots and the tyre rims I had done was to get the drivers seat ‘refurbished’ somewhat because it had become worn on the outer side where you slide in and out of the car. It is something that is always getting rubbed as I enter and exit the car (which I still can’t do gracefully in the confines of where it lives). This means that this outer part gets worn more than the rest of the seat so I also had that ‘repaired’ and ‘protected’. It will need doing again over time but it certainly looks much better. At the same time they also fixed the cushion on the seat at the front just under my legs as that was also (not unexpectedly) also wearing.
With that all complete (including an oil change after my oil incident) I rolled out of Racing Red and headed home. It is always amazing how heavy mid day traffic is when I am returning from a service. This time wasn’t as stressful as last time but it still wasn’t as free flowing as I reckon it should be at that time of the day. Must be just me!
With the car all tucked away I paid for my third party insurance (green slip) and registration online. Car registered for another year, done! Also, since there are no longer any registration stickers the car needs no further work, just get in and drive from here on in. Yeah.
All the repairs, including the unexpected ones to the rims, did make the bill more that I wanted but the majority was for repairs that I knew were coming and needed to be done. In the long run they all add to or maintain the value of the car so I have no hesitation in paying what is required here. Speaking of ‘known’ repairs, next year’s annual service will require the engine to be dropped out of the car and the belts changed. This should be completed every three years and dropping the engine out of the F355 is a ‘unique’ part of the maintenance of the car. Another ‘known’ issue that I’ll probably get taken care of at the same time is to get the shock absorbers re-conditioned as they were showing signs of leaking when I purchased the car. They are no worse to day but hey, while the whole engine is out why not refurbish the rear shocks as well eh? Next year’s annual service will make this years look cheap I feel.
All part of the joy of owning a F355.
Love the F355 