[DeTomaso] Repair Costs - New vs. Old

[Will Kooiman]

That is ridiculous.

I really like the 355 too, but I wouldn't be able to accept the Ferrari tax.

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 5, 2013, at 10:40 PM, David Fisher <fisher95020 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Speaking of repair costs.   I let my Ferrari 355 go when it cost $5000 to replace the A/C compressor.   While the $5k was bad enough, what made it really offensive was that it was $5000 even... not $4834 or $5124...
> I would have replaced it myself, but that would have devalued the car more than $5k...
>  
> Sad but true... there are driver cars and then there are cars that would be great drivers, but the economics have taken a lot of the fun out.  I have great respect for those that still drive the $1M collectors around..
>  
> 
> 
> On Mon, Mar 4, 2013 at 9:07 PM, Will Kooiman <will.kooiman at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Jack,
>> 
>> I just read your newsletter article title, "Failure Analysis of a Home-Built
>> Stroker", and I really enjoyed it.
>> 
>> What I enjoyed most was the stroker destroying so many parts, and still only
>> setting the owner back $2511.  That's a lot of money, but let me put it into
>> perspective.
>> 
>> I had my Viper on the track a year ago, and it started running rough.  I
>> didn't know what was wrong.  It didn't pop or crunch.  There was no oil on
>> the ground.  I just didn't like the way it sounded.  The plugs looked okay.
>> So, I drove it home.  I know ­ stupid, but what's life without a little
>> spice?  When I got home, the catalytic converters were hot and smelled bad.
>> I suspected plugged cats.  I was thinking about taking it apart, but Tomball
>> Dodge is in town, and they are one of the premier Viper dealers in the
>> world.  Morgan at Tomball is excellent.  Hennessey is also in town, but they
>> are further away.  Morgan replaced the computer because mine was showing
>> codes.  Then once he had a good computer, he found a cylinder that was
>> running rich.  The old computer wouldn't show a code for that cylinder, but
>> the new computer did.  He checked the injectors, but they were okay.  He
>> finally pulled a head and found one keeper had split in half and the intake
>> valve had slightly dropped.
>> 
>> The damage wasn¹t bad.  If I remember correctly, there were 2 bent valves, a
>> cracked guide, the bad keeper, a slightly scarred retainer, and a few minor
>> dings in the head and piston.  Of course, I did all of the necessary repairs
>> including having the head checked for cracks and straightness.  It was fine.
>> The total bill was $4,000.
>> 
>> I really like the Viper, but $4,000?  Morgan helped me out with some of the
>> parts too.
>> 
>> We are currently moving to the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area.  Once we get
>> settled, the Viper is moving on to a new home.  The proceeds will go towards
>> a new Porsche for my wife (hers was totaled last year).  And I'll replace my
>> loss with a simpler/cheaper daily driver.  #1 in my list is a 67 Mustang FB.
>> #2 is a 65/66 FB.  #3 is a 69 AMX.  At least with these cars when I break
>> something, it won't also break the bank.
>> 
>> --
>> Will
>> 
>> 
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