3200gt cracked strut

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Debt3200

Junior Member
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46
Greetings and Happy New Year to everyone—except me!
Today, while I was trying to replace the rear ABS sensor, I saw this and my heart dropped.
The shock absorber mounting point had cracked.
Has anyone seen anything like this before?
Could it be repaired?
Thanks in advance!
 

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I would be cleaning up around what is that reinforcing plate as in the 2nd picture top right it looks like there may be corrosion under the body protection.
 
If there is indeed corrosion, would need to be thorough about cleaning it, also behind the plate. If left after a repair it most likely will start to fester again in the future.

After these pics surely am going to check mine while wheels and struts are of at the moment.
 
These cars are now in their mid 20's and Italian.
If they've been used all year around which most likely that many would have been in the early years then there is a chance that corrosion could be present.
 
I just found a snapped spring on one side and a broken top mount on the other side today on my 3200GT! Deep joy.

I’m just going to get a set of adjustable height and damper coilovers for mine.
 

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Debt3200 said:
Greetings and Happy New Year to everyone—except me!
Today, while I was trying to replace the rear ABS sensor, I saw this and my heart dropped.
The shock absorber mounting point had cracked.
Has anyone seen anything like this before?
Could it be repaired?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Are you sure it’s not corrosion of the seam rather than cracked? Could just be surface rust that needs sorting.
 
Superflyguy said:
I just found a snapped spring on one side and a broken top mount on the other side today on my 3200GT! Deep joy.

I’m just going to get a set of adjustable height and damper coilovers for mine.
Click to expand...
I would advise caution. a few things worth considering. It is a coilover system already. When its working well and the geometry is right it's really quite good, the controller adapts the suspension ot your speed and driving style and sport/normal. Geometry is a much bigger issue than suspension problems with handling. Springs dont last forever its hardly a fault of the system. The ECU/CANBUS system is integral with the Ferrari suspension controller and removing it all will create a lot of errors which might take a lot of fixing or ignoring.
 
Apparently you can program out the Bilstein unit. Will need the Mas diagnostics system and as Dave says someone who knows howto to prevent all sorts of issues. I would try to get a replacement set at the breakers.

Shocks can be rebuilt by Bilstein. In a few weeks I'll know what that costs.
 
But that spring looks heavily corroded also, what explains that it's going to break sooner or later.
Regular inspection and repair could prevent things like this.
 
Those broken springs look like ones that have been used in Good Old British Winter Weather and have rusted from salted roads in my opinion.
Keep your underside clean and treated and you should be fine.
 
James3200GTA said:
Apparently you can program out the Bilstein unit. Will need the Mas diagnostics system and as Dave says someone who knows howto to prevent all sorts of issues. I would try to get a replacement set at the breakers.

Shocks can be rebuilt by Bilstein. In a few weeks I'll know what that costs.
Click to expand...
I’ve already got a set of aftermarket coilovers on order. I want to adjust the ride height lower and make the suspension more firm/sporty so have picked up some 32 way adjustables. I’ll look into the coding side of things, thanks for the heads up.
 
philw696 said:
Those broken springs look like ones that have been used in Good Old British Winter Weather and have rusted from salted roads in my opinion.
Keep your underside clean and treated and you should be fine.
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Yeah I’ve only owned the car for 6 months and that corrosion has been there far longer. I have just treated the whole underside with Lanogaurd to prevent corrosion. It’s actually very clean underneath bar these springs!
 
Had a look at mine. It does seem that the strut mount is welded to the shell and it does not seem fully water tight as a saw a hole in the bonding caulking. Unfortunately the hole is too small to put the endoscope in.
 
James3200GTA said:
Had a look at mine. It does seem that the strut mount is welded to the shell and it does not seem fully water tight as a saw a hole in the bonding caulking. Unfortunately the hole is too small to put the endoscope in.
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I would take a look in the boot area around the strut towers James.
If all looks well I would clean and treat the inner arch area and give it a good protection with your chosen product and not worry as it's easy to check on a regular basis.
 
philw696 said:
I would take a look in the boot area around the strut towers James.
Click to expand...
10-4.

Have to correct myself on the fwd struts. There is caulking in between, but LHS strut tower is not fitting tight to the inner wing and the caulking is tucked in deep but it is there fortunately. Just couldn't see or feel it.

In the front wheel well there's also a round hole in the member supporting the sub frame. Since I had the super small work endoscope in house, stuck in there. It has been waxed, debris in there but no corrosion visible. It's not the best job I've ever seen.
As my bonnet edge is corroding, had a peak there also in between the shell and the strengthening inner bit. Same thing.

I was already planning a prewax and cavity wax job on the bonnet i.c.w. a small respray. The structurals will get pushed up the list now.
 
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