F430 -Guide to installing Forza Componenti Exhaust Valve Kit

[gcpeters]

Ok, so I thought I would do a little guide on how to install the Forza Componenti remote exhaust valve kit. For those who have not heard of this its an alternative to the Capriston kit, and I have to say the quality is FANTASTIC, much better than the Capristo in my opinion simply from the cables that are used for the connectors, all the way to the housing of the control box. Plus its cheaper...!

http://www.forzacomponenti.com/

so to start...

In this picture you can see that I have removed the exhaust back box, the air box covers and also the side panel to the left. You don't have to remove the exhaust back box but I had it off anyhow because I wanted to fix the white powder problem from the push fit connectors on the exhaust ( see last pic)



you can see in the picture below where the left hand side exhaust valve is, its right under the condenser and is a total bh to get to!



I wanted to find out where the best place was to mount the control unit, so I decided to remove both of the side engine panels to see what was under them. To make it much easier to remove the small rear panels I removed the black "brace" part on the back of the engine bay. There is one on each side..



When you remove all of the engine panels you have to also remove the gas struts for the engine lid, the easiest way is to use an interior trip tool a bit like one you would use for a ball joint to prise them off. I think zipped tied them to the lid and used a handy mop to hold up the engine lid! You will then have something like this..



So with both the side panels completely off, I had to decide where to mount the controller. From looking the best place I could find is on the rear cross member on the right hand side of the engine bay, up from the F1 pump. You could mount it on the left side if you want, it doesn't really make much difference..



test mounted...



final install position



Now I had decided where the control box was going to go it was a case of running the control cables, one is much longer than the other because it has to reach to the furthest valve.

The first valve is realty easy to find, its on the right hand side near the F1 pump, and you can see it here..



you then need to remove the existing cable, and put in the FC "splitter" cable as per pic below. You can see how I have routed the cable along the existing lines so it looks as factory as possible



next step is to the do the one on the left hand side, and this is a total bd. its under the condenser here...



if you undo the two condenser bolts on the right hand side then you can slide it about 4cms forward, which gives you just enough to see it. You then have to basically work blind to get the old connector off, and put in the new FC cable. Take your time as this is very frustrating, but it can be done

so once they are all connected the next step is to run them back to the control box, you can see the quality connectors here.. I ran them along the existing exhaust valve connectors and cable tied them to make it look factory.



then you want to plug them into the box, attach the earth cable to a bolt on the main frame for an earth and then turn on the ignition, you should get two red leds illuminate to show that everything is connected ok



Ok, so its all installed and looks like its connected ok. Next step is to then mount the control box properly, I cleaned up the chassis brace where i planned to mount it, used the 3M lock tape (very very strong) and just for a safety measure cable tied it as well.



you want to remember to screw on the antenna and point it upwards

now you want to test it all out, so fire her up and make sure that you can control the exhaust valves from the remote kit

once the test was completed fine, you then need to re-fit the engine panels, refit the airboxes and in my case refit the exhaust back box (nb i did this before testing)

The reason why i removed the back box on mine was to have the push fit connectors on the pipe welded up, as its a known F430 problem that the insides of the box starts to break down and then you get white powder over the engine bay, which is very annoying..



So there you go, hopefully this will be useful to others It took me a good half a day or more, but that's because I am very fussy and wanted the install look factory and also you have to be very careful with the engine bay panels etc so that you don't scratch them

the end result is something like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phf2z_ZnbNw

Edited by gcpeters on Sunday 22 February 13:56

Edited by gcpeters on Sunday 22 February 13:57

[dvb247]

Love this, just got my 1st Ferrari, an F430 spider, the dealer showed me (unprompted!!) how to pull the small rubber pipes to make my car louder, I didn't think I would, I like to keep things standard and it seemed load enough buy this is a nice mod, like it!!

[AZ Steve]

HI Grant,

Thanks for the review. Much appreciated.

Steve

[AZ Steve]

dvb247 said:

Love this, just got my 1st Ferrari, an F430 spider, the dealer showed me (unprompted!!) how to pull the small rubber pipes to make my car louder, I didn't think I would, I like to keep things standard and it seemed load enough buy this is a nice mod, like it!!

If you remove the rubber tubing from the exhaust bypass valves or the vacuum solenoid valves, you should plug the open end of the tubing and the nipple end of the valve. Reason ... you want to keep debris out of the tubing / valve mechanism. Over time, getting debris in there may cause problem with the valve function should you want to revert back to stock.

Regards,

Steve

[Cerberaherts]

Worse than that, if you don't plug the pipe-ends when the solenoids open you get a vacuum leak which will cause an engine warning light at best, or over-fuelling at worst.

[dvb247]

Thank you for the information, never tried it, for the moment I like it just the way it is, did make a lot more noise in the showroom though

[AZ Steve]

dvb247 said:

Thank you for the information, never tried it, for the moment I like it just the way it is, did make a lot more noise in the showroom though

The F430 with exhaust bypass valves open makes quite a noise ... I love it! That beast roars when those valves are open. But, it might be a bit over the top in grabbing the attention of the local constable or when sneaking back home on a Sunday morning.

Steve