Month: July 2011

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To Do list

The car was sold as a “rolling restoration”, and had been extensively restored and cared for by the BPO (before previous owner). As far as I know the PO mainly just enjoyed the car (as have I, thus far).

It runs, in fact it started up on the very first attempt after 3 months of waiting at the docks, shipping to Europe and waiting to be picked up. As the seller quipped, “I don’t know of any other 30 year old Italian exotic that could manage to do that”. Good point.

That said, it does have some rough spots, and needs more than a little TLC to bring it back to looking and running its best. While the engine, suspension and parts of the drivetrain have all been carefully restored, the transmission hasn’t been touched. And the paint is showing it’s age, with a hint of a few small rust bubbles here and there on the wheel arches and lower door panels.

I went over the car when I received it and started making a list of things I wanted to address. After having had and used the car for a while now, I’m probably going to change this list somewhat, having learned to live with some things as idiosyncrasies and others as being more important to fix.

In no particular order:

  • transmission & torque converter rebuild
  • bare metal respray (eliminating rust spots, smoothing out the bodywork, remounting glass and chrome, polishing same)
  • fix radio and antenna (this is way up high on my list!)
  • fix sun visors (they sag)
  • restore/condition leather interior
  • restore/replace cracked wood veneer on dashboard shelf
  • check fuel pumps, change filters if necessary
  • replace fuel filter/regulator
  • replace spark plug wires
  • repaint cam covers
  • go through wiring to get all courtesy lights and stuff working correctly
  • fix speedometer (probably pulse send unit or toothed gear on sender)
  • buy a scissors jack that will support the car and fit in the trunk
  • possibly, maybe, remove US emissions stuff from the engine
  • rebuild/lubricate windshield wiper motors
  • rebuild/lubricate electric window motors
  • replace rubber sealant around trunk
  • remove all sound isolation material, replace with non-flammable and non-hygroscopic alternative
  • re-fabricate rear trunk panel, the one that hides the gas tank
There’s more, this is just off the top of my head.
Any help or advice that can be offered on any of the above points is greatly appreciated!
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Air Conditioning

Just FYI – here is the measured and filled capacity of the Air Condioning fitted to the Quattroprte 3.

The York Borg-Warner system fitted to the QP3 needs periodic refilling like any other car. However, it’s unclear how much gas/oil is needed.

45cl Freon 12

The label on the air filter cover states that it needs 45cl (half a liter) of Freon 12, while the user and service manuals state 0.8 liters – almost twice the amount. Note that Freon 12 has been banned in many countries, but the system can easily be converted to use R134A at a slightly lower efficiency.

Even more confusing (my car’s A/C has been converted to use R134A) is that all the A/C shops around here use grams as their measuring (and billing) unit, not liters.

Since the local workshop was having a special on recharging A/C units, I figured I’d find out.

The answer: 850gm R134A in total.

Now you know.