August 2013 – Quattroporte3

August 30, 2013

…mistakes were made…

..and they were all mine. This blog isn’t called “Automobiles for idiots” for nothing!

An old woodworking saying says “measure thrice, check twice, cut once”. There are wisdom in those words.

Much care was taken while doing the bodywork, tack welding in new sections temporarily to make sure everything fit correctly before committing the section to a permanent weld. Windows, doors, and other areas were all checked carefully. The front panel was also measured and checked carefully against a Euro model to ensure that the front lights and bezels would indeed fit with minimal modification. Looking at the bumper, it appeared that the two mounting posts projecting from the front and rear of the car ensured that the US spec cars’ bumpers stand further away from the body compared to the Euro spec version. Cutting them down to match the EU spec dimensions seemed the logical way to adjust the bumper for the Euro look, more integrated with the body.

What we didn’t realize until it was too late, was that the side bumperettes are also offset together with the main bumper by the same amount, approximately 25mm/1″. So cutting the mounting posts down to size brings the bumper 25mm closer to the car, but the side mounting brackets are 25mm further forward on the US version than the EU version, meaning that there isn’t room for the “accordion” covers that provide a unified look of a wrap-around bumper. The bumper and side bumpers simply won’t fit, they crash.

Oops.

US bumper. Note the distance from the car, and the distance between the side piece and the wheel well.

EU spec bumper. Note closer fit of bumper, and proximity of side bumper to wheel well. Bumper presents a more integrated appearance compared to the US spec model.

Shortened bumper posts, but side mounting holes need to move back correspondingly... — Shortened bumper posts, but side mounting holes need to move back correspondingly…

So close, and yet so far... — So close, and yet so far…

There are 2 options from here:

1. Fix the mounting posts so that they are as they were, i.e. the longer US version. Everything will fit. The car will have EU lights and front, but US bumper fit (further away from the body).

2. Strip the brand new paint and bodywork at each corner, cut out and move the new mounting brackets 25mm towards the rear of the car, fill the resulting holes, do body shaping, priming, guide coat, final shaping and repaint all over again. (and of course do the same thing for the rear mounting brackets as well, moving them forwards from the rear of the car by 25mm).

Should I do the right thing, or the easy thing, or are they the same thing? Thoughts?

August 29, 2013

Glass

Windscreen and rear window fitted, as well as most of the door glass, along with chrome trim surrounds.

While the doors were apart to install the glass, we went ahead and removed the old (and pretty far gone) insulation and installed new rubberized asphalt sound/vibration insulation. The old stuff had crumbled to a point beyond recognition, which has it’s advantages, as it’s hydrophilic and a common cause of serious rust in these cars. Due to the way the insulation is mounted, the doors or body could rust through from the inside without any warning to the owner until it’s too late!

The rubberized mats are completely waterproof and offer much better sound deadening properties than the original insulation used.

August 28, 2013

Body panel gaps

Doors now test fitted and adjusted for proper panel gaps all around.

TL220QP — Note the improved stance after installing custom made shock absorbers

She’s slowly beginning to come together, and is looking pretty good if I do say so myself. Looks a bit weird without the bumpers though.

August 22, 2013

“Quattroporte” = “4 doors”

A rather mundane, if not downright unimaginative name, although the first model was released as early as 1963 and was based on a custom bodied 5000GT built for Prince Karim Aga Khan by Frua. Hardly a mundane start.

Regardless, it sounds a lot better in Italian than in German. Can you imagine Mercedes presenting the “450 vier Türen” back in the day?

Anyway, back to business – the 4 doors of the 4 door Quattroporte have been painted. Being a Quattroporte III, only 3 of the doors are visible…

August 21, 2013

Interior and trim

Parcel shelf covered with new leather, matched for color and grain:

Back in car. But - where to mount the speakers..?!? — Back in car. But – where to mount the speakers..?!?

Whomever did the previous respray, which must be at least 20 years old, didn’t pay as much attention to masking off parts. Each part must be hand cleaned and polished before being put back on the car.

Rear light clusters - before and after — Rear light clusters – before and after

Side sill trim, before old overspray is removed

The lower front grilles had been painted the same color as the rest of the car, which meant stripping, priming and repainting in the correct color (black) before being put back on the car.

Quite a lot of time was spent polishing and refinishing the headlamp surrounds and steel trim. The front of the car looks brand new (actually it is brand new)

New lights and trim. Note how straight the panels are

All the old foam and glue under the roof was removed and replaced before the headliner was remounted

And tags and door strikers re-installed in the painted door aperture. What’s not clear from the pictures is that all seals and gaskets have been replaced with new ones, as will the doors for the window channels and water seals.

Lastly, fuel-filler cap and opposite side blanking plate have been repainted, polished and refitted to the car

And since we’re paying extra attention to detail, look at the care and effort that went into making the fuel filler area look brand new:

This is what it looked like when it left the factory, 33 years ago

August 20, 2013

Articles and reviews

There have been quite a few articles written about the Quattroporte III, I was sent a link to a brand new one just today, so let’s begin with it:

http://www.petrolicious.com/the-maserati-quattroporte-is-brutally-beautiful

The body, paint and interior all look sharp, with some minor issues that perhaps should be addressed, but the engine bay could really use tidying up. And someone should remove the faux “gills” behind the front wheel wells pronto!

They tested a 4.2 liter model, which is somewhat rarer than the 4.9l, and lacks some of the grunt of the larger engine.

I agree with the authors take on the charisma of the car, it’s even more imposing in person than in photographs, and IMHO is a much more livable design than f.x. the Aston Martin Lagonda. The market has however clearly favored the Lagonda, as it’s risen in value almost fourfold the last few years, while the Quattroporte III has not quite doubled.

I’ll update this post with more articles in a bit. Drop me a link in the comments section if you know of a good one!

August 15, 2013

Deep Blue

Color on car. Bits and pieces being polished and added. Everything looking very good. I was looking for a deep color that would “pop” with the chrome and interior, I think I found it…

Chrome and lights finding their way back on to car

August 11, 2013

Blu sera metalizzato

The pictures speak for themselves. First the color itself:

After a few coats, a clear top coat is applied, rubbed down and polished:

Looking good, and there are still 2 more polishing stages to go before she's done — Looking good, and there are still 2 more polishing stages to go before she’s done!

As is probably apparent from the pictures, the color is quite different from what she came in with, which was a purplish blue from a respray in the USA many years ago. This is the 1980 model year correct Maserati “Blu Sera metalizzato” that the car came with originally. It’s quite close to the 5000GT color, although the metallic flakes appear a bit larger, giving a livelier impression. On a car this size, that’s a good thing.

I’d love to hear what you think of the color – thumbs up? Thumbs down? What’s your opinion of the color? Does it suit the car? What color do you think works best on this car, and why? Comments are open!

August 10, 2013

Final shaping

From the shop:

“I have mostly blocked down the primer – just the lower body, front and rear panels and door reveals left to do. You should be able to see the minor high and low points showing up in the pictures. As we have a little more time on her now I want to do a full re-prime once these low points have been stoppered up and blocked smooth, mainly just to ensure we have a good even thickness of material on her.”

Almost ready for paint — A few uneven spots remaining

A few days later, the final priming, filling and shaping was completed:

Looks a lot like a Jenson Interceptor in the background

Clean and crisp lines, like a perfectly starched shirt

Next up – paint. Any guesses on what color?

August 9, 2013

2 C8H18 + 25 O2 → 16 CO2 + 18 H2O

Still working on going through and getting a good setting with the fuel system.

The fuel pump is sorted……..it was simply a blocked internal filter causing the problem. Have also fitted a new short fuel line between the pumps and 3-way-valve as it was beginning to crack.

A specialist has gone through the carburetors to make sure all settings are correct, or at least seem sane, before the car is put on a dynamometer in a few weeks to measure power output and fine tune the engine. The PPO (prior to previous owner) had overhauled and synced the carbs while he had the car, and Webers are usually set-and-forget, but I’ve learned that a whole lot of strangeness can happen when someone gets their hands on an unusual automobile, if even for only a few months…

He didn’t find anything obviously mis-matched in the carbs, or any serious imbalance, just way out of tune and general wear – not one specific thing. He says that a full setup is the only way to improve things and thinks that the poor running (ref. earlier posts here about the same issue) is a combination of numerous general wear items (carb jets etc) and no one big issue.

I had a suspicion she was running a bit rich, judging both from the two black spots on the rear wall of the garage as well as the amount of soot expelled from the exhaust. That would also affect acceleration and power in general. So the specialist’s findings match well with my own observations and thoughts. His adjustments did result in a nice improvement, but there’s still more to be done.

When we get her running according to spec, we should see somewhere in the neighborhood of 280hp when all is said and done. I’ve been considering removing all the US smog equipment, but that would mean new cams, which is more work than I’m prepared for at this point.

Right now I’m more interested in getting the repaint done and actually taking her out for a drive!

Dual Facet Fuel pumps. Originally Bendix.