Interior

December 3, 2013

First drive

I’m not going to quote the Joe Walsh song, we all know it and it’s horribly cliché. But it’s the only song I know about a Maserati (if you happen to know of another one, leave a comment!).

No, I didn’t make it up to 185, have to keep things real, as well as within local speed limits.

"...does 185", but *we're* not doing 185. Not today. — “…does 185”, but *we’re* not doing 185. Not today.

Sylvia performed marvelously, aside from a temperamental starter – I thought that was fixed?!? I noticed at the start of my drive that there were a lot of rattles, creaks and noises in general. After a while everything seemed to settle down, and even later things were perfect, the only noise coming from the shifter badge that rattles once in a while. I notice that the asphalt quality has a lot to say as far as noise levels in the cabin go, and taking a few really nice long drives helped shake things down and allowed everything to settle in.

The first drive was in a downpour, and I was happy to note that not a single drop of water entered the cabin anywhere. Dry as a bone. The new seals perform perfectly, and also help to keep noise out.

A long drive on the freeway was uneventful, the car performing admirably, cruising along smoothly and rapidly for hours on end. Because of the comfort of the interior, you don’t really notice the acceleration or the true speed you’re traveling. 80mph feels more like 50. Hit the gas and you can see the speedometer gain rapidly, but the acceleration feels effortless. It’s very refined.

There’s still a bit of vibration between 2200 – 2800 rpm in 3rd gear. One guy I spoke with said he suspects it’s the prop shaft and commented it immediately when we went for a drive. He thinks it probably happens in 1st and 2nd as well, but isn’t as noticeable at lower speeds. It’s not a huge deal, and the prop shaft went back into the car in the exact same orientation as when we took it out to overhaul the transmission (we marked it), but it is something I’d like to have checked and make sure it’s correctly balanced.

The new front headlights are brilliant! Literally. They light up the road so much better and are extremely precise in their throw, you can see exactly what area they cover perfectly, and it’s exactly the area needed to drive at night. The high beams only increase the reach and are nicely constrained to the road and shoulder. Kudos again to Daniel Stern, this is one of the best improvements I’ve made to the car.

Hit a double rainbow on the last drive, don’t know if you can see it. It’s lovely how the water beads on the car and simply rolls off.

I’m very pleased with the color, it suits the car so much better than the purplish blue it was painted in before, and the depth and richness of the Blu Sera is truly striking.

All in all I’m extremely satisfied, and really happy to have the car back on the road.

Please don’t be tempted to think that this is the end of this blog – this is after all a 33 year old car! Next up is to put her on the dyno and see how many horses have escaped over the years, and if we can get them all back in the corral…

Comments are open!

November 26, 2013

Seals, gaskets and felts

All apertures on the car have received new gaskets and seals, windows, doors, trunk, etc.

I’m not sure if you can see in the photos, but the doors are now nearly air tight. Driving through a deluge results in not a single drop anywhere in the car, and the road noise is substantially less due to both the better seals and the renewed insulating material in the doors.

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 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

July 14, 2013

While the car is out at the mechanics, let’s have a look at some of the work that I’ve done with the interior.

The original steering wheel was badly cracked, the leather dried and discolored. There’s a sailmaker down the street who does leather interiors as a sideline, and is really good. He managed to find replacement leather of the same color and grain and restore the wheel (two, actually, contact me if you need one).

Original steering wheel. Leather baked and cracked all around.

Restored wheel looks brand new (this is actually a spare I purchased, as you can see the badge is different)

All stitching is done by hand, requires steadiness and patience!

Impeccable attention to detail. Probably better than when new.

Another problem was that the seams on the front driver’s seat had split, although the leather itself was still in good condition. The passenger’s seat had also developed a beginning split it it’s seam.

There are quite a few stories about the Quattroporte III’s interior, from “a herd of cows was needed to cover it”, to “driving a gentlemans’ club (lot’s of wood and leather) down the highway”. One little known fact (as yet unverified) is that Italian exotica of the era preferred leather sourced from Scandinavian cattle instead of the closer Italian, French and Spanish suppliers. The reason for this was simple – barbed wire wasn’t used in farming in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, while it was common on the rest of the continent. No barbed wire meant hides without blemishes and marks, resulting in more useable hide of higher quality.

Webbing and frame in excellent condition

Original reinforcement tape had rotted and fallen apart, additional reinforcement is added

I don't know how it's possible, but all sewing uses the original holes in the leather! — I don’t know how it’s possible, but all sewing uses the original holes in the leather!

Restored. Not a hint that anything was every done, yet stronger than new.

The front seats kept their beautiful patina, yet are now solid and ready for another 30 years. Special heavy duty thread was used to ensure both toughness and longevity. As “Joel” on Bring a Trailer put it (perfectly, IMHO), “sitting in there is what a baseball feels like when its well caught.”

Based on recommendations I’ve received from other car enthusiasts, I’ve been using Leatherique products to clean and care for the leather. Results have varied, from excellent (center console cover/arm rest was 100% better, clean, and supple) to “is this on?” (rear seats, which seem exactly the same after multiple treatments as before). Lately I’ve heard from people restoring older Masers that Effax Leather-Combi is perhaps even better, and doesn’t risk discoloring or fading the leather. I’m thinking of giving it a try.

One thing none of the products available could help with was the rear parcel shelf. It was cracked, dried and looked like cardboard, or beef jerky, and had pulled away from the shelf it was glued to. Since the windows have to be removed for the paint job, it makes sense to have the rear shelf pulled at the same time and re-covered.

Both rear speakers were blown as well, and well, in a cruisin’ car you really need good tunes to drive to! So new speakers have been purchased and are waiting for installation. Not a whole lot to choose from in the size used here, but I want to keep things as original as possible.

It would have been nice to find something that used the original or had optional square grilles, if anyone knows of a source, please leave a comment.

July 8, 2011

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!