body work – Quattroporte3

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 29, 2013

The final result

is stunning…..

Lots of time spent getting all the last loose ends taken care of. Headlamp washer jets fitted, mirrors painted and mounted, correct lenses fitted to front blinkers, and much more.

I’m ready for a drive!

November 28, 2013

Come together

right now. Great tune, regardless of who really sang the backing vocals.

Sylvia’s slowly coming back together, it’s really good to see.

The front windscreen wiring is run and connected (and working!), both bumper beams and the four bumper corners painted/refreshed, under arch areas all cleaned off and re-stone chip protected with wax injection done, tires back on wheels and wheels back on car!

I had an auto electrician re-run the main battery leads as well, the way the connections were before left a lot to be desired.

Ride height corrected, new windshield in place and wired up, approaching completion

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.

November 23, 2013

More bumper work

Front side bumperette mounts primed and ready for paint.

Hope it's invisible when done — Hope it’s invisible when done

Lots of freshening up done on the bumpers themselves, and a largish chunk that had broken off is reattached and “welded” in, with all seams filled up. When done, there will be no trace at all.

TL265QP — Big honking’ chunk had broken off – no idea how, I received the car like that

TL266QP — Glued in and with rubber “welding compound” applied

TL274QP — Sanded down, ready for a new coat and polish until like new

Magic rubber rejuvenator applied – like brand new!

September 9, 2013

“if at first you don’t succeed…”

we tried again. Looking better this time, but only measured and trial fitted so far.

side bumperette moved back closer to wheel arch

tucked in correctly, looks much better this way

The rear bumper finally looks like a bumper, integrated with the body, whereas before it was more like a shelf sticking far out from the rear. At least it was handy to sit on at picnics 😉

Now to strip all the paint away, cut the mounts out and move them to the new positions, weld everything back up, prime, shape and prep the areas for paint.

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 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