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!
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…
Pop!Nice contrast, crisp body linesChrome and lights finding their way back on to carNew Euro headlights (Bosch H4)Warm yellow light. No blue Xenon here!
Sylvia is still at the mechanics getting her physical checkup, new belts, filters, tuning, etc. As part of her checkup, the shop tested cylinder compression and performed a leakdown test.
The results indicate that the compression is good to excellent and even on all cylinders.
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.
Driver’s seatFront passenger seatWebbing and frame in excellent conditionAs is the cushion itselfOriginal reinforcement tape had rotted and fallen apart, additional reinforcement is addedI 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.”
Patina intact.
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.
JL Audio Evolution C2-525x
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.
The car so far, with the exception of the front passenger door, has proven to be a solid and straight “what you see is what you get” car, no hidden surprises, patched-over accident repair or other confidence killers. A very good, well cared for car with documented ownership since new, all of whom kept her properly maintained.
“..lower sill areas cleaned back, new right front door stripped out (glass removed etc) and light surface rust removed from sills. To be fair to the guys who did the repairs previously and painted the lower sill area – had done a very thorough job of de-rusting. The sills are completely solid.”
As to the bumper support areas replaced (see previous entry), the shop writes,
“I won’t be replacing the left rear bumper support area as it’s pretty perfect. I think the only reason the right side had gone was due to previous repair there which was tied up to the old right rear wheelarch repairs. (Which I’m certain happened a long time ago and certainly wasn’t a more recent ‘cover up’ job).”
The new door has been trial fitted and looks pretty good already, but will need minor adjustments to give perfect panel gaps.
Rumor has it that the communist government in Italy during the 70’s – 80’s made a deal with the USSR for steel to supply their automobile production, resulting in cars that rust more readily than their competitors. Hopefully any historians in the audience will be able to verify or refute the accuracy of the rumor, but as anyone who’s ever owned an Italian car knows, they rust like no others. I don’t even think that a Jag could rust faster, and that’s saying something.
Meaning that 33 years on, mother nature has had her say in the matter, and the results aren’t pretty. The expert’s assessment is that this is no big deal and pretty common and far from the worse they’ve seen, and I’m comforted by the fact that they know their way around a pair of tin snips and welding machines. Blindfolded.
E.g. “The car is pretty well as I expected, PLEASE don’t feel in any way downhearted at the seeming extent of the metal repair work………….this is very much the norm.”
“First few pics show the stripping completed (including the ‘detail’ stripping of the body suages, glass reveals, rain gutters and all of the other difficult areas).”
“As you can see I have begun the metalwork on the most complicated areas…….the lower front wing/sill structure and having cut away the corrosion on the left side we found the lower A panel support had rusted out also, so removed a larger section of the front wing to enable access to cut the rust out and repair properly. I have also drilled a hole in the support panel so that we can fully protect it with a cavity wax at the end of the job. Finally new sections made for the outer panelwork (sill and lower front wing) and welded in.
Next stage is to do the same on the right side.”
Excellent work. I’m looking forward to seeing how this continues.
I actually remembered to take the car to it’s M.O.T. review (biannual road-worthiness check performed on all vehicles in the EU and Europe) within the deadline this time.
Getting there early, I chatted with a mechanic as I watched several cars come in, go in to the shop and up on the lift for their check.
Thus my consternation when the guy who was slated to check my car got in, fired her up, and then went out onto the street and floored it, rapidly disappearing in the distance. I casually asked the service manager if this was standard procedure when performing the check, he seemed surprised and shocked himself and just said “no….” (the dots were his).
Thankfully my car came back after a few minutes, the mechanic sitting behind the wheel with a largish grin on his face. I guess the car passed that part of the test…. (my dots).
Everything checked out ok with a few exceptions. He said the car seemed to be in really good shape and condition overall, and was surprised it’s as old as it is.
To fix:
Rear wheel bearings, driver side. I’ll do both sides to keep things balanced and even. Will have to find someone to help, as this is a job requiring both special tools and a workshop (lift, compressed air, hydraulic press, and more). Not to mention experience. The QP3 rear suspension looks an awful lot like a Jaguar, I’m pretty sure they’re identical. Of course, *which* Jaguar, I don’t know. Still, the inboard brakes, anti sway stags and other telltale components, all mounted in a self contained subframe riding on bushings, pretty much gives it away.
Looks suspiciously Jag to me. Can anyone reliably identify it? (photo: William Abraham)
Parking brake – is only working on one side. Needs to be adjusted. Another typical Jaguar rear suspension detail (inboard brakes in the rear, with separate calipers and pads for the hand brake).
Battery – the battery tray has a small metal clamp that holds the lip on the base of the battery. Except that many modern batteries have no lip for it to grip. In the event of a collision, the battery can fly forwards, tumbling around in the engine room (right above hot manifolds). He suggested tying it down with a strap or similar.
Battery needs to be secured
Speedometer. My speedo wasn’t working when I got the car originally, and the state inspectors went over the entire car before approving it as road worthy when I imported it. They seemed to think it was ok without a speedo then (everyone has GPS anyway, and it’s more accurate), but this guy said I need to fix it. It’s a VDO, same as used in Porsches in the 1980s. I had hoped that when I restored the sending unit connected to the transmission’s output shaft, it would work. No dice. Cleaning the contacts and molex connectors hasn’t helped either. I pulled and checked the speedo itself, but it shows no obvious problems like a burnt component or broken solder joint. I did find, however, that a gear had turned all gooey and crumbled up. I guess that explains why my trip teller and odometer had stopped working, but still doesn’t explain the speedometer itself. The other instruments all work, so I’m tempted to rule out a bad connection, because the wires are all bundled together.
Broken gearVDO gauges
I’ve ordered parts for the wheel bearings and will need to find someone who can do the work, and have had several attempts at fixing the speedo. Not sure what to do, if I should buy a new speedometer, sending unit, or both. Bought a nylon belt with fastener to take care of the battery, and will need to have a closer look at the parking brake assembly soon.
Deadline is end of June to have everything fixed and approved.
