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.
Maserati has always been a small company. They didn’t have the resources to design and build tooling for the entire car and like many other small auto manufacturers utilized many off the shelf or OEM components.
The transmission in the Automatic versions of the QP3 is the (dare I say legendary) Chrysler Torqueflite A727. Designed by very talented engineers in the late 50’s and refined for decades. The standard choice for any heavy duty or high power application throughout the 60’s, 70’s 80’s and 90’s (although Chrysler had changed the naming convention by that time). Also the MOPAR standard for race cars, still loved and still out there winning.
Built to be bulletproof, simple, and reliable. Aside from a few minor details, it is.
As the vibrations in 3rd gear were really getting bad and winter was imminent with all it’s icy force, I decided to rent a spot in a workshop and overhaul my first transmission. Check back for pics outlining the gory details. It’s not yet back in the car, but that day isn’t far off (famous last words).
For those of you looking to work on one of these, regardless of what kind of vehicle it’s in, here are some excellent links for info:
We did actually get the tranny back in the car, and my son learned a lot, among other things how to use a torque wrench, how to organize work in stages, keep things clean (despite what the picture might indicate…it’s a rented garage!) and follow directions.
Torquing down the bolts
When I get some time I’ll put together a list with pictures outlining the entire process. All in all it was pretty simple.
Has anyone else overhauled their transmission? How did it go?
