Turbo 360, I can't answer for others, but for myself - - space and tools are not a problem; see post above. Even with 50 cars stored inside, there is, unfortunately, room for a few more. - there's no reason to assume that the end value would be less, especially if you do the work yourself. If you take the approach William has mentioned, keeping the swap to pure bolt-in and retaining the original drivetrain, then you haven't reduced the value of the car at all. Even if you can afford to pay someone for the work and want the resulting car, why not? Not everything has to turn a profit. For me, solving the problems of a swap IS the fun part. It's like building a kit car with a decent looking factory built body. - a track day car could be fun, but that expense isn't an investment, either. For track days, an open wheel formula car seems the purest form, but now we really are talking playtime, like gliders or aerobatic planes. I grew up in the Ozarks, then had four years each in southern France and central Italy. Even the commute to work (Tourrettes sur Loup to Villeneuve Loubet) was a blast. Now I live 200 miles from the nearest interesting roads, so I play with the mechanical bits instead. - the 250GTE luvcoupes posted is a good example of re-animating a castoff. These days they're worth a lot, but I remember clearly when no one wanted one, or QP1s, or Iso Rivoltas or other now-prized cars. I know of one place in town with a whole field of engineless donors (sorry, no Maseratis) - After 40 years of electrical engineering, wiring is the least of my worries! - as for the final point, the wife solved that problem for me by becoming the ex. Sort of depleted the car fund, though.
I remember reading about this project. My car has 35k miles and seems to be sitting at normal ride height. I am sure Ohlins would be great, but for my more constrained budget maybe something like QA1 would be feasible. At least these are more or less standard coil-overs. I'd like to make the rear of the Bora adjustable, but those things are huge. Maybe Alfieri found a good deal on locomotive parts... I bought mine mainly to preserve it, but the more I poke around it, the more I like it. I can really understand why a bolt-in daily driver update is attractive. 20mpg and 5 second 0-60 would make it much more usable.
HI Decision made - I think - not quite sure- Although a very rare 5 speed car with the 4.9 I think this car will be the candidate for the engine modification. Reason: the motor needs redoing and the shop took the heads for another car and wont release it without me paying them money where I think they have overcharged me. I don't want to sue them and fuss and fight. I believe these cars have passed the point where anyone other than a mechanic owning a shop can have them. That may be worth it if you have a rarer model but I have had at least 3 bills worth more than the value of the car. Time to just use it and enjoy it. My concern is would I enjoy starting it if it did not have a Maserati motor? I don't want an obviously American muscle. I would consider a wrecked QPV or another solution. The Viper has some attraction to me if it could be made to fit. There may also be some other options but have just started the process. I think the car is such a good driving car and so good on the road it needs to have a solution like this to drive. Given the rubbish work and wasted money I have had from supposedly the best shops I would welcome car that looked great and was on the button all the time. The car it 2 tonnes so I wonder what you guys think the solution would be.
Ivan Ruiz is a great Maserati Guy ( just ask Staats ) here is a link about a Ghibli SS, that he was involved with. The Car Nut - 1972 Ghibli SS Enjoy!
http://www.thecarnut.com/Ghibli72Chevy/P8237076.JPG IMHO The Maserati 4.7 and 4.9 is the Italian SBC!
Performance Crate Engines - Chevy - LS - Supercharged GM LS 416 (720 HP & 695 TQ) - Edelbrock, LLC. Here is a pump gas option but I cannot get the measurements sorted! Any thoughts on this application as far as weight. There are some measurements on their site. I don't want to modify the hood and put a raised lid on it. It has got to fit in the big QP III engine bay. I am also a bit concerned that the first acceleration will twist the rubber doughnuts in the drive shaft and explode the rear end! Any thought on this?
That seems kind of extreme. How about the 556hp LSA GM crate engine? It was used in the Cadillac CTS-V, a 4250lb car (the QPII is 4263 according to the manual) and that car does 0-60 in 3.9s automatic, 4.1s manual, goes 198mph, and gets 22miles per UK gallon. The engine height is 30.15". Here's a UK supplier: LSA 6.2L Super Charged Crate Engine | PartsWorld Performance That aside, it's a shame you can't get the Maserati drivetrain revitalized for a decent price. I suppose I'm out of touch since we do our own work, but I wonder how much a custom drivetrain conversion will cost? Maybe the folks at JIA in Banbury could advise.
Now that is how you do it. I would do that in a heart beat. Sexy body, with a cheap and reliable engine and trans combination. What's not too like? Plus you get that glorious Italian leather interior to go along with it.
Thanks for the link to JIA. Here is a list of what they have done for their conversions. Seems like a good shopping list. Image Unavailable, Please Login
The QP3 wouldn't need the suspension work and the new engine weighs about the same as the old, so I doubt even the springs would need to be changed. The Interceptor gets a double benefit because the lightweight LS engine replaces the 710lb Chrysler RB. Notice that JIA did what we talk about doing for Maseratis - they had 17" wheels made that look like the original 15" GKN wheels.
Agreed. I would like to get a bolt on package for the QP III. Keep the showroom cars perfect and original but if you are going to spend a lot of time behind the wheel it needs to be off the back of the AA truck! Front Suspension I think that there may be a simple upgrade to the A frames (Pantera) but certainly the Ohlins I sourced would be the right ticket. It would add the right strength. Rear Suspension Unit This is essentially the same drop out unit as seen in the Jaguar. I think there are probably a better set of shocks that the ones on offer. Just a matter of sourcing it but Ohlins can certainly match the rears for the proper weight and set up. Brakes Also perhaps an upgrade to the brakes may be available off the shelf. I did see a better performance booster set up available and given it is a Jag set up there may be a bolt on upgrade. Wheels The car needs wider and bigger wheels. The best solution would be to have the same design or perhaps the wheels I saw on an early prototype QP III picture but in 17". It needs wider in the rear as pictured in the original diagrams. Somewhere they fudged on this in the actual car build. It may be that the half shaft will need to be shortened or perhaps there is enough room to do this. Worst case it would need some This could be a bit of an issue but I am sure something could be done with some thinking. Rear Diff - not sure if anything is needed on this but I suspect yes for the diff and drive train.
Seems to be fine on width and length. Issue is about 2" in height but there is a variant that is made for tighter fits, I think. Image Unavailable, Please Login
In the UK they sell the Caddilac variant but there is a Holden variant that looks interesting as they are set up for standard gearbox operation and Holden's are sold in the UK. A bit more research to do. BUT for the price of a motor rebuild this motor and transmission can be had. On top of course you would need all the bespoke fitting and some place competent to make it perfect in terms of suspension and drive train geometry etc etc. They get the original motor done at leisure. Genuine Holden GMH HSV VF GTS 430 KW 6 2 Litre Supercharged LSA V8 Engine Motor | eBay
Er, like a Corvette. Pity all the suspension was changed as now the car won't drive like a Maserati anymore ... don't get it. Pete
The CTS-V was also available with a manual transmission, but the Holden would be the same engine. We used the 480hp normally aspirated version mated to a T-56 for a Camaro project and everything was easily available. I've only had my QP3 on a lift once (fuel pumps, and, of course, starter) but I think the steering rack and valve body might present problems. Most of the LS sumps I've seen had the deep section at the rear. However, virtually everything is available for these engines including dry-sump kits, so there's likely to be a solution. I really doubt you'll need to worry about the differential or modifying the rear suspension. The Dana 44 (Salisbury 4ha equivalent) was used in Vipers and Corvettes through the C4. Given the wheel well limitations to tire width, I think playing with wheel offset will allow anything that can squeeze in to be done without significant changes in geometry or bearing loading. I happened to have a 19x8.5 wheel with 245 section tire from an Infinity handy one day so I tried it. Even without a perfect offset match, the combo had good clearance on both sides. They looked ridiculous - 19" is a step or two too far! I have some high offset 9.5" wheels here, but with the wrong bolt pattern. I might be able to hold one in place to see how that fits if I can find a free moment (ha!). I think for mine, 8" would be adequate. The bigger problem is finding something that looks appropriate. I wrote to Compomotive about custom wheels but got no answer. I might ping Group4wheels or Team3wheels to see if they're more responsive. There were about 4700 Maseratis made with derivatives of the original Bora wheel, so you'd think the market size would be enough to be interesting given that Group4 is willing to make 17" replicas for a 1700 unit Ferrari.
I will send you a PM . The 8" X 17" Sounds good but what would the total description be and I can check around here. What would you do on the fronts?
The original wheels are 15x7.5 with a 5 on 114.3 (4.5") bolt circle, usually called PCD in the UK, and 40mm offset. I should have measured bore size, but forgot. I can do it tomorrow. You might find some references that claim a 115mm bolt circle. It isn't easy to tell the difference with actual measurements of holes or studs, but I tried several times and 114.3 seems to be correct. Besides, that's the dimension for the Pantera and it would not be unreasonable that it carried over. Even our old Alfa 2600s use this pattern. This is a very common size, so it's pretty easy to find wheels to try. A 235-55/17 tire has a rolling radius very close to the original Michelin. The 9.5" wheel I mentioned turned out to be 9" with 40mm offset. I compared a 17x8 with 245 section tires to the same size tire on a 9" and to my eyes, the tires are too wide for the 8" wheel. My own car will not be getting a horsepower upgrade, so I'll stick with the same width front and rear. The trick will be finding something that doesn't look too modern. More later on the bore size..
Center bore size is 62mm. Studs are 12mm. I tried a 245 tire on a 17x9 rim with 40mm offset and it seems to fit well with about 1" clearance inside and outside.
These are 18 x 8.5 and 18 x 10.5 (sold of course but available all over). I would prefer the classic ones in a modern style but these are from the more modern Quattroporte but not sure if they would fit. Maybe someone could photoshop them on the QP III. Maserati Quattroporte V Felgen Radsatz Räder | eBay
I will try to put up both pictures but still prefer the original look. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That ESM001 is the closest I've found, too. I have already attempted to browbeat my #2 son into making some Maserati appropriate center caps for these, maybe just something that could take the standard trident emblem. I also noticed that between last night and today, they're raised the prices $10/wheel! If I have time today, I might take a wheel or two from a project car and put them on the QP3. They're 17x8 and have 235/55-17 tires which are almost the same radius as the originals (about 3mm short). I'm not sure about the offset; I might need a spacer to get it to look right. These wheels are definitely not the right style, but the dimensions would be the same.
