1976 Maserati Merak SS Project

Ford 32 valve V8. Would that be criminal?

 

A merak project was sold on Ebay last april. Night blue car.

 

Pleased to say the Merak SS is going to a fantastic new home, and I hope to someday see the fruits of restoration labor at the end of it!

Forgot to mention, an FChat member to, he is thrilled I do dare say

 

Well Done! Nothing like a fast sale when you are ready to let go!

 

Sold, and coming to Colorado! Cant wait to get her shipped to her new loving home,,,

Her stall mate..
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

u the man

 

Well, we will see if I am the man if I can piece that engine back together

 

I did mention the cassette does NOT come with this purchase, right
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Ha! At my age I still have some cassettes laying around I can use

 

Neato! I played a gig with them in 97. Great people.

 

You really KNOW almost nothing about this do you?

 

It's a nice color too!

Congrats and best of luck but two of them?

 

I can share my famous Truck Stop collection brother!!

Johnny Cash, Big Bill Broonzy, etc.

I probably DO have that Heart, but on vinyl.......

 

Since I'm in Colorado I hope to see her on the road again someday....beautiful car

 

Owned a 1974 non-SS for 5 years. I've had the hydraulic system fail and found out what happens to the brakes and the clutch first hand. I hated the car. They haven't appreciated for good reason.

From wikipedia:

Citroën era Merak[edit]
The first Merak was designed during the Citroën ownership of Maserati (1968–1975). It featured a 3.0 L (180 cu in) Maserati V6 engine with 190 PS (140 kW; 187 hp), also used in the Citroën SM.

The mid-engine Merak used the Bora bodyshell, but with the extra space offered by the smaller engine used to carve out a second row of seats, suitable for children or very small adults.As for the Bora, certain Citroën hydraulic systems were used in the Merak; brakes, clutch, headlight pods. The Citroën SM's dashboard was also used in early Meraks (1972 to 1975). 630 were made up to 1974.

GEPI era Merak[edit]
In 1976 Maserati introduced the Merak SS, power was increased to 220 PS (162 kW; 217 hp) and weight was reduced by 20 kg to a dry weight of 1,400 kg (3,086 lb).[2] Late Merak SS were bestowed with the interior and dash of the Maserati Bora. The US-spec version of the Merak SS also saw a return to traditional hydraulics, eliminating the last of the Citroen high pressure system. Production of the SS stopped in 1983 with 1000 units made in total.

If you want to explain the interrelationships/separateness of the Citroen-sourced hydraulic systems here, I'm happy to move up the learning curve. Maybe it's YOU who knows less than you think you do.

 

Sounds like you had a bad time and whoever worked on your car never figured it out.
Your car had a lot wrong with it if it got to that point.
There's nothing wrong with the system save brake pedal modulation and that's debatable. I've had my Bora since 1987 and do all my own work so yes I know something about it.

Come on over to the Maserati section as it's a more appropriate spot. Plenty of folks over to discuss and explain things for you.

 

Thanks, but, like a bad marriage, I'd rather not stir up and rehash. Shouldn't have put in my $.02, since the car subject in this thread was a non-Citroen hydraulic version. My head was turned by the pretty Ital Design sheetmetal. I shoulda known betta. The only Maser I want to look to acquire now is a 2009 Quattroporte. Either that or a 2009 MB E63 to replace my aging Lexus GS.

 

I doubt the transaxle would handle that but Meraks are typically considered under powered. At least this has the bigger motor. I vote criminal.

 

I believe possibly your car wasn't maintained properly, if the hydraulic system looses pressure for some reason you should have pressure backed up in accumilators for safe stopping and the clutch will continue to work.

These cars aren't that complicated, if a shade tree mechanic such as myself can rebuild the complete system for under $400.00 including brand new accumulators then it cant be that hard

Also these cars are in fact appreciating in value, sure not as much as other cars but show me a nice Merak SS for under 30K .. or 40K for that matter.

Sorry you hated yours but maybe it just wasn't the car for you. Keep in mind I am a Lotus guys so a Maserati is a piece of cake compared to that maintenance nightmare LOLOL

 

Didn't mean to get the fans upset. Really sorry. I lived in Annapolis and the nearest wrench was in Baltimore, so I didn't drive it much and maybe should have been more zealous in taking care of it but I had other toys that needed my attention: a 26' 1952 mahogony Chris*Craft runabout and a Cape Dory Typhoon sailboat.

I've had lots of cars with varying levels of aggravation. The Merak holds the record for grief-causing events (although the Ferrari wins in the money-spent department). I had a (small) engine fire, had the brake system partially fail (almost hit a telephone pole and took a few months if not years off my life) and--the coup de grace--the parking brake being non-functioning, I left the Merak in my driveway with the car in gear. While I was out, it apparently rolled backward and ended up in my pond. I've got a great video of the tow truck winching it out.

 

Oh man Allan! It was not meant to be!

 

Sorry to hear about that,,, you really should youtube that video!! I understand being spread thin, I bet the boats were beautiful!!

 

Oh this explains much! LOL

This could make for a great automotive humour story? Funny now not so much then eh?

I have one too but not quite that bad.

In mine I went to pickup my wife at the ferry building for the fist time in our newly acquired Espada. Showing off a bit ... Well incredibly in the 3 miles from my house a freak thunderstorm came in and dumped 3" of rain almost instantly and it all ran down the NJ Palisades towards the river. Manhole covers were flying off and 8 ft columns of water were streaming out of them.

By the time my wife found me, it wa a surprise, it looked like she's taken a dive into a pool. What a terrific start. We ended up driving through 8" of water in some spots but mainly ran down the center crown of the 4 lane road to keep out of the deep. There were suvs stuck along the side of the road! Submarine Espada made it home even with the wipers that conveniently broke.

Car was fine.

I guess if we're looney enough to buy stuff like this we have to be prepared to accept the adventures that come with them right?

 

Congrats, Jason!

I think you have a bought a very special car that, after being properly restored, will be both great to have and use and possibly a nice investment

Cheers,
Gabriel

 

Thanks Gabriel, I plan to piece by piece go through it and put it back together, but it will take me some time more than likely, I really didn't need another project but felt if this car wasn't purchased by a purist ASAP it would either end up a parts car or an engine swap.