Thanks Staatof, belt have to be checked in all cases.
Compression is good, timing is spot on (factory spec), been tweaking the carbs back and forth for 2 years now. Best I've seen is 19l/100km, worst is 25+. Would be super happy with 15, 12 would be a dream. 15 +/- 2 for normal long distance cruising is more than adequate for my wallet, and would put a lot of European destinations within reach, compared to flying.
Bob is right, it's a very common problem, especially when the engine is cold. It usually goes away by itself when the car warms up. I sometimes wonder how many QP3s have been sold for next to nothing, an anxious owner fearing that the entire bottom end of the engine was about to fall apart because of the noise...!
Check the coolant for exhaust (can be done at most well equipped workshops). If there is a leak in the head or headgasket, exhaust force coolant to overflow in the expansion tank.. If you drive carefully and at speed, the problem is less because the head or gasket is colder and will not leak that much..
If the fruits of my labor were not this good looking, I would have gone mad in the last couple of days. Spent 4 hours Friday night, 10 hours Saturday, 5 on Sunday and 3 each on Mon, Tue & Wednesday nights, after the kids went to bed, reassembling the engine. Got the engine to turn over last night around midnight, but didn't think the neighbors would share in my enthusiasm of hearing the motor run at that hour. Placed the battery on a trickle charger and will see what happens tonight. As far as the reassembly goes, the time consuming part is making sure all of the surfaces that have gaskets are very clean and grease free. I probably spend too much time cleaning and re-cleaning these areas, but I don't want any leaks, drips or seepage. Taking lots of pictures of different areas of the engine bay, before you start your project, so that you can reference them later, is very helpful. An extra set of hands when dropping the heads back onto blocks is helpful. A time saver is attaching the exhaust headers to the heads before you set them on the block. There is very little space to do this when the head is attached. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Got the engine fired up Friday evening. Sputtered, burped and sneezed a bit at first, but then settled in to a nice idle. Stretched her legs on Saturday with no issues and washed the dust of after sitting in the garage since September. Next on the to do list, replace seat belts in front, reattach headliner, fix power door locks, fix horns, find a period correct radio, fix fuel door actuator..... But first, I'll take another drive.
Congratulations Nick!!! Please keep us informed as you proceed through the additional to-do list! Mike
A very basic question that certainly has been answered already but I can't find an answer. How much would cost a complete engine rebuild by a professional? In Italy or in England for the most well known of them. Don't need a precise answer just to have an idea. (crankshaft bearing, Piston ring ...)
At least 100 hours. Plus machine shop. Gasket set $1,000+. Only 8 cylinders so maybe not that much but in Europe I would budget that amount. That is why I just buy another car. After seven I finally got a good one.
The hourly labor will be atrocious. If you can do some of the work, like removing and reinstalling the engine, that would help. A lot. That though is a big job for weekend wrenches like me. I am by no means an expert mechanic, and it certainly took me more time than it should to reassemble everything. Especially when you spend 2 hours trying to fit the head & headers onto the block, before you have an epiphany, and see that the exhaust is on the wrong cylinder bank! I probably shouldn't have admitted this.
Hi I was quoted around 12,000 POUNDS for a standard bench rebuild. Problems extra. This did not included taking it out or putting it back in and getting it synched in. Still cheap if done right based on my experience that everyone who quotes takes money and does a rubbish job that you have to get redone. So find the most expensive person and use them! Hence my resto mod solution to keep the beauties running
Fun to read about you installation (I should not use the word fun, but I do... . That said, I am just a week away myself from doing the same. Have had the heads off and had a service on them. Will be very fun to get this beast back on the road. Mine had been sitting for over 16 eyars when I got it. after the first 12 years, some workshop cranked it. I suppose one valve had been sitting for so long that it had been getting stuck, and when the engine turned over the piston had bent the valve slightly so there was only 70 psi compression on that cylinder. The car always had vibrations even if it were running on 8 cylinders, and the transmission shanged at higher revs because there was not the right power in it. So it will be very interesting now as the valves and seats have been refreshed and the valveclearance adjusted etc. Wrom wrom...
Thanks to all for your advices ! I am no mechanic and have no experience of it (some notions though), and have no place for it, (not talking time to spend) For the moment it is "just" belts and compressions but the full rebuild has to be done one day and it would be the better solution. Can't afford it for the moment. "Basics" can be done at a local garage that already works on some old cars but are no Maserati specialist. Luckily thew are very straightforward, "we can do this or that but no engine rebuild". The documents of "thecarnut" that I'm translating and writing down helps already a lot. Ouch :/
Replacement front seatbelts came in last week. Got the passenger side one done. Pretty straight forward. Removed the sagging head liner while I had half of the leather trim off to install seat belt. The fabric is still in great shape. Not sure if I can/should just reapply some 3M adhesive and stick it to the one inch of foam under the original fabric. I assume that the fabric originally had some sort of foam backing on it that has now turned to dust, just leaving the fabric. Any one have any suggestions? Also was this the standard headliner, or were there varieties? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Went for a cruise today, and while doing 80mph, my engine rpm are at about 4000. This has been driving me batty, since the service book says I should be doing about 100mph's at that rpm. It's been like this since day one. So I crawled under car to check the tag on the differential notating gearing, since I couldn't remember what it said when I had it all apart last autumn. It says 3.54. So, evidently I have the differential belonging to the manual transmission in mine. That would explain it. Around town, it really doesn't bother me, on the highway though, it's a little concerning. Is it possible, its been like this from new? My car only has 29xxx miles on it, i cannot imagine that the diff has been worked on in years past. Does anyone else have a similar situation?
Something I stumbled across tonight. 1979 Maserati Quattroporte III | The Quattroruote Collection 2016 | RM Sotheby's I covet the 5 speed.
This will be interesting. Sothebys have written five seats, although it is a four seater (four seat belts) and it has 252 hp in 4,2 litre form. Looks like it is a great car! These things are impressive when it comes to build quality and many other things...
Yes the headliner is original. I believe it was only one availible for the non Royale versions. I believe they had alcantara roof as did the Biturbos of the late 80-ies.
