The BORA

Hello---

Yes. Decided against removing the glass and the SS trim.
My paint guy really fought hard to convince me to take it all off but I finally chose not to risk it.

We are going to refinish the SS roof in situ.
Got that strange rotary metal brush Claus had used to duplicate the original finish.
This is one job that concerns me. Oh well!
We will cross that bridge when we get to it.

I also had a seam crack in the rear hatch; not pervasive though.

Fingers crossed, will update as the journey unfolds...

Regards.

 

I can't show at the moment but they're at the top corners of the front trunk opening going diagonally towards the A pillars. Then, there are tons of seams in the skin of that hatch along the top above the side glass and even in back around the license plate and tail lights. It's not just paint randomly cracking because it's gone bad. There are a very straight lines that telegraph how it's been constructed. The hatch structure with all that heavy glass flexes axially when opened and closed. I actually used my car and had a blast with it so the hatch has been opened plenty over the 30 years I've owned. The front trunk cracks have been there since day one when it had 3,000 miles on it. So I'm not sure what they did in those spots but it failed early on with mine. The chassis is as tuff as a tank.

I haven't done this part but according to Frank it took them a lot of hours to fit the doors on a Bora at the factory so that they were flush and air tight.

 

I don't think it's the sills lack of strength for the Bora & Merak. My impression is that those two are like tanks in that regard. The from and rear areas around the suspension are quite stout IMO. Not so with the Bora's hatch. Since I've not refinished my Bora those front two spots are still a mystery to me. But it does look rather similar to your Ghibli example?

 

I think the bodies were joined together and a generous layer of lead added on top to hide any joins. In this shot of my old Merak you can see the lighter silver at the base of the A pillar which is the leadwork. If any any moisture gets under it or too much flexing occurs it can come away from the panel underneath and you get your telltale cracks showing through the paint
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I think it's a fair point about the lead. I remember well Ing. Giuolio Alfieri telling me that they only expected 4-5 years of service out of the cars they sold then they expected their customers to buy a new one.

I think my friend heli arched that seam?

 

Hello---

Interesting point.
We did not run into any such lead deposits on my 1972 Bora.

Wonder why Maserati used lead on some cars and not others?

Regards.

 

Perhaps in my case it was that the wooden bucks were getting old by that point though they continued to make Meraks for a couple years after my Bora ended the line. Sloppier fit = more lead?

Hey the Italians did lot so strange things back then. The Miura style wheels on my Espada had so many anomalies on them when I stripped the original finish. They fixed poor casting results on some of the non structural details with bondo!

In fact some restoration guy purposely rough up the reproduction wheels so that they look authentic!

 

wooden buck mold for merak panels? hmmm

 

?

 

Hi---

Fascinating stuff, as usual, where a Maserati GT car is concerned!

Contrary to what I reported above, we have now found significant lead deposits on
the rear hatch glass edges, under the primer.

Thus, needless to say, the rear hatch and side glasses will have to come out so that we
can get to the bottom of this.

I was smiling as we discovered the lead deposits, remembering that we had been discussing this issue here a few days ago!

The journey continues!

Regards.

 

On an unrelated issue:

Can somebody please tell me whether any Boras came with Factory cooling scoops already cut out in the front valance?
TIA.
Regards.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by that could be more specific perhaps with photos?

 

Hi---

Like cutouts below bumper shown here or similar?

Regards.
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Having never done a bare metal restoration what is one realistically supposed to do about this other than re-lead any cracked seams?

After all these cars, no car really was ever meant to last this long WO periodic refreshing.

Hell! They were all supposed to be in the scrap pile and recycled by now!

Cars are far better assembled today even at the econobox level than ANY Maserati, Ferrari, Bugatti ... etc ever was back in the "glory days".

 

PS Did you see my last response re: lead.
Thought you might be interested; see last page in this thread.

Regards.

 

Hard to see those but yes I have them and they were original @ 3,000 miles. There's a U shaped rubber/metal channel molding that's pressed over the edge of the openings. I have no idea of how this may have changed over the production run from 1st to mine the last? Some of the very early cars as seen in Norbye's book illustrate some differences during development.

That's a hard photo to discern the opening accurately.

 

Thank you for the confirmation.
I will now go ahead and add them to my '72 which has no vents at all in this area.
As long as everything is apart, might as well take care of this cooling upgrade as well.

Regards.

PS any posts with a clearer picture would be much appreciated. TIA.

 

Like so many things with these cars the question is did it help? Mine also has the front hood events which as implemented do not help that much. I've run the car open and closed and couldn't discern a difference at speed. Perhaps when stuck in traffic on a warm day they do? The radiotr needed to be canted rearward at the top ala the Pantera's and other's designs for a smoother flow of air but that would have gobbled up the enormous front trunk and this was after all a gentleman's performance GT car and not an all out monster sports/racer like the Boxer, Countach and Miura.

So "luggages & chocolates" were important stuff! LOL (see the 60 minutes piece with Morely Safer on Lamborghini)

But I was looking for efficiency at higher speeds 100+ in hot weather as well as a way to prevent/reduce engine compartment heat soak.

 

Here is a photo of #1044. You can see the molding that Bob is referring.

Ivan
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Our cars also have that black painted chin in front. I think(?) earlier cars did not have that.

I repainted my rear valence satin black as well when the dysfunctional emissions systems overheated my entire exhaust system on the drive home from Oklahoma City to SF when I purchased the car. It cooked off the bondo covering the lead seams. It also makes car look less chunky IMHO. As do black rocker panels on the lighter to medium colors.

The originally gods will soon strike me dead with a concours lightning bolt!

 

Ivan & Bob---

Thank you both very much.
That picture is a huge help.

Regards.

 

Hello Boralogist,

Non USA market Meraks had no cut outs because the Euro - bumpers did not pose much of an air flow restriction to the radiator area. Once the DOT mandated mega bumpers came into being, the vents made their debut with the Meraks. I know of one Merak SS Eurofication whereby those two openings have been removed for the sake of correctness.

The very same scenario may have applied to the Bora back in the day, as I suspect it was.

Personally, I think those openings are a good option to have at moderate to high speed.

Ciao,
George

 

What year is your car? Are you certain a 72/73 would have had them or did they come later in production?
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Hi George---

Thanks for the explanation; it makes perfect sense.
These openings will definitely be an improvement; their exact impact, however, will remain a mystery until next summer!

Regards.
B.

 

The black 73 Bora on post #219 (which has the cut outs) is a 4.7 liter Euro version. That car is VIN AM117-440. As with most things Maserati, for any rule there are exceptions.

Ivan