Hello bski7908.. I am there is well.. I have removed the central fuse/electronics box from the footwell, took everything out and repainted the box.. Rust seems to be an issue with the fuse/electronics box! I was lucky enough some time ago to find a spare box with just about everything still in it.. But agree, it needs to come out to clean-up the passenger footwell. There are several black boxes in that electronics package, so its hard to tell which one you specifically are talking about. When you take the one in question out, let us know what markings are on it, and do some research on it. Maybe it was a replacement for one that failed... From the markings on it, some of us might be able to tell if it might have been originally there.. Mike
Yeah when I see electrical tape and a spliced blade fuse, my hair stands on end. I know the Italians were famous for haphazard electrics but this has 'stereo shop teenager' written all over it. And may I say that I applaud Laforza and Maserati for staying away from printed circuit boards as long as possible.
Here are two pictures - before central fuse/electronics box painting and after.... Mike Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looks great! At one point it looks like this car was outfitted with a phone and some other type of 1980s electronic device (hopefully it was something really neat like a Pioneer KP series) spliced into the factory harness in addition to the sunroof. Once I'm through all the tape I'll follow up.
What's the worst thing to find behind your fender splash guard? Your dashboard. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Believe it or not the other fenderwell looks even worse (I can reach through the bulkhead and grab the steering wheel). If anyone has good images of the sections around the cowling please get in touch. There is so much missing I can't even use the service manual to figure out how it should look. This car is perilously close to becoming a collection of parts on ebay.
Hello bski7908... Can you be a bit more specific on what pictures you are looking for? I might be able to help.. On the other hand, I am in the Knoxville, TN area, if you are interested in perhaps coming to take a look at another QPIII.. Mike
Thanks Mexico074, I haven't given up on this one yet! The red X marks indicate what appears to be missing from my car but in some places the diagram doesn't seem to make sense? The undercoating did a great job of hiding rust but a poor job preventing it. If your car has good metal in these areas I would certainly make the trip to photograph it. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
hello bski7908 … See if these help at all... You can just make out the tire in the pictures... This is somewhat difficult to photograph, but I did not take the wheel/tire off.. The first is of the passenger side looking toward the back of the front wheel well. The next two are of the driver side looking toward the back of the front wheel well...Let me know if you need me to get pictures with the wheels/tires off... Mike Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Staatsof, that about sums it up perfectly- 'holy crap'. There doesn't appear to be much good metal around the cowling and the rust in the c pillars is actually worse. I've located a good rust-free shell in California so hopefully I can make one car out of two.
It wasn't all that long ago that these cars couldn't be given away. One such as that was a parts car at best and their motors utilized in project cars or worse. There were a few folks that collected these beasts for pennies on the dollars and then parted them out. Mitchel Barnes (rip) was one, a fellow named JOEDRO on eBay was another. Your's looks like one of those leftovers. It's hard to imagine how anyone ever drove such a beautiful car such as this into such deplorable condition, must have happened in the salt & snow? Great idea picking up a clean rust free parts car and making one good one out of the two. What an enormous task, QPIIIs have always been that. Bravo! But I'm glad it's not me ... Michael's efforts on so many Maseratis also astound me. You guys are NUTS!
I still have the original owners' binder in which the couple kept receipts for everything (service, wiper blades, inspections, etc). There are even hand-written and dated post-it notes: "$30 - fuel", "$25 - detailing", "$8 - wax". I want to save them all but I just didn't get to this one in time. It still got me from CT to VA without stopping though (except fuel). It was a beautiful drive too- fall foliage, sunny and freezing cold.
Hey guys! Got a question. Removing my QP3 engine one of these days. You usually take the engine out with gearbox or do you split them and take out the engine only? I'm guessing splitting the gearbox from engine and loosen flexplate should be straight forward?? Hoping for some tips here guys!
CharlieA, I am planning to yank the engine/ trans from mine soon. Because the trans is so long I think it will be easier to pull the engine alone. It seems like removing the ancillaries, oil pan, filter, manifolds etc will help make the engine as 'small' as possible.
Glad we are several in this boat I've heard some rumours that splitting the trans and engine in situ is not easy. Can anyone confirm this? From what I can see there are two inspection holes in the trans, is it possible to bolt and unbolt the flexplate through these? Would love to get some first hand knowledge on this. I've got some roof issues myself because of the long engine & tranny package.
My contingency if the engine/ transmission don't want to come apart is to lower the front of the car as much as possible to improve the angle (blocks under the rear tires, donut spares on the front). We'll see I guess. Best laid plans of mice & men.... First I have to find a couple of junk spares. Can someone confirm these are 5x114 hubs?
Yes, 5 x 114.3, standard Ford pattern, but also others. The offset of the originals is 40mm. At one time I was trying to see what larger diameter tires I could fit, so I tried various wheels I had around - and no, I didn't put Mustang wheels on my car! I have never pulled the engine in mine, but I notice that the manual describes taking the engine and transmission out together. Figure 57 (printed upside down in the manual, natch) shows a pretty steep angle. The manual says 225kg for both, but that's wrong. I have pulled the very similar engine from my Bora and it weighs about 233kg (514lbs) by itself. It could be worse - my son pulled the engine and transmission from an early XJ6 recently -- 883 lbs! Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm sure I'll catch hell for saying this but those Mustang wheels don't look too bad! A/C, coolant system mostly out. Cut the hydraulic lines instead of loosening the fittings at the rad/ condenser to save those little copper tubes. Pumps and alternator also out. I still don't think that leaves enough space to pull the engine without removing the brake servo+ master. Also, I don't plan to re-use any of the emissions junk. Does anyone need the air pump or a set of decent headers?
Also also: Does anyone have experience with switching the intake plenum from the big box + turkey pan to something else? I would like to eliminate that pan as a source for vacuum leaks. Thanks all.
Well everyone, I'm calling time on my QPIII ownership. I have not been able to arrange delivery of the donor car within budget and with the storage fees piling up, I'm cutting losses. PM me if you need parts or if you want a great (complete) parts car. It will be scrapped before January 1.
I am sorry it worked out that way. It is probably a bad time to ask, but do you want another rust-free one (the brown one above)?
Engine out yesterday. I must say it went without any big problems. To my surprise to be honest. Anyway, next up is to assess the general condition of the engine. We know we got one piston that needs to be changed, apart from that we do not know yet.