Quattroporte III catch-all thread

Mine is earlier so I can't compare. Have you downloaded the manual from Ivan's site yet? <http://www.thecarnut.com/maseratimanuals.html> p133 of the full manual has a schematic of the vacuum connections for the '81 and up cars.

 

Yeah, I actually have the manual. Funny thing is, it looks the hose goes nowhere in the manual, but I might be looking at it wrong.

 

Hello Quattroporte3...

It seems you keep coming back to the vacuum system on your car as PERHAPS being the
root of the issues you are encountering.. Not sure this is of help or not, but on my thread
for my 1982 QPIII, posts 57 - 60, there is discussion about the location of the vacuum pump.
Could it be that the problem lies with the vacuum pump?

Mike

 

Yes, I think it's vacuum retard only and is controlled by the microswitch under carb 1 and solenoid 17 to be effective only at idle. According to some other sites, this was done to make combustion less complete, lowering combustion chamber temperatures to produce less oxides of nitrogen. Then they pump air into the exhaust system to burn the unburned exhaust. That old stuff was pretty kludgy. If you disconnect the tube at the distributor, the car will probably idle better, but the tube will have to be plugged to prevent an air leak at idle. Cars without vacuum retard also had different air correction jets in the carburetors (from Steve Swain) to make them leaner at idle.

Everything else seems to be for the evaporative emission controls. Those "pumps" really are - they're little fans meant to force any evaporated raw fuel into the charcoal canisters when the engine is shut down. The intake flaps prevent it from escaping. It's a complicated mess, but as long as it works, it shouldn't have any effect on the engine performance since it comes into play only when the car is turned off. I think the US cars did not have a clutch for the air pump, so that runs all the time and has no controls. My car lost its air pump before I got it.

I would guess that the vacuum pump on the cam is there to generate enough flow to get the power brakes to work (Mitchell -- might be something to check!). That might explain why some of the distributor illustrations from earlier cars show no vacuum servo at all. With the engine's one-throat-per-cylinder design and short runners, there really isn't average manifold vacuum you'd get from a common V8. I think they tap into just one or two, but I'm not at the office and can't check. Then again, in this car the only use for vacuum is to retard ignition a fixed amount at idle, so maybe it doesn't have to reflect engine load. I'm rambling - time to stop!

 

I don't know Steve or how to reach him. I have a two page PDF summary of his distributor and jetting information if you need it. I don't know where I found it, or I'd send a link.

On my car, these flaps just close off the air cleaner box - there's no alternate source for heated air.

 

Quattroporte3 / GLB...

What is the PDF article you are talking about? How can I get a copy?
If possible could you PM me a copy of it?

Thanks...

Mike

 

Cam timing is probably a little wilder, but I'm not even sure of that.

BTW, the visor mount came in today. I had almost expected to see a picture posted here by Will. If he doesn't, I'll take some. He opted for the "polished" finish (still white), but it still isn't as smooth as the original, and he slightly over-compensated for wear in the pivot taper, so he'll tweak and re-run. However, it other respects it's an exact copy.

I plan to ditch the vacuum retard but I want to fix the lean idle mixture at the same time. I am trying to order some 1.20 air corrector jets from weberjets.com, but their site is broken for just that part.

 

This thing is so flat white that it's hard to get the camera to focus. If I hadn't gotten my grubby fingers on it, there'd be no definition at all! We checked fit in the car; the only problem is the noted taper depth.

Will wants to try some things for surface finishing on this first proto. He's made the corrections to the taper and has released the second pass to Shapeways.

The other picture is the shaft for the main pulley: 37mm diameter, four 8mm bolts. It's smaller than I remembered. I think a 1/2" square drive will fit, but it's tight. Notice where the bearing is made -- obviously the De Tomaso influence!
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The shaft of the visor is tapered, I assume so that the spring can pull it in and make some friction. The first pass has the right taper angle, but the hole isn't large enough so the shaft doesn't go in far enough to install the washer and C-clip. Easy fix, he said.

I'd worry about using just one bolt although I haven't tried. Max torque for a 10.9 grade 8mm bolt is 24 lb-ft; not much. That arrangement is used on at least the QP3 and the Bora. The shaft is from my Bora. I'd bet the Kyalami is the same. I've seen drawings of engines from other cars, but have no direct experience. From those, it seems like there are two basic types: ours, and the front engined cars which have a more conventional keyed extension of the crankshaft. I don't know why they changed, but this design is probably better for side loading.

The Weber jets guy says these are special order. He also said his book says 155, so I'd better take a look.

 

I was going to paint my cam covers, any thing I should beware of?

 

Yes. Underneath you'll find a white plastic type of wing nut that you turn clockwise by hand to loosen it. Don't turn the glass just the wing nut.
Tony

 

Cool, thanks.

 

drove on the interstate. at 80 the car is a dream. I had not expected that at all. went to 90 but decided I did not need a ticket. drove a whole 20 miles. a note about my tires. I am using Lexus 8x18 with all weather pirelli's

 

Congrats! I remember my first trip. I drove it home the 125 miles from where I bought it. It's in kilometers so I was a bit clueless as far as speed goes but the ride was amazing!
I couldn't figure out how to turn the lights on and it was getting dark. I was pressing all these buttons...
I had to call my friend driving behind me to now get in front because I couldn't see. But soon after that I found the light switch.

This car is best on the highway for sure. It revs higher than I expected in 5th. The transition from 4th to 5th is hardly a difference. She just keeps pulling no matter what gear you're in!

There's a hill near me on the Taconic State Parkway where any car I ever drive needs to downshift to maintain normal highway speeds. Not this car! She trucks right up that hill like it wasn't even a hill in 5th. Well one exception, my DeLorean. She goes straight up that hill in 5th gear also.

Wishing you many more trips!
Tony

P.S. I have the XWXs on the original rims.

 

Dear Quattroporte III Entusiasts

Last one ever to be found. Fully serviced and new Auta 9600. Bought some time ago from a collector who had is fully gone through by a Speedometer shop in CA. This is the black three segment Hirschmann unit with amp as used in only a very few applications.

I will be listing it on ebay as I sold the two cars and the one I have is fine. I paid $250 for it but will likely list it on ebay.

I am currently in Vancouver with the unit for the summer. Let me know.

 

Good luck. It really does look like retard is the only possibility with that distributor. It will be interesting to hear what he finds.

On another topic - the second pass visor mount has been shipped so we should get it soon. Will just did the right side version - it took about three seconds.. We also found some Krylon Fusion paint specifically for plastics. Their beige color isn't quite right, but this paint is a good base coat for any type of second coat paint, so surely there's something out there that is a good match.