Painted bumpers - yuk but then they'll get swapped out anyway. White wheels - yuk. MSD - why? Interior has been sprayed. I'm sure Khamsin experts will find more. I like the color combination though. Too bad about the automatic. So automatics with a few issues are this much now?
Hi, I've just bought 1246. I have a manual gearbox, flywheel, clutch and hydraulics laying around that I didn't have much use for, and white is my favorite colour on a Khamsin since it really shows off the purity of the lines to my eyes. So it felt a little predestined, and couldn't resist. The car does indeed seem to have a quite number of issues and the white wheels look absolutely horrible. I'm not too keen on the interior colour either, it seems far too screaming for my taste. The plan is to start with a full mechanical checkup on the car, remove the engine, rebuild as necessary, fit the manual ZF I have, go through the entire hydraulic and suspension system, convert it to Euro spec, save the paint if it's original as Hyman claimed to me, or give it a bare metal respray if it turns out not to be, and possibly change the interior color to a soft medium/dark blue. It might not be the cheapest entry point to a Khamsin, but at least it seems like a sound car, and the auto probably means it hasn't been thrashed during it's life. Please feel free to spot and post anything that looks wrong with it, it would be great feedback to put the car right. Best regards, Axel
Axel, Welcome to the fold! That is quite an extensive route you mapped out, please keep us posted on progress? When you replace the US manifolds with headers, see that you get the ones with bungs to hook-up an exhaust-gas analyzer, it will help tuning the Webers properly enormously. Most new headers I've seen do not have these bungs. Good luck and enjoy! Best, Jack.
Hello Axel... Welcome to Khamsin ownership! Your car looks very nice and I see you have quite a list of projects on your plate... If you don't mind, I have some questions about your car... 1. It looks like the electronic ignition was converted to an MSD or similar system? 2. What is the silver tank at the front of the engine? Is it a coolant overflow tank? 3. Am I seeing correctly, that there is a hose passing through the plastic fresh air tube(s) leading to the air filter housing? 4. On the hydraulic junction box located on the driver side wheel well, I have never seen that type of electro-hydraulic switch to control the lights. Can you give us more info and perhaps a more detailed picture? 5. Based on the blue tubes leading to the hydraulic fluid reservoir (olive oil can), it appears work has been performed on the hydraulic system. Be sure to check, or find out, the last time the brake spheres and main sphere were serviced. Sometimes a date is painted on the spheres. If this info is not available, there are some posts somewhere here about testing the condition of the hydraulic system. This is very important, especially as the system controls the braking!!! As the owner of US 1120, I am interesting in some of these changes/modifications either made by previous owners or at the factory! I would also be very interested in your driving impressions of the automatic!!! If I can be of any help, please don't hesitate to ask!! Mike
Thanks for the feedback. I'll post more info about all this once I have the car with me and can look at it in more detail. I have been offered a conversion set of Euro bumpers and plexiglass with cutouts by a company called MAK group, at $3500. Is this a good quality kit to original standards, or should I consider ordering the bumpers from Campana instead? Many thanks, Axel
Hello to you all, Since this is my first post on this forum, let me introduce myself to start with. I am Jan van Ekris, 54 years old, commercial real estate agent and living in The Netherlands. I am the proud owner of a 1977 Khamsin (US1152), a 1969 Mexico, and 2 Citroen SM's (1 coupe and 1 convertible from 1971 and 1970 respectively). I am not new to the world of classic Maserati's, being an owner for over 3 decades of the Citroen SM Coupe, and over 10 years now of the Khamsin. Bart van de Weijden and Marc Sonnery know me, though we never met in person regretfully. I'm sure it will happen somewhere in the near future guys! At least i'm looking forward to. I bought the Khamsin, equiped with automatic transmission, ugly US style bumpers etc. in 2002 out of the collection of Ferrari importer and collector Frits Kroymans who bought the car in 1994 for a hefty USD. 94.000.-- at an auction in California. Great detail is that Kroymans wanted to avoid the 10% import tax in The Netherlands, by stating this is not a "used car" but a "piece of art" and represents an example of the 1970's automotive architectural era. Customs fully complied and agreed...........no import tax was payed! I drove the car for 2 years after a tune-up making some 1.000 miles. Although it drove quite nice, i wanted to restore it, (re)turning it to its intended European style and convert it the same time to a manual 5 speed gearbox. As is often the case with "projects" it takes more time and money than anticipated. During 2004 - 2009 i was collecting the required parts, overhauling the engine, and a the same time restoring our house which took even more money than intended. Therefore the Khamsin had to wait a "little while". In 2009 however the financial crises struc me very hard and i was not able to spend any money on the Khamsin, only for maintanance on my other cars. With the financial crises slowly fading away, i'm finaly able to realise my "dream" and have her running/driving somewhere in the not so distant future. The engine and manual gearbox has been put in as well as all the required extra LHM plumbing to have it all working properly (quit some work converting an automatic car into a 5 speed manual, but it can be done!). I will post some pictures in the future of the rebuild (if i can manage this). There is still a lot of work to be done but i like it very much since you really understand how wonderfully these cars are engineerd: with great expertise, craftmanship and passion! All the best to you all, happy motoring and keep posting on this thread so we can learn from eachother and enjoy our mutual intrest! Beste regards, Jan van Ekris
Hello Jan... Welcome to the K group on F-chat.... It is good to hear from another multiple Maserati owner who owns both a Khamsin and a Mexico!!!! As I own US Khamsin 1120 and Mexico 074, we may be unique amongst all Maserati owners with this combination. Marc has always been trying to get me to change my US bumpers!! Unfortunately, he has not quite been successful!! I'm not sure he has given up though... Please post some pictures of your K here and your Mexico on one of the Mexico threads. I know we would all be interested in the work you are doing to the Khamsin, so pictures and details would be appreciated... Mike
Jan... Forgot to mention that my wife and I began the restoration of an historic house here in the US back in 2005 as well.. It continues to be an ongoing project. Attached are some pictures of my K, Mexico, and other projects waiting in the wings.. All pictures have probably been posted here before.. The Khamsin's are mine (silver) and Marc's.. The picture was taken some time ago when I lived in Florida. The Mexico is AM112-074... The final picture is of my '84 Fiat and Mexico, plus some other projects waiting in the wings, namely a Mistral, a QPIII, a Biturbo, and a QPI.. Not shown is my Ghibli SS.. The rear bumper on the Mexico is not crooked... It's the slope of the driveway and the picture that make it appear that way! Hope you enjoy the pictures and will post some soon!!! Mike Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
http://www.autoscout24.com/Details.aspx?id=258200323&cd=635462835800000000&asrc=st|fs Not sure if this ones been on here, I have been a bit lazy and haven't checked Julian
Thanks for posting Julian. I called the auctioneer, a chance to exercise my German -it needs WD40!- the car does too. The auctioneer knows next to nothing about it. It is AM120US1110 US market car. I had nothing on this one, because it has been tucked away for a long time. A German imported it from the US to Germany at some point, put it in a German garage to get it worked on, then disappeared. the garage eventually took possession of the car. This is the reposession sale. There are no keys for it, plugs have been out a long time, incorrect airfilters on it, missing bumpers, the squirrel syndrome, full resto to be expected, to be auctioned off this Friday. Complete unknown but it is a 5 speed. Best regards, Marc
So nobody has seen this car? Pity: The missing US bumpers are a good thing, and it being a 5-speed could make it a great project. It all depends on if it's straight or not, and how much tin-worm is in it. An Italian friend is going to the auction for this car, I hope he is successful. Best, Jack.
Hello Axel, I just made copies of my Khamsin Euro Bumpers from mine in GFK for a friend. Are you interested ? front bumper is on Ebay, rear bumper follows soon. Best Regards Achim
Hi Jack, Please let us know the outcome and for my Registry files I would love to know what country it sold to; thanks in advance. Best regards, Marc
One of the pair of Khamsins at the Modena centenary on Thursday. Jersey registered. It looked really super. I hope you already know the ID Marc, because I didn't get to meet the lucky owner and ask....! Cheers. Mark. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks Mark! AM120US1082 owned by B.L. one of the cars which took part in Khamsin Quaranta in June 2012. US car which lived for a while in the south of France, Corsica and Paris before being sold via a small dealer in Benelux. Enjoy the rest of the event! Marc
Marc, My friend could not travel, so I don't have any info. I am wondering, this car is solid red, yet has the same interior colours as my Rosso Rubino, with the dark brown fabric (I still haven't found any) Perhaps it changed colour at some point? Best, Jack.
A couple of swedish Khamsin https://www.flickr.com/photos/anyett/3614673224/ AM 120398 (in Sweden since 2008) https://www.flickr.com/photos/anyett/5418471423/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/anyett/14206770187/ AM120082 in sweden since 1986
Hi Mike, Thanks for your kind and ethousiastic reply! I was quit busy these last days and could not send a reply any sooner. Good to hear that on the other side of the ocean there is someone you shares my taste in cars. Not only we share a Khamsin and a Mexico, i also have had a similar Fiat 124 Spider! Even the color was the same! Regretfully i could not find any pictures of it since i sold the car al long time ago. Please find some pictures of my Khamsin as she was in 2003 (and no, the Vanquish is not mine, but at least i have the pleasure of driving it on a yearly basis to the Nurburgring in Germany very fast!). As you might know, there are no speed limits on certain tracks in Germany which is great for exercising a Vanquish or a Khamsin. When my car is ready, i certainly will try to find out how fast she is and how fast i dare to go in an almost 40 year old car! Attached is also a picture of the K's engine and gearbox, ready to be installed! I will post more detailed pictures of the "work on progress"on the Khamsin. Also you will find a picture of my Mexico in front of our house. Hope you like them. Jan. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Jan, Great to hear from you and welcome here! Glad to see you are making progress, all the best for the completion. You will find here some very knowledgeable owners on the technical side who will be happy to help if you have questions. -Mike Mistralovitch, hello Thanks for posting that photo of the Hollywood (Florida not California) concours from April...9 years ago, tempus fugit! -Jack, I will call the auctioneer tomorrow and share what I can find out. -So at the 10th Anniversary event as far as I know there were three Khamsins, AM120US1082, UK based, AM120058 now based in Holland and AM120394 based in Bad Godesberg Germany. I think a couple of others were around, such as one from Vienna but not in the event and there was also a large parallel classic Maserati gathering visiting Modena at the same time, curious if there were any Khamsins in that, anybody know? Thanks in advance. Best regards, Marc
By the way: The Würzburg Khamsin was pulled from the auction the day before it was scheduled. Apparently the owner payed the outstanding money. Bad for the people who travelled specifically for that car. I don't want to be in the shoes of the auctioneer breaking the news....
Thank you Lbird, Yes, I briefly considered going -for a friend- and would have been most vexed too but we should all be happy for the owner who was able to hold on to his car: good for him! Best regards, Marc
Hello to all, I am lucky that my engine is finished: Thanks for a lot of informations in FerrariChat and the manuals in Ivan Ruiz,s web-page. Hot-test: In the beginning the engine ran very bad: backfiring out of carburetors and exhausts. I needed several nights !. Now mixture and synchronization seems to be o.K.and sounds healthy: compression, oil pressure, temperatures, oil, water, everything looks healthy. We had a "soundcheck" with friends and czech beer. See picture 4944: When I bought my Khamsin there was not the original water pump and air condition compressor, the change was made bad. But in my opinion the basic idea was good: to use the belt driven Bora water pump, instead of the cable driven design. See my solution with adapter plate, modern R134 Sanden Compressor and modern generator. I hope to get the body from the paint shop soon. Target is visit of Mille Miglia 2015 with the Khamsin instead of my Alfa Montreal. Best Regards Achim Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Jan, welcome to the thread. Mike, hello again. You two are not so special as you might think, when it comes to keeping a K and a Mexico in the garage. AM120024 and AM112310 in mine. And two biturbos (94 Spyder and 97 QPIV) which I proudly add. Attached a picture of the Mexiso and of 024 how I found it and one of 024 in 1974 with Emmerson Fittipaldi. I'll have it restored back to original spec. Marc has been able to dig out some historic pictures which are of great help in this project! Best, OP Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Congratulations Achim! I am so glad that this car which sat for years in Illinois USA is now saved thanks to you, I had to wait several years for the very guy who had it to realize he would never restore it, then finallllllllly I got him in touch with Ivan who bought it and sold it to you. It was originally yellow but white, the interior in blue is original. Here it is a few years ago needing a lot of work so well done! Best regards, Marc Image Unavailable, Please Login
