I was out in the garage yesterday putting around and decided to fit the new wire wheel and tire into the trunk of 916. To my surprise the wheel did not fit. It sticks up about 1.5 inches and doesn't allow the panel to lay flat after the wheel and tire are positioned in place??? This is a very strange, I thought... Could it be that cars delivered with bimetal wheels and hubcaps had less vertical space than cars delivered with wire wheels?? With Maserati there are always surprises and over the last 45 years I thought I had seen everything, but I never would have guessed this one. As you can see by the photos the trunk panel does not close flush, so what do you recommend I do?? If you have a wire wheel car please go measure the depth of your trunk and let me know what you find. Ditto for you hub cap guys. Very strange.... Ciao, FGM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Frank, this is very strange on a RW 3872 wheel with a Pirelli Cinturato tire the hub extend only a 1/2 inch ! Cheers Rudy. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thank you Volante, I will measure mine today. I am guessing that yours fits in the trunk and the floor board shuts flush with the floor of the trunk. Here are photos of 101.708 (hubcap car) showing the trunk and spare fitting under the trunk panel with no problem. FGM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Redfred, As the guys at Pink told me Dyno numbers don't mean much, it is how the car drives and feels. When you come to the Desert or Seattle and drive the car you will "instantly" realize that this car is producing an amazing amount of HP and more importantly torque. Remember light weight rods, higher compression (10.5 to 1) modern 3 ring pistons. balanced, and blue printed to the 9's. It feels like 235HP but thats a guess.... Ciao, FGM PS Any luck with your transmission?
Took 916 out on the freeway today and wound it up to 4500 RPM in 4the gear. Felt some vibration beginning at 60MPH which got worse at 75MPH. Suspect rear wheel balance or more likely driveline needs to be balanced. Ciao, FGM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Frank, Thanks for the feed back. I understand figures can be miss leading, but we all need some point of reference, especially when attempting performance improvements. Lately, I have had the opportunity to drive quite a few GT & Sports cars. XK 120 Jag, E type Jag, DB5 Aston Martin, Mercedes Gullwings, early Lagonda, and even a supercharged type 57 Bugatti. Some of these cars are more evenly matched to a 3500 GT than others, but the one thing that they all had in common; They ALL would spank my Maserati, in every which way!!!! Especially the DB5. I don't wish to pirate this thread, (perhaps I'll start another one regarding performance enhancers), but was very curious with your Ed Pink (who visited Italy earlier this year with a bunch of other hot rod & street rod icons), massaged engine. I visited my transmission yesterday. We are just waiting for the 2 little plugs that press into the rear that seal the shift rails, and the installation of the reverse switch! I changed my pinion & axle seals in the mean time. Thanks for keeping us all in the loop on your various activities; all very much appreciated. Hopefully the new vibration is an easy fix! Ciao, RF.
Hello, I have the photos of my trunk with the wire wheel, if you give me your e-mail, I'll send it to you. Best Ludovic
Frank, Could you broadcast the wire wheel spare photos to the group when you receive them please? Thanks, RF.
Do you mean this one? Not sure what photos you are talking about? I sent you a PM FGM Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yesterday, after a short drive over to Whole Foods I noticed the vibration had gotten worse. I can now feel it at 30 and 40 MPH and especially noticeable when down shifting. So this morning I went over to Sears and purchased a couple jack stands, a creeper and a floor jack on sale for a hundred bucks. (Bargain) Raised the car and had a look and to my surprise 1 of the bolts was missing from the front universal joint and the other 3 were very loose - see photos - Bingo!! I replaced all 4 bolts with the correct shoulder bolts - which I had in my stash of parts. One of the bolts had no shoulder and the threads were beat up, no good. Note: These are very special bolts not metric and not inch but some form of odd size fastener found in the UK. Remember this is a British rear end and drive line. I took the car out on a test drive and Voila! End of vibration problem. Now its onto sorting other small items on my punch list. Ciao, FGM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That was a lucky one Frank. I don't want to think about what a loose driveshaft can do to you and your car while driving....
One small thing. it might be an optical illusion, but I would like to see the nut fully threaded on the bolt for full strength. I assume you used a lock washer or thread locker on them.
Elliott, That was the photo taken of the existing bolt and nut which as you can see was getting ready to come off. In addition it was a standard bolt with no shoulder i.e. threads all the way. Definitely the wrong bolt. Yes, I installed the correct shoulder bolts - all 4 - with alloy lock washers. Job done. As Ibird correctly pointed out, I dodged the bullet. FGM
Up on Interstate 10 heading East to Pheonix. I put a few miles on the car today. No vibrations. Smooth as silk. Ciao, FGM Image Unavailable, Please Login
Interesting that the dash lights are at a different layout than others. Kind of fun viewing all the different changes through the series. RF.
A new punch list has been created and work begun. We installed the newly purchased fresh air intake ducting which contained newly rebuilt fan motors. This part fits under the left front headlight which required the wire wheel to be removed. We connected up the wires and bingo you push down the lever and the fan pumps air through the heater core and the little yellow warning lite comes on just like it should. The new OEM paper 100mm correct tubing was connected to the heater core and the 80mm non correct but very close tubing was also connected at the same time. No dryer hose here! Eric the sheet metal man made a beautiful aluminum cover for the engine compartment and fitted it with oval head slotted sheet metal screws mounted in cup washers. Other details were attended to and 3 days later I drove the car out for a spirited 50 mile test run. What a machine!! So smooth, so powerful. Ciao, FGM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
