Maserati Indy thread

At the time there were all sorts of unofficial cams available for these V8's as well as cam timing specs. The choked off performance of a USA spec engine was easily rectified. Just take the GD crap off. In fact, you really couldn't run the late cars with those thermal reactors on or they would burn up. Maserati and USA Federal missions technology didn't get along very well until 1987 and never in the GT cars or QPIII.

 

I would definitely be interested in learning the various V8 camshaft specs during the era. Dimi Elgin has a little data on these but not much, just enough for him to yell about what garbage they were (typical Dimi haha). I can't imagine they varied much if at all during the late 60s-70s, nor why they would opt for one cam spec in a Bora vs something else in a Khamsin. I know the US and Euro Merak SS cams are in fact the same cam, the US cars just had choked headers and air injection.

 

Al Burtoni was the expert in the USA on all of this back then. He's long gone now. Guys like him and others had contacts with the factory to get special equipment and info. I doubt if any of that is documented. Euro cam timing specs for the V8 are ... somewhere. I used to have a very nice document that the southern California chapter of MOCNA produced with one of their members, Stan Bishop. I bet that's floating around somewhere. When I went to re-time my USA spec Bora engine it was already set to that.

 

All the models have lower horsepower than cited by the factory. A really good engine in Euro trim has about 295 horsepower, just about 60 horsepower per liter which was a typical figure in those days.

 

The Indy engine in question was indeed a 4.7L. I was surprised, not at the power output, but at how low in the rpm range it kicked it out. Really nice stump puller

I haven't seen the dyno sheet but the same shop did a 4.9 engine and state it made 320bhp.

 

I’ve never heard of an Indy until today when I saw one listed for sale. I really like it seems to be undervalued in this market for what it is. Wondering how I would fit in one roofline looks a bit low.

 

Rob, there is ample space in the cabin and under the roof top, much more than in a Ghibli that is lower.
Actually you are sitting very low in the seat wrt body line.
Myself I am not very tall, 5'7" with normal chest and legs, and I have elevated the bottom of the seat by a few cm to comfortably see above the dashboard top.

And yes, the Indy is definitely undervalued imho, especially compared to the Ghibli whereas it has basically the same mechanics (except a wet sump and, for the 4900, the Citroen LHM braking system) and similar interior trim in comfortable 2 + 2 configuration (two real rear seats and large boot) instead of only two seats in the Ghibli.

 

Thank you, I'm 6'3 275 lbs I always say I was born with the wrong body as I like small sports cars. I have found that I really need to try a car on for size in person. I can't fit in a 308 GTB without bending my neck and I can't even get behind the wheel of a Pantera but I have an S2000 that I have had for 20 years and fit fine in it and previously had a MG Midget.

 

Don't worry, the Indy cabin is really big for a GT!
Nothing common with a 308 GTB or a Midget

 

Hi,

I have a 1970 Maserati Indy 4.2 and I’m missing one of the dashboard switches. In the handbook for the early Indy, the component is listed as ‘A Removable Lamp For Dashboard Lighting’ (item number 46 on the attached sheet) Could someone assist with an explanation of what it actually is as I’m not having much luck locating one, and not knowing what it is doesn’t help.

Regards
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

It is probably the rheostat that controls the instrument lights. The English description probably got messed up in the translation.
Ivan

 

After more years than I’d care to admit to, my Indy is very close to hitting the road again. Produced in 1970 and fitted with the 4.2 litre V8 and 5 speed gearbox, finished in Oro Kelso with matching Senape trim. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

First time on the road in 23 years!

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

BRAVO! and RHD I see. Are you in the UK? Or OZ?

best regards.
Mark

 

Beautiful car!

 

In OZ

 

Thank you Rob

 

Any ideas on what materials are suitable for the under hood liner. Mine was missing and looking at online pictures it appears to be a textured material stitched in a diamond pattern. There’s not a lot of clearance between the carburettor plenum and the hood so it needs be quite thin I assume otherwise it would rub on the top of the plenum (my Indy is a 4.2 with plenum feed by a duct from the air cleaner inside the front fender.

kind regards,

Mark

 

Now that the Indy is up and running I have noticed the tachometer is ‘under-reading’ by about 50%. The tachometer is connected correctly taking the ‘feed’ from the distributor and the engine is starting and running well utilising the Bosch HKZ CDI ignition system. Any thoughts on why the tachometer is inaccurate.?

 

Mmmhhh...
Electrics of these oldies like fantasy.
In my own Indy the tachometer is sometimes optimistic in the low revs and then "stabilises" with true reading when reaching about 3000 rpm.
I think that electrical contacts here and there should be cleaned/deoxidised.
But I can live with it, driving "on the ear" and enjoying it

 

Thank your for your suggestion, yes the electrics on these oldies are like ‘fantasy’ as I have had a few other issues with blown fuses etc, mostly due to poor connections to earth/ground.

 

I’m beginning to think that relying on 50+ year old electronics in the Bosch CDI unit will continue to frustrate me as there are no experts on the system in my region even though it is similar/same as some Porsche cars, and an under reading tach issue isn’t resolved yet either.

I have read on this forum references to the Pertronix conversion kit, namely the 1884 (Igniter) and the 91184 (Igniter 2) The Igniter 2 seems offer some advantages (more energy to plugs 3000 - 5000 rpm via variable dwell, when coupled with the Pertronix Flamethrower coil.

Does anyone have experience with this install on either the Indy, Ghibli or Mexico, and in particular, does it work with the Veglia tach or is some modification required?

Mark

 

Not sure I understand correctly.
If your engine is starting and running well with the current CDI, I wouldn't touch it.
The tachometer issue may be coming from something else, most probably from the tachometer itself or its connections.

 

The Bosch CDI decided to quit on my Ghibli in the middle of a 1,600 miles rally. Luckily I was prepared and converted the ignition to a standard points/coil setup and completed the drive without a problem. I did not notice much of a difference in how the engine responded but I was not pushing it either.

Although I have a couple spare Bosch CDI boxes the odds that one would fail again seemed high. We are talking about fifty year old capacitors, diodes and transistors.
I installed a Pertronix 91884 Ignitor II, which eliminated the dual points setup. No more spending time to properly gap and phase the points. Replaced the coil with a 45011 Pertronix Flamethrower. Painted the coil the proper satin black and stuck a Bosch sticker ... few would know the difference.
The tach initially was very erratic and the Pertronix folks recommended the use of a 10K Ohms 1/2 watt resister in series, which solved the problem.

I measured the spark with the CDI and the Pertronix and they were about the same.

On cars that came with a breakerless distributor, such as the Khamsin and later Boras, this Pertronix will not work. Instead an MSD replaces that Bosch CDI and the stock distributor is used to trigger the MSD.

Ivan

 

About the ignition in the Indy, a useful tip from Enrico's site.

http://www.maserati-alfieri.co.uk/home00z-indy.htm
"One other tip is that because the ignition system is transistorized and the points are only used for a trigger, you should not have the condenser connected (even though it is present). Maserati left it in for the event of a failure of the transistor box, so that the system could be run on standard ignition as a back up!"

Also in the Indy Manual on page 190:
"Emergency switch for faulty electronic ignition unit: If the electronic unit breaks down, the car can have a normal running switching on coil ignition"