Bal, Thanks for the encouragement The system is leak-free apart from the clutch return (split hose on banjo barbs) which I'll tend to when doing the exhaust. Haven't tried the seat adjustment yet... Going to get some proper pipe-spanners first, the pipes on the regulator-sphere/accumulator are very hard to reach, and certainly don't want to mess them up. Mark, I have Yokohama's in that size on my car, but I think they look to skinny. Finding the proper 215X15 with a proper speed-rating has become very difficult, and I asked the question here a while ago. It appears that Coker are making them, and at a very good price at that. I am planning to ship a set over from the US, as I don't think they are being imported in South Africa. That said, the lower-section tyres will feel more taut, but your speedo will be over-reading (what's new?)
My car came with a set of these on it when I bought it 4 or so years ago. I don't push the limit a whole bunch in this car but they seem to grip pretty well, reasonably low noise, don't wander, smooth at speed. I do wish I had Euro rear end gearing and these tires may be a slight bit shorter than stock? The fellow I spoke with recently about these particular tires at Coker said they had bought a batch of them that were now a couple of years old, hence the good price. I have an Islero I may put a set on, the original Michilens are now rock hard.
Hi Bal and Jack It is interesting that this subject has just been raised. The tank in the Khamsin is acually more elaborate than mose people realise. It has a baffle near the bottom and the filter /feeder sits in the small well at the base which also located it in the cradle. The One in may car is a hand made thick wall stainless tank all polished. Its quite heavy and is very solid. I have no Idea who made it, but I other than an originality issue it will never be a problem ever. This last week I changed the pressure regulator and main accumulator on my car and got the replacement from Citroen Classic in the UK. Major Job on a RHD car but its has done the job and the pump Cycle time is now around 20 seconds plus. Darrin at Citroen Classics explined the "Citroen Hydraulic pressure history" behind the sheres and there pressures and in a nut shell I could work out that the Khamsin Regulator accumulator is 62/65 Bar and the two brake accumulators are 40 Bar. Regards Graeme
Doug, You don't want to buy some years+ tyres for a Khamsin nor an Islero. I was under the impression Coker were making these tyres currently. Can anyone confirm? Graeme, The number I got for the green accumulators is 68 Bars (Citroen). I didn't study the diagram very closely (in fact, I don't have one), but if I saw correctly in the car there is a direct line from the regulator-sphere to the two green accumulators, at which point that pressure would make sense. I'm waiting for delivery of some flange-nut spanners to take the regulator out, but I'll have a closer look Yes, it's a bit of a dig to get there, but it is an interesting journey! Btw, I think my LHM-tank is original, with the little tube on the side to read the level and all kinds of green printing drawing attention to the correct fluid etc. It looks to be OK. If I can help with any measurements please let me know.
Hi Graem, the 20 seconds to whcih you refer to for the pump cycle time I assume is when the car is standing still without any system being used (steering, clutch,...) measured from the clacks of the regulator. Is this correct? KR Armaz
Yes 20 seconds static the system should function on demand were as mine was cycling every 7 seconds Graeme
Bonhams auction has a khamsin, chassis 335, coming up for sale, http://m.bonhams.com/auctions/20141/lot/356/?page_anchor=MR2_page_lots%3D2%26MR2_list_grid_result%3Dlist%26MR2_lot_range_2%3D%26MR2_q_2%3DMaserati%26MR2_module_instance_reference%3D2 P
can any one remind me what car the outside door handles came off? a fiat i believe. just came through holland and stopped for no more than 10 minutes in the busy parking lot of a supermarket. walking back, two guys on a motorcycle drove off having kindly opened the passenger side door for me. very kind of them but they could have left the handle in one piece. anyway they were getting very grey so a good chance to change them. thanks.
Quite a number of people use those. Coker has they and they were really cheap. The 215-70ZR15 size is NLA. I used them on my Espada and they are slightly wider which I doubt is an issue for the Khamsin. The diameter is just about perfect. They work just fine and don't look like a modern tire which is a plus. http://www.cokertire.com/p225-65zr15-pirelli-p4000.html
Early Alfa Romeo Montreal I believe has been quoted in the past. Not been able to find any original spec items. Bal
thanks Bal, you're absolutely right. it is early montreal. they don't seem to be easy to get though. P.
MIE are selling a few copies of the bezel cast in bronze. I've toyed with the idea but am torn between original and a more robust item. They need finishing/ painting and assembling with your own crome bits etc. Bal
that is a very good idea. i've not yet had the door card off, but it seems they broke the corner of of the bezel with a large screwdriver, which made it come unstuck from the door which allowed them to push up the lock button. matter of seconds and hardly a scratch on the car. do you know what they are asking for them? couldn't find them on their site. thanks P
Do all Khamsins have an air-pump? I was somewhat surprised to find one, and wonder why it is so equipped, it being a Euro RHD car. I'm not a fan of clutter, and am considering re-locating it to a box.
That probably means you have those horrible thermal reactor headers. They look like short straight pipes directly off the exhaust ports that terminate in a long cylindrical can and are typically covered with some useless insulation. Have a look and see if that's what you have. On a RHD car? Yes, perplexing? Mark?
Hi P, I was quoted $280 by Stuart Avery thougn there appears to be quite a bit of clean up work involved, drop them a line they're really helpful guys. Jack, My car too had the air pump that was removed by the previous owner. Though he had the pipe that connects all four branches on each side capped off. This was beginning to leak so when I had the engine rebuilt I had the manifolds cleaned up by removing these pipes and closing up the resultant holes. Hopefully the breathing will be better without these nozzles in the way of the exhaust flow. It is strange that these RHD cars had this feature. Bal
Hi Bob and Bal, No I don't, normal Euro heafers, so can't really see the purpose of the pump and associated piping. #439 also looks to have the pump, but is otherwise spec'ed same as mine, Euro exhaust system. Very odd. Probably also why it is electrically disconnected and does not have a bel mounted. Maybe someone thought it was going to Japan? In any case, it'll come off and the connections welded up or plugged. Busy taking the regulator off: must have been one of the first things going in at assembly. Patience is a virtue, as well as contortionism!.
Hmmmm, I have the last Bora and mine came with the thermal reactors but I didn't have any injection pipes in heads it was all in the exhaust manifold (thermal reactor) so once you take those off there's nothing for the pump to do. Earlier cars had an electric clutch system for the air pump. I'm not an expert on which heads did and did not have the injection ports. As long as you don't have open air injection fittings on your heads then I say get rid of it! It never worked properly anyway, just causes the car to burn up.
Bob, The air-pump does have an electro-magnetic clutch. I did not check if the pipes go to the heads or the headers, I was too happy that I got the regulator out and was fed up for the afternoon. I'll check tomorrow and get back to you on the topic. The pump will go in a box Ask in the Jaguar-fraternity: cats and Marelli ignitions don't work so well together. Plenty post-'90 XJ-S's burnt that way. (rotor failure, raw fuel dumped in the cat: the Japanese export cars had a warning light for the cat temp) As an aside: Were the US heads different from the normal heads? Okay, curiosity won, went back to the garage to check: It's like Bal's car, there is a pipe passing on top of the headers, with a small pipe to each tract: the whole affair appears to be welded together as one integral part. What's strange is, is that this pipe is connected to the pump with a rubber hose: I would imagine that when the unit is not pumping, this set-up would get fairly hot, but apparently that's not the case. Looks like I'll need to order manifold gaskets, as the headers will need to come off to weld the holes shut once the air-injection pipe is cut off. Are these gaskets equal, or are there better and worse quality ones on the market? I could have made them up from modern materials.
Take an post a photo of what you've got and then someone might be able to suggest a solution that involves less work. I think there should be a large check valve between the rubber hose coming from the pump and the the headers. I believe it will be right on the end of the headers. I find it fascinating to see emissions equipment on a RHD car of that vintage. Maybe it was a retro-fit to allow importation somewhere?
Unbelievable: "Only 23,000 miles have been covered from new. 'OUV 49R' must be one of the very few supercars fitted from new with a tow-bar. The latter was specified to facilitate the towing of a small caravan, which the vendor says the Maserati did effortlessly, barely noticing it."
Bob, I'll try to take a shot tomorrow. An easy solution would be to cap the pipe that runs accross the headers, where it connects to the hose, but that wouldn't be very elegant. This car is in superb condition, and deserves a proper solution, so either the pump gets re-instated for originality, or the headers come off to cut the pipe and weld the holes shut. I just can't make sense of injecting air in an exhaust stream that won't pass through a thermal reactor.
One of my cars had the tube and fittings directly in the head so I just capped then with brass acorn nuts. It worked just fine. The earlier cars had air injection but it wasn't a thermal reactor per say just extra insulation on a set of headers. A friend of mine had a Bora like that. So maybe that's what it is. His was a 73 and mine is a 77 built in late 78. I just didn't know they put this stuff on any cars except the USA versions. If run for any time like this it usually split the headers which were indeed stainless. Does you car have any plates in the engine compartment advising you not to take the car above 4,000 ft elevation? I think you can cap the main air input to the headers as a temporary fix. If the check valve is still good you might not even need to do that. You'll find out right away ...
