Hi Armaz Thank you for comments, hang in there it is possible to have a functioning Khamsin keep plugging away. Hi Marc I just read the article in Octane Report: Maserati International Rally | Event News | News | octane Steve Dowling had dinner with us on saturday night and he says he will have two Perfect Maseratis for the 100 year celibrations next year! Cheers Graeme
Hi Graeme, It was a pleasure reporting on the Intl event in Montreux as it went perfectly with stunning scenery and roads, 100 Masers and great people what more can you ask?! I enjoyed meeting Steve Dowling again had met him at the Swedish event in 2010 already, a true asset for the Maserati faith! Best regards, Marc
I found three diagrams of the Khamsin, they are around 1000px resolution each, I'm posting a small copy of them here, if anyone is interested in them, let me know and I'll try to upload the full resolution files somewhere else. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Is it just me or do those diagrams appear a bit stubby? And too flat? Proportions just don't look right to me. For instance, my car slopes downward from the cowl to the nose, these drawings look level most of the distance. Actually my car's beltline slopes from the tail all the way to the nose, and if anything my car sits low in the rear. Not wanting to be a kill joy but that's my 2 cents.
Profile drawings are notoriously misleading and some time they can just hand drawn interpretations. When the Khamsin was designed it would have stated as a sketch and then a model, then mocked up in clay. the Profile drawings will be just the done by hand. for low run cars there wouldnt have been an accurate tech drawing. Scale models are often adjusted to look correct so may be thay are just for making a model. Some car profiles on the web come sraight from the model makers drawings. Harc can can probably elaborate on this further. Cheers Graeme
Mine is leaking. Can they be bought new somewhere? Are they standard citroen? If so, which model? Thanks in advance
Goddag Freddie, Speak to: Johan in Alunda, BillMcGraths in the UK, Campana in Modena (there is now a girl there who is very helpful and speaks good English), MIE in the US. In France this company supplies LHM components to DS and SM so send them a photo of your container and they will be able to tell if they cans sell you that one. Ets Jean Blondeau Citroën, pièces de rechanges pour DS et SM Citroën. I am far less mechanically inclined than others here who will no doubt come in with advice for you. Lycka till! Marc
I used a soldering iron on my LHM container had a couple of pin holes. Its made of tin so pretty easy fix Cheers Mark
I have a tin which I found on ebay that is restorable, and at Motor Classica I spoke to some who has had the stenciles made for the decal. I need to track the person down sad as I had his name in my wallet which I lost on the way home!#$%^&* Cheers Graeme
Finally have the carbs back on the manifold, doing final adjustments (before synchronizing) and what catches my eye? A small crack in the r/h rear intake-tube/flange. So they all come off again, and the manifold taken for repair. How did I miss that all the time I was busy with it? Is this common? Photo's here (scroll to the end) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.139424746239146.1073741825.119309631583991&type=3 Best, Jack.
Bummer Jack. The ones on my Espada are of much lower quality than this though. I ended up having to use a high temp metal filler on the back side of one of the stud mounts because it was so badly cast. There were quite a few flaws I filled that way but no cracks or leaks. I ended up powder coating the thing in an aluminum looking silver to hide the myriad of casting flaws that immediately got dirty. That has worked out terrifically as it stays very clean and looks close to original, only my hairdresser knows for sure ... But I don't think I'd powder coat a Maserati V8 intake manifold as they're a pretty nice looking piece, unlike the heads. Does it do all the way through? Not sure if some of those Loctite compounds for curing porosity would work here? The crack may continue to grow with heat expansion. Probably need to drill out the end of the crack and have it welded I guess?
Hi Bob, You have a high opinion of the casting I was complaining about just a few posts back: the outside is as rough as the heads are. The crack is right through, it starts at the lower level of the lip that catches the dowel on the head, goes into the tract and turns back on itself, stopping a few centimiters from the vac port on top of the tract. We'll need to drill a hole at the end, and dig a bit of a channel where the crack goes, then weld it all up properly, after which the tract needs to be ground to its' original form. In itself not a drama, but heat distorts, and with the O-rings for seals the manifold needs to remain true. It was likely caused by over-tightening the manifold. I am sure I could repair it with something like JD-weld, but I'd rather not... Best, Jack.
A special note on the inlet manifolds of Khamsins Ghibilis and other Maserati V8s that have the manifold in the V that sits on the locating pins in the heads. If you have the heads machined even the tiniest bit the manifold sits on the head and nut on the stops. Conversely the sealing is done by the O-rings and there should be a small gap between the head and the manifold, Other Valley type manifolds rely on gaskets and if whomever installed the manifold expecting it to sit flush will cause what happened here. If you have it welded you will need to have it machined or as I did hand sand it. I had a new 1" thick 7 ply bench top spray glued some aluminium oxide sheets which was 1.5 times the length of the manifold to it. Carefully holding the manifold so the mating face was flat, hand sanded the manifold faces the same amount each side until it sat on the locating studs with about .005" each side at each of the 8 inlet and water manifold points. Cheer Graeme
Graeme, You make a good and valid point. If you skim both heads 1/10th of a millimeter, the mating surfaces of the manifold move closer to each other by the same amount, and that needs to be compensated for. In my case I know there was a gap though, and even if I didn't measure it, it was visible by the naked eye, so I doubt that such a train of events took place. The manifold will be welded, there is no option, the crack sits right by the ear that goes on the locating pin, and the most likely cause for it to occur is over-tightening of the bolt on that corner. Before putting it all back together, I will make a point of it to measure space between manifold and head on either side, and make corrections if needed. Best, Jack.
https://www.facebook.com/Motorclassica/photos_stream https://www.facebook.com/Motorclassica The winning Rolls Royce was beyond belief and if you have seen the new version of the great Gatsby it should look familiar..... Graeme
Hi Graeme, No I haven't, and don't foresee any problem with the repair: The crack is quite accessible, and properly welding it won't be a problem, unless the manifold was cast in some exotic alloy, which I don't expect. I'll keep you posted on it! Best, Jack.
Eons ago now I got a nice valve job on my Bora and the heads were surfaced and I too worried about this. Now I bought my own O-rings from a local supplier Morton-Thiokol (shuttle disaster giant O-ring supplier) and it went together just fine no issues ever? Maybe the next head work will be the time? It would be interesting to hear what someone who does a lot of these heads has to do with this issue.
Bob, No idea how much you can skim off these heads before you run into problems with the manifold, but the gap is easy to measure, even with everything in place. The head I have off needs a tiny amount of skimming, the fire-ring of the front cylinder left some marking that I don't like and want gone. If the tolerance after this on that side is too small to my liking, I'll follow a method like what Graeme did to get there. Is there anything special about these O-rings? Best, Jack.
Not that I could tell. I just got the best grade from a local seal supplier in the SF bay area (lot's of aerospace suppliers there) and it was way cheaper than "original" ones from the dealer or MIE. That was a century ago though. It wasn't silicone, probably viton. I don't know if silicone would be be a better choice or not. If they're too skinny then no seal. It they're too fat or hard you may get a crack again. Clearly you want some crush that makes and continues to retain the seal. Ask for the Goldilocks variety ... Have a look here and then ask around some more. McMaster-Carr
Thanks Bob, that's an informative site. I quite like the proposition of a hard rubber core with a soft outer, except for the coolant-passages, which see the pressure of the cooling system. I'll see whatI can get locally, no aerospace industry here and no exploding rocket-boosters. Lots of marine-related stuff though, should find something suitable. Goldilocks cariety sounds wonderful! Everything is off the manifold again, so I'll get the head and the manifold to the engineers on Monday. Best, Jack.
They have a warehouse about 40 miles south of me and I can get most anything overnight at local delivery shipping costs! A bit more expensive than some places but they do carry a lot of neat stuff. Not sure if they do S.A. though
