Hi Mike and Thor Mike thanks so much for the comprehensive write-up of your fuel tank removal. The service bulletin about the check valve is interesting. I take it that the bolt head that you pictured in an earlier post was indeed the fuel drain. I have the front of my car up on stands, but the rear is still on the wheels on the ground. I looked around as much as I was able and didn't see anything that really looked like drain. Thor Oh no! Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Well, it all can be fixed. Yes, I would try to get some kind of primer on it as soon as possible to keep any rust from starting. Although I don't really know about touch-up paint availability, I would be surprised if there was anything available. If the paint is original, I guess some paint could be mixed to formula. Of course, if the paint is original, the color is likely changed anyway. A body shop should be able to match the color pretty closely. Good luck! Aloha Larry
Hi Larry... Yes the bolt head you see in my pictures was indeed the drain plug.. The plug is basically a brass or copper bolt than threads into the end of a pipe... I did have to use a coat hanger to clear the gook out of the pipe to get it to flow nicely... This drain plug (bolt) is on the rear driver side bottom of the car... If you look under there, you should see a channel that parallels the channel the bumper shocks sit it in (one on each side)... Follow this towards the rear driver side wheelwell, and you should see the bolt head... If you start looking inside the wheelwell you have gone to far..If you need better pics, let me know... I am away on business right now but should be back home next Wed (late)... If your car has alot of undercoating, it may be hidden by the undercoating... When I get back I will post some pictures of the gas tank both in and out of the car, might be useful to someone!!! Before I left I peered into the tank and could see a lot of crystals hanging on the tank metal... When I removed the fuel sending unit, it was bad as well.. Based on this, I plan on removing the tank from my Biturbo and having both it and the QPIII tank refurbished at the same time.... Mike
Mike, Do you recall the procedure u used in removal of namely the driver side exhaust header? did anything else have to be removed? BTW, do you still have a Jalpa? I owned ELA12124, white/Red an 84' and put a fun 35k miles on her... one of these days I'll need to get another one. Regards, Charles
Hi Charles: If I remember correctly, the worst side for the exhaust headers was the passenger side. Ugh, the worst thing I recall is how tight it was to get some of the nuts off! Anyone with small hands will have a much easier time!!!! Hahahahaha.... I think I found it easier on the drivers side to remove the charcoal canisters, air pump, etc. It made it much easier to get at some of the nuts. Some are easier to get at from under the car, some from top and some through the wheel well. I sold my Jalpa (and my '02 Maserati GT Coupe) back in 2009 and replaced them with a 1986 Countach 5000QV. I really enjoyed the Jalpa for the 7 years I owned it. Very rare car! And fun to drive! I miss having a Maserati too, so next year I'm going to replace the '06 Saab I have with an '07 or '08 Quattroporte. Mike
It has been a long time since I have been able to devote some time to the QP project. Again, with many thanks to Charles for his tip about the odometer gear, I have a fully functioning speedometer / odometer gauge. The first picture shows the new gear (black) in place, looking very at home. I decided to test everything before putting it all back together. The second picture shows the speedometer impulse generator on the bench with an electric drill to drive it. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
With a battery and some jumper wires, everything came to life. The speedometer needle responded to various speeds of the sending unit and the odometer ticked over as expected. Out of curiosity, I put the scope on the line from the impulse generator and it showed a very neat square wave. Now for the assembly!! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Since it was out, it seemed like a good idea to check over the alternator and put new bearings in it. During the disassembly, with a little gentle flexing, one of the leads from the stator to the rectifier plate broke off. Looking at the break, most of the wire was dark / corroded. Only about 20% of the wire cross section was shiny. This must have had an effect on on the alternator's efficiency. I spliced on a new piece of solid copper wire, trying to make the join as small as possible. The new lead was shaped to fit in the assembly and soldered to the rectifier plate connection. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
NAPA had the brush / brush holder assembly in their catalog. It is Echlin part number E 496. The cost was $9.69. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I replaced mine with an adjustable regulator to bump the voltage slightly to make up for 33 years of resistance build up in the entire system and help the idle voltage. http://www.davebarton.com/AdjustableVoltage.html Works nicely. Image Unavailable, Please Login
