Hello Quattroporte3... In your e-mail you indicate you have a long write-up with pictures regarding your 727 removal - rebuild - reinstall... I wouldn't mind getting a copy myself... Is this possible? If so, how should we proceed? Mexico074
Really? All this time I had you picked for a Sussex County guy -- complete with horse and alpaca ranch.
Mike - I can see if I can collect and edit down my notes and pictures to something both manageable and understandable and will let you know. William - I did in fact speak with Jay Witham myself and got a lot of good advice from him. Shoot me an email and I'll get you his contact info.
Is Jay still involved with QPIII's? The last I heard, some, if not all, of his cars are now in Kentucky... Mike
I used them to flush and adjust the trans on my 90 Infiniti Q45 about ten years ago . At that time I got a tour of his facility. He builds special competition versions of all sorts of transmissions for people all over the world. At least he was back then. He must have ten trannys from the guys who drag race Hondas after they exploded. He was trying to figure out how to make them better for the next time. Jay Witham is an old drag racer who took up QPIIIs as a quirky hobby for hot rodding. I'm sure he could suggest someone as well. I think his eyesight is failing now so I don't know what's going on with him these days.
Filled gas and windshield wiper fluid this afternoon, on the way out of the station I heard a weird "clunk" sound coming from the right front wheel (i.e. passenger side). Anytime I hit a bump or uneven part of the road, it clunks. Not a good sign. Drove home and took a few quick pics with my phone, it looks like the passenger's side of the car is riding an inch or so lower than the driver's side. It was getting dark so I couldn't check much else, but did take a few quick shots of the spring & shock assembly while I was at it. Which leads to my question - who manufactures front suspension parts for the QP3 today? I know MIE has their own set, which is installed in the car now. The positive thing with these is that they are uprated to deal with the weight of the front end, the negative is that they raise the front end a bit too much resulting in an awkward stance. Maseratiresource sells a set on eBay and elsewhere, but it looks to be identical to the MIE one. William has had a custom system installed, I'm not sure by whom or at what cost. Igino mentioned the other day that he installed Daytona springs in his QP3, I found a set for about $1000, they include shocks and appear to come as a bolt-in unit. I don't know how well they would suit a completely different car, or even if they would fit unmodified. Campana may have a set, I've sent them an inquiry and will see what they say. Any other sources? Any thoughts on what works best with the car? Thanks! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
From the last photo, it almost appears that the shock or upper shock mount has broken, or somehow come loose.
Yeah I saw that myself when I took the picture. That's one of the things I'm going to check next week. It may just be the angle of the wheel vs the camera lens. If it's the mount, I know a good welder. If it's the shock and/or spring, I hope to find out what my alternatives are asap so I can order the parts and get it fixed.
If you look at my thread you will see a few suggestions. There was one original supplier from Italy I found and attached a quote. Very expensive for the old solution which everyone agreed was too weak. The MIE set is too high in my opinion but you can see that on the pictures posted. If you want them I can sell you my MIE fronts as my car has had the Ohlins system designed for it but it will come in more expensive. The Pantera club had some shocks circulating on their links which "may" work but I dont have the time to waste. Let me know of your sources.
My sources were all listed in my post. At this point I'm most interested in your Ohlins system. Cost permitting I may try it out. If not I guess MIE is pretty much the only option. Could you send me the contact info to your guys at Ohlins UK?
For original shock systems I have a quote from Italy for about 1,200 Euro for two shocks.. FYI I found it a bit pricey for the older system which all the gurus say is weak for the car. I did post it but deleted it as it had banking details. Please PM me if you want and I will send it.
Sorry to see your front suspension in that state. Before buying new (and possibly with unfavourable characteristics) I would see if I could have the set repaired. Here in NL we have suspension-centre.nl (site unfortunately in Dutch but I can help out) that once overhauled shocks for my 400i. He is very much into Maserati and a.o. repairs (and improves) Koni's for Biturbo's. He might be able to repair your shocks. The coils can be made new exactly according to your own specs (e.g. lower than original or than the ones by MIE) by other specialists here.
Thanks for all the suggestions regarding shocks and springs. I had another look yesterday evening, but again the lack of light (and lift) made it difficult to verify the problem. However, it does appear that the upper and lower shock mounts are still welded to the frame, and there are bolts attaching the shocks to both mounts. What it looks like is that the lower part of the shock absorber is broken. The area where the upper and lower parts of the telescoping assembly meet is supposed to be straight (one tube inside the other), while I see a significant angle at that junction. It's harder to explain than to see. Basically it looks like the two parts of the shock have come apart and the lower part is just rattling around underneath the upper part. I don't yet know how that's possible as they are essentially two tubes that fit inside one another, so there shouldn't be room to wiggle around at all, yet that's what I see. Workshops here all have 1-2 weeks wait to get in, and my friends with garages are out of town this week. I've gotten a quote from Campana, William will talk to his contacts at Öhlins and Igino has been nice enough to check with a place in Holland about getting them rebuilt/repaired. One way or another, I'll get this straightened out and the car back on the road. I want to be roadworthy asap for the trip to the UK and a bare metal respray courtesy of ALSA! Thanks for all the help, it's great to be part of such a knowledgable community!
While I'm waiting for a garage who can help with the front shocks, I wanted to get started on a few other things. Can anyone tell me where I can get the same leather as used on the steering wheel? I have a guy who can sew a new cover on it, and I would like it to be as original. One of the rear deck speakers is blown, and I'd like to replace it with something a bit better sounding, but still discrete. So far I haven't found anything at all with a brown grill cover to match the original, but have found two speakers that should fit in the existing holes and give much better sound than the originals: Polk Audio db501 5" 2-way car speakers at Crutchfield.com or Focal 130 V Slim car audio speakers (alternately these: Focal Access 130CA1 SG 5-1/4" 2-way car speakers at Crutchfield.com) Thoughts?
Physically, any 5.25 inch speaker will fit. (unless they are absurdly deep) Its the ohms you've gotta watch out for. If you have the original setup the fronts are wired in series with the rears. At least on my '79 it's that way. So my original Blaupunkt is a 2 channel 8 ohm setup. Each speaker is 4 ohms. 4+4=8. After replacing the speakers I still wasn't happy with the sound so I installed a RetroSound radio with a Zapco Amp. The car rocks now! Still lacks bass punch but way better than it was. I ended up using some old Jensen black grills in the rear. At least they're from the 80s. ;-) The lower portion of the original grills just disintegrated. I can't find any that are usable. jodro has some but in rough shape as far as I'm concerned. Tony
Good point, Tony. I had completely forgotten about the ohm ratings, but will check. I think I have a Blaupunkt Richmond or Mexico installed. Where are the front speakers mounted, and what size are they? The dash is covered in leather, so they can't be there.
If your original speakers don't have a label indicating their ohm rating (mine did) then just hook an ohm meter to it. Mine read 3.8 ohms. The fronts are 4x6. They are fairly easy to get to. I removed two glove box hinge pin mounting bolts. The ones you can easily get to when you open the glove box. You need to hold back the metal pin with a good skinny pair of needle nose pliers while you turn the bolt. Once the two pins are out the glove box swings down and will give you enough room to get up there and replace the speaker. The glove box BTW is a pretty hefty and impressive contraption! For the driver's side you need to remove the instrument cluster. We've been down this road before. For some reason my 79 has a different mounting system and I can have that thing out in less than 2 minutes. Once the cluster is out the speaker is right there. Tony PS: Watch your polarity! The wiring diagram has one speaker out of phase if i recall. This time I used a volt meter while the radio was on to determine + from -.
When replacing a windshield, how important is it to maintain 100% originality? My car has the front windshield defroster option and a green tint stripe across the top. New replacement windshields are available at the usual sources, but they lack the defroster wires laminated inside the glass. The etched markings as to manufacturer, DOT/other safety certifications are also different. There's also the matter of the original stickers on the inside, I don't know if these can be transferred, or if there are new ones or replicas available. Is this something that will make a difference down the road? I like to pay attention to detail and keep things as original as possible, but aside from one used windshield I found, haven't had any luck in finding a new OEM replacement.
My windshield (with wolfram wiring) cracked last year and a Maserati specialist here ordered me an original windscreen without wiring. Cost: 2100 euro ex VAT and ex work :-[ Then I found out that a local after market supplier makes these windscreens (with wiring) for about 1000 euros ex. Quality as of yet unknown. With the expensive option I have an original screen but without wiring and without stickers. What is the price of the one you found?
The QPIII windshield is an interesting issue... I had been looking for one for quite a while here in the US... There just seemed to be none available.... I even came close to buying a complete car, if the price was right, and the windshield looked good... In the end, I ended up finding one between $1400 - $1500... It is still in it's box waiting for installation... Many other projects in the works!!! Needless to say, I am extremely interested in methods (good or bad, so as to avoid them) on installation!!! So, please keep the information coming!!! Mike
Hi Mike - best advice for installing is to use a professional! It's really not something you want to get wrong, and it is a big job. I've had a specialist look at mine, and it's not anything like modern windows that are mounted on top of the body with a slight edge. It's flush with the body when covered with the trim. Igino - wow that's an expensive windshield (2100)! I can get one without defroster for a really good price, but would really like to get one with the defroster if at all possible. So far I've only found one, used, and from my previous experience with the seller who has it I'm rather reluctant to go that route. For people in Europe, there's a really nice guy in Finland (Antti, SICURVETRO) who makes replacement glass for Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati, and is used by many high end restorers. Unfortunately he doesn't have QP3 glass with defroster wires, only without. He could make a batch with wires, but requires a minimum order of 15. I only have 1... His prices are very reasonable. For those in the USA, it's probably better to go with a local supplier due to freight, import duties, etc. Support your local shops ;-).
The company in The Netherlands is DK. They say they can produce the screen with blue (might be green, need to check) sun band and wolfram wiring for 1000 euros ex vat, payment in advance, delivery in 6-8 weeks. Autoglas D&K B.V. Cindy van Muiswinkel H. Kamerlingh Onnesweg 19b NL 2408 AX ALPHEN AAN DEN RIJN The Netherlands (+31) (0)172 490905 tel (+31) (0)172 426738 fax Cindy van Muiswinkel | Autoglas D&K <[email protected]> Home - DK Autoglas
Maserati Quattroporte III 4,9 Manuale Neuwertig als Limousine in Köln OK top end prices rising for the QPIII European delivery 5 speeds. One Automatic sold in the UK (low mileage barn find) for 29,000 pounds "ish". This one is a nice 5 speed, Italian delivery now in fresh black paint. Nice car
I recall reading a thread on the restoration of this car here on this forum. A beautiful result bar the fog lights. A pair of period Carello's would not have added that much to the total cost.
