I have a Euro version, if that makes a difference. See the attached from the back of the spare parts manual. Bracket 101. It's not all that clear exactly where it attaches to the car. I've communicated with MIE. They tell me the bracket is not available and they also aren't sure of the attachment point. Tony Image Unavailable, Please Login
Interesting. I have a Euro parts manual without that page and no mentioning of such a bracket whatsoever. From the geometry I derive that bracket 101 can be mounted on the fixing bolt of the front bumper (part # 330.80.17.00). The bolt indicated on your drawing is a bit small. The bracket leeds backwards and places the fog light in front of and close to the front spoiler. Easy job to make the brackets yourself.
Agree with both. Too small of a bolt to be the bumper mount bolt and easy to make the bracket. Look at this picture I found. It looks like they tapped into the bolt! Tony Image Unavailable, Please Login
Neat solution and since I still need to do some anti-rust work on the front spoiler I will consider something similar. Next step for the owner of the white car would be to replace these plastic things (from Halfords?) with period Carellos or Cibies.
I am getting back to my 1982 QPIII... I would like to rebuild the carbs, as I don't know when that was done last... All the advice I have ever seen says to remove the carbs and intake as one unit... Per the picture of my car, you will see the carbs sit in a bowl which appears to sit on top of the intake manifold... There doesn't seem to be a way to remove the whole thing as a unit, without first removing the carbs from the bowl.... Has anyone run into this and what recommendations are there? Thanks... Mike Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi William... Yes, yours is quite different than mine... My car has the big aluminum cover that goes over the air filter and attaches to the 'bowl' with about 10 nuts or so.... This may have something to do with 1982 USA emissions that the car had to pass.. Unfortunately, I did not see anything in the parts manual regarding my setup either... I am hoping someone has encountered this and found a work around... If push comes to shove I will remove the carbs individually, and then see how the bowl is removed from the intake manifold... Mike
I have just removed my carbs for an overhaul but I have a euro spec car without the bowl. I wouldn't care much about the setup if I were you, just remove the carbs one by one - as you want to refurb them anyway - and then see how to deal with the bowl.
I don't recognize your manifolds or the "bowl". Mine looks like William's, carbs on top of manifolds, 6 threaded posts for the air cleaner housing and cover. Mine is a US spec car.
While we're on the subject of lights, several people have recommended replacing the US sealed beams with Euro H4 ones. The garage currently working on the car says that the US and Eu spec body front are different, and one cannot simply remove the US lights, bezels and mounting hardware and install the Eu version instead. Since I always like to get a second opinion, and find it odd that Maserati would go to the trouble of making different front ends for the US/EU markets (even if the fenders and grills are the same, all the inside metalwork behind the headlights would have to be different depending on intended market). Has anyone actually performed such a conversion, or removed the lights and surrounding bezel to compare a US with an EU model to see if they are indeed identical or not? Thanks!
Thor, any news re the headlight conversion? Following up on the subject of US/EU differences: When I was looking out for a replacement engine for my qpIII and was offered a US-spec engine (with the basin underneath the carbs - I didn't buy it) I came across the following information at Automobile-Catalog the complete Catalog of Cars, car specs database. If this is accurate information there seems to be a higher power and torque in US spec engines. Are these real or irrelevant differences coming forth from different homologation procedures? Actually I would expect the reverse given the US emission equipment. According to Mr Collina, in the Maserati Classiche historical archives there are no original homologation data sheets for the engine US version, due to the fact that the homologation process at that time was managed directly by the importer in USA. He did find in the archive the appendix US version to the owners manual, giving the different items of the US vs Euro versions, but not referring to any difference in power of the engines. He then concludes that the power output of the two types of engines is similar. From Automobile-Catalog the complete Catalog of Cars, car specs database 
Data for Maserati Quattroporte 4900 automatica, manufactured or sold in 1986, version for Europe with 4-door sedan body type, RWD (rear-wheel drive) and automatic 3-speed gearbox. Displacement:
4931 cm3 / 301.1 cui 
Bore:
93.9 mm / 3.7 in 
Stroke:
89 mm / 3.5 in
 Compression ratio:
8.5 : 1 
Power net:
206 kW / 280 PS / 276 hp (DIN) / 5600
 Torque:
392 Nm / 289 ft-lb/ 3000 


Specs of Maserati Quattroporte, model year 1986, version for North America U.S. with 4-door sedan body type, RWD (rear-wheel drive) and automatic 3-speed gearbox. 

Displacement:
4931 cm3 / 301.1 cui 
Bore:
93.9 mm / 3.7 in
 Stroke:
89 mm / 3.5 in
 Compression ratio:
8.6 : 1 
Power net:
215 kW / 292 PS / 288 hp (SAE net)/ 5200
 Torque:
418 Nm / 308 ft-lb/ 3000
No, I'm still uncertain as to how practical it will be to exchange headlights. Top pic is US version, bottom is EU. The underlying metal is the same, however the headlight buckets, bezels, and mounting hardware is all different. The screw hole locations in the front panel metal are also different between the two. So I'm undecided. Thoughts? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Bottom one looks like there is a plate over the euro version that holds the US brackets etc. The US version adjustment is on the light. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Bottom pic is your car, lights & hardware removed, upper pic is my car, same removed. The entire assembly is different between versions, there are no shared parts, as far as I can gather. My car would need the "Euro plate" yours has (square plate with rounded square hole for light, screwed into the front panel), and all new buckets, bezels, as well as lights and bulbs (big advantage to the EU spec, you can change the bulbs! Brighter, more output, as well as newer technology). As far as I know. I still haven't had a chance to talk with Al about it, and would like to have a look at all the parts involved. I left my parts manual and service manual with him, so cannot check for myself.
Problem being there are no "better bulbs" for the US model. They are sealed beams. You replace the entire assembly, glass, reflector and all. That's the advantage of the EU H4/H2 beams, you can replace the bulb independent of the rest of the glass and metal, even choosing modern "blue light" bulbs if desired. Which is why I'm considering converting. I think it should be easily reversible as long as I keep the old parts. The only downside is having to drill a few new mounting holes in the front plate, which will be covered by the lights anyway.
Updated my blog with a few more pics of the paint stripping and work going on with the bare metal respray. Comments are welcomed! quattroporte3.wordpress.com
Thor: I've sure been enjoying your blog showing all the work!!!! Nice to see that there have been no surprises under the paint. What I can tell you for sure, is that I bought the car in 1988. So, sometime before then, the original owner had changed the color from its original color (Blu Sera), and went with what was currently on the car. The only paint work I had done was back in 2005 when I had the carburetor fire and the hood was repainted (hence the extra layer of paint that you encountered). Keep us posted! Love seeing what you are doing! Mike
Hi Mike, thanks, I appreciate the comments and support! Looking forward to getting her back into tip top shape
Hi All, About 2 years ago I had my starter rebuilt and now it won't engage at all. I was getting the click nothing try again syndrome for a long time but now trying again fails every time. I'd like to get a new one so I contacted MIE. After showing them pictures I had of my starter prior to the rebuild they said it was not an original so they can't use it as a trade in for a new one. They said they "can cross-check the number [on my rebuilt one] to see what type starter motor have, and maybe find a better solution". Waiting on that... I'm reading lots about it being a typical Chrysler starter but when I brought it to my local auto parts guy he doesn't agree. And he really tried hard. I've also read its mounted upside down so the vent holes face up. This one has no vent holes. Any suggestions? Thanks, Tony
Ok, so I have two options. 1. replace the existing sealed beams with Bosch H4 & Marchal H2 glass. The new lights drop right in, and offer user-replaceable bulbs and much better focus and throw. At least 2x the brightness of the stock beams. Daniel Stern Lighting sells these. 2. replace the existing sealed beams with a Euro front end, which is glass with user-replaceable bulbs. Slightly larger headlights with more rounded edges, thinner bezels and no visible adjustment holes. Will require drilling a few holes to mount the Euro front end lamps holders and such on, otherwise is the same as the US front. I have a source Euro QP3 for breaking that will sell me the entire front assembly. Both options cost roughly the same. My question is, how important is originality here? Are QP3s valuable and/or rare enough that I should keep everything as original as possible (i.e. option 1), or since it's not a big deal to swap, maybe it's fine just to go with whatever's most convenient (option 2)? Thoughts?
Hi I like the Euro set up much better but it seems you need the entire front except for grill. It looks like a swap. If you kept the old gear then originality is ok. Look at the front end comparison I put up above and the Euro is nicer.
I agree with William. As long as the change is reversible and you store the removed original parts, I don't see any harm done.
