The BORA

I remember my dad changing his XWXs every 10,000 miles like clockwork worn or not. He said the speed rating wasn't guaranteed after this. Mind he he never drove that fast.

 

It was never about the speed rating for me with the XWX's ... it was about the performance. They had a tendency to break loose suddenly when pushed and the ride was always very firm as in you felt every little bump. But that was back then. Perhaps they've improved those aspects?

 

Question about cooling fans. My car is supposed to have spaal extreme cooling fans installed. But I notice one side puts out huge amounts of air and the other side not so much. Is it designed that way or a potential fan motor issue? Where are the relays for the fans located and how does one get to them? How do you get the fans out if that one is bad? Ideally I’d like to measure the load each fan puts on the system but not sure how to do that. Thanks.

 

Both fans were originally identical, therefore same amount of air. The relays are located in the left hand side of the front trunk, behind the AC drier.
Some Boras have two temperature switches on the radiator. Each temp switch would trigger one fan. I like to put a jumper between the two switches so that if either temp switch asks for the fan to come on, both fans come on instead of just one. I believe later Boras only had one temp switch.

Ivan

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thanks Ivan, thats a helpful pic. If you remove that section from both sides does that free up the wire mesh so you can inspect the fans?

 

Remove the carpeted front assembly that includes the wire mesh. Be careful with the mesh as it is very sharp. You can then access the side panels and the fans.

Ivan

 

Thanks. Will give it a try

 

Oh where have I heard that before? Bloody F'ng mesh. Better you than me!
The idea that the Bora would ever would ever need just one fan to come on is a fanciful BS, a delusion repeated in later cars such as the QPIII and Bitrubo.

 

I like Ivan’s idea of linking the two temperature switches so if either triggers both fans turn on. Also a nice failsafe if one temperature switch fails.

 

The door & seat rejuvenation project has begin. You can see from the Connolly 1603 Red swatch that the seats and door panels have not aged well. Some may call this “patina”. But to me it’s just too much. The color has changed alot. Look how much better the dash has done. And this is after cleaning the seats a few times with a drill brush and strong leather cleaner

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Well, to each his own...
Personally I think that your leather is not that bad.
Colour has changed but I do not see substantial wear or bad scratches.
And yes, that is patina, and classic cars convey that period flavour and look!

 

Have to agree. Of course I'm not seeing the entire set of leather pieces closely.

Now if he's going to re-shoot the seats he will have to do everything. If you've ever watched Tyrell's workshop they make a point of not erasing the patina and he's got a leather restoration specialist. My Bora got a complete respray because the diver's LH bolster was shot, not the leather but the foam. My Espada's interior looked better than it actually was with one rear seat cushion that was a complete mess due to a cheap repair with red leather resprayed in tan. I ended up rebuilding that and the two front seats because the leather in those was too far gone to re-stitch and spray. Getting those seat facings properly perforated and sewn was a challenge.Today most people skip the perforations.

I'm sure it will all look nice in what my friend with the black Bora referred to as lobster red.
He had his recovered in a kind of mottled brown because he detested red. I always thought he should have left it red.

As they say ... to each his own ...

 

Things you cannot appreciate from the photos:

three small tears repaired with filler

everything has actually already been recolored (except the dash) and not necessarily the correct shade

one seam restitched and one bolster repaired

the two seats are actually not the same exact color!

remember the new dye was made to match the original Connolly 1603 red color

I’ll post some close up pics. Those far away pics make the leather look quite alright.

 

Patina or stained and mottled?
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I've tried various dyes and by far the best results has been using ColorPlus.com. They will match the dye to your leather sample. For best results, spray the dye and not try to brush it on. Their crack filler is also excellent.

You may want to refer to this article I wrote some time ago: https://thecarnut.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Leather_Restoration.pdf

Ivan

 

Thanks Ivan. Of course I read your article on this project like several others and they are always informative. Like color plus the colourlock dye is a spray on water based dye. The company is based in Germany. They were just purchased by Koch-Chemie. They did match it to a swatch of correct Connelly red 1603 I got from UK. And their local agent hand delivered it to me and gave me a lesson on how to best use it.
I’ll be spraying it on tomorrow so more pics to come.
Dean

 

Even though I've had very good results cleaning dirty leather (and 'Cream' is hard to keep clean!) with Technician's Choice TEC260 Leather Cleaner.. and even though I am attracted to touching original things as "lightly" as possible... it has already been "touched", and I think you will be happiest with dyeing it all one consistent and fresh color.
Cheers!

 

So here’s more or less the same pics after six coats of dye. There’s still 3 coats of cross linked clear to go. The dye has a tad more sheen than the swatch. That can be adjusted by added duller chemical to the clear


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The only think that looks a bit disconcerting are cracks in the driver's seat cushions.
Those aren't that crazy to have remade sometime if you want to.
Those are probably due to inadequate care of the leather over the years.

 

. Agree
That’s after 2 layers of leather filler. Just too far gone to make perfect. Passenger seat looks new. Since everything else looks great maybe a recover of the drivers seat would be something to consider. There’s also a repaired tear that’s not beautiful but after filling and dying hides a bit better.

 

Don't forget, they never were as perfect as the cars made by the Italians now. Most valuable restored vintage Italian cars are quite over restored.
It's a very different story with vintage Dusenbergs, Packards and early Lincolns/Chryslers but those were all brutally expensive cars.

 

My Maserati Bora cost almost as much as the Rolls my parents bought for their thirty fifth anniversary. It wasn't a cheap car by any means and they are low production just like Rolls, actually lower production than Rolls.

 

As you take apart the door panels you get a distinct “kit car” vibe. But it’s also fairly easy to work on bar anything near the front of the motor

 

Sorry for the horrible picture of a faded picture quality but…
Found these circa 1970’s pics of my dad’s daily driver Bora! Gold on white. I recall the white leather was kinda worn looking even though he bought it new and kept it for 4 years or so. Needless to say - nostalgia overload.


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Put those access panels in next winter and you'll change your mind. I did mine before I tackled restoring the engine compartment and the engine.
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An Espada is far lower construction quality. For that matter so is an original Daytona. The Bora is built like a tank ... and almost as heavy ... LOL!