Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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It feels like it, and it's really weird. I took a gamble on this car, my knowledge already felt limited when working on a 1200cc Cortina, let's just say I feel completely lost when looking into the engine bay! I've been enthusiastic, then worried a lot, then almost forgot about the car, it wasn't that real to me anymore and more of a burden. Now there's sunshine, I'm driving it, and it feels pretty much in good condition! I'll upload pics this afternoon, went and took some fancy ones 'ambling in the countryside' as georgeb put it
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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Aug 17, 2014 16:13:52 GMT
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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Aug 17, 2014 16:29:57 GMT
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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So, I took the car to its second MOT yesterday. It failed on a conspicuous lack of rear seat belts as I still haven't found mojo for that, but that's it!! Of course some of the lights were playing up, but the tester knew I'll sort them out anyways.
The calipers might be sticking but still pass the test easily, shock absorbers are all good too! Pollution is at 0.84% of CO (legal limit for 1989 is 3.5%), CO2 is at 12.6% so it would seem all is well. Idling is at about 1,400rpm though so I'll have to look into that!
It also needs new steering rack ends (some special kind of balljoint apparently), an oil change and cambelt swap and it should be good to go.
I've dropped the registration file in the préfecture's mailbox, sent an email to the very nice woman who accepted to hand out the reg papers, so if all is well we'll have a French reg number next week!
I'm off to free the calipers and do whatever I find that I feel brave enough to try. That seatbelt spring is creepily looking at me...
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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Aug 23, 2014 20:17:18 GMT
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Found the workshop locked and had no keys, so no lift for me today! I turned my attention to bad earths in the rear lights and the rear seat belts, all is now alright on those fronts. It took an entire day of work but I got there in the end... Which means it is getting closer to being road legal by the day
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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Aug 25, 2014 12:27:54 GMT
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I just received an email, with the new reg number on it. Oh my oh my oh my
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teaboy
Posted a lot
Make tea, not war.
Posts: 1,988
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Aug 25, 2014 12:30:50 GMT
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I just received an email, with the new reg number on it. Oh my oh my oh my Result!!!
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,888
Club RR Member Number: 58
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1989 Maserati 222 adam73bgt
@adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member 58
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Aug 25, 2014 12:33:17 GMT
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Great news! good to see this is getting out on the road
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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Aug 25, 2014 13:07:50 GMT
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I can't wait! But I'll have to, next week-end is RRG week-end unfortunately I won't be in the Alfa (oil pressure woes still ongoing, haven't used it in over a month), not in the Maser either. I'm going with friends and we wanted to take one of us's drop-top Saab but the Poste has lost the carte grise... I'll lobby him to take the RX-8.
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goldnrust
West Midlands
Minimalist
Posts: 1,872
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Aug 25, 2014 13:54:36 GMT
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Wooooooo that's awesome about the registration The to do list on the Maser doesn't sound too bad now, only really the cam belt that'll be a pain, and even that's not too bad. Shame neither of the Italians can make it to RRG in the end It'll still be a fun weekend anyway
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Siert
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,104
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Aug 25, 2014 18:05:28 GMT
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Great news!
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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Aug 26, 2014 20:05:54 GMT
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Indeed!! Steve, I'm quite disappointed too but that's life. It's quite annoying that if things had moved just a week earlier I'd have taken the Maserati (much to the dismay of the 3 friens that are coming along). Still, we'll show up in an RX8, fine by me I might have found someone to help me do the cambelt job, a guy on forum-auto who had actually called to buy the Maser mere days after I picked it up. He's incredibly talented at turning derelict cool cars into things of beauty (Alfa 156 SW GTA, Golf 3 VR6, BMW E39 M5, Carlsson 190E, etc), I'm quite glad he too had seen more than a parts car in the ad. Here are a few pics to celebrate: The broken-and-mended airbox: Yes, it is already broken again. That UV-solidifying glue (brand is Soliq) apparently didn't like to stick to this plastic, despite my cleaning and degreasing efforts. Ah well, I'll do it again later with some better stuff (ideas welcome). The doorhandle: That blob of metal you can barely see is actually the brazing we used to repair the broken handle. It looks ugly, but seems to be solid enough in that it does its job. That zamac thing is a pain to braze, I never thought I'd ever see metal start bubbling when heated! The horrible seatbelt spring back in its place... the wrong way around. What you can't see on the pictures is that sheer pain in my fingers from almost an hour of wrestling that thing around itself. To realise that it was all wrong was making it even worse! Although, as the average Chuck Norris would do, I succeeded in lifting it off and delicately putting it back in without letting it go, and popped the cap back on: Bliss. Installation was fairly discouraging. I found the shock towers behind the backseat, so I sprayed some WD40 on the nuts there since I'll probably be the next b*gger who plays with them. While rummaging around the interior I noticed this, located where the radio should be: Fried wiring. Always a joy. There's a good bit of it under the steering column too, I dread to think what it could be. Next job on the to-do list: The pads are constantly dragging on the discs, getting hot and sticky after very few miles. I'll whip the calipers off and lube the pistons with molybdene grease. The good thing is that the wheel bolts were greased with copper slip, it's the kind of small detail that makes you think the car had been well cared for Various pics of the previous week-end: Very nice Subaru, with a very nice and careful owner! We chatted for a bit, always a good thing to meet car guys randomly. I don't have any pics of the car after its much-needed wash, but honestly I doesn't look any different at all. Just less mouldy I guess! One last image, it really shows its weird proportions: It looks like a beast I love it!
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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Sept 7, 2014 20:41:38 GMT
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goldnrust
West Midlands
Minimalist
Posts: 1,872
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Sept 7, 2014 21:13:39 GMT
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Awesome. Must be a major moral booster to have that out of the way One step closer to road worthiness!
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Sept 7, 2014 21:55:36 GMT
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Excellent. Now let's have those ambling around the French countryside pics
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,612
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Sept 8, 2014 10:33:33 GMT
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Great to see it out and about. Such a dramatic shape. Hadn't noticed the wacky spare tyre cover before.
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Sept 8, 2014 10:55:29 GMT
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Well done with this! Quite a specialist car and not always easy to get to get to the bottom of some issues - although in the UK Mike at the Maserati shed is quite an expert on these cars if you struggle with anything. www.maseratished.co.uk/Not sure what it is like in France but there are a few reasonably priced specialists in the UK.
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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Sept 8, 2014 19:34:45 GMT
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Steve: it actually could be on the road, had I found cheap enough insurance and... not been defeated by an oil change!! I need a 17mm Allen key, and I couldn't locate one on time. But that does mean that next trip is a quick oil change, bodge the new plates on, and off we go! It'll be convenient to waft around in this (or indeed scaring small children) while I fix the Giulia George: those pics with the lights on up there ^^^^ were specifically taken for you, they'll have to do for now! Can't wait to take more though. 79cord: the shape and proportions really are something else, and contradict the somewhat bland lines nicely. I want to take the spare tyre and cover off, it'll look even meaner! LDM-mk2: thanks for the link!! Will check it out, Biturbos are well catered for in France usually, pretty much all the weak points are adressed. It's always good to compare prices though
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goldnrust
West Midlands
Minimalist
Posts: 1,872
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Sept 8, 2014 19:46:39 GMT
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How frustrating! 17mm allen key is easy to bodge though; bolt with 17mm head, nut welded in place on bolt (could also lock a pair of nuts off against each other but not as good), put the head of the bolt in the sump plug, use spanner on the nut, done! I've got a 14mm allen key made with a bolt welded to a nut here which I used quite often on my motorbike.
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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We tried to do exactly that, we had no welder so with two nuts locked against each other (ahem). The screw sheared before it did anything! I'll have to go and buy one, it'll be used fairly often I guess
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