Biturbo issues and fixes

Messages
1,687
I put some pics up under a different post .

i am assuming the medal part is not sarcastic.

Saw the pics after I wrote that. Beautiful car.
Sarcasm? Absolutely not! Genuine respect.
I've just bought a Biturbo Spyder project and while I bought it from
a very reputable source, I am wondering how much money it's
going to hoover up, getting it to a standard I'm happy with.
I read many of your posts last night and it reads like a rather
epic journey ;)
 

Shaheenk

Junior Member
Messages
48
I have learnt a lot about this car in a very short time. Its such an awesome car. They all have minor issues I guess. I am taking her tomorrow to Maserati South Africa who might be interested in purchasing the car. If they offer what I have in my head I might just part ways with it.
 

Shaheenk

Junior Member
Messages
48
I doubt it , Maserati SA did not even know about the car when I took it to them for a valuation.

I am so in two minds over selling this car. I might regret it like I did with my integrale.

In any case, I have some new pics of the interior , I was too shy before to put them up as it was really shoddy. Will add to the other post.
 

Shaheenk

Junior Member
Messages
48
So some further updates on this epic epic build project.

Everyone seen the interior pics and I was ok with the work done , but a few things still bugged the **** out of me . I am or I consider myself to be an audiophile ,I have always had good aftermarket systems in my cars. Not the Doof Doof type stuff , but proper high end equipment.

With the summer approaching in South Africa I decided that the Air Con needed to work , it was not even a maybe so decided to take it into the air con guys to have a look see, i was expecting a massive bill of parts which needed to be changed and an invoice the size of my arm. To my surprise it needed to be changed from the old gas to the new gas and a new drier was needed, everything else they said was in good condition.

180GBP later and I had cold air, happiness, well for 10mins until it shut down the cold again and went back to normal. I took it back to them after a few days and they said the compressor was not getting power. I decided that this cannot be too difficult to track down and took the car away.

A few hours later, after much swearing I figured out the relay near the firewall for the compressor had burnt out, then traced back another relay which was giving the compressor about 5V instead of the 12 it needed. Swapped relays, fixed some very loose connections, and insulated all bare wires.....We have cold air again.

While doing this I was at my workshop which I share with an audio fitment place , told them, the speakers in this car sound ****, lets pull them out and put something better in, maybe an amplifier too.....shock and horror, the rear speakers were no more, the surround had totally disintegrated. There was an amplifier as well but some really old JVC unit. Instead of just replacing the speakers with another make I decided it needed a bit more.....so we fitted a set of MB Quart 6in midbass drivers on each side and a set of splits in the front that we had laying around....MB Quart as well.

2 US amp units and a few tweeks later and we have a good sounding system.....never one to have something notperiod correct, so out went the Kenwood MP3 player / silver piece of ****. In its place a period correct Alpine tape unit with CD shuttle.

Anyways , I also ordered a new set of engine mounts off the Bay , mine are a bit tired.

Onto the pics

rear speakers.jpg

Alpine headunit.jpg

rear quarters.jpg

rear quarters.jpg
 

Shaheenk

Junior Member
Messages
48
SO , hello everyone , Where are we with this project you ask.

I have a buyer , but due to issues he has been delaying me since January. Since then nothing much has been done on the car. It has been washed , waxed and kept parked away. Occasionally I drive it around and have a bit of fun. I still have an issue with hesitation @ 4000rpm and noticed the oil pressure drops as you go up the rev range. Pulled the sump off to find some fine grit lodged to the sump and covering the oil pump screen. Cleaned these off and will put it all back together.

The infamous Maserati Electrics have started up , first with the radio turning off when the lights were turned on , now this has developed into the car turning itself off completely , I suspect the main relay and connections around the fusebox as a wiggle down there sorts it out again .

Fusebox is out , I checked the wiring using a diagram/document which traces each pin to a corresponding range of pins. only one does not seem to be happy.

I retouched up all the solders to ensure no cracks or dry joints. Will put it back and see if this does not solve the issue.
 

ZAM400209

Member
Messages
585
that's very unfortunate with the electrics, Shaheenk

it might just be worth a 'fix' if you are selling the car, but longer term it might be worth swapping the fusebox as a starting point.

Can I ask if those front speaker mounts were original, or where you got them from?; I've never seen HF and LF/mid drivers mounted that low in one of these cars before; and it looks like a proper moulding. Interesting...
 

Shaheenk

Junior Member
Messages
48
Yeah , David Askew said he might have a replacement box coming in soon , if I need to will purchase it and hand it over to the new owner.

The Speaker mounts I custom built , I cant stand a medicore system in my cars so we had some speakers laying about and decided to fit them in. They dont sound too bad TBH , but I lack a lot of low end as the rears are only 6in.
 

Shaheenk

Junior Member
Messages
48
I should update this , Fusebox was a loose connection on the main power feed, took about 10 mins and all working now, oil pressure switch has been replaced , gauge now works as it should . hesitation was caused by the previous owner fitting an aftermarket "chip" on the ECU , timing was out, this was sent to the dyno and all has been sorted. I also replaced the cover on the drivers seat which covers the mechanism , so it looks clean and complete and replaced the switch on the seat so now the seat back moved back and forth.