1989 Maserati 222

[georgeb]

Oct 17, 2014 16:32:37 GMT Clement said:

Oh and the 222 passed its MOT today, which enabled me to drop off the reg file to finally have my name on the V5! I had to drive about 350km to pass it (long story) but that's done. Oh and I found work also, starting Monday morning in a company that builds tailor-made trucks I've known worse times!

Good news and good news!

[nmretro]

Is that Lada a wagon? Oh the temptation. I'd like a a 124 or 131 Wagon, we never got the Ladas over here.

Looks like the Maser is sorted but did you ever see if the Brembos from an Alfa 75 would fit? They look very similar.

[Clement]

Indeed it's a wagon, and I absolutely love wagons! Next time I'm over there I'll take better pics, it's the sweetest thing this car

As for the brakes, I've never seen Alfa 75 items so I can't tell you, I'll look them up and see. The limiting factor doesn't seem to reside in the caliper end, but maybe more in the solid brake rotors which heat up quickly. It seems no one has found a bolt-on solution so far, Alfa 75 is yet another possibility then!

[luckyseven]

I always read but seldom post here... mostly cos I've nothing intelligent to say, lol, and endless pages of "great car" seems a little lame ... but I just had to say thanks for the pics of that Series 1 RX-7, dude. Such a rare car nowadays, and great to see one being restored to such pristine condition! Great shop, that, what a range of stuff!

[totti]

I like the LADA!

[Siert]

Wow, quite special to find something like that in France! Even most of the French hobby cars seem to be kept behind locked doors. Visiting France I've hardly ever seen anything older than a 205 or 309, and strangely enough some Rovers from the 90's which would be extinct anywhere else.

[Clement]

It really didn't like France at all, at least 2010's France! A small French garage owner building racecars in his free times belongs more to the 1970's... unfortunately. When he told me he'd made everything himself I had very, very naughty ideas about buying a scrap Biturbo to turn into a wide-arched track monster I'd take a 4-door shell for the longer wheelbase, stitch weld all the joints, make an entire bolt-on fiberglass front end, like that but as a Biturbo:



Oh and I'd dry-sump the engine, Maserati wanted to do it but didn't have the financial means to develop it. I wonder if it's that hard to do?

luckyseven> I'm aware this thread might be a tad boring modification-wise (and my grasp of the English language somewhat lackluster). I'm slowly building a collection of webpages talking about Megasquirt on these engines, I really want to use the existing hardware at its best and I feel that MS in one form or another is the way to go! I'd need two wideband 02 sensors, an accurate boost gauge, and soon enough bigger injectors but that's not a huge problem. I'd love to bypass the existing ignition system (it still uses a dizzy, and replacing the cap and rotor arm costs north of €200!), but the 90° V angle means it's an odd-fire engine and basically that's a mess. It took me 2hrs just to understand what odd-fire means

Oh and I'm looking into installing BOVs on the intake piping, I'd like to put my TIG to good use. The question is, recirculating or not? I don't really care about the noise, the car is already loud enough, visually at least!

[luckyseven]

Oct 18, 2014 11:47:10 GMT Clement said:

luckyseven> I'm aware this thread might be a tad boring modification-wise (and my grasp of the English language somewhat lackluster).

No, no, not what I meant at all. I meant I didn't want to spam your thread up just for the sake of saying "love your car" every tenth post! Which I do, lol

[Clement]

Haha I wouldn't say you did of course, it's just that I can't help comparing my hassling for an entire weekend with a cambelt while some here build a tubular chassis from scratch or pull off crazy engine swaps. I can understand it gets a tad long on the tooth after 10 pages of the same thing!

I do hope to start modifying stuff when the minimum maintenance is done though!

[nmretro]

Oct 18, 2014 11:47:10 GMT Clement said:

Oh and I'd dry-sump the engine, Maserati wanted to do it but didn't have the financial means to develop it. I wonder if it's that hard to do?
!

Not that hard. You have to run the pumps from some drive, there is quite a lot of plumbing and a tank..
You'd have to make the sump but then you did want to put the TIG to use and a stock sump could be sectioned, it's be done on Alfas. But is it really nessecary? With the engine being longitudinal I would think if you ran an accumulator like an Accusump that would give you plenty of protection.
I'd love to see a Maser track toy

[Clement]

The problem with the Biturbo engine is that it has a split crankcase, meaning if you get anything wrong with the cutting or welding on the lower block, the whole engine block is toast (both halves are machined together). And my TIG can't do AC anyways, that's a good excuse isn't it

Btw I just noticed my previous post started with "it didn't like France at all", it should read "it didn't feel like France at all". Sorry about that!

Today's update will be a tad long, but bear with me

I'd been told there's a place on the intake plenum that you can drill and tap to take an air line to run dump valves, so I went looking for it.



Turns out it's already drilled and tapped, just plugged with a screw (not the opposite, mind). So I did the right thing, which is ordering two HKS membrane-type dump valves. They should be here early next week!
I've also returned the new engine temp sensor which doesn't want to screw in place, it looks like it isn't tapped deep enough. Bosch replacement should be here Monday afternoon!


Also, I needed to make the right headlight aim lower, it was really just lighting up trees. The fun thing is you need to take the battery out to do that, thanks Maserati.

I found something interesting... Left side:



Right side:


Those wires have been torn apart by the edge of the battery, but the weirdest thing is that everything still works up front. Well, except for one of the running lights... on the side where everything is in order. I have no answer for that.

I also wanted to find why the HVAC system had stopped working, and went looking for bad connections on the unit itself, and then on the fusebox:



I sanded the fuses' ends and put some copper slip on them, but nothing decided to work again unfortunately.


Found this ECU in the passenger footwell (there's another one on the other side)



Here too there are relays, which were given the same treatment, with the same result. I found that one of those (they are Italamec 218) suffers from the typical illness they have : the connections get oxided, heat up, and they basically start melting. Hopefully my intervention will postpone that happening, I'm looking for Italamec 609s which are a direct fit and use a better type of fuse but can't find them anywhere at the moment. One or two are on eBay, and I need at least ten!

Under the dash was a remote central locking unit, fitted well enough by a previous owner:


Right now, all it does is light up the indicators. It does lock the doors, but they open again instantly because of something in the passenger door. I'll look into it soon It'll be pretty cool to have it, the best would be to also be able to open the boot from outside.

This update is very much lacking any real progress until now, but look!




New tyres, Vredestein Quatrac 3 in 195/60 14" instead of the previous dried-up 195/55 Yokohamas. They cost me €340 fitted, brand new which isn't too bad I guess. They're all-seasons, because I need them to get me to work whatever the weather, this does mean a compromise in dry grip especially but I don't drive fast anyways.
The taller profile and softer type made the ride a lot comfier, and the added bonus is thus:



That takes the engine sump 1cm further away from the ground which is a good thing in my book. Low cars are undoubtedly cool but I've heard the very recent and very real story of someone actually hitting a small obstacle in such a way the engine block cracked, at just a few kph.
It does fill the arches better as well, I like the balloonny tyre era

And to finish on a happy note, a major upgrade!







I'd driven the car almost 3000km with a wonky steering wheel, and now the car feels absolutely transformed!! Amazing what a spherical bearing can do, I can't believe Maserati didn't do that back in the day. The part is made by that Biturbo owner near Lyon, PM if someone wants details! He found me new wheel bearings for cheap enough too (160€ all around), I'll try and install them soon.
He sold me a couple of steel intake tubes, they originally are chromed but these were rusty so he painted them black. That means I won't feel bad when hacking them to install the dump valves!

PS: BMW E21 320i clutch m/c





the only difference is that the exit of the fluid is at a different angle, but a banjo bolt would take care of that. €55 for a brand new ATE item, that sounds a lot better than the 180 to 300 asked for the Biturbo one!

[Woofwoof]

Really interesting thread, enjoyed every page. Always liked the idea of owning a Biturbo but I'm simply not as brave as you. Keep up the good work.

[vulgalour]

Hadn't realised quite so much of the Biturbo could be sorted by raiding other company's parts bins, it's reassuring to know you can so these things can be kept mobile.

[Clement]

Thanks woofWoof, that's too kind! They really aren't that much of a challenge, all things considered. Having leccy windows and mirrors and air conditioning is not luxury anymore, and all 80's car suffer from dodgy electrics and a bit of rust. I don't think my 222 is any worse than a similarly-priced period E30, although there are some terrible cars to be found too.

Vulg'> They had little money back in the day, and spent it all developing the engine so the rest had to be sourced off the shelf I guess. The result is that the engine is totally reliable of you change the oil often enough, and do the cam-belt when required, and that almost all the ancillaries can be found cheaply

As you can imagine the car is now far beyond the €1800 pricetag, what with the 480 euros registration fees, about 700 euros this week just in tyres and parts (bearings, steering support, dump valves), and it's not over yet. I think all in all it's still a far cry from crazy amounts given that I'm trying not just to repair but also to upgrade

[fer4l]

Nov 2, 2014 9:15:05 GMT Clement said:

Thanks woofWoof, that's too kind! They really aren't that much of a challenge, all things considered. Having leccy windows and mirrors and air conditioning is not luxury anymore, and all 80's car suffer from dodgy electrics and a bit of rust. I don't think my 222 is any worse than a similarly-priced period E30, although there are some terrible cars to be found too.

Vulg'> They had little money back in the day, and spent it all developing the engine so the rest had to be sourced off the shelf I guess. The result is that the engine is totally reliable of you change the oil often enough, and do the cam-belt when required, and that almost all the ancillaries can be found cheaply

As you can imagine the car is now far beyond the €1800 pricetag, what with the 480 euros registration fees, about 700 euros this week just in tyres and parts (bearings, steering support, dump valves), and it's not over yet. I think all in all it's still a far cry from crazy amounts given that I'm trying not just to repair but also to upgrade

I'd say that it's a stunning car at any price, and unbelievable value at €3k. Forge on!

[Siert]

Isn't that little round thing under all the disconnected wiring a headlamp adjuster motor? That would explain why your lights work normally, and also why that headlamp was shining up the trees. I guess a luxury car like this could have had such a feature in 1989?

[Clement]

Thanks fer4l, dump valve's an HKS though

Siert> That does sound spot on!! There is indeed a headlight adjustment thingy underneath the steering wheel, I'll look into it now I have a lead. Thanks for that!

[Clement]

Tried looking for that weird dump valve noise



Found that. Popped it back on, problem solved. Then I went for a drive on local B-roads, it feels like a proper car now! Still many things left to do but I'm starting to feel that I've taken this car back from its sorry state, I'm incredibly lucky things have turned out that well so far

[fer4l]

Nov 2, 2014 12:36:08 GMT Clement said:

Thanks fer4l, dump valve's an HKS though

Siert> That does sound spot on!! There is indeed a headlight adjustment thingy underneath the steering wheel, I'll look into it now I have a lead. Thanks for that!

Ah... HKS on then

[Clement]

I've received the valves, I'm yet to do anything with them though. I keep piling on the miles, it's getting quite expensive tbh. Worth it? Hell yes. Life's too short not to drive the thing!


Words can't express how much I love those. Best all-round car I can think of.


Gratuitous shot taken earlier today

(I know one of the sidelights doesn't work, it's not the bulb though :/ )