Biturbo project...

[F456M]

Hi guys. Been a few years since I was here. I bought a 1987 Biturbo Spyder i 2,5 USA version in USA about a year ago. Now it arrived Oslo after a five houre trip on a trailer to the shipping port in NJ, then over the Atlantic in a container and finally arriving Norway for its second life (if I manage to bring it to life again that is!!). Will make this thread to upload some of the progress underways. Hope it is OK I will 110% for sure need quite a few parts during the restoration. I am not going to make it fully original, but more a fun little cruiser for good weather days... And of course eurofy it and get rid of the ugly US spec parts. I have had a few Biturbos before, but never a Spyder.
Any tips to making it run better and faster is very welcome! It will be a project on a budget for the first period. If it is working well and I get it through a technical inspection, I might restore it to its former glory.

All the best. Erik

 

[F456M]

Have started the work now... USA-headlights out! They make the car look strange in my opinion. If anyone needs them, I can sell them for little money! The lenses are almost like new. Sharp light! Jacked the car up and took off the wheels. Brakes stuck, so they are going off to be rebuild. Vacuumed the car and a squirrel (probably) has had lunch inside the heater fan for weeks!! Lots of nuts from the New Hampshire forests inside it! But I managed to get it to spin around. But the nuts made the fan spin with vibrations! Not much is electric working. Working my way to get familiarized with my new baby now. Hoping it will be ready for spring... The body is surprisingly good. Just need a full detail job and some paint on the wheel arches a few places. If I get it to work, I might make a full respray later. But it has original paint from my understanding. No traces of repaint! My father had to use my Jag to tow it into the garage as the brakes are rusted and makes the wheels turn very slowly... Two cabriolets after each other... Cleaned and lubricated the boot release wire. It was very hard and at the limit of self destruction. Lubricated the door hinges. Took off the window tint film. Glue is still on the windows and it really stinks! Any tip how to take it off is greatly apprechiated. The trucker in America managed to damage the front spoiler/bumper totally while winching the car up on top of the truck bed! So got a used bumper in Sweden that I have been fixing up and painting. Soon ready to go on. Took off the black rubber inserts and painted them satin black. Looks 10x better in a couple of minutes. Painted the mirrors too. Sanded down some surface rust on the right front fender and painted it with a can and faded out the base and clear coat. Soon ready for sanding the transition and polishing it when the paint is fully hardened. Small easy improvements that make a big difference in the appearance of the car. I plan to make it look ok/good first so it is more attractive to look at and work on, even if the technical side of it is more important. Here are some pictures.... Working just a few houres every week. Have too much other work to do. But it is nice to see a forgotten Zagato Spyder come back to life and I plan to keep this car as it was a car I REALLY wanted as a teenager!


-what are those two relays for under the dash?

 

[F456M]

This is the only car I have ever seen with a leather interior and fabric seats with leather on the back side! In 20+ years of Maserati enthusiasm, I have never ever seen one interior like this. The seats will be replaced with full leather seats soon.

 

[alpa]

What is this place ? So many "old" cars ! Do people in Norway like old cars ? I hope you won't be blamed for working on the car in a public area.
I'm afraid you'll have to work on many issues. The best is to do the less possible to get the car back on the road. Then use it and collect troubles. Don't try to do everything at once, you'll discover more troubles later anyway so you'll have to dismount again. Just make your wish list of repairs and wait for new ones.
I was told that biturbo Spyders had a tinned body: all the bottom + low parts of the doors. This came when I discovered (after an accident) that my 222E was tinned. So be careful when (if) removing the painting, leave the tin in place. The tin layer may sometimes crack and look like broken body panels while it's just a surface crack.
Spyders are heavier than 200 models. Don't be surprised by a lower performance.
I guess the engine is equipped with all that emission control **** with an air pump and air injectors. Remove it: useless. I see it's an injection, this is good.
Clean the tank, change oil twice, change ALL the water and so on: usual stuff.
Good luck

 

[F456M]

What is this place ? So many "old" cars ! Do people in Norway like old cars ? I hope you won't be blamed for working on the car in a public area.
I'm afraid you'll have to work on many issues. The best is to do the less possible to get the car back on the road. Then use it and collect troubles. Don't try to do everything at once, you'll discover more troubles later anyway so you'll have to dismount again. Just make your wish list of repairs and wait for new ones.
I was told that biturbo Spyders had a tinned body: all the bottom + low parts of the doors. This came when I discovered (after an accident) that my 222E was tinned. So be careful when (if) removing the painting, leave the tin in place. The tin layer may sometimes crack and look like broken body panels while it's just a surface crack.
Spyders are heavier than 200 models. Don't be surprised by a lower performance.
I guess the engine is equipped with all that emission control **** with an air pump and air injectors. Remove it: useless. I see it's an injection, this is good.
Clean the tank, change oil twice, change ALL the water and so on: usual stuff.
Good luck

Yes, I agree.

Thanks for the info! It makes sence as the real way of making seems between two body panels is with tin instead of putty. The Zagato factory in Milan that did the bodies for these cars started with a coupe shell and made a cabrio out of it. Tes classic cars are popular in Norway.

For now, I am just getting "familiarized" with this project, just to see what kind of work is needed. It has not much rust actually, so a very good starting point. I am waiting for a garage to do the real service/upgrade work, but the brake calipers were rusted so the car was impossible to push. Very unpractical when working on a car in a workshop when it can't even run. so while waiting, I had to lift the car up and fix the brakes. Any idea who have calipers for these cars? What should I expect to pay for new ones? I got a price for rebuilding them here in Norway for about 1300 euro fir all four. Isn't that a bit stiff? The garage is full of old classic cars. Excellent temp and it is dry and good for storing classics! I hope to have it on the road and get it through a mandatory registration inspection and get Norwegian plates before summer. Then I might repaint it and do some changes. I am actually thinking about changing color to Ferrari Celeste metallic which is a rare shade of light green / blue which I saw on a 330 GTC here. That color is magnificent. The Biturbo Spyder is a small little car, and it looks even smaller in a dark color like it is today with "Dark Aquamarine met.". I have driven two Biturbo Spyders which were both silver blue (Azzorro met.) ? Then you see more of the lines of the car and the black bumper rubber/plastic inserts are more visible. I have two dark blue cars with light interiors (which are beautiful too), but it would be interesting to have a green car that is still light and fresh. Green is coming back as a popular color now. I attach a picture of the 330. Very difficult to capture the color. I had a friend who owned a mint green (Verde Opale Mica) Ghibli II, and that was cool, but a bit too tacky for my taste. Let me know what you think about changing the color. I know it is alot more work than just a normal repaint. But I am leaning towards keeping this car as it was one of my favourites as a teenager. The Biturbo Spyder is also alot more "custom" or should I say coachbuild than the coupe and four door Biturbos. I ran a battery cable to the boot to relocate the battery and got to see the rear of the interior etc. It reminds more of a boat than a factory buiød car, and for me that is perfect. The simplicity and ability to fit custom equipment is precent as there is not much fitted from the factory... I owned several Biturbos and did some work to them. So this is just fun now!
Have a great day everyone. I really apprechiate this community. Please post some Biturbo Spyder pics if you have. I luke these cars. Old enough to be real simple, but modern enough to be comfortable and "modern" looking.

 

[alpa]

1300 euros to rebuild 4 calipers ? What are salaries in Norway ? In France it's a price of a not running biturbo !
Rebuild kits are available in many places for the 4 bolts brakes. MIE and even rockauto some time ago. Then open, clean, sand paper (400-1000), change seals, reassemble, done. Look in the US they own most of the carb 4 bolts versions.
I don't know what's the brake sender in the 4 bolts but if it's the same 19mm diam as in the 5 bolts then buy a BMW 19mm sender and reuse seals (15-20 euros).

 

[F456M]

1300 euros to rebuild 4 calipers ? What are salaries in Norway ? In France it's a price of a not running biturbo !
Rebuild kits are available in many places for the 4 bolts brakes. MIE and even rockauto some time ago. Then open, clean, sand paper (400-1000), change seals, reassemble, done. Look in the US they own most of the carb 4 bolts versions.
I don't know what's the brake sender in the 4 bolts but if it's the same 19mm diam as in the 5 bolts then buy a BMW 19mm sender and reuse seals (15-20 euros).

Thanks a lot. I took out the calipers and took out the brake pads. Then pushed the pistons in and install back on car. After that it rolls fine, brakes and roll more. I braked really hard today so the front wheels locked (no ABS) and then again they are stuck. Might help to get them warm and see it they "loosen". It has happened several times on my Chevrolet truck. Or just rebuild.

 

[F456M]

Ok now a little update.

I found out that both cams were to teeth off and decided to change to a new timin belt, new tentioner bearing and get all right. First start up was today. Pulled the car out of the garage and started working. Engine backfires in both exhaust and inlet manifold... Bad connection on one coil wire. Cleaned and sanded the coil wire. Spark on all wires to the spark plugs. Distributor out of position. Struggled with this and got my Biturbo tuning buddy put it right. Engine starts and goes better. But injectors need to be cleaned. This is next step.

 

[F456M]

Some more...