The Italian mistress (Gransport Spyder 2006)

[Swedish Paul]

Thanks for the suggestions - strongly appreciated!

Given that the engine is apart, it seems advisable (as mentioned above) to replace the piston rings.
Now it seems these cost the equivalent of 150 GBP per set per cylinder, which seems absolutely ridiculous.
Is there any other source that could bring that to an acceptable level?
An alternative would be to skip replacing them, but I don't think that's the right choice, taking the big picture into account. (although they do apparently look absolutely fine...)

Are they not the same as the 430. Same block and Ferrari prices are usually cheaper.

 

[Zep]

Different bore size I believe.

 

[gemini]

Different bore size I believe.

No, bore is the same @ 92mm, stroke is different though (81 vs 80).

 

[Church of Noise]

Indeed, 4200, F430, F599, Enzo and MC12 even use the same rings apparently.
Same/similar prices as well

 

[Oneball]

If they’re ok why change them?

Have you priced a piston complete? Wouldn’t surprise me if a set comes in at less than £150 each.

 

[DLax69]

if it's me...and that likely means I'm doing it myself, old-school and swearing like the sailor I am...and the rings aren't split; and the pistons are good; and the cylinder walls/sleeves are good...I'm putting it back together as-is, and doing a leakdown test before the engine goes back in the car. Not sure what your shop's tolerance is for an approach like that, or what they would charge if they had to tear the cylinder heads back off. Low pressure less potentially damaging to rings than overpressure situation...

 

[Church of Noise]

Just like when renovating a house, at a certain point the taking apart stops and things start going back together.

Here's a picture of the cylinder heads looking spiffy and brand new

 

[Church of Noise]

Part x Meccano Italiano

As I had some professional appointments in the area, I dropped by at the engine builder's shop with Adnan.

The engine is still apart, yet fully cleaned.
Interestingly, a lot of the parts look brand new, e.g. the machining on the side and top of the pistons. On the other hand, the bearings look even worse after cleaning.
All in all, as mentioned before, a couple of 10s of kms would have probably caused a situation that was a lot worse than where we are today.

The search for piston rings hasn't brought a lot of new insights so far, there's one more theory we're going to explore and if that doesn't work, a new set from the factory it will be... Also the top axial bearings for the crank don't seem easy to come by, but Adnan has a plan for that as well.

Given that the variators were fine before, well leave those for now, but the copper shells (probably not the right word) will be replaced.

Oh, and the thread on the oil cooler is damaged as the connection was practically forged on it, so there will be a creative solution to fix that properly as well

 

[philw696]

Lovely pictures and as a technician for over 40 years my favourite work getting into something special balls deep.
Already looking forward to the next installment.

 

[j s pollo]

I was doing a little shopping in China town and i came across these advertised Maserati piston assemblies pt no 318342 318341 6off £440 dont know anything about them most likely made of wood might put a smile on your faces .

393.64￡ |6PCS Piston Engine Piston Assembly for Maserati 3.0T 318342 318341|Valves & Parts| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[azapa]

I've just caught up on this thread, credit to you pushing through the grief and getting on with it. The builders seem to be doing a great job too. I'd be tempted not to skimp now while the engine is open. Do the very best job you can afford. Nothing worse than "pushing on" with a lovely motor, with a niggling doubt about some critical part.

I'm assuming the value of these cars will creep up when everything is electric, and these threads on the interweb start to become part of the cars history. In that sense, money well spent now.

Best of luck

 

[Church of Noise]

While the last investigations regarding the cylinder rings are ongoing, a set of non-mechanical items arrived at our friends A.S. Motorsport.
These were ordered long before the mechanical woes reared their heads, but I didn't see the point in stopping them.

Together with the carbon door trims, these'll finish off the interior. Now there's just the grey plate that holds the start button and some others in the middle of the dash...

 

[Church of Noise]

Most minor of updates: it seems that all parts for the engine have arrived, the main bottlenecks being the axial bearings for the crank.
Interestingly, now all of a sudden new flywheels have become unavailable (the original has a bit of a blue colour, most probably linked to the high heat that also melted the sensor next to it). I swear this car is testing me... (and summer is arriving)

 

[urquattrogus]

Most minor of updates: it seems that all parts for the engine have arrived, the main bottlenecks being the axial bearings for the crank.
Interestingly, now all of a sudden new flywheels have become unavailable (the original has a bit of a blue colour, most probably linked to the high heat that also melted the sensor next to it). I swear this car is testing me... (and summer is arriving)

Keep your head up Worth it in the end I'm sure!

 

[Harry]

Have you given her an Italian name yet? Carlotta would be apt. I knew a girl called that and she was extremely high maintenance, flew into a rage at anything and was extremely jealous of anyone who spoke to her husband. In fact, she used to time how long he was out for on his own. She even threw her first engagement ring out of the car window on the motorway!

 

[lozcb]

What's tough is adding another 1200 GBP (on its own not an entirely insurmountable number) on a total bill that's already very substantial (and intensely more so than was estimated when buying the car) for something that should cost a lot less (the price of the rings has no bearing on their complexity or materials used), while not even knowing if they require replacing in the first place. The bearings, those are very clear cut. These, who knows?
So indeed, what you are saying @DLax69 .

On the other hand, looking at the big picture, not changing them (and taking into account that in the total bill, they do not represent a significant percentage whatsoever) while the engine is out and open seems very unprudent. Imagine doing all this effort and then something goes wrong with these.

Apologies for venting, I've not been sufficiently at the receiving end of what this car has to offer (I'd say around 20 miles in total), while being very much at the receiving end of the sacrifices it demands in return.

I found the best value was to buy new pistons which come with a full set of rings

 

[Church of Noise]

Have you given her an Italian name yet? Carlotta would be apt. I knew a girl called that and she was extremely high maintenance, flew into a rage at anything and was extremely jealous of anyone who spoke to her husband. In fact, she used to time how long he was out for on his own. She even threw her first engagement ring out of the car window on the motorway!

'fraid that name reminds me a tad of this forgotten piece of Russian car history: the Lada Samara Carlotta

The girl you knew and my car (not the red thing above) do seem to share a certain share of character

I found the best value was to buy new pistons which come with a full set of rings

Latest I've heard was that AS Motorsport and/or Hurricane Motorsport (who's rebuilding the engine) had found the right rings, they made it a matter of principle to find the right ones.
I'll ask for some more info when I'm there in about 2 weeks

 

[DLax69]

Have you given her an Italian name yet? Carlotta would be apt. I knew a girl called that and she was extremely high maintenance, flew into a rage at anything and was extremely jealous of anyone who spoke to her husband. In fact, she used to time how long he was out for on his own. She even threw her first engagement ring out of the car window on the motorway!

...is it possible she used any aliases? Sounds familiar...

 

[RoaryRati]

Have you given her an Italian name yet? Carlotta would be apt. I knew a girl called that and she was extremely high maintenance, flew into a rage at anything and was extremely jealous of anyone who spoke to her husband. In fact, she used to time how long he was out for on his own. She even threw her first engagement ring out of the car window on the motorway!

My neighbour has a old awkward-to-work-on mini called Derek - he also had an awkward colleague called Derek.........

 

[Alan Surrey]

Have you given her an Italian name yet? Carlotta would be apt. I knew a girl called that and she was extremely high maintenance, flew into a rage at anything and was extremely jealous of anyone who spoke to her husband. In fact, she used to time how long he was out for on his own. She even threw her first engagement ring out of the car window on the motorway!

And she got another?
Lose the girl, keep the car.