Blind, foolish impulse purchase of a 4200.

[davy83]

I had an S2 and then a Chimeara (4.5 HO) before the 3200 and i have never looked back. My Chimeara always wanted to kill me whereas the 3200 is a joy to drive and i have taken it over to Europe twice now and ejoyed the trips both times. Welcome ot the forum and looks like a great buy, dont worry about the doom and gloom once you fix the niggly problems and have driven it a bit that will wear off pretty quickly!!

 

[jluis]

Well done.
At that price you can’t go wrong even if it needs some work
The 4200 is relatively solid and if you are good with a spaner you will get loads of free consulting on this site

 

[breezer]

Not too bad, the handbrake is not an easy change but is DIYable, I did mine on the 4200 in 2014. Set aside a day, get the car at a good height and PROPERLY supported (unless you have access to a ramp/lift), because you have to work right under the car with the rear wheels and disks off. If you can, get the shoes reliined at the same time or get a new set, they are not too expensive if you go to people like Superformance. (I have a set you could get reconditioned from an 03 and send me yours back afterwards).

Wheels and disks off, free the ends of the cable and work in and forward releasing the clips and noting the routing, the fun comes over the gearbox as space is very tight! If like me you have huge hands it is a real bu99er! there are several clips to work out over the box but when free replacing is simply the reverse. If you are not putting new disks (actually even if you are) run the reconditioned shoes around the inside of the disks by hand a few times and then file off the shiny bits and repeat until you are getting full contact as this will give a massively more efficient handbrake. New forum disks should be available if you need them, PM Matt (Conearo) to find out.

Settle the shoes in the drums well on rebuilding and adjust the daisy wheels and only then tighten the cable fully. It is a very satisfying job and worth doing properly IMHO...

Oh yes an Italian tune up will sort the cold cats

Thank you, that’s really helpful - on this occasion I’ve cheated though and paid to get it done, as it’s still at the MOT garage and I won’t have opportunity to do any work on it for another 2 weeks.

I still haven’t seen my new amore!

Do you know why the handbrake needs constant adjustment like that?

 

[hunta]

Do you know why the handbrake needs constant adjustment like that?

Because it's made of cheese, essentially.
Just leave it in gear when parked up, don't touch the handbrake and then it won't need adjusting come MOT time.

 

[2b1ask1]

It is a really poor design, although there are back plates, the ‘drum’ part of the disk is secondary and anything but watertight; they rust badly, the bonding used on the OEM shoes is hopeless, ditto the water also migrates up the cable and that also rusts inside out, the pVC coating on the cable is fragile and stone chips etc. also speeds the decay.

As far as adjustment goes, a new cable will likely need a follow up adjustment after a period of settling.

The process I described for applying the handbrake whilst driving is genuinely in the Maserati Workshop Service Manual.

 

[TimR]

Oh yes, when done, the correct action is to drive along in 1st about 15-20mph and apply the handbrake for 20 seconds, maintaining the speed, repeat after cooling 2 or 3 times. Repeat every few months as part of your routine.

Nice idea Newton but then what; remove shoes and scrub off the glazing ?
Its bit of a quandary innit.
Leaving the handbrake applied is a no no. Not using it will lead to it's seizing..the cable, the mechanism..the drum bell growing ever more corroded. All of the above ?
It needs a strategy though for sure. ..
Its stopped raining- might try it out...

 

[2b1ask1]

Nice idea Newton but then what; remove shoes and scrub off the glazing ?
Its bit of a quandary innit.
Leaving the handbrake applied is a no no. Not using it will lead to it's seizing..the cable, the mechanism..the drum bell growing ever more corroded. All of the above ?
It needs a strategy though for sure. ..
Its stopped raining- might try it out...

A bit of glazing is not a problem on a next to useless handbrake but keeping the corrosion to surface rust is by far a better outlook.

 

[montravia]

Not sure whether it is a similar system to the GT, in that it's automatic but having experienced early parking brake seizure symptoms (caught before significant) i always ensure that if parked at home or overnight somewhere the handbrake is disengaged. If parked in town for a short period i leave the parking brake on. Seems to exercise the mechanism enough yet avoids seizure

 

[Ebenezer]

My handbrake on my QP seized and disintergrated requiring its first low loader trip to Emblem. "Park off" always engaged before turning off the ignition.
Eb

 

[CatmanV2]

Not sure whether it is a similar system to the GT, in that it's automatic but having experienced early parking brake seizure symptoms (caught before significant) i always ensure that if parked at home or overnight somewhere the handbrake is disengaged. If parked in town for a short period i leave the parking brake on. Seems to exercise the mechanism enough yet avoids seizure

Different system, but this is pretty much what I did on the GT. The 4200 is manual

C

 

[Lozzer]

There's nothing like a blind , foolish, impulse purchase as far as Maserati's are concerned, gonads r us! , well done I'm sure you will have a blast with it.

 

[philw696]

To be fair nearly every Car I have bought has been done this way.
So much Fun.
My latest the Boxster S bought of EBay and straight on the Ferry and drove straight back to France.
Still driving it

 

[breezer]

First update: the handbrake cables have arrived and are being fitted tomorrow ready for an MOT retest.

The big news is that I actually got to see it in the flesh! It has a few minor issues (new to replace the bonnet badge, need to machine polish the headlights and paintwork) and the interior needs some love.

But I think for the money it looks great!

I’ll get some photos up and hopefully make this sort of a project thread.

I’ve attached the requested Tuscan pic. I’m having a great time in it this weekend, but I did manage to leave the lights on and kill the battery. Which is fun when EVERY SINGLE ACCESS METHOD is electrically actuated. No real door handles, no real boot handle.

Thankfully my wife is very understanding (and flexible) so she was able to get in using the secret method! That’ll teach me to be more careful in future though.

 

[alfatwo]

You really should have bought a old school 3200GT instead when you were able..
It would have frightened you to death!

The way things are going it isn't looking good for old Masers!

Dave

 

[breezer]

You really should have bought a old school 3200GT instead when you were able..
It would have frightened you to death!

The way things are going it isn't looking good for old Masers!

Dave

Yea, I’ve driven a fair few miles in an AC and it was epic fun. However, it always had at least one warning light on. The fear wouldn’t come from the driving itself; more the maintenance!

What’s happening with the market? It seems really weak now. My friend has been trying to sell his immaculate GS for nearly 2 years, and is told there’s very little demand for the brand at present. Is it because the new ones aren’t popular? Or that people believe that the old ones are no good?

 

[breezer]

Oh, I meant to ask - one of the little jobs is to replace some badges: namely the bonnet badge and the ashtray badge.

Are these eBay badges as dodgy as they seem at this price? Link

And if not, are the genuine ones @£55 durable enough to last for 5x the length of a replica @£10? I.e if the replica lasts 2 years and the genuine 5 years, I’d rather keep buying the replica to be honest, given that it’s not a mechanical or high stress part (which is always prefer to be genuine for obvious reasons!).

Thanks!

 

[Nibby]

Oh, I meant to ask - one of the little jobs is to replace some badges: namely the bonnet badge and the ashtray badge.

Are these eBay badges as dodgy as they seem at this price? Link

And if not, are the genuine ones @£55 durable enough to last for 5x the length of a replica @£10? I.e if the replica lasts 2 years and the genuine 5 years, I’d rather keep buying the replica to be honest, given that it’s not a mechanical or high stress part (which is always prefer to be genuine for obvious reasons!).

Thanks!

I bought a cheapo bonnet/bumper badge for £9 the other week, it was slightly bigger than my original one, not tried putting it on yet but by all accounts that's not even straightforward, what might be a problem is if I put the cheapo one on my car and it starts to look **** in a couple of years and I replaced it with a original one it might leave a stain where the cheapo one had been.
Just a thought.

 

[midlifecrisis]

Welcome breezer and good luck with the restoration. I think you'll enjoy the experience. I'd concentrate on getting it mechanically sound before changing the badges etc. We just had a group buy of ashtray badges, the plastic ones break but we had silver ones made up for less than £30. They're more durable and look great. I'm just moving away from 4200's but still have a wealth of experience

 

[breezer]

Welcome breezer and good luck with the restoration. I think you'll enjoy the experience. I'd concentrate on getting it mechanically sound before changing the badges etc. We just had a group buy of ashtray badges, the plastic ones break but we had silver ones made up for less than £30. They're more durable and look great. I'm just moving away from 4200's but still have a wealth of experience

Thanks! Mechanically it seems okay, I just wanted to treat a couple of the small, easy wins now.

In your role as moderator - is it better if I start a new project thread or would you prefer to move this to an appropriate sub forum? Different forums have different etiquette and I don’t want to be rude!

I bought a cheapo bonnet/bumper badge for £9 the other week, it was slightly bigger than my original one, not tried putting it on yet but by all accounts that's not even straightforward, what might be a problem is if I put the cheapo one on my car and it starts to look **** in a couple of years and I replaced it with a original one it might leave a stain where the cheapo one had been.
Just a thought.

That’s a good point. I’ll have a think and see if anyone has any longer term experience with the cheap one.

 

[midlifecrisis]

In your role as moderator - is it better if I start a new project thread or would you prefer to move this to an appropriate sub forum? Different forums have different etiquette and I don’t want to be rude!

You're new here! The only thing I've done 'in the roe as moderator' is correct a Thread title as the Grammar Nazis on here were a having a fit at someone's bad English (should of/have!) In this forum we just behave ourselves? There's no etiquette, especially when we go drinking...

Feel feel to start a new thread like FIFTY and many more have for their 3200/4200 renovations.