Inspection Report

[mjheathcote]

You could always go for the alternative look like I did.
My chrome was perfect but wanted the different look.
Used plastidip and should I change my mind, its actually protecting the chrome underneath.
To do it correctly, need to strip everything down, removing the mesh gives a good opportunity to spray this, not using plastidip it is too thick.
I also had a very good condition nicely chromed Trident to finish it off.
I think it looks great as it goes with the rest of the car, the dark blue colour, black wheels I currently have fitted, and non blingy classico headlights without the chrome shrouds.
Just a thought...

 

[FIFTY]

Thanks Mike

Phosphor Bronze in Alton, Hants just down the A31 from Farnham.

High end chrome platers but not cheap. £250 I would recon.

Cheers Matt. It's these boys who quoted 650+VAT with a 10 week lead time. Their quote suggests to me that they aren't interested in helping with my project so they gave me an over the odds price to get rid. I'm sure I'll get conformation as I get other quotes.

A new grille from Euro spares is only £300

 

[FIFTY]

Grille Problem has been shelved until the new year, a forumer has kindly offered to help straighten out some of the damage with an English Wheel.

I recently bought Craig Waterman's uprated track rod end solution which utilities truck tie rods with rose joints that are rated to 46kn, the threaded rod itself is also uprated and is almost twice as thick as the standard. More info here: http://www.sportsmaserati.com/showt...ranSport-Aftermarket-Rear-Tie-Rod-replacement Formula Dynamics offer a similar solution at a similar price however they charge extra for the dust covers... so it is not a similar price at all really.

I also decided to change the front track rod ends in case they were on their way out, I got these from Dick Lovett Swindon. I took the car down to Guildford Tyres where they fitted all 4 track rod ends and put the car on their Hunter rig for alignment. As I feared the front caster and camber is out and as has been discussed recently is a pig to adjust, they quoted 3-5 hours labour... luckily I had already seen Voicey's post on it so I was not that bothered when they said it... they had more cars booked in after so I have to go back another time probably in the New Year as I am done spending money on it this year. They got the rear set up perfectly, driving back the handling was much improved no rickety noises from the boot any more.



Now I have a lovely rattle coming from the near side front suspension when I drive over rough roads. It developed after the inspection which is typical I thought it was the track rod bush but it persisted, had a chat with the mechanics and after telling them what has been changed they reckon it is the front anti-roll bar drop link bush as it is quite rusty. I would have to agree with them as I was thinking about how rusted the anti roll bar is in parts when the car was on the ramp at Josh's. MOT due end of Jan I was going to get it done at Autofficina with the major service so they can fix it then.

Going back to do the camber, I will have to get that done in Feb... hopefully it does not take longer than 3 hours as 5 hours labour is a bit steep however it needs to be done as it is already chewing threw the outer shoulder of the N/S front tyre

 

[voicey]

Those geo settings at the front are fine - if you're on a budget then I wouldn't bother getting them done.

What you have to think about are the units of measurement - your LHS caster is out by 11 minutes. That's 11 60ths of one degree.

Bugger all basically - you'd probably find it is within spec on a different day. What really matters is that the numbers are very close to spec and even across the axle.

Don't worry about running a bit more camber as it'll provide more grip in a turn. Yours is still less than one degree, the last car I set up had 2.5 degrees of camber....

 

[allandwf]

Mine had a chrome grille when purchased, which I hated. Painted satin black, bad mistake, every chip shone up! Eventually sourced an original spec mesh and refitted, all good.

 

[FIFTY]

Those geo settings at the front are fine - if you're on a budget then I wouldn't bother getting them done.

What you have to think about are the units of measurement - your LHS caster is out by 11 minutes. That's 11 60ths of one degree.

Bugger all basically - you'd probably find it is within spec on a different day. What really matters is that the numbers are very close to spec and even across the axle.

Don't worry about running a bit more camber as it'll provide more grip in a turn. Yours is still less than one degree, the last car I set up had 2.5 degrees of camber....

Thanks voicey appreciate a bit of perspective against the read out. To be fair to the tyre shop they explained a bit more caster and camber can aid turn in and said to see how it goes before I come back, guess I can shelve this for a while then.

I'll sort out the anti-roll bar drop link in January, for now I have all the parts I need to do the cam covers so I can get on with that over a couple of weekends, L H cover first as that has started to generate some impressive smoke off the manifold.

Mine had a chrome grille when purchased, which I hated. Painted satin black, bad mistake, every chip shone up! Eventually sourced an original spec mesh and refitted, all good.

I don't think blacking out the grille will suit my Agrentine Blue 4200, it looks better on darker colours but mine is a couple of shades too light. Main thing is to iron out the damage so it is not so obvious. Good friend of mine makes parts for classic triumph motorbikes, I am hoping he can help me out with the re-chroming,

 

[voicey]

To be fair to the tyre shop they explained a bit more caster and camber can aid turn in and said to see how it goes before I come back, guess I can shelve this for a while then.

In simple terms, toe assists with the turn in. More negative toe means a more sluggish turn in but provides high speed stability. If a client is tracking there car I will set the toe to zero - ie dead ahead. Race cars even have a little toe out.

Negative camber assists cornering grip but dial in too much and you lose straight line grip (noticed under braking).

Caster assists with the self centering of the steering wheel. The import bit is the cross-caster - if it is different from one side to the other it can cause the car to pull in one direction.

Obviously there are a lot of secondary effects going on but the above are the salient points.

 

[Zep]

I echo Voicey's comment. When I had my car set up at Northampton Motorsport they pointed out that Maserati (and Ferrari) are particularly tight with the tolerances they publish for the alignment. At the ends of the bigger boxes are the max and min settings and the standard for camber is between 24 and 36 minutes, which means the target is 12 60ths of a degree wide, only slightly less than you are out. The band is the same for the caster. For example Porsche have a specification for the 996 that allows + or - 15 minutes on the camber (a band of 30 minutes) and + or - 30 minutes on the caster. If your car was a Porsche and was that far out, all of the boxes would be green.

The tech said to me they often see main dealer alignment sheets where the tolerances have been increased in the software to make the boxes green. In this case on the title of the alignment sheet it will show the model of the car and have the word modified in brackets next to it.

 

[CatmanV2]

Echo again (although I was with Zep) We all had the same discussion about how tight they were

C

 

[Zep]

Echo again (although I was with Zep) We all had the same discussion about how tight they were

C

Oh yes, it was when yours was being done. Still slightly peeved at how easy the alignment is on a GT compared to a Coupe!

 

[CatmanV2]

Oh yes, it was when yours was being done. Still slightly peeved at how easy the alignment is on a GT compared to a Coupe!

Well, as engineering improves....

C

 

[Zep]

Well, as engineering improves....

C

I have improved myself a great deal this week in the restaurants of northern Italy.... Must go for a run to reverse that improvement

 

[CatmanV2]

I have improved myself a great deal this week in the restaurants of northern Italy.... Must go for a run to reverse that improvement

Yes. You don't want to go getting simpler at your time of life

C