TVR T350
TVR T350
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MASERATI
3200GT
MASERATI
3200 GT
I was contacted by the owner of this vehicle with a view to doing a few small jobs and a service. Shortly after, I was contacted again, but this time with a cry of help! The starter motor had failed which seems to be a common fault with these cars. The last 3200 I did had a similar problem. (See previous 3200 on the site) In fact if had been the blue one, you would have sworn it was the same project. Even the fuel cap solenoid had stopped working as had the blue one. Anyway the car was driven over and set up in the workshop for work to begin. I started to remove the inlet manifold to gain access to the starter motor and had to drill out 10 of the 16 bolts that held it in place, so not really getting off to a good start. The wheels were quite badly damaged and needed refurbishing so it was decided while they were away being repainted to change the colour from the dark grey to silver ideally matching the body colour. The cam belt also needed changing along with the water pump. It also needed servicing and a few other faults sorting out along with the usual engine refurb work that you have come to expect with any Mike Pearsall project. The following photo’s tell the story of the build and the restoration of the car to it’s former glory.
The start of the project removing the inlet manifold to gain access to the starter motor. I had to drill out 10 of the 16 retaining bolts due to corrosion. These of course will be replaced with stainless ones on reassembly.
Cam belt, water pump and coolant manifold removed. Also the sump has been taken off and virtually all the ancillaries. The whole engine will be acid cleaned before reassembly.
Starter motor removed and that stubborn inlet manifold.
Vehicle set up on stands, wheels and brakes removed for refurbishing.
The old water pump which was pretty worn and the new replacement pump. A relatively small job with the cam belt off the vehicle. Lucky really that it was discovered at this point. Fairly expensive part, but only 13 bolts to replace.
The wheels removed from the vehicle and the tyres taken off. These will go off for shot blasting and stove enamelling. The colour is to be changed from the dark grey to silver. I tried to match the colour to the body colour, but there are limitations with the stove enamel paint range but it’s pretty close.
The engine as stripped as much as it’s going to be. The next process is to clean the engine before starting to reassemble it.
The engine has been cleaned and the new starter motor installed. The black part is the coolant manifold which is also installed.
Starting to look the part now, you can see the cleaned alloy and the coolant manifold fitted along with the forward two elbows.
The new water pump fitted and both the cam belt backing plates installed.
Cam belt installed along with the upper cam covers and cam position sensor.
The wheels refurbished in the new silver finish with all the damaged areas taken care of
Wheel bolts, fuel rails and ignition stand off’s fresh from the chrome platers, a beautiful job has been done.
All the cooling pipes have been fitted along with the cam belt cover and the drive belt. The oil filter has been installed and the pulley’s along with the oil filler tube.
The plenum chamber has been shotblasted and stove enamelled. Here you can see to bottom plate fitted to the plenum with new stainless fasteners.
The plenum chamber fitted to the engine. There are freshly chromed fuel rails to complement the red and silver. The engine is starting to develop that wow factor now, looking forward to seeing the finished unit.
The cam covers being drilled 3mm and then threaded M4. The splash guards were then fitted and secured with Loctite to stop the bolts coming undone.
The cam covers fitted to the engine with new stainless bolts. The four studs on the top of the cover have been nickel plated as you can see these when the engine is all together. Also the fuel rails and injectors have been fitted, just waiting for the pressure regulators.
The finished engine, looking absolutely gorgeous.
The new brake discs fitted, new tyres fitted to the re-painted rims and the finished wheel with the re-chromed bolts. It’s a huge difference from the original dark grey damaged wheels, really sets the car off.
