Ben's Maserati Biturbo Spyder

[Grillage]

Supposedly it has to do with the odd fire nature of the engine and is meant to smooth out the idle. I don't totally understand it and it's the subject of a spirited discussion on "Biturbo Zentrum" currently.

[vt10vt]

Supposedly it has to do with the odd fire nature of the engine and is meant to smooth out the idle. I don't totally understand it and it's the subject of a spirited discussion on "Biturbo Zentrum" currently.

Having been through a literally unbelievable number of "how do I jack up my car" threads on Porsche forums, I can only imagine what a "spirited" discussion looks like in the Maserati world.

[Grillage]

Yeah, there are a number of UrS4boy's there. Lots of people stuck in their ways.

In fact the forum still uses Yahoo Discussions format - which is like hell itself.

In other news, this arrived today:


The muffler is on the way too. This should run much better now!

[IslandRinger]

Yeah, there are a number of UrS4boy's there. Lots of people stuck in their ways.

BEST QUOTE EVAARRRRR!!!!!

[alxdgr8]

Yeah, there are a number of UrS4boy's there. Lots of people stuck in their ways.

BEST QUOTE EVAARRRRR!!!!!

Hahahaha, indeed. There's a reason I only make a maybe monthly visit to the UrS section of QW.

[Grillage]

Don't get me wrong - he's one hell of a resource. The FAQ there is amazingly helpful. He can just be so difficult and know it all-y

[IslandRinger]

Don't get me wrong - he's one hell of a resource. The FAQ there is amazingly helpful. He can just be so difficult and know it all-y

Exactly this. I'm grateful for his knowledge but he can be difficult for sure. I blame age lol

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

[PRY4SNO]

Looking at that exhaust, I wonder if there's any chance it's meant to be an expansion loop? To allow for gain at the moment anchor and not affect the fitment?

Don't get me wrong - he's one hell of a resource. The FAQ there is amazingly helpful. He can just be so difficult and know it all-y

One word: engineer.

[Grillage]

It's over!

Sold the car today



So now I have more funds and time for this project:

[DE80q]

After all the work you put into to it, I hope you at least got a descent price for it... Hopefully the new owner will have better luck with it. Looking forward to the B4 conversion!

[Grillage]

I actually did pretty well money-wise. It was time to clear space.
I'll have the B4 at Carlisle next year

[Sparkyjack]

It's over!

Sold the car today

Congratulations!

[mitchelperkins]

Just for a quick update, I actually am the new owner of this car. I purchased it from Ben a few months ago and have enjoyed driving such a unique car around.

Sadly for this Biturbo its’ Italian reputation lives on and its down again - passenger side turbo is blown and the infamous fuse box problems have presented itself in a couple total power failures while driving.

In better light i’ve upgraded the old aftermarket radio to a much more modern unit and had every bit of the rust removed from the car while also taking out all the dents. A brand new windshield has been fitted and the car has been repainted and looks gorgeous. I am contemplating replacing both of the turbos with two much more readily available IHI RHB5 V195 units. I took the fuse box out and brought it to the best auto electrician in Louisville who resoderd the entire thing and am currently getting ready to put it back in the Maser.

https://imgur.com/a/CS1maJC

[Grillage]

Hi Mitchel! Glad to see you found this thread

I gave you a rebuild kit for the turbos right? I bought one when I thought that was the source of the smoking early on and never used it

Sorry to hear the fusebox got that much worse. I wonder if that was the root of the problem we saw when we jumped the starter in my garage?

The pics look great - SUPER psyched to see it repainted!

The radio was a full on antique. was probably $400 new in the 80s

[mitchelperkins]

Hi Mitchel! Glad to see you found this thread

I gave you a rebuild kit for the turbos right? I bought one when I thought that was the source of the smoking early on and never used it

Sorry to hear the fusebox got that much worse. I wonder if that was the root of the problem we saw when we jumped the starter in my garage?

The pics look great - SUPER psyched to see it repainted!

The radio was a full on antique. was probably $400 new in the 80s

Yeah, i have the turbo kit, but my first telltale sign of turbo failure came with a consistent shrieking noise early on in the boost and am also positive the compressor wheel and housing would have to be replaced as well, the parts being so ridiculously hard to find and expensive, i started looking for other cars with the factory IHI RHB5’s found in the Biturbo and lead myself towards a 1997 Isuzu Trooper Turbodiesel, which runs the exact same spec turbo with a slightly larger inducer and exducer. I got 2 brand new units for less than half the price of a single proper turbo cartridge for the car, so if i can make them work i will have 2 brand new turbos that can push a fair bit more boost into the engine. I also have an MIE intercooler kit ready for the car that i will also be fitting on as well, when all said and done i should have a relatively reliable, and extremely fast Maserati Biturbo. As with the fusebox issues, i would say that and the shaking dash gauges were definitely early signs of failure, the main power terminals on the fusebox had completely came lose and were arching. I fitted the refurbished fuse box today, and the Maser made it just fine 30 miles back to the paint shop for a new pinstripe - needless to say with some clouds of smoke.

[Grillage]

This is great. I’m really happy that you’re continuing to improve on it!

[mitchelperkins]

Driver side turbo is removed, like the note “last seen 9-21-17” written inside, this turbo is definitely bad! The compressor wheel has been wearing on the inner housing leaving a nice set of pretty deep grooves in it, i am assuming this is the source of the “shrieking” noise i was hearing that went away as the boost increased and the wobbling compressor wheel balanced itself. The exhaust side housing on the replacement turbos i ordered will not bolt up, so hopefully i can interchange the cartridges and reuse the exhaust housing and get this car back out on the road.

[Grillage]

Nice! Hope you were able to pull the turbo without pulling the engine. You can get that one out that way for sure.

I was hoping no one would ever see that note!

[mitchelperkins]

Nice! Hope you were able to pull the turbo without pulling the engine. You can get that one out that way for sure.

I was hoping no one would ever see that note!

Yep, got it out without removing much at all actually. The replacement turbos have a slightly different design on the exhaust side, the original Biturbo has the wastegate in a secondary split chamber and the new turbos i have are all in one chamber, looks like some modifications will be required, I may end up just rebuilding the original cartridge and replacing the compressor wheel and housing with the new one i bought.