I'm selling my old brakes on ebay (click title to see the advert).
Let's see how they get on!
Friday, December 29, 2006
Brakes for sale!
I'm selling my old brakes on ebay (click title to see the advert).
Let's see how they get on!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Jonny's Mov'it Brakes
Looks like Google Picasa Webalbums has added a new feature, which means I can show you the full set of pictures of the brakes being fitted to my Ghibli!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
The salt gritters have arrived
Last night I drove back from the airport after dropping off my parents. On the way (driving the Volvo fortunately) we passed a gritter truck salting the motorway. So the Ghibli is now officially off the road for the winter.Will have to see how long the cold weather stays with us... the temperature has been down to just above zero the last few days, so looks like the winter may be finally arriving. Hopefully, it will only last a month or so and I can be back on the road with the Ghibli soon!
Sunday, December 17, 2006
The time has come...
For about three years I've had a big crack on my front bumber. It was caused by an old lady parking her Smart on my bumper. I've been putting off repairing the damage initially because I used to park the car in the street and so the chances of repeated bumper damage seemed pretty high.
For just under a year now I've been privalidged enough to own a parking spot in a private garage and so the chances of repeated bumper damage are dramatically reduced. I'm therefore getting more serious about getting the damage repaired, so last week I popped 'round to a local body shop to get a quote. It's not cheap!
My Ghibli still has the original bumpers, which are old style ones manufactured from quite a brittle plastic (it actually looks like they're made from a sort of fiber glass). The cheapest option would be to simply have the damaged bumpers repaired, by removing all the cracked paint, filling the gaps and having them resprayed. However, like I said, the material from which the bumpers are made is very brittle, so they appear to crack very easily. Therefore, simply having the bumpers repaired probably means that within a couple of years, there will be new cracks... since living in the city means living with other drivers who are not such careful drivers.
As kind of an example of this, I woke up this morning to find my wife making breakfast for us (what a great way to wake up!). She told me to have a look outside, since she'd had to move her car to a different parking spot on the road on which we live. When I looked outside, I noticed that a Renault Espace had its right rear end smashed up. My wife informed me that there was glass all over the road and that about three cars were damaged in the street. It seems that last night someone had smashed their car into the parked cars down the street and then driven off. We felt quite lucky that they'd missed my wife's car and it made me realise how lucky I am to have my car parked in a garage down the street.
As you'll recall from my post last week, it only takes one night being parked in the street to acquire damage. I had a quote for repairing the dent that the car received... €80 plus tax! And that only repairs the dent... they can't repair the scratch unless they respray the entire wing.
So, my dilema is, do I repair the existing bumpers (since there's cracks in the rear bumper too) or do I get brand new bumpers? It takes the body shop about 2 hours to repair the old bumpers before spraying them and I suspect that they charge something in the region of €60 per hour. So that gives me €120 plus tax to find a new bumper. Unfortunately, new bumpers will cost about twice this amount. However, new bumpers are more tolerant to subsequent knocks so in the long run will be cheaper to maintain.
Here's a couple of drawings of the parts that I need.
Item 24 on the first drawing and item 33 on the second drawing.
For some reason, the rear bumper costs about twice the amount of the front bumber?
It's probably going to be spring time that I get these bumpers repaired, since I'm not sure how much longer this warm winter will continue. I'm very suprised with how long the driving season is continuing this year, but I'm trying to make the most of it... I managed to drive the car three times this week!
The brakes seem to be settling in... they're a bit like the turbos to drive I find... the preformance isn't that impressive around town... I'd even go as far to say that the braking performance is not as good at low speeds, requiring heavier force with the braking foot. However, on the main roads and motorways, the performance seems to pick up substantially, although I've still not had to use them aggressively. But, like the turbos, the brakes seem to increase in performance the more that they're loaded. Just like when you accellerate in the Ghibli... you can lightly lift off the throttle and the rate of accelleration continues to increase. You get the same effect with the brakes... lift off the brake pedal slightly and you find that the rate of deaccelleration is still increasing. This is because the brakes are warming up as you use them, becoming more efficient... therefore, as they warm up, you need less brake pressure to achieve the same braking force.
So now, I need to keep one step ahead when braking as well as when accellerating! This adds a whole new dimension to the driving experience... and makes me even more enthusiastic to drive the car.
I have to say, when the Ghibli is performing on song (and it currently is), then it's an absolute pleasure to drive! I walk away from the car smiling and already planning my next journey when I can drive the car again. And driving in this colder weather is also great... the engine is performing with extremely good torque and I find myself quite content to accellerate from 80km/h in sixth gear. I have to put this improvement in torque down to the 3200 GT turbos, the new induction kit and finally setting up the boost controller optimally so that the wastegates stay closed right up to maximum boost pressure... before these modifications, the car would not pick up until about 4000rpm, but now it's picking up at 3000rpm... that's really noticeable when driving the car.
I'd really like another Ghibli driver to have a go in my car to see if they notice any differences. So I'll have to make an effort to join the local Maserati club and attend one of the track days.
For just under a year now I've been privalidged enough to own a parking spot in a private garage and so the chances of repeated bumper damage are dramatically reduced. I'm therefore getting more serious about getting the damage repaired, so last week I popped 'round to a local body shop to get a quote. It's not cheap!
My Ghibli still has the original bumpers, which are old style ones manufactured from quite a brittle plastic (it actually looks like they're made from a sort of fiber glass). The cheapest option would be to simply have the damaged bumpers repaired, by removing all the cracked paint, filling the gaps and having them resprayed. However, like I said, the material from which the bumpers are made is very brittle, so they appear to crack very easily. Therefore, simply having the bumpers repaired probably means that within a couple of years, there will be new cracks... since living in the city means living with other drivers who are not such careful drivers.
As kind of an example of this, I woke up this morning to find my wife making breakfast for us (what a great way to wake up!). She told me to have a look outside, since she'd had to move her car to a different parking spot on the road on which we live. When I looked outside, I noticed that a Renault Espace had its right rear end smashed up. My wife informed me that there was glass all over the road and that about three cars were damaged in the street. It seems that last night someone had smashed their car into the parked cars down the street and then driven off. We felt quite lucky that they'd missed my wife's car and it made me realise how lucky I am to have my car parked in a garage down the street.
As you'll recall from my post last week, it only takes one night being parked in the street to acquire damage. I had a quote for repairing the dent that the car received... €80 plus tax! And that only repairs the dent... they can't repair the scratch unless they respray the entire wing.
So, my dilema is, do I repair the existing bumpers (since there's cracks in the rear bumper too) or do I get brand new bumpers? It takes the body shop about 2 hours to repair the old bumpers before spraying them and I suspect that they charge something in the region of €60 per hour. So that gives me €120 plus tax to find a new bumper. Unfortunately, new bumpers will cost about twice this amount. However, new bumpers are more tolerant to subsequent knocks so in the long run will be cheaper to maintain.
Here's a couple of drawings of the parts that I need.
Item 24 on the first drawing and item 33 on the second drawing.
For some reason, the rear bumper costs about twice the amount of the front bumber?
It's probably going to be spring time that I get these bumpers repaired, since I'm not sure how much longer this warm winter will continue. I'm very suprised with how long the driving season is continuing this year, but I'm trying to make the most of it... I managed to drive the car three times this week!
The brakes seem to be settling in... they're a bit like the turbos to drive I find... the preformance isn't that impressive around town... I'd even go as far to say that the braking performance is not as good at low speeds, requiring heavier force with the braking foot. However, on the main roads and motorways, the performance seems to pick up substantially, although I've still not had to use them aggressively. But, like the turbos, the brakes seem to increase in performance the more that they're loaded. Just like when you accellerate in the Ghibli... you can lightly lift off the throttle and the rate of accelleration continues to increase. You get the same effect with the brakes... lift off the brake pedal slightly and you find that the rate of deaccelleration is still increasing. This is because the brakes are warming up as you use them, becoming more efficient... therefore, as they warm up, you need less brake pressure to achieve the same braking force.
So now, I need to keep one step ahead when braking as well as when accellerating! This adds a whole new dimension to the driving experience... and makes me even more enthusiastic to drive the car.
I have to say, when the Ghibli is performing on song (and it currently is), then it's an absolute pleasure to drive! I walk away from the car smiling and already planning my next journey when I can drive the car again. And driving in this colder weather is also great... the engine is performing with extremely good torque and I find myself quite content to accellerate from 80km/h in sixth gear. I have to put this improvement in torque down to the 3200 GT turbos, the new induction kit and finally setting up the boost controller optimally so that the wastegates stay closed right up to maximum boost pressure... before these modifications, the car would not pick up until about 4000rpm, but now it's picking up at 3000rpm... that's really noticeable when driving the car.
I'd really like another Ghibli driver to have a go in my car to see if they notice any differences. So I'll have to make an effort to join the local Maserati club and attend one of the track days.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Mov'it brakes finally installed!
After initially receiving the wrong parts from Mov'it brakes in Germany (the original parts were designed for the Ghibli ABS and later versions of the car), Mov'it manufactured a new kit for the series 1a Ghibli based on the measurements taken by myself and Jorrit at Auto Forza.
The new parts arrived last week and yesterday I returned with the car to Auto Forza to get them fitted. To the credit of Mov'it, the new parts are near perfect! Jorrit fitted the kit in about two hours... it was pretty much a straight swap of the original parts.
To recap, the new discs are 342mm in diameter and were purchased to fill the huge void left behind the 18" Compomotive wheels I fitted early in the year. However, the original brake discs were also starting to fade, so would have soon needed to be replaced anyway. Here's a picture of the original disc behind the Compomotive wheel... I think you'll agree they look a little bit weeny?
The new brake fits comfortably behind the Compomotive wheels and arguably an even larger kit could have been installed. However, I think this would have been completely overkill given that the Ghibli only weighs about 1360kg... I think once these brakes have bedded in then they'll be pretty damn impressive. Also, the internal diameter of the Compomotive wheel restricts the brake kit diamter such that the next largest size offered by Mov'it would not have fit inside the wheel.
So... I think these brakes look more like they were designed to fit behind the new wheels. First driving impression... well... my very first impression was... oh. However, I soon realised that this disappointment was very short lived, since after applying the brake a couple of times the increase in performance of the brake shot up incredibly. I therefore suspect that the brake needed to make initial contact and maybe burn off some manufacturing chemicals before it started to work properly. I'm going to have to be gentle on the brakes for the first 1000k or so to give them time to bed in properly before I can really try stepping on them, but already, even with light use, they seem to be responding better than the original system.
Looks like I'm going to have to be careful with braking then, since with no ABS fitted to the early Ghiblis, I suspect that it's going to be easy to lock up these brakes! I'll keep you informed of how I get on with them... if they turn out to be as good as I expect them to be, then I'll be very tempted to get some replacement rear brakes too!
The new parts arrived last week and yesterday I returned with the car to Auto Forza to get them fitted. To the credit of Mov'it, the new parts are near perfect! Jorrit fitted the kit in about two hours... it was pretty much a straight swap of the original parts.
To recap, the new discs are 342mm in diameter and were purchased to fill the huge void left behind the 18" Compomotive wheels I fitted early in the year. However, the original brake discs were also starting to fade, so would have soon needed to be replaced anyway. Here's a picture of the original disc behind the Compomotive wheel... I think you'll agree they look a little bit weeny?The new brake fits comfortably behind the Compomotive wheels and arguably an even larger kit could have been installed. However, I think this would have been completely overkill given that the Ghibli only weighs about 1360kg... I think once these brakes have bedded in then they'll be pretty damn impressive. Also, the internal diameter of the Compomotive wheel restricts the brake kit diamter such that the next largest size offered by Mov'it would not have fit inside the wheel.
So... I think these brakes look more like they were designed to fit behind the new wheels. First driving impression... well... my very first impression was... oh. However, I soon realised that this disappointment was very short lived, since after applying the brake a couple of times the increase in performance of the brake shot up incredibly. I therefore suspect that the brake needed to make initial contact and maybe burn off some manufacturing chemicals before it started to work properly. I'm going to have to be gentle on the brakes for the first 1000k or so to give them time to bed in properly before I can really try stepping on them, but already, even with light use, they seem to be responding better than the original system.
Looks like I'm going to have to be careful with braking then, since with no ABS fitted to the early Ghiblis, I suspect that it's going to be easy to lock up these brakes! I'll keep you informed of how I get on with them... if they turn out to be as good as I expect them to be, then I'll be very tempted to get some replacement rear brakes too!
Accidents do happen?
I had some problems with my Ghibli's alarm system on Friday night. I parked the car outside my office and popped inside to pick up a couple of things. When I returned to the car, it wouldn't open with the remote control, so I could only gain access with the key.
This on its own wouldn't have been a problem, but since the alarm system wouldn't recognise my remote, it wouldn't disarm the immobiliser. So I couldn't start the car!
I ended up having to leave the car parked in the street overnight while I figured out how to bypass the alarm system. Turned out this wasn't too difficult... as long as you have the original manual that came with the alarm where the magic number is written that de-activates the alarm. Since I recently moved, I had to search around the house for the manual, but once I found it then it was pretty straightforward to disarm the system.
So, I got the car going again on Saturday (I think the problem was caused by the battery level getting low, since once the car was started up again and driven for a couple of kilometers the alarm worked fine again) and drove it 'round to Auto Forza to have the new brake system installed (more on that later).
While at Auto Forza, I noticed some new damage to the car.
I was really annoyed. I left the car out in the street (and not a particularly busy or crowded street) for one night and am rewarded by a dent and scratch to the front left wing of the car. It looks like the damage was caused by a cyclist catching their pedal on the side of the car. I can only assume that they were drunk to have been so clumsy.
So, that's something new to get sorted on the car... it should be realatively simple to get the dent rolled out, but the scratch may be a little more difficult to remove. Will take the car the to body shop and get them to have a look at it when I get the bumbers repaired... if the weather stays as it is then that will be sooner rather than later!
This on its own wouldn't have been a problem, but since the alarm system wouldn't recognise my remote, it wouldn't disarm the immobiliser. So I couldn't start the car!
I ended up having to leave the car parked in the street overnight while I figured out how to bypass the alarm system. Turned out this wasn't too difficult... as long as you have the original manual that came with the alarm where the magic number is written that de-activates the alarm. Since I recently moved, I had to search around the house for the manual, but once I found it then it was pretty straightforward to disarm the system.
So, I got the car going again on Saturday (I think the problem was caused by the battery level getting low, since once the car was started up again and driven for a couple of kilometers the alarm worked fine again) and drove it 'round to Auto Forza to have the new brake system installed (more on that later).
While at Auto Forza, I noticed some new damage to the car.
I was really annoyed. I left the car out in the street (and not a particularly busy or crowded street) for one night and am rewarded by a dent and scratch to the front left wing of the car. It looks like the damage was caused by a cyclist catching their pedal on the side of the car. I can only assume that they were drunk to have been so clumsy.
So, that's something new to get sorted on the car... it should be realatively simple to get the dent rolled out, but the scratch may be a little more difficult to remove. Will take the car the to body shop and get them to have a look at it when I get the bumbers repaired... if the weather stays as it is then that will be sooner rather than later!
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Aquamist have some new toys!
Looks like I've been sleeping on the job! Aquamist have some new products kicking around, like this nice looking guage.
They've also brought out a bracket with all the required components pre-fitted and ready to be wired up inside the engine bay... looks great! So I'm obviously going to be busy doing some researching over the winter.
I need to find a tasteful way of incorporating that guage and my E-Boost guage into the Ghibli's dashboard!
They've also brought out a bracket with all the required components pre-fitted and ready to be wired up inside the engine bay... looks great! So I'm obviously going to be busy doing some researching over the winter.I need to find a tasteful way of incorporating that guage and my E-Boost guage into the Ghibli's dashboard!
Radio Silence
First of all, apologies for being so quiet recently! I've had a pretty hectic couple of months, but things are quietening down a little now.
The first bit of good news is that the replacement calipers and brackets have arrived from Mov'it! I've got an appointment booked at Auto Forza to get them fitted on Saturday, so I should have some good news and pictures to post on Saturday evening (fingers crossed)! Since we're still yet to have our first ice here in the Netherlands, the Ghibli is still on the road, so I should still get the chance to try out the new brakes before the end of the year (fingers crossed for this too).
I've also got some disappointing news. I drove to Antwerp a few weeks back, which was great fun (although I'm not sure my wife sat in the passenger seat will agree, since she is of the opinion that the Ghibli brings out the aggressive driver in me... but I can't resist making the most of the Ghibli on the long straight road to Antwerp). Whilst driving around on Antwerp's unkept roads, I had to drive up close to the pavement to avoid being hit by an oncoming car... but a little too close. I ended curbing the rear wheel.
The impact didn't feel too severe, but when I returned home later that evening, I had a quick look and a feel and the damage to the wheel looked disproportionate. The lacquer on the wheels seems very brittle and looks like it's flaking off and propagating. I've written to Compomotive for some advice but they've not responded. I'll take some pictures of the damage and post them at the weekend.
The first bit of good news is that the replacement calipers and brackets have arrived from Mov'it! I've got an appointment booked at Auto Forza to get them fitted on Saturday, so I should have some good news and pictures to post on Saturday evening (fingers crossed)! Since we're still yet to have our first ice here in the Netherlands, the Ghibli is still on the road, so I should still get the chance to try out the new brakes before the end of the year (fingers crossed for this too).
I've also got some disappointing news. I drove to Antwerp a few weeks back, which was great fun (although I'm not sure my wife sat in the passenger seat will agree, since she is of the opinion that the Ghibli brings out the aggressive driver in me... but I can't resist making the most of the Ghibli on the long straight road to Antwerp). Whilst driving around on Antwerp's unkept roads, I had to drive up close to the pavement to avoid being hit by an oncoming car... but a little too close. I ended curbing the rear wheel.
The impact didn't feel too severe, but when I returned home later that evening, I had a quick look and a feel and the damage to the wheel looked disproportionate. The lacquer on the wheels seems very brittle and looks like it's flaking off and propagating. I've written to Compomotive for some advice but they've not responded. I'll take some pictures of the damage and post them at the weekend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)