anirishpub

Welcome Craig, Try www.tcparts.com, Larry has a j-yard full of TC's and may have a lever or two left. He's a very active member and contributor to the club newsletter as well as a heck of a nice guy to talk to. We're pratically neighbors, I live in Austin and have owned a red/ginger/black '89 since April of this year. If you are the way I was, not knowing much about the TC when I got it, the very best suggestion I can give you is to read as many of the posts on this forum as you can. This forum is one of the most helpful tools you will find. The member's here are fantastic! I would like to get together one of these days and share info and inspect each others cars. If your interested or if I can help you in any way feel free to contact me: anirishpub@sbcglobal.net Welcome aboard!! Don

AwHa Alan, your post helped me realize what kept escaping me about bigluke123's problem, tell me if I'm totally wrong but if his car sat for a year at the beach he might have a seafood dinner that crawled up his tail pipe during that time or perhaps something not quite so apealing but the same result. His exhaust could be severly blocked by the critters that made his exhaust system their home. Crabs anyone?

YAHOO!! Happy for you man!! Now to protect that X-pensive ABS system you should think about draining and replacing all the brake fluid in the system if you haven't done it in a couple of years and establish a preventive maintaince program to change it and your underhood fuel lines every two years or so. A couple of quarts of brake fluid are cheap insurance against a system failure.

Great point Jeffn!! Hose and clamps must both be EFI!

Hi All, We don't have many TC owners around these parts, Austin Tx, so I was happy to have a local guy contact me because he had heard about the upgrade project I'm in the middle of and wanted to meet me and the tech. We set it up but he didn't show because he didn't want to "bore" his GF, after she was on a plane back home 4 hours after we had finished, he calls wants to come over and meet. If I had a life I wouldn't have said yes but I did. A couple of hours after he arrived and we hummed and hawed inspecting the cars and reading paper we noticed how badly checked his under hood EFI fuel hoses were. Now that's one of the first things I learned reading about the TC and one of the hardest items I searched for, I finally found it in the last place I looked a NAPA store, I bought a box 10' of each 5/16" and 1/4" along with 6 sets of clamps. We cut off 16" of each and 2 clamps per size and he changed them that evening when the car had cooled down. We exchanged emails again today, I pasted his response: I definitely would like to be there. I did replace the fuel lines, just in time. When I pulled the old one off it was leaking fuel already. My ac needs some work, so hopefully when he is done with your car he can add some Freon and check the idle. Give me a call anytime! Talk to you later . John WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU REPLACED YOUR UNDER HOOD EFI FUEL HOSE AND CLAMPS??????? Wish I had a girl friend.

I understand how difficult finding a repair shop for a car you can't drive, I had exactly the same problem. To solve it I went to craig's list, under services there's a listing for Automotive and searching the listings found several mobile mechanics. After talking to several of them about replacing my Treves ABS system and having a couple come to the house and giving estimates I lucked out and found an excellent mechanic with very reasonable rates, much cheaper than repair shops. I've used him several times since to help with my upgrade project. You might try the same thing but suggest you shop around. Talk to several and be picky to find the right one. It's really cool having a good mechanic that comes to you instead of being at the mercy of repair shops, I insist my guy give me a quote for doing the work before it's started, it's saved me a ton of money. There is a craigs list for the Boston area here's the link, good luck. http://boston.craigslist.org/

Such a sad thing for you to lose your TC and another one being parted out over a brake issue. Before that happens contact Larry Carlson at www.tcparts.com he's a TC America member and a brake specialist for the TC, tell him your problem and I'm sure he can tell you what needs to be done to fix your TC. I had a similar problem and got a rebuilt Treves ABS system from him, it costs around $550.00 after I recovered the $100.00 core charge. Labor wise it's about like changing out a hugh master cylinder shouldn't take more than 3 hours to change it out and replace the brake fluid. Then drain and replace your brake fluid every two years and you should get years of trouble free service out of it, in fact Larry give a three year warranty for the rebuit system if you have it professionally replaced and replace the brake fluid every two years. The mechanics in your area would probably approach the job more redilly than repairing the system, they did in mine. But if you will visit with Larry he might recommend a less expensive fix, never know until you try. You could probably convert the system to standard power brakes and not spend as much on parts but the labor would eat up what you save quickly if you don't turn the wrenches yourself so the most economical way to go could be replacing the system. Mine works perfectly and cost under $800.00 for the complete job. I hope this helps but if you still feel you need to dispose of the car tell us about it, colors, milage, condition, etc. and what your willing to take for it.

What is the milage on your car? Approx 20000 miles? Is the odometer broken, can you give exact milage? Are you the first owner? Thank you, Don

Thank you Alan, a pic is worth a 1000 words but in this case it's exactly the way you described it and I totally agree with the boost gauge face, what is it? I want a fuel pressure and egt gauge as well, the fuel presure gauge can go under the hood next to the afpr, no problem. The egt should be in the cockpit, maybe the same type application on the opposite side of the dash cluster or stacked above the boost with the Dawes above that? I any case I'm going to need some ginger leather. Any ideas? Again thanks for the pic and help. Don

Contact Larry Carlson at TCparts.com he is the brake guru for our cars. He also sells rebuilt Treves ABS systems. I got one from him and now it works perfectly. He can advise you and supply whatever parts you may need. Hope this helps.

Still have the left side quarter window regualtor and motor, I'll give you $50.00. Let me know where to send the money. Thanks, Don

The Dawes remote a/f monitor is available here: http://www.3barracing.com/product_3.htm check out the bottom of the web page. I had a problem paying out and emailed them, the guy that responded name was Darren Dawes. It must be their new website.

I'll take the left 1/4 window regulator if it's still available. Let me know and I'll send pmt.

Your gauge setup sounds very interesting Alan, would it be possible to get a pic or two? I've about decided finding a pod is a pipe dream, want a heads up display that blends into the cockpit and it sounds as if yours does. I have seen the Dawes a/f meter and like it a lot, but your application of it is one of the cleverist innovations I've heard of! Dawes must have sold recently it is now 3barracing.com.

Your gauge setup sounds very interesting Alan, would it be possible to get a pic or two? I've about decided finding a pod is a pipe dream, want a heads up display that blends into the cockpit and it certainly sounds as if yours does. I have seen the Dawes a/f meter and like it a lot, but your application of it is one of the clever'ist innovations I've heard of! Dawes must have sold recently it is now threebarracing.com in case someone is following this thread. As far as my project is concerned I have followed every recommendation Rick made to me, recieved a portion of the parts and scheduled to recieve the rest the 5th. then plan to tear down and send him my turbo for rebuild and the head to a machine shop for the port work. I purchased ported intake/exhaust manifolds and fuel rail from Rick, in fact I purchased all (long list) my parts from him. He advises once the work is done the TC should be somewhere around 260-275hp, taking it to 300-350 hp would require going beyond 14# of boost a calibration change for the SMEC and larger injectors. I figure the car will be down for a month-month 1/2 for the machine work, turbo rebuild and parts install and plan on installing gauges while it's down. I'm very interested in your setup. Thanks Don

Great advise Admiral Willhelm. I know my goal is radical but just can't seem to stop myself. I'm having so much fun with the TC, not that it was my plan when I bought it, wanted a Sunday cruiser with some style now want a sleeper Mustang eater. EGT, boost, A/F and fuel pressure gauges are on their way. Looking for a pod to mount them in. Know of one that fits our car? Have fun!

Hello Hondo, right back at you, have a wonderful 4th. I'm not the expert but been talking to a few here lately and reading a lot as I'm in the middle of fairly radical performance upgrade project on my TC. Goal is to take it from stock 160hp to somewhere around 300hp and I've learned the exhaust is one of two places your bucks will yeild the most benefit, the other is the SMEC so your certainly on the right track to more fun. The pro I'm putting my money on is Rick at RDIperformance and he advised me the downpipe on our TC's is 2 1/2" into the Cat, 2 1/4" out of the Cat, goes to 1 7/8" over the rear axle because of the bends, back to 2 1/4 into the muffler and tips and there are a couple of resonators thrown in there to futher restrict the exhaust. His advise, go to 2 1/2" from the downpipe to the tips, lose the resonators, use both a high flow cat and muffler. I've recieved the cat and muffler I purchased from Rick just waiting on the pipes he sold me to arrive before taking it to the muffler shop to be installed, the hanger brackets on the TC will have to be cut off the old exhaust system and welded to the new since they aren't available anymore. I'm really looking forward to completing the exhaust part of my upgrade since I've read it will increase my gas milage as well as performance. Have Fun!

In theory that is correct, unbolt the old SMEC and bolt on the new one. However, I have read and been advised once you do, you should use only premium gas to prevent engine damage and there are issues with the stock blow off valve. I think the way it was put to me is "it's a piece of junk, if you change it out be sure to throw it away", seems the valve floats off the seat @ 7# of boost. If you change it out you might as well move it outside the air filter housing, smooth up the ridges inside the housing and use a K&N air filter adding a couple of extra horsepower in the process. I'm using RDI Performance, Rick Diogo as my supplier for all performance parts. Made a decision early on in my upgrade project that since I knew so little about the TC I would find pro's that knew the car and follow their recommendations. I'm buying all the parts from him so he will know my car and can better advise me. The kit I got from him to change out and move the blow of valve ran @ $200.00 which included a filter for the valve since it's no longer using the air intake filter. He's very helpful and a nice guy to visit with either over the phone or email: http://www.rdiperformance.com/ Hope this helps, shoot me an email and I'll send you parts, pricing and recommendations Rick provided me. Have Fun!

I'm a newbie to, we have the same car and it sounds like we're going through perty much the same thing except I started upgrading from the front side back and you from back to front. A couple of resources you should know about if you haven't come across them already are TC America Inc. the national TC club, their quarterly newsletter is full of tips and advise from pro's that know the TC: http://www.chryslertcbymaseraticlub.com Another is the The TC Pages, a website that has maintaining, performance, detailing info and links, very extensive coverage of about almost anything you want to know about the TC. Be sure to read the TC Garage section for tips about how to prevent your car from catching fire and taking care of the ABS: http://members.aol.com/TCMasratiPage/TC/Maserati.html As far as performance increase is concerned from what I've read the simplest and most effective is changing the SMEC to a hotted up version or finding one out of a 1988 Daytona in the junk yard, there are a couple of part #'s to look for if you go that way you will find them in the above or in the postings on this forum which are fantastic help by the way. As I said I began at the front and working my way back and will be happy to share that with you along with the recommendations and pricing I got from a performance guy that contributes to the newsletter for the complete job if you will email me. It is too lenghty to post here. Hope this helped a little, have fun!

Happy Memorial Day everybody. I just trimmed the plastic shroud and bolt on the back of the alternator on my TII using a dremel. It allowed me to install a full size oil filter and required just shy of 5 quarts of oil to fill the crankcase adding both more filter element and oil capacity. I got this tip from the TC Masrati Pages along with many more. Has anybody used red line water wetter in their cooling system? (another tip) it is suppose to make your car run anywhere from 20 to 30 degrees cooler. I'm draining my radiator as I'm writting this , a good flushing and refill with 50% antifreeze, 50% water and 3 oz of water wetter and it'll be supper time. I've never heard of the water wetter product and wondering if anyone can verify that it works as advertised. Have a great holiday!

Ordered a set for the hood, amazed how quickly I got them. Original equipment SACHS.

Welcome! I'm a newbie too and have found the info and help available from this board and it's members tremendous so your in the right place. Take a look at the post by 16vGLHS titled Performance Upgrade - Engine Controller. Rick Diogo, owner of RDI Preformance is 16vGLHS and a contributor to the TC America Newsletter, he sells a upgraded SMEC engine controller which is the brain your referring to I think. He's a heck of a nice guy to talk to on the phone or in emails. His email address Rick@rdiperformance.com phone 561-798-7647. The reason I know so much is I just purchased one of his SMEC along with some other items, I sure he can help you solve your problem.

When I was 15 I bought a '49 ford coupe for $400.00, Thunder Road was my favorite movie and I proceeded to burn the flathead out of it on the 100 mile trip home. Put a hemi with torque-flight push button in it and didn't bolt the seat down, luckly hitting the brick wall righted the seat so I could tell where I was. At 35 I bought my new wife a Deloren from a dealer friend who gave me a great deal since it had been returned to him from a lady that didn't like it. We made a 450 mile business trip in it right after I was thrown from a horse, on crutches and racked up, having to push the car from a busy intersection in downtown Denver while the wife guided it to the curb. Now I'm sitting in my garage as I write this, glancing at the best looking car I've ever seen in my life, '89 red/ginger Turbo II, that I've driven a total of 42 miles. Waiting for a ABS system I've ordered from Larry and the stage II SMEC from Rick along with a few other things to arrive and be installed. Happy as a clam I haven't unbolted the seats, yet. What fun!

Thanks Reel, would you mind telling me exactly how you drained the brake system. I've never done that before, I'm probably going to replace the master cylinder this time if I can find a new one but understand the system should be drained every couple of years, have it on my PM list. Thanks again.

Thanks for the excellent advise Willhelm. The main reason I'm having to car shipped, sure wanted to drive it home but not willing to take any chances, you reinforced that decision. Do you have any good sources for brake parts? Thanks again!