1UZFE in a Maserati Biturbo

[maxboulogne]

I have bought a Maserati Biturbo. Theengine is a a 2.5 litre twin turbo but is damaged. To repair it is going to cost an arm and a leg.

I had a look at a number of possible engines to use, e.g American and Japaneses V6 types. The Lexus 1UZFE with a manual gearbox seems to be the best option.

Here in South Africa the cost a 1UZFE without gearbox is about $ 750 which compared to the V6's (American/Japaneses) is a fair price.

I am considering the 1UZFE because there will be more than adequate power/torque without the complications of turbochargers/intercollers etc.

At this stage it seems that I will use the orgiginal which is a ZF S5 18/3.

The fit will be very tight but I think I will manage.

Is there perhaps somebody who have done something with a Maserati?

 

[Matty Dog]

I have thought about doing this every time a dead Biturbo comes up for sale, but had doubts about making the engine fit in the engine bay.
The Maserati V6 is pretty short.

Also, the Biturbo has a reputation for dubious handling and shocking electrics, particularly the fusebox. I still like them though, for some reason!

I have heard of a couple of Biturbos with horrible american V6 engines and one with an Alfa V6, but never with a V8.

I'm really interested to see how you get on. Best of luck.

 

[Zuffen]

The Biturbo was a bit of a dog.

My main concern would be the diff. They aren't too strong and you don't want to ask the price of parts.

When we repair Maseratis we estimate parts prices are Ferrari plus 50%. And we're rarely wrong.

Even today Maserati parts prices are still well over Ferrari parts.

 

[maxboulogne]

Thanks for the replies.

Apparently, the handling is not too bad, accordingly to the road tests of the time, about 1984 to 1990.

The differential came in two versions Salisbury and Sensitork. What I gather is that the Salisbury gave problems because of venting problems and losing oil. However, if I do find a problem with it I will take it out and replace it with a BMW 3 or 5 Series one. It will take some work but it seems not an impossible task.

Electrically. When I decided to get the vehicle I had this aspect in mind. My own experience with a Fiat in the end of the 1960s with electric problems cannot be worse than what any other vehicle can offer. There is an official version of what the letters FIAT mean. The correct unofficial version is First In All Troubles.

To get past the electrical problems we are going to rewire it completely. Take every bit of wire out and replace the system with a logical practical system.

Engine spares will not be an issue, that’s why I am replacing the engine with something civilized.

While on spares let me give a few examples on prices here in South Africa - full gasket set, converted to US $ 1,900.00, two cylinder head gaskets $ 250.00.

I paid $ 1,450.00 for the car.

The engine bay is small, length wise, but it seems that the Toyota engine will fit, although very tight.

However, I am taking the engine and gearbox out in the next few days than I will know for sure.

Thank you

Max Boulogne

 

[maxboulogne]

Flywheel Constructing 1UZFE in a Maserati Biturbo

As I am not going to use the Toyota automatic gearbox but a manual gearbox I will have to fit a flywheel to be used with the pressure plate, clutch plate etc.

I do not want to use a readily available unit because of the cost.

Is there anyone that have practical experience of building/machining a flywheel from scratch?

Thanks


Max Boulogne

 

[clintnz]

A friend made the flywheel for my conversion, get a big lump of steel, measure everything up, grind the ringgear off the 1UZ flex plate, machine for a shrink fit. Machine out the front to get the weight you want, Use the flex plate as a template to drill the crank bolt holes. We used an RB25DETT Nissan pressure plate.

Cheers
Clint

 

[maxboulogne]

I bought the engine Saturday and collected it yesterday and did a trail fit this afternoon.

It fits except for some minor exhaust manifold clearance problems.

It seems that the radiator and air conditioner condenser will not be a problem. I will have to calculate the size/capacity of the radiator, as I believe the original Maserati unit will not be adequate.

The next logical step is to see if I can fit the gearbox, a Zf 5 speed (the original Maserati unit). This means an adaptor plate, flywheel with clutch/pressure plate unit.

Once the gearbox aspect has been sorted out then I will start on the EFI part. I am not going to use the original system but a local system.

To sort the EFI out I am going to mount the engine on a stand where it can be started and run. If all goes well I will couple it to something that can put a variable load on the engine, something like a heavy vehicle retarder, e.g. a Voith or Telma.



Regards


Max Boulogne
South Africa

 

[hi-lex]

fiat also stands for Fix It Again Tony, how bout some pics, sounds neat, allways liked the biturbo

 

[Zuffen]

Telma units are as rare as rocking horse droppings in Australia.

Half you luck if you can get one to bolt up and use.

 

[Pro]

OH MAN!!!! i've only just seen this thread.

we need pics now. this is set to be very, very cool.

 

[maxboulogne]

Since the last post nothing of importance has happened because of business activities. I had an adaptor plate cut to fit the bell housing of the Zf gearbox and the next step will be to drill holes in the adaptor plate that line up with the engine and the bell housing. In addition, before this can be done we will have to make a tool to ensure the correct alignment of the different parts of the system. Once this is done, I will start with the construction of the flywheel. I am going to use Maserati clutch and pressure plate assembly.

Together with the above activities I am going to finalise the engine stand with a radiator and other necessary bits and pieces so that I can start the engine outside the car.

On the EFI side, I am going to use a local product, the Gotech MFI Pro.

However, all of this is on the back burner because of business activities.


Max Boulogne
South Africa

 

[Matty Dog]

Good on you for going ahead with this, despite people warning against it.

I will watch with interest. Please post photos.

Matthew

 

[Handgrenade]

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[Handgrenade]

It's IN. It runs.

 

[cribbj]

It's IN. It runs.

Not if there's no pics or vids !

 

[Handgrenade]

Coming right up sir!

 

[Handgrenade]

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[cribbj]

Nice work! I don't suppose mounts or anything else lined up for you? Did you have to fabricate everything? You're obviously no stranger to fabrication, however.

I see some British registration tags in the background, are you a transplant, expat or ???

 

[Handgrenade]

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[Handgrenade]

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