2004 Maserati Spyder

[Firm]

lol, I didn't even think about burnouts, but I wouldn't want to kill an expensive diff or clutch in this thing. If I feel like burning off tires I've got F-Bodies that'll do that without breaking any expensive.

I am excited for the top too....Really, I am excited to drive it with the top down as I expect it's a more visceral experience. I'll get to it soon I hope....part of the delay is that it takes ~20 minutes of disassembly to access the top mechanism/pump, and another 20 minutes to re-assemble when you're done playing with it since the car lives outside I need to close everything up. So, if I am going to go through the effort I need at least a few hours of time (with daylight) to dedicate to it, which is tough to come by. I have a plan of attack though!

[dkazzed]

Cleaned it up so nice, congrats!

[Firm]

Thanks. Really kinda stalled on this thing with the Holidays, some house projects, and the 'winter' weather we've had here.  Getting eager to get back on it. Ordered a new Maserati emblem for the front bumper last night, original one is totally faded.

[RRocket]

Thanks. Really kinda stalled on this thing with the Holidays, some house projects, and the 'winter' weather we've had here.  Getting eager to get back on it. Ordered a new Maserati emblem for the front bumper last night, original one is totally faded.

Excited to see if you can sort the roof...

[Firm]

Trying to get back on this, so despite the rain this weekend I took care of a couple things. First, replaced the badly faded bumper emblem with a new NOS unit. Looks like a simple job, it's not because the emblem has a stud on the back that has a little retaining nut on it. Most people pull the bumper cover, but I was able to remove all the bolts across the top, pry the bumper cover up and shove a piece of 2x4 under it which gave me enough room to sneak a long 7mm wrench in there to very slowly undo the nut and get it off. Big visual difference though, so worth the effort.

Got the AIRBAG light off finally too. Not sure exactly what it was, but previously every time I cleared the code (passenger airbag circuit open) it would immediately re-appear. Dug around under the passenger seat, and under the dash, and squeezed every connector I could reach. Reset the error code and it stayed off! Hopefully it continues to stay off.

Didn't play with the top on account of the rain, but I did get online and found what appears to be some type of factory service manual for the system, which outlines all the sequencing, microswitch functions, etc. Having it will make troubleshooting a lot easier.

[RRocket]

Having it will make troubleshooting a lot easier.

Well if it's in some type of understandable language anyways!  LOL 😆

Also, you might need to grow a mustache!
https://youtu.be/J6dFEtb06nw?si=duqD-UTR9lY9EzHr

[Firm]

Well, lots of distractions lately, but I got a few hours on this today...

Driver's window didn't "index" when you open/close the door, very annoying because everytime you used the window you'd need to very carefully set it to the just the right position so you could open the door without the window getting caught in the weather stripping, yet high enough that it sealed tight. Pulled the door panel off and found a microswitch with a bent arm, bent the arm back in the place, tested everything a few times, and put it all back together. Gotta love a $0 fix!

While I was in there I noticed that the factory door speakers, which were just cheap paper cone units, "ASK" brand made in Italy, were horribly deteriorated to a point where the cone wasn't even attached to the body anymore. Ran to AutoZone and grabbed two Kenwood 6.5" units that were a perfect drop in replacement for $35. Big improvement in sound.

Next I manually put the top down, which isn't all that difficult once you know the process, and went for my first top-down drive in this car. Felt great! You can hear the exhaust note a lot better with the top down. I was hoping that a full manual reset would maybe get the top hydraulics working, but no luck. I've done enough diagnostics on it that I am maybe 80% confident that the issue is the pump itself....So the next task will be swapping it with one of the Mercedes pumps.

Couple shots with the top down...Yes, the rollbar covers are off in the photo - clips were all broken, I took the opportunity of the top being down to fix them.

[HannibalSmith]

Sharp looking ride!

[RRocket]

Another great update!

I'm eagerly awaiting for you to dig into the top!