MASERATI KHAMSIN EURO BUMPER CONVERSION
GETTING
STARTED
Thankfully there is a kit available and installation is relatively simple. Short of buying an original Euro Khamsin, there is great satisfaction in “un-disfiguring” a US Khamsin, which is considerably more affordable to purchase in the US than a Euro car is in Europe. I therefore ordered such a kit, made by MAK Group in Long Beach California (contact details at end of article). It is well made, sturdy, I found no flaws when my order arrived. |
The kit includes front and rear bumpers, a pair of two brackets for each, the rear Plexiglas with the holes for the rear lights and rear light covers to hide the back of the rear lights on the inside of the trunk.
Once you take delivery of your bumper kit I would strongly advise to start with the front end; it is quite easy and you then know that when you thereafter do and finish the rear, which is more labor intensive, you will have successfully completed your Khamsin’s design resurrection.
There is nothing overly complicated in the whole procedure; the work can be carried out by an experienced individual with a thorough stock of tools or by a restoration body shop craftsman. The front can be done in a day, the back takes about a day and a half. It is best not to rush the process and not to need to move the car between start and finish.
Please
note that this text is written with far more information than you
may need. It is “idiot proof” if you like and Luc Grondin
the expert craftsman who did the job on my Khamsin did the whole
thing without written instructions and with only the barest of instructions
(with yours truly as bumbling assistant gopher getting in the way!).
It is however important to carry out the task sequence in the outlined
order to avoid having to backtrack.
The accompanying photos will clarify the process; I will be glad to be of further assistance; please contact me with any questions at Contact@marcsonneryservices.com
Some of you may have noticed that most of the accompanying photos show a Khamsin without the big US model side-marker lights. Being European myself I wanted a 100% Euro look car; the latter has nothing on the rear fenders and just one small round Carello indicator on each front fender and therefore, before starting the bumper kit job, removed these four big ugly “Ralph Nader pimples”. I then had Luc seal the four holes by welding sheet metal in place and drill the front fenders for the correct small Euro side marker lights. He then ground the welds, sanded them prepped and painted theses areas. He did an excellent job, in fact a dealer who used to own a Khamsin recently proclaimed “but that is a Euro car, it couldn’t have had the big bumpers?”
This side marker light job is actually more labor intensive than the entire bumper swap and is therefore for purists, however if done during a repaint of the entire car it makes a lot of sense to do it. Please contact me for any assistance.