1998 Ledbury Maestro "Steve"

[RedSparrow]

Sounds sensible, especially if you are counting the pennies at the mo.

Has it been asked before if all the Leburys sit higher than the originals?

[vulgalour]

yes, and they do. They don't have the standard car suspension, I believe they're on the van set up and larger 14" Rover steelies (from the 200 series, I think). I like it, makes it less troublesome when encountered with speed bumps.

[triumph1300]

I just noticed its still got a carb hasn't it, and its a 1998! Never really noticed cars after 1993 with carbs, does it get through emissions tests ok still with one?

[Lankytim]

I think it's classed as a kit car, so it can get away with not having things like fuel injection, airbags and basically anything modern.

[vulgalour]

LT has it in one. Getting a new key cut confused the guy in the key shop, he was convinced I'd need a chip in the key or my car wouldn't work.

 

In other news, I'm now on the lookout for a set of Rover 100 centre caps. I saw some well before I bought the Maestro for cheap and didn't think to buy them, I'm crap at forward planning.

 

This sort of centre cap. Perhaps not a straight swap, but from what I know, they should go on with a bit of fiddling and would suit the look I'm after.

[eddyramrod]

I seem to have missed this thread somehow, VA, what a shame! Steve does look pretty grim, I must say; a perfect counterpoint to the velour luxury of the Princess. Long may he serve you.

I think you're right about the tinkering aspect. I've just bought a car that will get by on very little tinkering, to take the pressure off two that need it constantly, so I do know what you mean.

[Lord Sterling]

The Maestro look great VA, when I saw it around here last, the paintwork looked a little tired. I have (or had) pictures of other cars that the last owner of this, Steve has/had for sale, I regularly pass his unit and see loads of shite.

[vulgalour]

In all honesty, the paintwork is shagged. There's something odd going on with the lacquer on the bonnet and one front wing, loads of stone chips, rust blebs, key scratches and scuffs on the roof, not to mention the split and the dents in the tailgate. But, it still polishes up and looks good enough to appear cherished, it's just required a buttload of work to get this far. Steve - the guy I bought the Maestro from, not Steve the Maestro - is a top bloke with the right attitude towards cars. I really should drop him a line and let him know how the Maestro is faring, perhaps send a few photographs his way unless he's found the time to stick his head in on the forum.

[Lord Sterling]

If I pass by his unit anytime soon, I'll ask to see if he has any centre caps for a Metro. I passed by his once when the door was open and he seemed to have a fair few spares in there.

[Morgan84]

Not tempted to just bang a set of Maestro caps on,or find some period alloy wheels perhaps ? Your cleaning efforts are very impressive it has to be said;full marks for effort

[stuboy]

my old 1.6 hle was bags of fun to thrash every where...

 

interior plastics turned to powder

 

 

economy lights//// yeah right

[Captain Slow]

yes, and they do. They don't have the standard car suspension, I believe they're on the van set up and larger 14" Rover steelies (from the 200 series, I think). I like it, makes it less troublesome when encountered with speed bumps.

 

 

Not quite.

 

They do have standard car suspension and wheels. Just not standard 1.3. It's all diesel spec stuff, which was stiffer to account for a weightier engine and so makes it sit higher with a little A series in there.

 

 

 

The EASY way to think of a Ledbury is as a Clubman Diesel but with a 1.3 van engine and gearbox and built round the back of a petrol station in Herefordshire from bits intended for Bulgaria.

 

In terms of centre caps, diesel vans had similar wheels to these (Not the same, van hubs are different) and they had centre caps. I THINK they'll go straight on but not 100%. Ditto 13" Maestro steel wheel centres - they might fit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

interior plastics turned to powder

 

 

Were they brown? There's your explanation

[Cavcraft]

Surely you could save a shit load of money (£150) by revamping the wheels yourself? Wire brush, paint stripper, primer, spray, patience would see them right, failing that try and find a friendly local shotblaster, whizz the tyres off and get them done followed by a quick blow over.

[cort16]

I'd just buy some Rover trimz off ebay for 2p or whatever and it'll cheer that car right up.

As for the arches I'd wizz off the surface rust on the lip of the arches, kurust it then mask it up so you can only see the lip of the arch then give it a wiz over with primer and satin black. With the car being so dark you'll not notice it unless you're really looking.

You're never going to get that car looking perfect but you can do a few little cheap things that'lltake your eyes off the worst bits for not much £

[trigger]

I'm glad your deciding to sort the wheels out at last.

[vulgalour]

Just doing the sand-kurust-primer trick on the arches won't work, you can see the inner arch through the outer arch on the drivers side, it needs a repair and there's no avoiding that really. The wheels have been a bug bear for a while, I finally now know what I want to do with them, it's just a case of finding the bits to do it the way I want to. If I get really stuck, I still have the hideous original trims to go back on, but I'd rather not if I can help it.

[garycox]

Will Maestro centre caps fit, like the ones on mine?

 

Not that I have any spare, just wonderin'.

 

[e287yba]

While I was under the bonnet, I wanted to find out where the engine codes were so I could work out whether or not I had the good 1275 unit in there. I'm told that the red topped 1275 is the one to have and is the tunable lump, ...

 

If it's a 1275cc A-series then the head and block were painted red from the factory. I suspect theLedbury 1300s are the 'standard' 64bhp unit as fitted to all Maestro 1300s apart from the HLE (that was 68bhp). And all 1300 A-series engines are eminently tuneable, panic ye not - beg/borrow/buy a copy of "Tuning the A-series engine" by David Vizard .

[e287yba]

Will Maestro centre caps fit, like the ones on mine?

 

Not that I have any spare, just wonderin'.

 

 

The Ledbury Maestros have 14" Montego wheels, which never had centre caps from the factory (look how the shape of the 'dish' on the Ledbury wheels varies from those in your pic which are 13" wheels). But if some centre caps could be made to stay in place somehow...

[vulgalour]

With the correct pcd (as per the Rover 100 items I'd like) on a clip-on-wheelnut type trim I think fitting won't be that much of an issue bar possible trimming down of the diameter of the cap itself. I manage to modify the VW centre caps I had for the Polo steels to fit on a set of Tarantulas so I suspect it'll be fairly easy to make these work too. The plain Maestro centre caps would probably work just as well, but they're not as good as shape as the Rover 100 items for what I want to do.

[Owain71]

Spotted this Ledbury Van, seemingly still earning it's keep, outside a supermarket in Shropshire on New Year's Day...

 

 

 

 

[vulgalour]

Why didn't you steal its hubcaps for me? I wonder what those hubcaps are from originally.

[stuboy]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/mg-maestro-al ... 1e7626fa2f

[vulgalour]

Shame that I hate lattice wheels, I suppose, because they look like a bit of a barg.

[Morgan84]

I would think any Rover 200/400 wheel would sit nicely on a Maestro,but I have weird tastes,and would put VP trims on the car ! Still,in saying that,painting the steel rims nicely with some center caps will brighten the car up nicely

[Lankytim]

I have some early 90's Montego 14" trims kicking about if you want a set. I have a full set of grey and 3 white ones.

[Captain Slow]

Why didn't you steal its hubcaps for me? I wonder what those hubcaps are from originally.

 

 

 

If you look back in the thread Angyl, you'll see I mentioned that later vans and all Ledbury vans had these - and that they'd be perfect for what you want.

[vulgalour]

yes, but I have the memory of a fish and I'm quite laz

[Ian Nexus]

Where there any LHD Ledburys' made? are they difficult to convert back to LHD? one of those on Mississippi plates has to be a winnar!

According to Wikipedia "In 1997, Parkway Services of Ledbury, Herefordshire, purchased a batch of 621 Maestro cars and vans in CKD kit form. These had been stored at Cowley, Oxfordshire, since their production in mid-1996, when they became surplus to requirements. The company built up the cars and converted the majority of them to RHD form using up Rover's supply of parts."

I suppose I could try Bulgaria....

[Ben_L]

Where there any LHD Ledburys' made? are they difficult to convert back to LHD? one of those on Mississippi plates has to be a winnar!

According to Wikipedia "In 1997, Parkway Services of Ledbury, Herefordshire, purchased a batch of 621 Maestro cars and vans in CKD kit form. These had been stored at Cowley, Oxfordshire, since their production in mid-1996, when they became surplus to requirements. The company built up the cars and converted the majority of them to RHD form using up Rover's supply of parts."

I suppose I could try Bulgaria....

 

There's a few LHD ones in England.

Someone on the Maestro forums had one (N207ENE?) I think... Was LHD and practically "Out of the box" condition wise. That was bought about 6 years ago with delivery miles on the clock...

I know of this and one other on a 1989 Registration which was actually first registered in the 2000's... So, there's a few about.