Dollywobbler's Maestro Van - SOLD!

[dollywobbler]

I would like a second opinion on the overheating. As you say, the light seems to cut in very quickly even when the gauge is just over half - ie where you'd expect the fan to cut in. I'll listen out for it next time it's warm. Perhaps it is behaving and the light is just overly iffy. It came on after I'd stopped the engine (to refuel) and again when stuck in traffic, so seemed entirely logical.

 

Box of bits might be handy. Ta. No worries about your welding either. You did what you had to to keep the old heap going. 

 

Fifth gear is a bit odd. On the first test drive, I had no problems whatsoever. On the drive home though, I accidentally went from fourth to fifth a few times. Fifth and third do seem rather close. 

 

It does go well enough though. I may even treat it to a service. I'm guessing it hasn't had one for a while?

[ProgRocker]

That looks suitably grim.

[Angrydicky]

Well it looks epic of course, but if it was mine I'd end up pulling the thing to many bits and fitting new sills and stuff. It does look like there are some quite ropey areas of bodywork which may affect its chances of long term survival. There was a guy on the Maestro forum who found a batch of sills (rare as hens teeth), might be worth grabbing a pair if he's got any left. He did have arches as well but they all got snapped up quickly!

[meshking]

Always had a soft spot for maestro vans, dunno why. I'm also amused because if you search for #newcar on twitter you get loads of people looking extremely happy in front of their BMW 120d or Honda Whatever, then pics of a rusty maestro van show up.

[daverapid]

Does it have automatic choke? I seem to remember the auto choke control unit [ECU] goes wrong and makes the high temp light come on. From memory it's just above the glovebox. I did my apprenteship at an Austin Rover dealer but that was in the late 80's so I can't remember exact details about the control unit.

[Micrashed]

Well done. Nice to see it stay in the family as it were.

[chrisjvm]

Excellent choice DW  ...  Glad you didn't go for that Nisshite I posted up ...

 

The tapetastic bodywork is very appropriate and worthy of a proper shitters mowta 

 

Good luck with it ...

[cort16]

You should put 'When the maestro is rockin don't knocking' on the back and see how long it takes for your wife to kill you

[dollywobbler]

It's on a manual choke, but could have been automatic when new perhaps. Have a feeling my previous Maestro had been manual converted. 

 

I may have to put seats higher on the To Do list though. I really don't like them. 

[HillmanImp]

Does it smell warm when the light comes on? Does not look warm on the gauge like does it. I would expect it to come on much higher than that.

[dollywobbler]

So would I. Certainly doesn't show any symptoms of overheating. I might downgrade that symptom to 'ignore.' 

[AnthonyG]

I'm not sure those holes will survive a Welsh winter. But as a swop for an end of life Sirion, it's a brilliant deal!

[Jozza]

I would like a second opinion on the overheating. As you say, the light seems to cut in very quickly even when the gauge is just over half - ie where you'd expect the fan to cut in.

 

 

Are you sure someone hasn't got something wrong when they put the luxury MG dash in, and somehow wired the fan sender switch into the warning light? I can't think how you'd do that but it seems an awfully convenient set of symptoms

[HillmanImp]

So would I. Certainly doesn't show any symptoms of overheating. I might downgrade that symptom to 'ignore.' 

 

I once put a Rizla over the temperature gauge of an Imp using the 'what I can't see can't hurt me' idea and it blew up approx 350 miles later. However in this case I think you might be okay.

[purplebargeken]

Holes - added lightness = moar speed!

 

That looks bloody awfully shite! You are to be congratulated upon your purchase Sir.

[hairnet]

if the gauge is sat on half but the light comes on and theres no overheating smell

 

its the light

 

had bikes do that in the past and its the switch that runs the light

 

arent vans a bit basic to be havin rev counters?

[PhilA]

How did BL make the light occur? Is it a fancy thermistor (needle) and bimetallic strip (light) combined sensor in the block? The bimetallic strip pieces in mine are notorious for not working correctly, causing the "overheat" light to either come on at the wrong time or not at all.

 

Being as it's doing it intermittently and when warm suggests something like a five quid sensor. If it's BL electronics deciding that if(EngineHot.steam)then{blinkylight}; then you may be better just disconnecting the light...

 

--Phil

[robinmasters]

Always had a soft spot for maestro vans, dunno why. I'm also amused because if you search for #newcar on twitter you get loads of people looking extremely happy in front of their BMW 120d or Honda Whatever, then pics of a rusty maestro van show uptwats desperately trying to justify the massive finance payments to themselves, and dollywobbler.

 

EFA

[Noel Tidybeard]

when i had a 1.3 maestro i used a mg metro dash with a knackered speedo - got the correct speedo for maestro ( metro one read about 80 at 30 lol)

temp gauge was fine and dandy and the light didnt come on until fan belt snapped

 

whereas on a friends 1.3 maestro we fitted a dash from  a non mg metro with a rev counter and the temp gauge and light were out of calibration

 

maestro has a thermister for auto choke/management and separate temp switch for gauge

 

fan switch can be changed in a minute with less than a cup of water loss

[dollywobbler]

I think the gauge must be in calibration, as it behaves entirely as you'd expect. ie slowly moves up to halfway and never moves much from there. I'm not sure why it has a gauge AND a light though. S'pose it's to get your attention, but why then have them fed by different sensors?

 

Anyway. Main task today is to see if a 2CV pedal rubber will fit, as there isn't one on the clutch pedal. This plus yesterday's wet weather caused interesting moments. Then its off to the Tinkering Session to catch up with some ex-fleet members.

[dollywobbler]

Just discovered that the offside rear tyre was at 60psi! The offside front was also loads over the recommended 26psi. How odd. Rears are recommended to be at 40-46psi but seeing as I'm not using it heavily laden, I've opted for 36psi. Suspect the nearside rear has a puncture, but the tyre looks pretty iffy anyway. 

 

In other news, I've managed to bodge a 2CV pedal rubber onto the clutch pedal. It's an old, broken rubber which is good, as the pedal is a different shape to a 2CV one. Should at least stop my foot slipping until I get a proper replacement.

[Cavcraft]

I'll have to apologise for that, Ian. I'm normally quite fussy about tyre pressures but hadn't checked them at all. I suspect it's probably been like that because of a dodgy gauge in a petrol station or something.

 

Definitely better to have lower (than 46psi) in the back as you said, it was quite skitter anyhow and having them right up isn't going to help. It's a great little work horse and the engine seems to be a pearl, very willing and happy to cruise along without any fuss.

[cort16]

I ended up with two tyres at about 60psi on my merc because of a dodgy compressor at a petrol station. I just thought it was slow in actual fact it was broken.

[Lukas]

The Carina E would have been the better bet.

 

I´m looking forward to the horrors you will encounter with this brilliant  piece of british motoring...  

[KruJoe]

Rover 200 seats are usually comfy enough, but those look like ones from a sportier model than mine. They probably had to be modified to fit.

I fitted front chairs from a Rover Metro into my Maestro, they were a vast improvement over the collapsing originals. From memory, any Metro / Rover 100 ones will bolt right in.

[beko1987]

Surely some comfy leather seats are they way forward?

[vulgalour]

That looks bloody tragic.  You can only imagine how jealous I am of you right now.

[Noel Tidybeard]

you might want to put the proper big headlights in as they are rather good- ironically the small ones were fitted to reduce costs when broken but the glass on the bigger lights is replaceable and were cheaper to buy than the "cheap" lights

[vulgalour]

I wanted to fit van lights to my Ledbury because I think they look better than the hatchback lights.

[panhard65]

There is one hatch light amongst the pile of bits I have got. I can have a look to see which side if you want.