project Maestro, please.

[BeEP]

Compare exhibit A - a Mini or ado16 radiator stuck at the side of the engine bay (which cools the a-series satisfactorily when in good condition) wih exhibit B - the much larger Maestro radiator at the front of the engine bay cooling the same engine.  From my Maestro experience, in cold conditions such as we're currently experiencing the behaviour is normal.  Although it's obviously worth replacing the thermostat to rule it out, possibly with one which opens at a higher temperature.

[tooSavvy]

Slightly offtopic... I noted the Toyota temp sender, for the gauge, is mounted in the 'water from radiator' side of the thermostat housing >> the needle would drop if the engine wasnt working hard but heater would still melt ya Crocs

 

[Craig the Princess]

  On 06/01/2021 at 12:19, vulgalour said:

First part of the Maestro leak hunt.

 

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I wish my car greeted me opening the boot with the little fanfare your Maestro does at 0:24

[vulgalour]

Not after the fifth time you don't.  Gave in and squirted some lubricant about the place to sort that out, same on the really loud rear door hinge.  Been digging through my fabric and hardware supplies and I reckon I've enough stuff to put a muff together from leftovers.  Had a look at the design of some other muffs and they look to be a very simple thing.  The Maestro grille is a really simple shape so I just need to make a padded square, vinly on the outside to keep the water out, a good thick cotton or canvas or something of that sort on the back to protect the paint on the grille, some padding between the layers to make it look nice and possibly give a bit more insulation against wind shear.  Some eyelets on the corners so you can tie the muff to the grille and then an optional flap in the middle held in place with press studs (which I don't have) or really sturdy velcro (which I do).

It'll make for neat video since it's a good crossover of car and sewing stuff.

[tooSavvy]

I seem to remember (waaayyy back ITD) cable pulled roller blind rad covers. Back of E&M oof!

https://mgaguru.com/mgtech/accessories/at107.htm

Also a neat venetian blind, made of some robust weatherproof stiff material, might be a neat little project...

Either one will be on all year, ready for Summer [joke...]

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

without wishing to sound like i'm pissing on your parade- the silver/body coloured grille actually only feeds less than half of the rad the bottom (black) does most of the work

 

iirc there are two stat options for a-series 88* & 92*

[vulgalour]

I know about the extra vent.  That should mean that even with the muff on, the engine won't overheat since it's always getting air supplied.  It might be that the stat is just duff.  Either way, making a muff is a fun project and it'll be useful to learn how to do should it turn out that the Lanchester needs one.

[vulgalour]

A boring base spec hatchback, and a Maestro.

[Noel Tidybeard]

stashed in the boot of you renner 12 there was a black fibreboard device which was designed to slot in front of the radiator- standard!

[vulgalour]

So much for using the leftover vinyl for making a muff, it turned out to be the most impossible material to sew and generated two very failed attempts.  I found an alternative solution, when I've tested it, I'll report back on the efficacy.

[vulgalour]

Verdict:  Moderate improvement.  I'll leave the fix in place for now and move on to other jobs.

[Austin-Rover]

If you're planning to come back to change the thermostat (and it sounds like you need to), then start WD40-ing the three bolts on the housing now, and every day until you come to do the job! 😄

[vulgalour]

Thank you for the reminder!  I'll be doing that starting tomorrow.

[vulgalour]

New thermostat arrived today and cured the cold running issue.  That's one job down.  I've got a video coming on that to go into more detail, I got very lucky and did not have to employ a single hammer!  Car now gets up to temperature quickly and sits at 1/4-1/3 on the gauge and there's enough heat coming into the cabin now that I don't have to drive with gloves on.

Exhaust blow has been found!  It's what I assume is a join right underneath the engine, the bit where the springs go on.  I only saw it because it was cold enough to make plenty of visible vapour.  That also goes a way to explaining why the smell of exhaust gets into the cabin at idle sometimes but not when moving.

The water leak now seems limited to the passenger door seal and the tailgate glass seal so I'll be ordering some new generic door seals and another tube of Arbomast to hopefully solve those.  For once, there was no water in the driver's footwell.

I'll go over some of this in better detail once the new video goes up on Tuesday, this is more just to remind me of what's going on and to give you a quick update.

[rusty998]

The trim on the outside of the rear window is just for show as it's a bonded glass and the bond acts as the seal and fixing, is the rear window loose?

[vulgalour]

I'm suspecting that the bond on front and rear screens has failed in a couple of spots and that the Arbomast is simply filling the gaps.  It's also helping to hold down the trim which will help keep more water out.  For the tailgate you can see it coming out inside on the back panel, and the only place it looks to be able to get in (the wiring thingies at the top of the tailgate are bone dry) is the window itself.  I'll just keep pumping it full of Arbomast until it stops leaking.  Nice thing with Arbomast is that unlike silicone sealant, you can just clean it all off if you have to so it's a nice fully reversible solution.  Front and rear screens aren't loose either, they're nice and secure, but the windscreen is starting to delaminate a tiny bit in one corner so the water has clearly got in.

[Noel Tidybeard]

1/4 - 1/3 still seems a bit low my 1.3 always sat 1 needle width below 1/2 even in winter- summer maybe on the line of 1/2

has yours got sound deadning on bonnet? i used to take mine off for summer just so fan was on less

[vulgalour]

No sound deadening on this one, bonnet shuts with a delightfully embarrassing clang.  Fresh coolant may help with the temperature side of things, it's brownish now, rather than blueish (I assume blue in this one), I just don't like doing water changes in the winter, much prefer doing it in spring/autumn.

[Low Horatio gearbox]

Enjoying the bASeness of this . On the leaky boot end , have you considered or checked the wiper mount or lock fitting for a failed seal/gasket?

[purplebargeken]

Rear light cluster seals too?

[GrumpiusMaximus]

  On 11/01/2021 at 19:22, vulgalour said:

A boring base spec hatchback, and a Maestro.

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Got picked up in that car park by my mate's Dad in a Bentley Continental back in 2005.  On balance, either of these would have been fine steeds too.

[vulgalour]

Small world, Grumpius.

Water leak wise, I'm actually further on identifying the issue than the videos, so at risk of spoiling* the surprise, it looks to be coming in not through the wiper spindle, or wiring, but through the bonding of the rear screen itself.  It also seems to be coming in through the lens of the rear light cluster on the driver's side (I did eliminate the seal as a culprit here, rather too successfully, which made getting the light cluster back off a chore), and possibly through the bumper mounting bolt holes.  I ran out of Arbomast to seal the whole window and I haven't yet been able to stop the water getting into the light cluster, or encourage it to drain out of the cluster onto the floor, rather than into the boot.  Up front it's definitely the windscreen seal/bond (more Arobmast required) and the passenger door seal.

I've got plenty of improvements lined up for the Maestro, parts waiting to go on, I just have a backlog of videos and it keeps raining too much so I can't do the outside jobs I want to lately.

[Peter C]

  On 10/01/2021 at 21:46, adw1977 said:

Sounds like the reverse of a Peugeot 309 I owned years ago.  If you went slower than 30mph for more than about five minutes it would start to overheat.  Every urban journey had to be done with the heater on max and the windows open.

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About 25 years ago I had exactly the same issue with a 405 SRi. TADTS?

[Noel Tidybeard]

drill a smoll hole in light unit for waterexitness- my renner 19 was less fishtanklike after!

[egg]

  On 17/01/2021 at 00:20, vulgalour said:

I've got plenty of improvements lined up for the Maestro

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And this is the winter hack!! Looking forward to better weather, and who knows, an AS Kent meet if we all get our jabs etc.

[ETCHY]

  On 11/01/2021 at 19:22, vulgalour said:

A boring base spec hatchback, and a Maestro.

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Just look at the size of the windows on the Maestro compared to the VW ! Cars have really gone backwards in the respect of visibility.

Doesn't the Maestro now look so deliciously cool & 1980's. It was a good shape, IMO aged much better than say a Mk3 Escort.

[vulgalour]

Looks like things have bedded in now, running at a far healthier temperature than when it arrived, and gets there in a far shorter time.  Never goes above half gauge.

[Noel Tidybeard]

fan should come on roughly the same distance above 1/2

[vulgalour]

I think we'll have to wait for summer before that happens.

[Fumbler]

  On 19/01/2021 at 14:54, vulgalour said:

I think we'll have to wait for summer before that happens.

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A nice motorway journey might do it too. Then again, not much justification to go on the motorway I can find.