Tommy's A-series Misery - Back on the Welding

[HMC]

Excellent, top work and an iconic bit of speccing from the first owner; that’s fantastic to see its survived.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

3 hours ago, phil_lihp said:

This is absolutely brilliant - I have a long-held mild desire for a Montego estate

Whenever I think Montego estate, I think back to sitting in the front of my father's e plate Ford Orion on the morning school run. We regularly used to see a Monty estate of similar vintage with the optional extra boot seats fitted. The owner's two lads used to enjoy pulling faces at whatever car was behind them as they faced out of the rear window. I don't think I've ever seen another family motor with rear facing extra seats aside from the aforementioned Montego.

[lesapandre]

Reminds me of school coach trips...a favourite was cutting out page 3 models from the Sun and putting them up in the back window of the coach on the motorway...happy days.

Quite a few cars do have the rear seats, old Citroen DS I think and Mercedes certainly...but you don't often see them in use.

[big_al_granvia]

28 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Whenever I think Montego estate, I think back to sitting in the front of my father's e plate Ford Orion on the morning school run. We regularly used to see a Monty estate of similar vintage with the optional extra boot seats fitted. The owner's two lads used to enjoy pulling faces at whatever car was behind them as they faced out of the rear window. I don't think I've ever seen another family motor with rear facing extra seats aside from the aforementioned Montego.

option on volvo v70, xc70 and xc90

[big_al_granvia]

that monty is so bad its good, they used to be a popular towcar. but a 1.3 a-series???? at least drop in a turbo out a mg metro

[Dick Cheeseburger]

28 minutes ago, big_al_granvia said:

option on volvo v70, xc70 and xc90

Every day's a school day. 

[Zantimisfit]

I don't have the words....... It's just a wonderful find. Well done. Impressed!!

As an aside, didnt realise you could get a 1.3 in Estate shape

[Bren]

My god.

Like mullet's, fingerless gloves and filofaxes it hasn't aged well.

That poor engine - worked harder than Julio Iglesias toothbrush.

Those seats need to go in the sea. Trying to find povo spec trim is on a par with finding cheap houses and unicorn piss. Many base cars didn't have head restraints - even the L only had hollow square headrests.

I'll be amazed if the wheel bearings are'nt noisy.

Watching with mucho interest.

 

[Bren]

 

fucking hell - sounds like my dad has been there.

[sharley17194]

im always hiding somewhere working out how to buy more shite, or in this cause encourage good behaviours!

17 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

good to see Sharleys face again!

 

[sharley17194]

For those wanted to see the second half of the journey and master piece....head over....being as all of autoshite seems to be here!!

 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

13 hours ago, big_al_granvia said:

option on volvo v70, xc70 and xc90

The XC90 has proper forward facing seats , but yes the V70 and XC70 had the traditional 140,240,  740 style.

As did the MK1 Laguna and 406.  The most modern car I can think of, so equipped is the Tesla Model S.

I owned a c reg Audi 100 Avant with the factory rear facing seat and the well was so deep , I could comfortably sit there, the next 100/A6 was also available with areas facing seat too.

Audi 100

Laguna

406

Tesla.

Can you tell I’ve got 4 kids ?  
My kids hated sitting in the back of Montegos looking at the caravan for 800 miles, but they were company cars with company fuel, so that’s what we went on holiday in. When I left to start my own business , I bought a 505 Family then a 21 Savanah, which they much preferred, then a whole series of MPVs.

[Tommyboy12]

17 minutes ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

The XC90 has proper forward facing seats , but yes the V70 and XC70 had the traditional 140,240,  740 style.

As did the MK1 Laguna and 406.  The most modern car I can think of, so equipped is the Tesla Model S.

I owned a c reg Audi 100 Avant with the factory rear facing seat and the well was so deep , I could comfortably sit there, the next 100/A6 was also available with areas facing seat too.

Audi 100

Laguna

406

Tesla.

Can you tell I’ve got 4 kids ?  
My kids hated sitting in the back of Montegos looking at the caravan for 800 miles, but they were company cars with company fuel, so that’s what we went on holiday in. When I left to start my own business , I bought a 505 Family then a 21 Savanah, which they much preferred, then a whole series of MPVs.

I remember many an hour sat on the rear facing seats in a Volvo 740 I think it was (might have been a 960). It was very dull facing backwards but making faces at drivers was always entertaining!

Alas this Montego has an empty wheel well instead of the 7 seats. Im not sure 67hp would cope very well with a 1015kg and 7 people though!

[theorganist]

I am glad this has found a good home and the mystery of the engine has been cleared up. I caused quite a debate on Facebook when it appeared on ebay!

The 1.3 wasn't too bad in the Montego (the saloon at least) I knew someone who had one and found it nippy. Certainly much more so than Fords offering in the 1.3 Cortina and Sierra which had glacial acceleration at best. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

23 hours ago, Dobloseven said:

Why don't they make sensible boxy estates like that anymore? ....

Because SUVs.

[eddyramrod]

2 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

I remember many an hour sat on the rear facing seats in a Volvo 740 I think it was (might have been a 960). It was very dull facing backwards but making faces at drivers was always entertaining!

Alas this Montego has an empty wheel well instead of the 7 seats. Im not sure 67hp would cope very well with a 1015kg and 7 people though!

Yeah, my 740 GLE estate had the rear-facing third row, which did get used occasionally.  I think that was the only car I had with so many seats.  Certainly none of my subsequent Volvos have been so equipped.

[ETCHY]

A 1.3 Montego estate with almost 300k on it and a crab on the dashboard.

The automotive equivalent of beating yourself with a stick with nails in.

Bloody well bought😁

[MrBen]

Love this, takes me back to 1989 when my Dad replaced his rusting mk2 Escort with a B-reg Montego 1.3 Saloon.  Complete with A-frame headrests with zero padding, an AM-only radio, no side mouldings, 4-speed gearbox, but with the exciting addition of a set of wheel trims to bring it bang up to date in 1989!   Recall the excitement of my Mum getting it up to an indicated 90 once, such things had never been seen in our family before!  It also had a special safety control device for snow - it simply wouldn't start when it snowed, so you couldn't crash it. 

It was seen only once after he sold it in 1993, being driven by a local minicabber who no doubt got a few fares out of it before it rusted to oblivion.  The mk3 Cavalier that Dad replaced it with seemed like something from the future in comparison!

[vulgalour]

How spectacularly miserable a thing that is, fantastic purchase!

[Tommyboy12]

It lives! I got impatient and wanted to hear it start! There was plenty of oil in the sump and a green coolant bottle filled with petrol under the bonnet which smelt ok so thought I would give it a whirl.

Videos will be inbound later but im dead chuffed. First attempt I used one of those little handheld battery jump packs which wasnt man enough for the job with a completely dead battery. The tiny cables got very hot.

Second attempt I pulled the 063 battery out of my Mini and hooked it up with some big jump leads. Second turn of the key it fired straight into life with nothing more than a bit of choke! Not bad considering the seller told me it hadnt been run for at least two years.

The cassette deck works and sounds very warbly and uneven, but more importantly the econometer works! I rocked it in gear and it moves forward and backward, although its very difficult to select first gear. No chance to check the clutch properly but the pedal felt ok.

The exhaust is blowing on the downpipe and the carb is weeping from the fuel bowl but it ran nicely and gives me even more enthusiasm to get it on the road!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Well bought. Top shiteing.

[chompy_snake]

On 7/26/2021 at 11:52 AM, Tommyboy12 said:

 

The previous owner was a doctor with a pilots license born in 1940 so I imagine he will be an old chap if he is still around. I've found traveling doctor cards and some other practitioner cards. His age probably explains the drop off in mileage.

You may have purchased Harold Shipman's motor .... he was a busy man and born in the 40's 🤔

[lesapandre]

Except he didn't practice in Norfolk and certainly was no pilot.

Sounds like a hard-working rural doctor had that. 

If he's still about nice to reunite him with his car when its repaired...you never know...perhaps raise some money for our NHS too.

[Eyersey1234]

One chodtastic Monty there well bought. 

[Eyersey1234]

Reminds me of the C reg Monty Estate my dad had when I was about 5 or 6. I loved that car. RIP C441 MWE. Never understood why it was made in 1986, according to the DVLA not registered until 1989 and got a C plate 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I suddenly feel a song coming on:

 

[Fumbler]

I prefer this 

 

 

[High Jetter]

Just remembered, the drummer of the band I was a member of in the 90s had a Monty estate for a while. Not only could it carry his kit, but the PA and the lighting rig too. Being a 1.6, it was a tad slow fully-loaded, my dizzle Bluebird was significantly quicker.

[Bren]

My dad had two montegos.

B33COX replaced his series 1 2300 rover. Rust and a propensity to drop onto five cylinders ( one plug kept oiling up) meant it had to go.

The montego was a 1.6 L estate in moonraker blue. It was nippy and good on fuel but he didn't have it long - interest rates were creeping up (1989) and various issues meant it got punted on.

D597RMA was a vanden plas efi. Resprayed before it's 7th birthday rot sealed its fate - the metal around the rear struts went. Even the windscreen came out.

[adw1977]

Excellent purchase!

There was never a factory built 1.3 estate, the 1.3 engine was only ever available in the base saloon.  5 speed gearbox was an optional extra on the 1.3 and 1.6 base saloons and 1.6 base estates, so the gearbox could be original to the car or have been transplanted along with the engine.  Either way, this is probably the only Montego 1.3 estate in existence.