Tommy's A-series Misery - Resuming normal programming

[Isaac Hunt]

10 hours ago, 5speedracer said:

Recall a mate having a 1.6 Montego of this vintage as a company car and the cambelt giving up at a junction in Galashiels. Interference engine and apparently quite common on that engine.

I had a 1990 Montego with an S Series Engine in it.  Cambelt had been replaced whilst it was my fleet car.  I was having the engine ‘pressure washed’ by a guy down the local car auctions when the fekkin stopped running and wouldn’t restart.  It turned over but wouldn’t fire.  Some investigation concluded the Cam Belt had let go.  I towed the fekker home.  Phoned up a mate of mine in the trade “tell me how fekked it is gonna be”.  1.6 S series you say, “yes”.  You be fine, it is a safe engine.  He was right, one new belt later and we were back in business.

i’d watch that crab if I was you, looking at the interior hygiene that might not be the only crab you catch.

[Tommyboy12]

I have been gathering parts...

It genuinely looks like some of these boxes have been on the shelf since the car was new! 😂

Unfortunately the brake discs I bought were vented and my car is soooo poverty spec that it even has solid front discs!

[tooSavvy]

A trawl for suitable 'vented disc' spec calipers could work out beneficial....

Brakes work for a stop as hard in 'shed spec' as EFi.....

Following this with interest (hope you don't follow me with SOLID discs... )

[Microwave]

I've got a pair of Maestro front seats you're welcome to have, if you'd like. I might still swap my drivers seat with the spare pictured, but they're the same pattern regardless.

There's also a good fucking reason why your headlining is the way it is 😁

[Tommyboy12]

New boots on my steed. Poor tyre fitter is struggling with *slightly* bent wheel lips. He's having to beat them back into shape... 😂

[Tommyboy12]

It's also given me an opportunity to have a proper look underneath. Pretty good is my assessment! Given its 35 years old and 280k!

There's a small hole in the wheel well on the rear that's going to need a slight tickle with the welder but it's not a difficult repair.

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 29/07/2021 at 09:16, 5speedracer said:

Recall a mate having a 1.6 Montego of this vintage as a company car and the cambelt giving up at a junction in Galashiels. Interference engine and apparently quite common on that engine.

s-series is NOT  interference engine

belt snapped twice on mine

[Talbot]

Were there not two different 1.6 engines fitted to both Maestro and Montego, one of which was interference, the other not?  Sure I heard that somewhere many moons ago.

[wuvvum]

There were two different 1.6s in Maestros - R series in the early cars and S series later on.  Don't recall whether either / both were interference though.  Also don't think the Montego got the R as by the time it came out the S was ready.

Good to see how sound the old crate is underneath.  I'd been expecting a lot more grot than that if I'm honest.

[5speedracer]

2 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

s-series is NOT  interference engine

belt snapped twice on mine

30+ years ago but I recall he got a change of car out of it but I'll defer to your knowledge as I have no clue what engine was in it.

[phil_lihp]

Looks pretty good considering the age, mileage and general appearance of it - always nice to get a new set of tyres on an old heap, much else to do for an MOT then?

[Peter C]

I hope for your sake that the front bottom ball joints don’t need doing on your Monty.

I watched Flipping Bangers yesterday, where Gus replaced the front bottom ball joints on an MG Maestro - looked like a right fucker of a job!

[Tommyboy12]

1 hour ago, Peter C said:

I hope for your sake that the front bottom ball joints don’t need doing on your Monty.

I watched Flipping Bangers yesterday, where Gus replaced the front bottom ball joints on an MG Maestro - looked like a right fucker of a job!

Ball joints don't look too bad. Factory they're riveted in but you cut the rivets and the replacement bolts in. Thankfully they look ok.

2 hours ago, phil_lihp said:

Looks pretty good considering the age, mileage and general appearance of it - always nice to get a new set of tyres on an old heap, much else to do for an MOT then?

A handbrake cable, blowing exhaust and the wipers need looking at as they don't work. I'm going to do a few remedial things too just to show I'm making an effort. Plus lashings of waxoyl.

Spent some time after work getting the carb off. I noticed a fuel leak from the bowl when I got it running and now I've got it off and stripped I have no idea how it ran! Perished seals and full of crud. I bought a seal/gasket kit as the shaft has no play.

Also observe my throttle cable held together with a chocolate block and my overflow wrapped in electrical tape!

Apologies for the picture quality my good phone is off for repair and this old phone takes terrible pictures.

[catsinthewelder]

That looks amazingly shonky, can't wait to see her back on the road.

If you look through old MOTs and see a huge jump it could be a fault with the clocks.  My 88 Sherpa has the same ones and the previous owner told me that there is a fault with them where the barrels can jam and roll over together which is why my van shows 981k (MOT tester did the same as me and just read it as 98k).

[Austin-Rover]

8 hours ago, Talbot said:

Were there not two different 1.6 engines fitted to both Maestro and Montego, one of which was interference, the other not?  Sure I heard that somewhere many moons ago.

The Maestro had two 1.6 engines. The first one was the R Series, which is a warmed over E Series, and chain driven. The later S Series has a cam belt, and as already stated is non-interference. The R Series never went in to the Montego.

[Tommyboy12]

12 hours ago, catsinthewelder said:

That looks amazingly shonky, can't wait to see her back on the road.

If you look through old MOTs and see a huge jump it could be a fault with the clocks.  My 88 Sherpa has the same ones and the previous owner told me that there is a fault with them where the barrels can jam and roll over together which is why my van shows 981k (MOT tester did the same as me and just read it as 98k).

Thanks! It will look shonky but I will do everything it needs to be safe and run properly

Anyone have any advice on flushing the cooling system thoroughly? The rubber pipes are crunchy when squeezed... I am tempted to remove them but I suspect none of them will come off cleanly or easily!

[Talbot]

Two dishwasher tablets in fresh water in the cooling system.  Run around for a couple of hours.  Rinse and repeat as necessary.  Dishwasher tabs are designed for contactless cleaning, and to be compatible with all sorts of different metals, plastics etc.  Just make sure it's properly rinsed out once you're done.

[mk2_craig]

Well purchased!! You must be a glutton for punishment. 

Local fuzz had a few saloons in the eighties, regularly making cameo appearances in Jimmy Burgermac:

The variety in wheels being evident here.

[Noel Tidybeard]

20 hours ago, 5speedracer said:

30+ years ago but I recall he got a change of car out of it but I'll defer to your knowledge as I have no clue what engine was in it.

whereas the 2 litter* was interference so that would've gone bang

 

 

*should be spoken in the accent of Jimmy Nail

[Tommyboy12]

Working from home has its advantages for a lunchtime tinkering. A replacement boot lock has been fitted! I suspect the original is seized as the key design is the same as the one for the doors. Not sure though, BL did like to use multiple keys. Regardless I'm not too worried about a different key for the boot.

No rear speakers here thank you very much. Oh and a Cork shoved in a hole instead of a rear wiper motor.

[theorganist]

22 hours ago, 5speedracer said:

30+ years ago but I recall he got a change of car out of it but I'll defer to your knowledge as I have no clue what engine was in it.

 

It is definitely a non-interference. My new Maestro has the S series and had an incorrectly fitted timing belt which thankfully hasn't done any damage.

[Noel Tidybeard]

1 hour ago, Tommyboy12 said:

the blue key is an original valet key which would not open the glovebox and maybe the boot

the key blank can be removed if you want to use the plastic bit!

[Tommyboy12]

A bit more progress tonight. Carb rebuilt now. It may have had a trip through the dishwasher once broken down 😂

[Bren]

I only realised the other day the first car I ever drove was my dad's montego estate when I was 16.

[Stanky]

68bhp from a carb fed 1275cc engine isn't bad. My first car, a 1992 golf cl with a 1391cc spi engine made do with 60bhp (once upon a time) and apparently weighted 990 kg, so about 10% heavier.

Top bombing though!

[Longbridge Apologist]

9 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

the blue key is an original valet key which would not open the glovebox and maybe the boot

the key blank can be removed if you want to use the plastic bit!

The Blue Key!!! I always thought I’d dreamt it up as a kid with a wild imagination (and obsession for car keys)…

[Tommyboy12]

Always good when you crack open a cars airbox to find this...

Edit: Not sure why its upside down, the picture is the right way up in my phone! But you get the idea!

[Bren]

So its been running rich.

Many years ago I found this on a vauxhall royale we owned - the carb was fooked - the previous keeper tried to compensate by removing the air filter.

[Tommyboy12]

Just now, Bren said:

So its been running rich.

Many years ago I found this on a vauxhall royale we owned - the carb was fooked - the previous keeper tried to compensate by removing the air filter.

It seems the lid is from a different type of A-series airbox as the tabs dont line up properly. Maybe one half is Maestro and the other is Montego? Not sure which way round it is. I tried fitting a filter and it wouldnt close properly so I have clipped it as best I can, screwed the single screw in place and wrapped it in duct tape. It may be the reason why there was no air filter in there but it doesnt fill me with hope that the car was run with an air filter!

I did note that the carb was tuned to about 4.5 turns out on the mixture screw which is pretty rich for a HIF44. I hadnt cracked open the airfilter at the time so reset it to 4.5 turns after rebuild but now im going to go back to a factory setting of 2 turns and start from there. Luckily I have plenty of experience tuning SU carbs!

[Austin-Rover]

There's only one type of air filter housing for the 1.3 Maestro/Montego. It can be a bit of a pain to get all the plastic parts to line up and get the filter sat correctly around the oval ridge inside but they will always go together and seal eventually, even if some of the clips are missing through previous ham-fistedness. It is best done with both parts off the car.

You'll probably also need to replace all the vacuum tubes while the air filter housing is off. Any leaky parts of the system and you'll never get it to run right and have no hope in sorting out the fuel mixture.