Grogee's spannering (Maestro & Mondeo IV). BIRTHDAY PRESENTS FOR THE MAESTRO

[grogee]

48 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

It is absolutely worth seeing in person.  My advice though is that if there is anything top fuel running, absolutely wear ear protection.

Normal stuff is loud and you can generally take it or leave it, but the top fuel stuff near enough knocks the breath out of you when it launches.

Ear plugs at the ready. 

Apparently there is a jet car there tomorrow. I think I saw one at Long Marston 30 years ago and it was unbelievably loud. 

[Zelandeth]

58 minutes ago, grogee said:

Ear plugs at the ready. 

Apparently there is a jet car there tomorrow. I think I saw one at Long Marston 30 years ago and it was unbelievably loud. 

The jet cars are loud - they don't have the same percussive violence though!  At least in my opinion.

[grogee]

This weekend, I are be mostly taking the front bumper off the Maestro. 

Why? 

Because it was a bit floppy and lopsided. One side was held on with a cunningly hidden cable tie, but it was a bodge I wanted to repair properly. 

Of course, the job turned into a mini front end restoration, but that's OK, it's nice weather and light evenings. 

The culprit was these bumper clips. It's had a small prang in the past and there's evidence of a bumper repair, it's not bad though and invisible from the outside. But these clips are of course NLA so I had to make the best of them. 

I did attempt a glue repair but it wasn't very successful so I ended up using cable ties to strengthen the clips. Fortunately I was able to swap left and right sides around, so the bumper pegs now rest on non-bent bits of clip, which means the bumper sits straight on the car. 

I did a couple of coats of zinc primer on any vulnerable bits. It's actually pretty good back there for 38 years old, and I only needed to wire brush/vactan the bumper clip mounts. 

Pleased to find a manly dual tone horn hiding in the nearside front. The bracket got a touch up and a new bolt. 

The bumper tubes also got a fresh lick of paint. 

While it was in levitating mode I bled the brakes to put fresh fluid in. In my head I'd done this recently but it was actually probably 2023.

MoT on Thursday - thoughts and prayers, people. 

[grogee]

MoT time for the 'Stro. 

It got a clean pass last year and has had some improvements since, eg rear wheel bearings. But I did notice that the ARB links are perishing. They are, of course, NLA. I did manage to bag one when it was sold on the Bay, but I'd prefer to do the pair. 

There is apparently a workaround using Golf mk1 parts. This is no surprise since BL put the Golf through its photocopier when designing the Maestro. 

However it needs some cylindrical shims to make this work so I haven't actually got round to doing it yet. 

(Pic is not my car, taken from the M&M nerd forum) 

[grogee]

OMG FAIL

But actually not really a fail. 

The bulb holders like to corrode and make a bad connection to the bulb, so I think with a wiggle the naughty fog light will come back on. 

Result. 

[grogee]

Normal service is resumed. 

[Verysleepyboy]

 

On 22/05/2026 at 22:59, Zelandeth said:

The jet cars are loud - they don't have the same percussive violence though!  At least in my opinion.

As a spectator, the jet cars are impressive but a little repetitive.

 

As a competitor sat in the lanes whilst they go through, they are a right PITA - lots of fuss and delay followed by 10 seconds of noise then a 15 minute clear up down the track!!

[grogee]

Been using the Maestro a bit because "Monty" the Mondeo is poorly with a squeaky wheel bearing, to be dealt with tomorrow if the stars align. 

Felt pretty smug that I'd got to the bottom of the idling-stalling problem. Then just as I was approaching home on Friday, it gone dun conked out at traffic lights. 

You bastard. It'll be getting the Cleese birch branch treatment before long. 

Given that the replacement fuel pressure regulator looked as crusty as the one it replaced, maybe I'm just unlucky and it's failed again (not E5 compatible, probably). 

Next step is to fit the Volvo 240 FPR I'd bought as a fallback. It needs a bit of fettling as the standard return pipe has a weird metal tube that hooks onto the throttle body, which has a union to the FPR. But the Volvo one has a 8mm barbed end for a flexible pipe. I can fix this with a new length of fuel pipe to the fixed steel return line, which I've now purchased. Stainless hose clips because MASTER TECHNICIAN. 

[grogee]

Fitted the FPR. I was going to replace the return hose but I felt lazy and couldn't be bothered to stretch through all the brake pipes to remove the clip on the flexible pipe to the metal return line. 

Fashioned an anti-chafe solution with a bit of plastic hose, as it has to run a different route to the old setup now.

Then, I fitted this seat belt buckle. The old one had lost its plastic housing and a Montego one came up on the Bay so I bought it. 

Not exactly the same as the bit I took off, but close enough. "She'll do"

Got a charity car rally in Lincs (countryside bimble, not an actual competitive time trial) next weekend so hopefully it'll behave and get me there and back. 

[High Jetter]

Red seat belts for winnahs!

[Zelandeth]

Don't mean to be a killjoy, but please keep an eye on that fuel hose like a hawk.  I'd not trust fuel line from eBay/Amazon/Halfords/etc further than I can throw it based on my experiences over the last ten years or so.  On a car that's not being used every day therefore where decay might not be spotted so quickly that's all the more important.

https://www.glencoeltd.co.uk/cohline-fuel-vacuum-hose/

Yes it's expensive in comparison to the aforementioned sources.  However it's fit-and-forget and won't be responsible for your car burning to the ground when it randomly decides to turn to powder after six months.

 

Rant over...really hope that does sort the issue you've been having.  Trying to fault find things like that which only happen infrequently under very specific conditions can really make you lose your mind.

[grogee]

20 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

please keep an eye on that fuel hose like a hawk

Sure, but

On 13/06/2026 at 18:38, grogee said:

I was going to replace the return hose but I felt lazy and couldn't be bothered

So it's good old original BL rubber from the 80s. I will be keeping an eye on it though, just in case it doesn't like the new routing. 

Today I took the Mondeo to @Andyrew for OSF suspension surgery. 

Although I paid A Garage to fit the new shock, the old wheel bearing was screeching. And the driveshaft was still stuck in the hub. 

So having bought every conceivable spare part, we attacked the old bits. 

The knuckle, hub and wheel bearing had to come out together. 

I'm ashamed to say that the new wheel bearing I'd pressed into the new knuckle wasn't pressed in far enough, so we had issues when reassembling... Then an ABS light, then a complete meltdown & limp mode when the transmission got confused due to no wheel speed input. 

Fortunately, thanks to Andy's considerable expertise, he spotted my schoolboy error and managed to disassemble the knuckle and fully press home the hub/bearing. 

Normal service resumed and I'm hoping to not touch the Mondeo for a while now. Famous last words. 

[grogee]

Maestro plugs. 

I took them out to have a look and see if it's running rich with the non-standard FPR. 

They look OK to me but I'd welcome other opinions. 

Of course, I mullered one of them while removing it. Luckily I had a spare set ready to go, so it's been treated to new plugs anyway. 

Went for a long-ish drive today in the sunshine and it performed almost faultlessly. I lost the indicators for some reason, so apologies to the traffic around me this afternoon. 

Having experienced this problem before, I knew to give the hazard switch a few presses to clean the contacts. I think there's something moisture-sensitive in there that goes FUBAR after a year or two.

Anyway, they're working again now, so I washed it ready for a car show in Lincs on Sunday. 

[Sunny Jim]

Good to hear that it looks as though you've sorted the running problems (hope I haven't jinxed anything by saying that!). Hope you have a good run to Lincs for the show.

[grogee]

Lincs achieved. 

It actually seems to be running pretty well at the moment, although I don't want to jinx it. 

[grogee]

In position. The Alfa is in exalted company. Rally kicks off 1:30ish.

[grogee]

Moar pics. 

I took a wrong turn and bumped a hedge, dislodging the front "splitter" (plastic bit under the bumper). Fortunately easily repaired with a screwdriver, but at some point I'll need to get under it and just double check it's OK. 

Plenty of DHC Sherpas.

This thing, and a light van

E-type with bonnet in summer mode

This Lancia was too nice really, put everything else in the shade. 

These things

[grogee]

It's my birthday soon so naturally I've bought presents for myself. 

Like a knob, I'd assumed all steering wheel bosses have the same PCD for fitting whatever wheel. Wrong! 

Luckily the wheel I bought just happens to fit the spline pattern on the Maestro. Maybe it came from something else British? 

I like it, I do like the feel of firm wood on my palms. I've filled the centre hole with a matt black blanking plug, so it looks better now. 

I know there will be haters but I've kept the original and it's a 2 min job to change. Nu_Mrs Grogee is buying me a wooden knob to go with it. 

I also like vibrations. 

Bought this under-seat sub from the car boot thread (thanks @Imhotep) and finally got round to fitting it. 

Not straightforward, I took both front seats out and lifted the carpets to get the relevant power and signal wiring under the driver's seat. Had to fit a little junction box thing for the battery wire which is also feeding the rear amp that drives 6x9s on the parcel shelf. 

Once that was done I was able to fit another birthday present, this time from my stepdad. I really wanted one of those period-look units like @Skcat bought, but this was a budget option (£40) that does the same thing but doesn't look as nice. If you squint though, it sort of looks like an old Alpine... maybe. 

It's a shallow unit and quite lightweight but it enabled me to ditch all sorts of outdated gadgetry that was filling the footwell. So the old Parrot handsfree has gone, as well as a Digitizor DAB tuner that squirts DAB into the FM antenna (I have one of these in the Mondeo as well). 

I've also ditched the heavy subwoofer that lived in the boot. Sounded good but I didn't like the look of it when opening the boot - I'm 51, not 15.

[MrBiscuits]

It deffo looks a bit like a 90s Alpine. I thought that's what it was until I zoomed in. 

That steering wheel boss is a Mountney I think. A 13" Mountney wheel and dodgy column drop bracket were the first things I used to fit in any Mini.

Your wooden wonder reminds me of the sort you used to see in 'customised' Merc 190s. A nice upgrade though.

[Wibble]

I’m actually sad that you’ve changed the wheel. Originality is what I like but it’s your car and your choice.