Grogee's spannering (Puma, Maestro , Corsa & Avensis). MAESTRO MALAISE

[grogee]

Been oot again tinkering with Saab 9000. Soldered on a new thermal fuse and plugged the blower resistor back in the fan box thing, I've now got all four fan speeds back. 

Having done that I then took on the duff air direction control, which has turned out to be a disconnected UJ rod arrangement behind the heating controls. It's a bit of a fiddle to get back together because it sort of needs to be in position to connect it, but you can't get to it if it's in position. Etc. 

Anyway Mrs Grogee came out and demanded I come back inside because it's too hot. To be fair I was dripping a bit even though the doors and windows were open. I agreed on condition of getting an ice cream, luckily she'd just been to the shop.

Just got to get the heating controls back in and hooked up to the cables etc then good to go.

Saab has been quite clever in attempting to made the manual cable/rotary controls 'feel' electric by building in some convincing 'clicks' in their operation. They're certainly better than the stiff rubbishy knobs I had in my NG900.

It's fun poking around old cars. Saab obviously felt the squeak & rattle potential of the wiring harnesses was sufficient to specify a sturdy looking sports sock over each branch. Nowadays it would be a nasty bit of sticky foam that would disintegrate after the warranty period. 

[grogee]

Mrs Grogee, who is famously anti-shite, has just seen an ad on FB marketplace for an '88 Mini project for £1500. Showed me, I said 'lovely' and thought nothing more of it. 

Ten minutes later she says, "How quickly could you fix and sell the Saab 9000? How much could you get on your credit card? You could fix it up, not to sell, but to keep and use."

Where did THIS come from? Not only is it MORE CARS it's also BORROWED MONEY, both of which are verboten, or so I thought. 

I would post a pic but now she can't find the ad, so just imagine a light blue Mini on 12" wheels with black plastic wheelarches. And no MoT.

[grogee]

She found it and has enquired. 

[High Jetter]

Have you bought it yet?

[grogee]

3 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Have you bought it yet?

Once again the goalposts have shifted - it's now "you can put a deposit on it until you get rid of the Saab".

Out of interest I looked up the cost of a Heritage shell. They're £10k so that's a non starter.

[MrBiscuits]

I'm a mini fan, and I'd love another - but that looks like a world of pain. It will be a hot mess of epic rot and bodged repairs. How good is your welding?

[grogee]

2 hours ago, MrBiscuits said:

I'm a mini fan, and I'd love another - but that looks like a world of pain. It will be a hot mess of epic rot and bodged repairs. How good is your welding?

Let's just say I'm on the steep part of the learning curve. I did ok with a couple of patches on the Saab. 

You're probably right Kev it's a big project but anything affordable is going to be the same story, may as well go in eyes open. I mean it's basically a strip down and rebuild with new bits where necessary and an engine & gearbox rebuild. 

Anyway a bit academic now, I phoned the guy and I'm 3rd in the queue to view so it's probably gone anyway. 

[grogee]

Finally got the Saab dash back together. It's a bit of a logic puzzle because I couldn't connect the UJ rod with the air vent assembled but you can't get the air vent in through the facia, it mounts from behind. One of those jobs that needs three infinitely small hands. 

It is back together, sort of. I can't 'click' the fake wood facia back fully in position for some reason. It's not really noticeable I think, probably. 

Note the anti-rattle terry towelling harness sock - this is Saab, and we're SENSIBLE people. 

Took door card off for flappy cloth repairs, but need advice on what glue to use - see Ask A Shiter.

[MrBiscuits]

24 minutes ago, grogee said:

anything affordable is going to be the same story, may as well go in eyes open. 

I suppose you're right there. At least the values are pretty solid and you could in theory buy all the parts to make a new one. I'm just tainted by rose tinted memories of buying MOT'd runners for £500 out of the Hampshire Freeadds.

My last bit of welding was a mini - supposed to be a couple of patches, but ended with fabricating a whole inner sill and half the floor before I'd found anything clean enough to weld to.

 

[grogee]

Well I went to look at it. The seller was a nice guy and not taking the mick - I know there will be some of you that laugh about a project Mini for £1500, but that is the going rate these days. There's nothing driveable for less than £5k. 

Cursory look revealed a need for one new os sill, patch on ns sill, and some work on the scuttle. To be honest that's the bit that put me off the most - I couldn't see how to cut out the bad bits and weld in a new piece without it looking completely shit. 

Minor gripes - it was a 998cc whereas I'd like a 1275 or bigger, and my fat arris didn't fit in the bucket seats. 

BUT. As projects go, it was easy to see some potential, even if it was probably best suited to going back to standard 89 Mayfair and selling off the wheels and stuff. Obviously it would need a complete spray and I've never found anyone doing that for less than £1500 these days.

If you want the guy's details let me know and I'll pass it on, he seems like a sound guy and the paperwork matched up. Car is just outside Warwick on a farm. 

[High Jetter]

Eastbourne reg, probably sold by Caffyns.

[grogee]

Today I are mostly been slapping PVA on the headliner biscuit. Boy, it's thirsty! I bought 1 litre assuming that would be plenty - it just about did one coat. So I nipped to Screwfix and bought a 5l bottle. Did a second coat on the 'business' side, then one on the top side. More = better, surely?

Should be getting the (generic grey) material soon, then I will pass to @Cluffy's capable wife who is something of a seamstress. In return for posh gin, she'll cut the new fabric using the old fabric as a pattern. 

Then it's a case of spray glue and squeaky bum time.

On the top of the biscuit there were four blobs of something squidgy - like sealant or something. Any suggestions as to what to use in its place?

[gadgetgricey]

On 7/20/2022 at 4:06 PM, grogee said:

 

One of the rare anti-gravity Saab's with vertical take off

[grogee]

10 hours ago, gadgetgricey said:

One of the rare anti-gravity Saab's with vertical take off

Hover mode: active. Eat that, Citroen 

[grogee]

Changed the oil in the 9000 this morning, it was pretty dark and yukky. Then spent an hour wrestling with the oil filter which sits above the driveshaft and below the inlet manifold, in other words access is poor. Eventually the nylon strap wrench shifted it but not before I'd bashed a few holes in it with a screwdriver. 

Later on the front pads arrived from the DHL man so I trotted out to fit them. Got the nearside on so I pressed the pedal to push the piston back. 

"That's funny, it's going to the floor - better pump it"

Too late I remembered there were no pads in the offside caliper. Like a bellend I'd pushed the piston out of the caliper.

It wouldn't just push back in of course so I had to take the caliper off, which I was loath to do because the bleed nipple looked like a 'snapper'.

Quickly clamped the Flexi hose then managed to get the fairly crusty flexi union undone. Got the caliper in the vice and once I'd re-seated the piston I went at the bleed nipple with a blowtorch. Fortunately it came out so I was able to put back together and bleed out - phew. 

Hate it when I do twatty things but that's what happens when you wait around for parts and 'lose your place'.

Talking of parts, the headliner fabric I ordered STILL hasn't arrived (ordered on 17th). Getting annoyed now because it's holding up the interior rebuilding, and soon I'm going to forget where all the screws and clips go. Stupid eBay. 

[Sunny Jim]

Where's the I share your frustration mate emoji to react to this update? Glad you managed to sort the bleed nipple, hope your other bits turn up soon. I'm waiting on a new brake servo for my Puma (the whistling noise wasn't just a hose). Manage to score  a used one for £30 through a Facebook group but then I got the tracking details, the vendor's sent it with Evri. Latest update, "We're sorry your parcel has been delayed. We'll update the tracking as soon as we know more". Fuseless uckers.

[grogee]

16 hours ago, Sunny Jim said:

Where's the I share your frustration mate emoji to react to this update? Glad you managed to sort the bleed nipple, hope your other bits turn up soon. I'm waiting on a new brake servo for my Puma (the whistling noise wasn't just a hose). Manage to score  a used one for £30 through a Facebook group but then I got the tracking details, the vendor's sent it with Evri. Latest update, "We're sorry your parcel has been delayed. We'll update the tracking as soon as we know more". Fuseless uckers.

Got some spark plugs today! I'll stick them in later if it's not raining.

Well done sourcing a servo and good luck fitting it, I haven't done one but it looks like a pain - do you have to drain the master cyl & system? I don't know if you know but I've read that a larger servo from another Ford (Focus? Later Fiesta?) is better for the 'big brake' conversions. 

I've got a standard servo and ST150 brakes and it seems fine to me although I don't take it onto a track and don't generally drive very hard.

Evri are useless, my headlining is stuck with Yodel and I get similarly useless information like 'Item has been dispatched' which doesn't even tell you where it is. 

I wonder if there's been a fire in a depot somewhere?

[grogee]

Today was a trip to Devizes to see this. Nobody lives near Devizes so this obviously involved a fair old trek.

I'm glad to say it was worthwhile and I've put a deposit down. K'lekshunn won't be for a while as I've got to get the 9000 out of my life first, preferably with an MoT. The headlining material arrived today so I can start cutting it to shape. 

Anyway the Maestro: she's solid underneath, there's some wob on it around rear arches but replacement panels are included in sale. Along with a replacement sunroof. In fact a whole load of parts eg clutch, cam belt, shocks and so on. 

It's done about 65k miles and the engine sounds remarkably un-British, that is it idles well and doesn't clatter. In fact it's mechanically ok I think but it'll be getting the full treatment of new bits.

Headlining is collapsed of course, but I'm hoping my Saab task will prepare me for doing the Maestro.

There's a family connection here, in that my late Dad had one in 86ish from new and loved it. For some time I've been looking for a suitable project car and this is it!

[stuboy]

good to see it has all the wheel trims

[grogee]

Here's my half-brother and half-sister poking out of the sunroof of Dad's car way back when

[grogee]

Just now, stuboy said:

good to see it has all the wheel trims

Might need painting but yes, present and correct

[Rusty_Rocket]

Looks like an honest one!

[grogee]

1 hour ago, Rusty_Rocket said:

Looks like an honest one!

Hope so. History is good. Apparently it spent quite a while in the south of France which would explain the relative lack of rust

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, grogee said:

Today was a trip to Devizes to see this. Nobody lives near Devizes so this obviously involved a fair old trek.

I'm glad to say it was worthwhile and I've put a deposit down. K'lekshunn won't be for a while as I've got to get the 9000 out of my life first, preferably with an MoT. The headlining material arrived today so I can start cutting it to shape. 

Anyway the Maestro: she's solid underneath, there's some wob on it around rear arches but replacement panels are included in sale. Along with a replacement sunroof. In fact a whole load of parts eg clutch, cam belt, shocks and so on. 

It's done about 65k miles and the engine sounds remarkably un-British, that is it idles well and doesn't clatter. In fact it's mechanically ok I think but it'll be getting the full treatment of new bits.

Headlining is collapsed of course, but I'm hoping my Saab task will prepare me for doing the Maestro.

There's a family connection here, in that my late Dad had one in 86ish from new and loved it. For some time I've been looking for a suitable project car and this is it!

See

Likey! Trim level - HLS? Spoiler seems wrong tho

[MrBiscuits]

Nice project mate, look forward to following your progress. Could there be a more appropriate MG than a car that is basically octagonal?

I know it's not a turbo, but they always remind me of that famous ad. As a kid I just could not compute a Maestro with a sub 7 sec 0-60...

[grogee]

3 hours ago, MrBiscuits said:

Nice project mate, look forward to following your progress. Could there be a more appropriate MG than a car that is basically octagonal?

I know it's not a turbo, but they always remind me of that famous ad. As a kid I just could not compute a Maestro with a sub 7 sec 0-60...

You're right Kev the Maestro is octagonal! Apparently my one was first registered to Abingdon, the home of MG... before it was bastardised by ARG to use on badge-engineered Metros and Maestros.

The sub-7 sec 0-60 time of the Turbo is a proud boast but really that car has no business being that fast, it's made out of bean tins and AFAIK isn't that great around corners. I wonder if they up-specced the brakes for the Turbo?

For me the appeal is the family link and also a chance to get my hands on some BLARG shite at last, before they get unobtainable. This is a lot more affordable than the MG Metro Turbo I mulled over, and as A Car it's more practical and arguably better to drive over a long distance/with a family on board.

The biggest problem as I see it is the paint. There is rust showing on the roof, which I can't ignore, but going in there with a wire wheel then some primer will look shit. Then it's probably not practical to spray 'just' the roof, which then begs the question - how much is a complete respray? And if I'm doing that, I'd want the red that Dad had.

Choices, choices. I think I'll concentrate on getting it roadworthy/safe first then worry about the cosmetics.

@High Jetter it's a 'proper' MG (which isn't much of a boast). The HLE model got the side 'spoiler' bits which almost certainly do nothing aerodynamically. MG models got the bottom part of the spoiler by the window. Only MG models got the O-series 2.0 EFI; early MG Maestros had a tuned 1.6 with twin Webers that was shit. On the other hand, the early 1.6 MGs did at least have the option of a talking dash which everybody* wants and wasn't offered on later cars. Good old Lucas.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

The HLE model got the side 'spoiler' bits which almost certainly do nothing aerodynamically.

It's just come to mind that they were called 'strakes'. Will be following your progress with interest.

[grogee]

4 hours ago, High Jetter said:

It's just come to mind that they were called 'strakes'. Will be following your progress with interest.

I'd completely forgotten about that word, invented by ARG Marketing dept and never used since. 

More progress on the 9000, I took the throttle body off today to clean it out because the throttle was a bit 'sticky' in its last 1mm movement. That's been leading to a high idle sometimes.

Also took battery tray off in the hopes I can bodge a new clamp arrangement on, I've ordered something generic which I hope will do the trick. 

The headliner material has arrived FINALLY so I'm going to take a brave pill and try and cut it out. Absolutely terrified of it creasing when I stick it down. 

[grogee]

It's come to my attention that the 2.0 EFi was available with talking computer but not for long, I imagine working examples of these are like rocking horse shit. 

Here's what we're all missing

 

 

[grogee]

More Saab spannering. 

I am guessing the MoT man wouldn't be happy with the leather belt which was holding the battery in place, so I've bodged up a 'proper' clamp that looks almost* factory perfect.

If I was keeping the car I'd have wire-wheeled and painted the tray but I'm not so I didn't. 

TBH the clamp is no worse than what would have been standard fit I think. 

In the process I noticed the fuel filter is strapped to the battery tray (because #safety) so I've ordered a new one to make the service a 'big' one. 

I might even throw on a new alternator belt if I can be bothered, although as usual the access doesn't look great.