GR8 4 Collecting Pension.

[MK5 Escort]

It may have small touches of got in places but I must say from the pictures, that’s probably one of the cleanest early Maestro's I've seen for a very long time. A fabulous buy and a classic colour for early Maestro’s too. You just don’t see them any more. Yes Pog, I remember very early Montego's also come in that shade, but I can probably go back easily over ten years the last time I saw one of those in the metal. That brown interior is just gorgeous... I do have a 'thing' about British Leyland Brown interiors from the 70's and early 80's.

 

The rear bumper won't take much to put right.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the original povo steel wheels back on view!

[carlo]

This sort of thread is why I keep looking at Autoshite - brilliant!

[254575]

just fto add to the maestro love in, here are some pics of my early maestro L

 

 

 

 

[Pillock]

New Crown Vauxhall in Nottingham who supplied my Cavalier new I believe is now gone as well, along with the name... now Pentagon or something along those lines.

New Crown in Bulwell is still standing, although boarded up for many years now. They supplied my grandfather's Mk3 Cavalier on launch day. Think they had another branch though if you're thinking of that?

[Spottedlaurel]

I believe Houlding's was the garage where my Grandad bought his succession of Marinas from in the '70s (maybe BLMC before that too). He lived in nearby Danbury.

 

Shame to see the garage building has gone, good that you've got a few bits and bobs from them intact though. Oh, and the Maestro too of course - great save.

[Lord Sterling]

Have you thought about fitting a talking-dash in it? Assuming you can find one of course.

[cms206]

New Crown Vauxhall in Nottingham who supplied my Cavalier new I believe is now gone as well, along with the name... now Pentagon or something along those lines.

New Crown in Bulwell is still standing, although boarded up for many years now. They supplied my grandfather's Mk3 Cavalier on launch day. Think they had another branch though if you're thinking of that?

 

Need to check the docs now... ! Carries New Crown numberplates front and rear, and a New Crown tax disc holder with an 0602? number IIRC - I'd go check but its about 5 miles away in a shed getting bodywork done, lol! Bulwell seems to ring a bell, I thought the building would've been gone though as New Crown became New Crown-Sharpes? and was absorbed into Pentagon. If it's still standing I might take it back down if theres a MOT pass next month...

[Father Ted]

I have the Haynes BOL on PDF for the Maestro if anyone needs it emailing.

[AnthonyG]

Good save there AD, looks great - I love all the original dealer bits.

[Angrydicky]

Good save there AD, looks great - I love all the original dealer bits.

Thanks

 

 

 

just fto add to the maestro love in, here are some pics of my early maestro L

 

 

 

 

Now that is bloody lovely, I saw it at Brooklands OMG Y REG!!!!

[Angrydicky]

Got the welding finished on the Maestro yesterday:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The repair was complicated by the fact that this area is double-skinned. All the rot has now been cut out and new metal let in. There is also a small patch at the back of the n/s sill that I thought would need welding but it survived a sharp poke with the screwdriver so should be good until next year. It should be going for the MOT next week

[Alexg]

Original dealer sticker and plates FTW, thats just is the cherry on the icing on the cake with this car. Now get those povo spec wheel trims on!

[Angrydicky]

I can haz MOT!!!

 

Well after getting the welding sorted the old bus went in for an MOT last week, sadly it failed on one thing, the emissions

 

Pass mark for the CO is 4.5%, actual reading was 5.7. HC is 1200, the Maestro was putting out 1500

 

So a carburettor stripdown followed and a lot of dirt and seized components were identified, including a seized main jet. Got it back together, in for a retest this afternoon and it passed with flying colours, not a single advisory

 

Emissions are now at 0.9 and 556 respectively

 

To celebrate here's some shonky phone pics.

 

 

 

After the MOT it was time to go to the Post Office for a year's tax for the beige beast.

 

 

 

 

[Cavcraft]

RESULT!

 

Nice one chief, happy year ahead for you I reckons.

[barrett]

Nice one! I bet you're well chuffed

[cms206]

Smashing, looking forward to more pics of this beast, and it's imminent victory at the USC show... !!!

[Angrydicky]

Nice one! I bet you're well chuffed

Defo

[Angrydicky]

Thread resurrection time!

 

Well as you all know Gary Cox was selling the Maestro recently, and having recently got the keys to a garage from the council I found it hard to resist having it back, especially as it didn't look like anyone else was willing to save it.

 

Only slight snag - it was about 70 miles away and had been sitting for several weeks and wouldn't start.

 

I decided to hire a transporter to go and collect the car, but the only truck for hire within a reasonable distance had a rather small bed. I booked it anyway, thinking the Maestro isn't a big car, it's sure to fit!

 

I didn't take as many photos as I'd hoped to, and sadly no nice photos parked in the Kent and Sussex countryside as I spent too long talking the Gary about shit cars and had to rush home to get the car unloaded and get the transporter back to the hire firm.

 

The journey begins! by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

First thing I saw when I came down the road was the Barrett Standard 8, and what a lovely little thing it is! Gary was kind enough to take me for a run round the block in it. I want one now.

 

1955 Standard Eight by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

 

So yeah, the Maestro was completely dead. Gary had been fiddling around under the bonnet but it wasn't having any of it. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the truck I hired didn't have a winch! So it was a case of put it in gear and wind it up the ramps on the starter motor. Halfway up the battery died and we had to nick the battery off the Standard to get it all the way up. Fortunately it fitted on the ridiculously short bed of the transporter with inches to spare, and after chatting to Gary and having a ride in the Standard, I set off for home.

 

Collecting the Maestro from Brighton by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

Collecting the Maestro from Brighton by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

Collecting the Maestro from Brighton by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

The journey went pretty well, and after stopping at home for refreshments, I headed round to the lockup where I dumped it outside, exhausted.

 

Arriving home by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

1985 Austin Maestro 1.3 Base by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

1985 Austin Maestro 1.3 Base by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

Today, after nicking the battery from my A35, I got it into the garage:

 

Into the garage! by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

Into the garage! by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

1985 Austin Maestro 1.3 Base by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

In the garage by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

Night!

 

Sleep tight! by angrydicky, on Flickr

 

Tomorrow, I'm going to start by giving it a really good clean, it's filthy from having spent 6 weeks parked under a tree. It won't be to Vulgalour standards though, I'm too lazy for that. Then I'm going to attempt to get it running and service it.

 

The eventual plan is two new front wings, two rear wheelarches (I already have one) and a lower half respray. Should look quite presentable then.

[Lukas]

Another example where you can see what a proper rust-protection would have prevented. A well-cared-for-car with very low miles put into service without the care of it´s first owner and without a proper rust-protection. If it has been protected properly, it would not need two new wings and two new wheelarches now. I know what I´m talking about, I´m driving old japanese cars since 10 years.

[Angrydicky]

To be fair to Gary, the wheelarches were already getting crusty when I first had it. In the photos above I painted them with beige hammerite to smarten it up...The first owner lived in a rural area and never cleaned the mud out of the wheelarches (well not many pensioners do).

 

Excited about picking the car up, the night before collecting it I spent far too much time searching Cartell and DVLA to find the fate of the other cars registered in the same registration series as this Maestro. Amazingly, one Metro (B655 DVX) is still on the road!

 

Cars registered in the series B645 DVX – B667 DVX

23 ARG cars, all probably registered by Houldings of Maldon in this series.

Four Maestros, in addition to mine we have an MG Maestro 2.0, 1.6 Auto and a 1.3 HL.

Five Montegos – 2.0 HL x2, 2.0 VDP, 1.6 and 1.3 Base.

Two Minis, both Mayfairs.

11 Metros including two MG’s, 1.0, 1.3 L and VDP.

And one car which isn’t showing up on DVLA or Cartell, this one (B658 DVX) presumably had a private numberplate.

 

B645 DVX – MG Maestro 2.0 28/5/85 – 1/9/95

B646 DVX – Austin Metro 1.3 L 28/5/85 – 1/3/00

B647 DVX – Austin Montego 2.0 HL 28/5/85 – 1/5/94

B648 DVX – Austin Montego 2.0 HL 28/5/85 – 1/4/97

B649 DVX – Austin Maestro 1.6 Auto 28/5/85 – 25/5/04

B650 DVX – MG Metro 1300 28/5/85 – 1/11/96

B651 DVX – Austin Metro 1.0 City X 28/5/85 – 30/9/00

B652 DVX – Austin Montego 1.6 28/5/85 – 1/6/93

B653 DVX – Austin Metro 1.3 VDP 10/6/85 – 1/12/97

B654 DVX – Austin Metro 1.0 City 11/6/85 – 1/10/98

B655 DVX – Austin Metro 1.0 HLE 6/6/85 – 1/6/14

B656 DVX – Austin Metro 1.0 L 3/6/85 – 1/2/99

B657 DVX – Austin Maestro 1.3 HL 11/6/85 – 24/10/93

B658 DVX – No details found

B659 DVX – Austin Montego 2.0 VDP 17/6/85 – 1/5/97

B660 DVX – Austin Metro 1.3 L 6/6/85 – 1/6/99

B661 DVX – Austin Metro 1.0 City 7/6/85 – 1/9/99

B662 DVX – Austin Maestro 1.3 Base 14/6/85 – 1/1/14

B663 DVX – Austin Metro 1.3 City 17/6/85 – 1/5/00

B664 DVX – MG Metro 1300 17/6/85 – 1/4/98

B665 DVX – Austin Montego 1.3 Base 7/6/85 – 22/7/98

B666 DVX – Austin Mini Mayfair Auto 14/6/85 – 29/5/01

B667 DVX – Austin Mini Mayfair 20/6/85 – 8/11/07

[Jim Bell]

Still a cool as beans Hot Hatch. Well, tepid. A+ ftw!

[Guest thedoctor102]

This car is beautiful, I would like to purchase it from you, take it back to farringdon and wash it and sell it on ebay for OMG MILLIONZZ!

[Jim Bell]

This car is beautiful, I would like to purchase it from you, take it back to farringdon and wash it and sell it on ebay for OMG MILLIONZZ!

 

I would like to inspect your credentials.

[Lord Sterling]

Another example where you can see what a proper rust-protection would have prevented. A well-cared-for-car with very low miles put into service without the care of it´s first owner and without a proper rust-protection. If it has been protected properly, it would not need two new wings and two new wheelarches now. I know what I´m talking about, I´m driving old japanese cars since 10 years.

I'd rather have a rusty 'n' Beige Maestro than a Japanese car to be honest.

 

Angry - Does a walking stick, tartan ravel blanket and tin of boiled sweets appear on your list of things to get for this car? Seriously, if you need anything, Best of British in Darlaston isn't far from me so I can pop in and for a butchers.

[Lukas]

I'd rather have a rusty 'n' Beige Maestro than a Japanese car to be honest.

 

 

Honestly: I don´t want to offend the Maestro, I´m talking about an aftermarket-rustprotection by the owner.

[Tetleysmooth]

Good save chap.

[Lord Sterling]

Honestly: I don´t want to offend the Maestro, I´m talking about an aftermarket-rustprotection by the owner.

 

Many car buyers were/are not aware of rust protection or they are just not bothered as long as they don't fall apart within thier ownership. Sometimes even cars that are rustprotected might have small areas that are missed where later on rust and corrosion can start.

[Angrydicky]

Thanks for the offer LS, but I think I've got most "giffer" items needed for this car. What I would really like is a 'Vehicle Watch' sticker for the back window, as seen in all OAP cars back in the day. I wonder what the chances of finding a new one of those are?

 

Well I've had mixed success with this car over the last few days. I've washed all the crap off it so it looks loads better now, and cleared all Gary's empty gin bottles, Capri-Suns and old Chumley tickets out of it. There's still some stubborn tree sap on the roof so I've ordered a clay bar and I'm going to do the roof, bonnet and tailgate. The rest of the car really needs a respray so it's probably not worth doing. 

 

 

Oh yeah, apologies for the lack of 'whole car' shots, but the battery is flat and there's a bump at the front of the garage so I can't push it back in on my own! Sorry. I've put the original centre caps back on and hung the Montego trimz on the garage wall, but you'll have to take my word for that until I can either get it running or buy a battery charger.

 

Anyway, I posted some photos of the car on the owners club forum and a guy on there asked if it had been in an accident as the front panel behind the bumper appeared to be bent? Looking through my old photos of the car earlier in this thread I could see it was bent when I first got it, also I knew the grille was broken. It's obviously a very low-speed bump and I would guess the old lady may have bumped it while moving into her garage (or bumped another car while parking!) So the other day I took the grille off to inspect the damage. Fortunately the metal is quite thin, and I was able to pull it back to the correct contour quite easily.

 

 

 

My lovely housemate saw me washing the grille in the kitchen sink and offered to repair it with her hot glue gun. Thanks Fay! It had been 'repaired' in the past using masking tape, which had gone rock hard and had to be scraped off with a screwdriver. It'll certainly do until I can find a cheap replacement, it looks fine from the outside and you wouldn't know it was broken.

 

 

I was pleased to find a BL plughole on the back of this grille, as I think they started using Austin-Rover in 1981 and this is an '85 car.

 

 

As for getting it running, I've had no luck at all. Using easystart and jump leads, and with the choke set to 'on' at the carb it just splutters and won't fire. I'm now thinking of replacing the carb with a NOS one that's on Ebay at the moment, and reverting back to the original autochoke mechanism as the manual choke conversion we fitted a few years ago has always been a bit crap to be honest, and several parts of the carb were seized up when I first got it. It's always been quite difficult to start, but the owners club sell the correct, unleaded-proof o-rings for the autochoke so it's now possible to get them working properly. Also, air and oil filters have been ordered, along with coolant to give it a jolly good service.

 

As for rustproofing, I have several large tins of Rejel cavity wax and once the rear arches are replaced I'll be giving all the box sections, sills, wheelarches and inside the tailgate a really good going over. It won't be rusting again!

 

I've just sent some photos of the dealer plates, sticker and tax disc holder to DMB Graphics with the intention of getting them reproduced. Watch this space!

[Jim Bell]

Great work chief. Looking forward to the updates.

[Lord Sterling]

Great work there. How much is it to get plates and whatnot done at DMB Graphics? I'd like to replace the front plate on the Micra and get some plates made up for the Rover.