New Maestro "1.6"HL diesel shite.. PICS AT LAST!

[Lankytim]

Some of you may remember that I bought a Maestro a few months back. It had been up for sale for a while and was in danger of being scrapped, unless I bought it.... I'm sure its a familiar story to many shiters!

 

The Maestro was a one owner from new jobbie with 29k on the clock. It had been in storage for the last 10 years or so and when the guy I bought it off dragged it out and MOT'd it it promply blew its head gasket. After repair it blew again. To solve the problem the 1.6 petrol engine was ditched in favour of a 2 litre diesel from a donor car. This was a low mileage unit and is in great condition. Thanks to being off the road for so long the rust bug had yet to bite, theres the odd scab but no proper grot plus its never been welded. Even typical maestro rust traps like the sill flanges and rear arches are lovely and solid!

 

Oh yeah.. I forgot about the tailgate. That was properly rusty and letting water run into the boot. A good used tailgate has been sourced, painted and fitted and it does look much better for it!

 

The springs had been chopped in an effort to lower the car. Not my thing really! New rear springs were sourced along with front struts from a 2 litre automatic Montego to handle the added weight of the Diesel lump. Everything is now at the correct ride height!

 

The headlining was hanging down and has been removed for recovering. Something i'll enjoy doing no doubt.... Apart from that the interior is pretty mint and after a damn good scrub up is a very nice place to sit. No fag burns either!

 

Anyway, some pics....

 

 

 

 

 

Fitting the new tailgate (OMG RONG CAMERA MODE!!1)

 

 

 

 

So far its been a fun and rewarding project, although I'm yet to take it out on the road! Being an old dizzler it should make 50+MPG on cooking fat and dairylea. Yay!!

[scooters]

quality!

 

a bit cheaper on the juice than a 940 turbo!

[pogweasel]

QUAL.

Bet that would bemuse some BL anouraks, rocking up in that with an agricultural soundtrack.

[meggersdog]

Well done,that looks proper nice.Makes my 50k mile 1.3 look a right old heap in comparison

[Gompo]

Looks ace - of what significance are chrome door handles on Maestros?

[Lankytim]

I think HL upwards had chrome handles, after about 1988ish they all had black plakka ones instead. Im willing to be corrected though!

[fiatdaft]

superb,get the waxoil into it though!

[Lankytim]

I intend to do something... There appears to be NO rust proofing underneath AT ALL! Just shiny painted metal. No wonder so many Maestros corroded away. I don't really want to do anything until next year when it gets a bit warmer, then have a go at rust proofing it myself or entrust it to the care of the many rust proofing specialists that are about. I saw the first gritter out tonight. The thought of taking the DERV maestro out on the roads as it is sends a shudder down my spine, come spring there will be nothing left of it!

 

My main concern at the moment is my Allegro which should be back from a respray sometime soon. That definitely needs waxoyling before it hits the road.. I don't fancy shelling out for all that welding again! As a result all my pennies are being saved up for that and the Maestro will have to wait a while.

 

Another reason the Maestro will have to wait its turn before it hits the road is that its still registered as a petrol powered car. I have tried to get it insured as a diesel but the computer says NO! So before Its re-registered as a diesel I can't get insured. To do that I need a letter from an engineer/mechanic to say the jobs up to scratch and send it off with an amended V5. Even then the DVLA may want it to be inspected before they allow it out on the road. What a pain!

 

Did I mention there may be a low mileage one owner/garaged from new Montego on the horizon? A workmate of the wife mentioned that her elderly neighbours want to get rid of it and were going to send it for scrap.... I need a bigger garage!

[fiatdaft]

i have just rustproofed my lot with waxoil,but i suppose it is handy having a mate with a 2 post ramp and a compressor,waxoil in hot water and a long probe made it a pretty easy job to be honest,and not that messy,they stink a bit inside though as i did inside every panel i could get into.

 

maybe the dvla don't need to know its an oil burner just yet?

 

oh and go get that monty!

[Lankytim]

I have a small compressor.... maybe I should just get a big set of axle stands and get to work!

 

I could just drive it around as a petrol but the MOT is up in January and I'm sure the MOT people will twig something when it goes through the gas analyser!

[fiatdaft]

yes,they will prob ask why the exhaust is cleaner now!

[gearoil]

1986 has just been on the phone asking where its Maestro is...

 

Excellent.

[Richieg]

Hi Tim,

That Maestro looks lovely Mate!

Was it really involved having to change it to diesal?

You can so see where they went from the Allegro can't you!

well done for saving it

 

cheers

 

Richie

[Inspector Morose]

That is superb. Hats off to you!

[Lankytim]

I didn't convert it myself but from what I've been told its not too difficult if you have a complete donor vehicle to pilfer from. The 2.0 diesel engine is based on the O series petrol engine fitted to the Maestro so its all pretty much a bolt in job. This particular Maestro originally had an S series petrol lump so extra mounting holes in the chassis had to be drilled to take the engine mounts. The diesel subframe is slightly different too meaning it needed to be swapped over. Had the Maestro originally been powered by an O series engine then the conversion would have been much simpler as all the mounts would have been in the right place. The O series lump uses the same type of gearbox as the diesel, too.

 

Oh yeah, the fuel tank was changed too, as the diesel has a fuel return pipe wheras the petrol tank doesn't.

[scaryoldcortina]

Another reason the Maestro will have to wait its turn before it hits the road is that its still registered as a petrol powered car. I have tried to get it insured as a diesel but the computer says NO! So before Its re-registered as a diesel I can't get insured. To do that I need a letter from an engineer/mechanic to say the jobs up to scratch and send it off with an amended V5. Even then the DVLA may want it to be inspected before they allow it out on the road. What a pain!

 

eh, oops.. are you waiting for me? Soz! FWIW it wont fix the insurer problem, just the DVLA one...

[Split_Pin]

Thats proper nice. I also love the sound of the diesels the later Maestros and Monetgos were powered by. They always sounded meaty!

[Lankytim]

Hi Scary! Not waiting for you as such as there's no firm plans to get it on the road in the immediate future, but I will need to tell the DVLA eventually . The problem with insurers seems to be that when I give them the vehicle reg it shows up on their computer as a petrol. When I try to tell them its diesel they don't want to know as its different to what they computers telling them. Hopefully when the DVLA's computer is updated it will cure the OMG IT SEZ ITS PETROL BUT UR TELING ME ITS NT!!! problem I keep getting.

[RedSparrow]

MMMMMMmmmm.

Nice save mate.

[Cavcraft]

Love that Tim looks pretty decent and the Perkins lump is magic.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Wow, this is a nice one!!

[garethj]

That is orsum!!1!

 

LM10 rides again

[Angrydicky]

Wow that is in lovely condition! I got the headlining material and the pukka spray glue to do the headlining on mine from someone on Ebay. Don't be tempted by the cheaper glues, only the proper headlining spray will keep it up (har har) for more than five minutes. You won't be able to reuse the original material sadly, as it is foam backed and the foam will be all crumbly and nothing will stick to it. Use a nail brush to get rid of any last bits of foam stuck to the backing board and then apply plenty of glue

 

Funny your bootlid had rusted where mine is mint, although mine is bubbling up in the front and rear arches instead...

[Lankytim]

Hey, Dicky, where did you get the headlining stuff exactly? I have got a blanket I could use, plus some carpet adhesive but If I get get the real deal then id rather do the job properly.

 

The tailgate was totally rotten and full of filler all around the bottom of the glass. It looked terrible! Tracking down a replacement looked near impossible but I found a dead Maestro round the corner from where I live, bought it for scrap and feltched the mint tailgate from it. Lucky or what!

[Angrydicky]

Here you go Tim!

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3M-Headlining-Kit ... 3ef9978dd9

 

He also does a grey one:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3M-Headlining-Kit ... 3ef997b37d

 

Top quality stuff, it's been up for several months now with no sagging, so the glue seems really decent too!

[Lankytim]

Thats nice... but a bit too pricy... The polyester blanket I was hoping to use cost £2.50. May invest in some high temperature glue though!

[Angrydicky]

Thats nice... but a bit too pricy... The polyester blanket I was hoping to use cost £2.50. May invest in some high temperature glue though!

 

Fair enough. My dad recovered the headlining on his old Montego estate with an old bedsheet! Didn't look as bad as you might expect.

[AXrescuer]

I like that a lot. And to think that just 15 short years ago, I was mocking my father in law's one which the same colour.

I'm so glad I eventually grew up and saw the light! I just hope you don't do as he did and use an old velour curtain to redo the

headliner!

[Father Ted]

I think I may have just spaffed.

Lovely.