BLOG MY RIDE: Rally MG Maestro 1600 - Car B

[John C]

I've also posted this thread, FYI:

Contacts needed for researching history of works Maestro motorsport
http://www.maestro.org.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=15747

[John C]

PROPER BO SI has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - MG Maestro 1600 blog - in the New Members blog forum of MGOC Race Championship Bulletin Board.

This thread is located at:
http://www.mgocracebulletin.com/show...4&goto=newpost

Here is the message that has just been posted:
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Hello

You can find them [carb rebuild kits] on ebay for about £20 per carb from Italy. They are Weber DCNF 40 carbs and they are used on some old Ferrari's.

Hope that helps

P.S. I raced a Maestro with the R series engine for a few years in the MGOC. Check the brass gear that drives the distributor as excess wear will stop the ignition advance running smoothly.
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[John C]

Here are some photos of the car:
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=B2BD7...F7DB20538B!214

Green/White = original livery -presumably as used at the rallyschool

It's now resprayed diamond white (as seen in a couple of pics)

Any more info on the works masetros I.e vehicle reg or chassis numbers as i have a mg1600 rally car that has surpossed to of competed in a lot of rallys including the rac rally and would like to verify the info etc

[John C]

Excellent info -thanks guys!

Here's some info on the '83 Rally Sprint:
http://www.maestro.org.uk/forums/sho...010#post138010

If anyone has any contact details for John Dalton (or even his user name on one of the Maestro forums), I'd be very grateful

They almost certainly are works cars - they might have done the Rally Sprint, driven by the likes of Nigel Mansell, Tony Pond, Warwick, Blomquist etc, see the film on this forum somewhere else. They then get sold/given away to rally schools, the Goodwood Rally School would have got these from the Austin Rover Competitions Dept (which had moved from Abingdon to Cowley) and turned them into school cars.

Either that - or they got a deal out of the marketing dept, John Dalton (who lives in Coventry) was the main man pushing the Maestro within the marketing dept. , and also did a lot of events in them, he might throw some light on this. They are interesting cars and worth saving.

There was a reference to a car for sale on the MGM website some time back, presume this is where this has come from.

[Chris Y]

http://www.webcon.co.uk/

[E_T_V]

Webber carbs need to be sealed correctly as the MG1600 did have a habit of setting fire to itself from fuel leaks from the carbs!

Not sure where to buy a kit from but webber's are pretty popular so there will be aftermarket and OE suppliers still available I'm sure.

You may find the power band alters a lot when the carbs are cleaned out and set up properly as I think there is a seperate high and low speed jetting.

What is the fault with the dash exactly. Does non of it work, or does some of it, or does it constantly moan about something or other.

Connection issues on the dash plug are common and usually a few connections and disconnections can clean up the connections no end.

[John C]

Due to a booking error by the Ormskirk show's organiser it didn't get to be on display unfortunately. However, I now have the car down in Essex and its first outing was a few days later here:
http://www.rally-world.com/lado/delado-racing.htm

The car was probably the most surprising machine I've ever driven. It didn't sound at all like I expected -much more throaty/raunchy. It's exhaust has a really awesome snarl.

Its rev counter isn't working but it appears to have little power below about 4000rpm. However, when above this rpm it takes off like a scalded cat! The power was pretty awesome. It's peaky/cammy, but goes like a rocket when in the power band -great fun to drive; it feels like a PROPER rally car.

On the penultimate stage it started to lose power and then cut out, often being a pain to restart. Finally it wouldnt start at all so we winched it onto the trailer and took it down to this place:
http://www.classracing.co.uk/
http://classracing.org.uk/

I got this report back from them 2 days later:

The MG is running again. We completely drained all the fuel, the lines and the carburettors. We found much sediment in the fuel which had blocked the jets. The fuel was contaminated as well. We actually removed the tank to drain it and we power washed it because it was very muddy. We cleaned the carbs with air and in the wash tank. It would be a good idea to source an overhaul kit for the carbs as the gaskets are looking fatigued (there may be slight air leaks). We removed all the plugs and noticed a weak spark on all plugs. The car needs service (oil and filter change) otherwise it seems to run OK now.

The Meastro is awaiting the carb overhaul kits and an inline fuel filter. We tried a purge pump but we could not get the last bit of dirty fuel out of the tank. It would make sense to completely fill the tank to dilute the dirty fuel. All the books have now arrived - thanks



Thanks to Class Racing for rebuilding the carbs. They are worth several hundred pounds (even secondhand) and I'm told that they invariable need cleaning out/rebuilding when you buy them (unless they are brand new and they will then cost £1000 for both twin choke carbs)!
Does anyone know where I can get an overhaul kit for the carbs?
Also, the talking dash is dead -anyone know any typical problems why it should be playing up?

[John C]

Nick's been beavering away on the car and it's now had an external respray.
It's being exhibited at this event tomorrow:

Ormskirk Motorfest 28 Aug 11
http://www.westlancs.gov.uk/leisure_...fest_2011.aspx
http://www.aintree.org.uk/aintree-circuit-club/

It's 90% finished and we're hoping to enter it into a Rally Sprint in Essex on 11 Sep 11 or the final round of the year on 2 Oct 11.

Photos of one of them here:
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=b2bd7...F7DB20538B!214
BTW, the 2 photos of the car in plain white show it post respray (i.e. as it is now). The green/white livery shows it as it was when it was with Goodwood Rally School.

Anyone think there is any danger of the 1600 MG Maestro gaining any significant classic value in future years, BTW?

Also, is there anyone who has past or present experience doing motorsport with the Maestro?

[John C]

We've got 3 of these identical cars (believed to originate from Goodwood Rally School) and if anyone knows anything about their history we would be very interested!

The cars were standing for yonks and so needed a proper good clean up, overhaul etc. Remarkably, they appear to be quite solid with little rust -possibly because it had been heavily painted in its Green/White rally school livery which made it last a lot better then the factory paint job.

The cars are ideal for Trackdays, Barkston Sprints, Autocross, practising rally-driving skills etc. and if anyone is interested in joining us and sharing driving of it then do get in touch.

[N.B. Car would need a lot of new stuff to get an MSA logbook e.g. seats, harnesses, plumbed in extinguisher, window film and possibly a homologated cage]

MG MAESTRO RALLY CAR SPEC
Formerly of Goodwood rally school
Engine: ‘R’ Series 1.6 litre (approx 103 Bhp)
Produced approx March ’83 – Jun ‘84


ROAD CAR PERFORMANCE STATS:
MG Maestro 1600 111 mph 9.6s 0-60 mph 29.5 mpg


Professionally manufactured Roll Cage: Nick Stafford could not find any markings at all on the Maestro roll cage. There is nothing in the usual places, so have no idea what spec the cage is.

Stripped out interior
Seam welded
Tyres: Forest rally (well used)
Bucket seats
Harnesses
Hand held fire extinguisher
Battery Cut Off handle
Hydraulic Handbrake
Co-drivers foot rest

I found the following info on rally MG Maestros, BTW:

http://www.aronline.co.uk/index.htm?lm10memoriesjdf.htm
http://www.simonh.strayduck.com/rally/srally_03.html
http://www.mgcars.org.uk/cambs.mgoc/fwd/fwdrally.html