Plastic front wings Maestro.

[Piggy Bank]

Recently someone in the UK offered me a plastic front wing for Maestro.
He told me this was made as a try out by an outside company in command of Austin Rover to compare it with the metal ones and to decide whether it could be an alternative in production.
Does somebody know about this story or is it just a cheap and nasty aftermarket replacement?

[Craig Anderson]

First Ive heard of such a thing, is this the same company that did the pedestrian safety metro by any chance

[The Express Valeter]

Could be true given many front wings now are plastic & the Mk1 Freelander had plastic front wings (as do Freelander 2 etc). Given the FL1 was aunched in 1996 under the then Rover Group & the Maestro Van was the test Mule for the Discovery then there was allways a connection.

[matthewsemple]

Making cars out of cheap steel was always the preferred option back then when prices were much lower so I would doubt if this was ever seriously considered for the Maestro/Montego. Plastic or any composite materials would have been considerably more expensive.

There is however a history of aftermarket suppliers producing parts in plastic for the Maestros predecessors like the Allegro and 1100/1300 (ADO16) because this appealed to owners who were forced with the unfortunate situation of replacing rusty panels on relatively new cars. At this stage the economics are completely different because only one car is involved (no economies of scale) and the paint/preparation is going to be the most expensive cost, not the part. These parts used to be for sale in the back of car magazines in the 1980s.

Of course, in Chile they built MG1300s entirely from fibreglass.

[Captain Slow]

There is however a history of aftermarket suppliers producing parts in plastic for the Maestros predecessors like the Allegro

I'd be surprised to see them making Allegro front wings in plastic. One of the more obvious panels to replace, it's actually part of the monocoque and welded on!

[Simon]

GRP was used to make replacement panels as it was inexpensive to make a GRP mould from a steel panel, then lay up multiple copies from the mould. GRP wings were usually fixed on by self tapping screws or nuts and bolts. Honeybourne Mouldings was a typical company.

[Piggy Bank]

Where stands GRP for?
Have these ever made in greater numbers and sold to the public?
Was it offered by Unipart or Austin Rover?

[Oli]

Glass reinforced plastic.

I have seen those wings before, but i cannot recall where!

[matthewsemple]

I'd be surprised to see them making Allegro front wings in plastic.

Prepare to be surprised, Captain Slow, Honeybourne Mouldings still list the Allegro wings, amongst other likely candidates from that era:

http://www.honeybournemouldings.co.uk/frontwings.htm

[E_T_V]

Just remember folks that GRP is no-where near as crash-worthy as steel (unless originally designed for GRP which they weren't)

[maestro dave]

Glass reinforced plastic.

I have seen those wings before, but i cannot recall where!

I think it was Ebay a few months back

[Captain Slow]

Prepare to be surprised, Captain Slow, Honeybourne Mouldings still list the Allegro wings, amongst other likely candidates from that era:

http://www.honeybournemouldings.co.uk/frontwings.htm

Consider me surprised Matt! I wonder how they're attached in such a way as to maintain the structural rigidity of the car?

[digital efi]

The GRP wing bolted on to an Allegro, Mini, 11/1300 etc would not affect the structural rigidity of the car from a suspension etc point of view, so the car is perfectly safe to drive.

However, as Dan points out, in the event of a crash, the wing will split instead of deforming and absorbing part of the impact.

In a 'modern' application such as a Peugeot 307, for example, all of the impact absorption is designed into the shell of the car in such a way that the wing is no more than a piece of trim.

Complete fibreglass front ends for Minis were available for years and many arguments took place between owners and MoT testers as to their fitness for purpose

[Guest]

its one of thoses things to remember when modifing your car away from factory spec, plastic wings etc can save weight and the need to rust proff but as said in a crash will behave differently.

At the end of the day if its your car and you are going to be the one thatdrives it then it is not a problem. the problems comes if you sell the car and dont inform the new owner

I believe a cut and shut car is not illegal to make and own . it is ok to sell on as long as you make the new owner fully aware of what you have done

[matthewsemple]

I think any issues about having a tussle with the MOT tester over GRP front panels is probably a thing of the past. If you have a whole front end made of a composite material, and you wish to use it on the road, the car has to be fitted with brace bars to add strength.