Austin Montego 1.6 HL Estate (C699OFE)

[Craig Anderson]

Need to get my finger out and start rebuilding my montego :/

[Guest]

Nice one I love this car if you want some paint work done on it I am suure you could send it for a holiday to see me!! I am good a localing base coat and laquer had quite a bit of practice!! Keep up the good work!!

[raylyd]

Ok as i plan on a montego for my first car so as for the fuel i how do.

I fill up with unleaded and put a can of leaded fuel in with that can?

I just wanted to know for when i buy one maybe next year that's a nice montego estate you got my uncle had a red montego estate 1.6 or a 2.0 i cant remember as i only was a kid but was a nice seats.

I would hope to get a 1.6 montego estate as it would be good for the extra seats.

not this one - it's supposed to be 4* leaded, unlessn the head's had hardened seats put in. Normally with my classics I use unleaded fuel wit the addition of some Castrol Valvemaster lead replacement fluid....

Andy

[Guest]

You buy a bottle of additive (no need to get the dearer 'octane boost' version), about twelve quid I think. It is a squeezy bottle into a little top chamber marked in litres. So if you're adding ten litres, just squeeze to the
'10' mark, and add to the fill. I have done this for both my Montego and my Landrover for years. I use the Castrol version but there are others available. The one I use was recommended by the Caravan Club when four-star went out of use. If it serves for pulling a caravan, it'll do for me!

[H48HPE]

With a Montego you don't need the octane booster as the engine has a knock sensor to sense for pinking, if it detects it it adjusts the timing to suit. with this in mind you could use the cheaper (I think) redex lead replacement fluid.

I've not used any lead replacement fluid in this one yet as it's been off the road since the early 90s, so has never been run on unleaded fuel before. during its 60 odd thousand miles on leaded 4 star fuel the valve seats will have built up lead deposits that'll protect them for several thousand miles.

I'll start to use redex in it soon, but another school of thought would be to run it as it is untill the valve seats recede so much that it starts to lose compression, when that happens, take the head off an refurbish it with hardened valve seats making it permanantly good for unleaded....

Andy

[digital efi]

but another school of thought would be to run it as it is untill the valve seats recede so much that it starts to lose compression, when that happens, take the head off an refurbish it with hardened valve seats making it permanantly good for unleaded....

Andy

Approx. 20,000 miles of spirited driving! (That's what I got out of a Rover 216 many years ago)

[H48HPE]

I thought I'd update this thread as it's been a while!

I'd kind if decided that this was up for sale and I'd made a few half hearted attempts to drum up some interest with known good homes, however after a bonding session ( how stupid does that sound!) over the last couple if weeks I've decided I can't let it go and I need to finish the project off!

I've been on holiday from work for the last 2 weeks which involved a week on the east coast, a few days in wales and day trips in between. In total I've covered 1400 miles on the 2 weeks during which time the car has been a real asset.

Funnily enough it was my other half suggested (in an unusual pro classic car moment) that we use the montego for the holiday as it would fit all our gear in better - which it did. With this in mind I thought I'd better sort the oil leak out that'd been pouring out of the cam cover for too long ( and I mean pouring). I found a new gasket on eBay locally, picked it up same day, and bought a tube of sealant, 30 mins work saw the oil leak reduced to nothing - so I was good to go!

A trip to halfords for a roof mounted bike carrier later and I was off, the first thousand miles were I uneventful, I kept a check on things but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A little funny starting sometimes - it needed two or three attempts, starting and then gradually dying each time and maybe a little hesitant on acceleration at times but nothing too bad.

So it was all going too well, the enevetable trouble started last Friday afternoon at about 5pm on the M67 queuing at the roundabout that leads to Tintwhistle. We'd been in a jam for about 20 mins, temperature was hot but the cooling fan seemed to be coping with it, all of a sudden I'm getting juddering and then a stall. A couple of attempts to start were fruitless, I opened the bonnet and asked 'R Lass' to crank it over... I've got an inline fuel filter and I could see nothing was coming through it. We shoved car into the side while I decided if breakdown recovery or a roadside fix were in order - I'm one of those people that can't help carting spares about so I wrestled with the luggage to dig out a NOS fuel pump i'd bought for this very occasion. As a last chance we tried it again and it ran - so I jumped back in and drove away whilst I could. It wasn't running right though and I was getting fuel starvation symptoms all the way back. The next day I was onto it.... New pump fitted and new rubber lines ( the old ones fitted just 3 years ago were already splitting). New fuel filter fitted too ( although the old one was still quite clean). I also changed the oil and filter again.

I thought I'd test it out with a run to robin hoods bay and back. It was brilliant , starting issues appear to have gone and it's running smoother - obviously better fuel delivery. I had it running at idle in a queue of traffic with no trouble (the bad running before was generally when hot)

All on all I'm loving Montego ownership again. I've even bought it a pair of rear arches as a reward for its service!!

Hopefully be able to report more of the same (without the breakdowns) soon!

[normanmg2000]

montego

Glad youre keeping it and with renewed enthusiasm for it, just couldn't manage to get it, and with a re-spray necessary, it would have been too much for me at this time all the best with it Andy.

[Ed]

Glad you've decided to keep it Andy. It looks great.

PVW is suffering from similar symptoms at the moment which I need to investigate. I'm sure it's fuel starvation.

[H48HPE]

Glad youre keeping it and with renewed enthusiasm for it, just couldn't manage to get it, and with a re-spray necessary, it would have been too much for me at this time all the best with it Andy.

It's solid but just needs frilly edges dealing with, I recon it's worth sorting out, just finding time, but with renewed enthusiasm it should be possible!!

[H48HPE]

Glad you've decided to keep it Andy. It looks great.

PVW is suffering from similar symptoms at the moment which I need to investigate. I'm sure it's fuel starvation.

I've just read your post in tech help Ed, and it sounds exactly the same as I was dealing with - come to think of it mine was struggling on hills etc. I think as the fuel was getting so hot and maybe a bit gassy the pump just couldn't keep up with demand from the carb and it stalled.

If I were you I'd get a new pump on it (renew fuel lines while your at it - 6 & 8mm bore hose) that should sort it out. Also if you don't already have one in I'd fit a disposable plastic fuel filter before the pump.... As well as filtering the fuel you can see if it's pulling fuel up - handy when things go wrong at the roadside!

Andy

[H48HPE]

This is my current filter setup....

[Ed]

Thanks Andy, that's very useful.

[C333GWC]

Hi Andy,

Just re-reading this thread and recognised the number plate. I now know who you are! It was great to meet you at the Heritage Motor Centre last weekend. I have the C-Reg Arum White HL estate.

Really glad to see and hear your enthusiasm for the car, reading it's history and seeing what you have achieved it is well worth keeping.

Hopefully meet you at a show again soon,

Regards, Matt.