1986 Austin Montego 1.6HL (C418 YRW)

[Austin-Rover]

The Montego has now completed two (almost) faultless weeks on the road. Yesterday it had a mysterious fuel supply issue whereby it refused to 'go' if you depressed the throttle. It idled fine, but felt very sluggish otherwise. After a bit of oil in the top of the carburettor and moving the piston inside it seems to have cleared and it's back to driving like a dream.

Other than that, the first 600 miles have been a breeze. The replacement engine is quite simply lovely. Last weekend, it went to the classic car show at Tatton Park, where it received a good deal of interest. It even featured in the event review in this week's issue of Classic Car Weekly.

[Simon]

I feel a Monstro front cover coming on...

Big hint there Rich!

Great calendar image too...

[Captain Slow]

Yes Doug, can you send me a hi res copy of that please?

[Austin-Rover]

Today was the day for one of the most loved jobs on our cars (second only to rear wheel arch replacement, maybe? ) - headlining recovering!

It's one very satisfying job to undertake - the difference it makes to an interior cannot be underestimated. The headlining started out the day sagging, propped up with red drawing pins and blotchy with stains unknown - in all, pretty nasty.

Montego saloon owners take note, the headlining will only exit through the n/s/f door, and without any bending or cracking of the headlining board, either.

With this car having the brown interior trim, the headlining and grab handles are of a coffee-beige colour (under the grime, anyway). Woolies offered a nice looking coffee coloured fabric, and I had this sent out with some Empire Grey (for a Rover 800 headlining) and lots of spray glue.

My results seem to improve with each attempt. This is my fourth headlining, and I reckon to have it down to a good technique now. The worst part of the job is getting the old foam dust everywhere when cleaning up the board - a horrid job!

The recovered headlining looks a hundred times better, even if the new fabric is rather darker than the original. I figure it's not going to look at all out of place with the brown trim. Tomorrow should see it back in the car with the cleaned up grab handles and sun visors.

[Captain Slow]

When I source a new board for CMV I know who I'm bringing it to, then ;-)

[BIGDAVE]

nice job

yes you have done a nice job

[Ed]

Nice job there Rich. The colour looks the same as the one I did for E375 JRV, the Shantung gold 1.6.

[Austin-Rover]

Chocolate Lime Update

The Chocolate Lime hasn't seen much use in the past couple of months as I've been tending to the scabby sills, wheel arch lips and a couple of other places. The results are mixed in that hopefully I have halted the progress of the many unsightly surface rust scabs and the car now looks a bit more presentable from a distance...but, it's now moved on from shabby chic to fifty shades of green.

I've yet to find a can of Opaline Green aerosol that actually contains...Opaline Green.

Oh well, I suppose the main thing is keeping the rust at bay and an up side to this is that the car is in an over all condition where I'm not scared of using it.

Here's a couple of pictures from this evening and how the car looks now.

[Richard H]

Gorgeous. Well done for saving it!

[Austin-Rover]

The cheapo fuel pump has managed just under twelve months of the fairly limited use (ie; car not used every day or even every week!) and now shows signs of imminent death.

Yesterday, pootling around town everything was fine until having to drive up a fairly steep hill - about half way up the car cut out. After letting the pump cool down for fifteen minutes or so, I was able to re-start, turn around and head for home.

The similarly aged fuel hose in the engine bay is also badly perished and will need replacing, too.

[normanmg2000]

opaline green

Richard I have a little in a large can if you want some.

[Austin-Rover]

Last week saw the interior stripped down for a long overdue deep clean. Last year, when the car first arrived the years of dust and grime were wiped off with plenty of soapy water. It was presentable but never truly clean.

After taking out the seats, they were cleaned with a Vax wet and dry cleaner and left to dry in the sun. The carpets were brushed with a stiff brush to get all the ingrained muck out of the pile. The plastics were cleaned with Autosmart G101 and then liberally coated with Autoglym plastic and trim finisher.

The result? See for yourself...

[Austin-Rover]

This week's job was the MoT. This is MoT No. 5 in 28 years.

It passed. Same advisory as last time. I really should sort out a new set of shock absorbers...

[Ed]

Looks great Rich. I just love the colour and I've recently realised how good those wheels look on a Montego. Can't wait to see this one in the flesh. Congrats on the MOT pass.

[Oli]

What a radical difference you've made on that interior! Wow.
What was the reason for removing the clock/ashtray etc? Was that part of the cleaning?