1985 Austin Maestro 1.3 Base (B662 DVX)

[Richard H]

Good news! I haven't been neglecting the Maestro (much) and have been collecting parts for the restoration. First job was to fit the replacement carb I bought from VanJosh.

The old carb.





New one on the left, showing the autochoke stepper motor and diaphragm valve thing.



Fitted!



Of course it still won't start, but it's a step in the right direction, and at least it's original.

I also had a bit of a breakthrough with the hunt for some replacement front wings. A chap on here messaged me saying he'd bought these new wings for his van, and was intending to cut holes in them for the repeaters. However when he saw my plea, he thought it would be better to sell them to me as I have the correct car for them. The only problem was how to get them down from Kings Lynn to Kent. Fortunately my dad collected them from the fens while he was in Norfolk a couple of weeks ago, and I collected them from him in Southend when I went back last weekend.



They are pattern rather than genuine wings, but the price I paid more than makes up for having to fettle them a bit to fit! Firstly I painted the inner wings with zinc rich primer, then gave them a coat of Champagne. I also did the inside of the new wings with the zinc rich primer, so I hope they'll last longer than the originals did. I must say it's nice working on a car that doesn't have any galloping structural rot, makes a nice change from the very rotten 1950's cars I'm usually welding up.









There's a bit of a gap between the wings and the lower valance, and the shut line between the bonnet and passenger side wing needs further adjustment. But overall I'm very pleased with them. Sadly it'll have to wait until the weather gets a bit warmer before I can paint them. Painting even small areas with aerosols is very difficult in a lockup in winter. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but I rubbed down the bits of welding Gary had done on the rear arch/sill areas that were undersealed and painted them the correct shade. It looks loads better, and doesn't catch the eye as much as it did before. I also located a replacement ariel (still in its MG Rover box!) from Rimmer Bros, which will be fitted once I've removed the broken original and welded up the rust around the ariel hole.

[Richard H]

Well thanks to Josh this Maestro now has a new carb, with the correct autochoke, which I fitted it today. Also thanks to Chaucer Motor Factors in Canterbury who had one carb gasket set left. I need to finish plumbing it in, there's a lot of rubber pipes that are broken or split, but it certainly looks the part.

[VanJosh]

This any good to you, it's new I think -




I'm only a few minutes from Canterbury too.

before anyone attempts to fix/repair/play around with a HIF44e setup, i strongly recommend watching this video to understand the setup of this surprisingly complex system

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x0crHvqtDI

[Richard H]

Cheers Sam. I've messaged the seller to see if they are willing to post.

[Captain Slow]

By 1992 the 1.3 had binned autochoke.

To my knowledge the 1.6 carb is the same unit - in fact, so's the 2.0 if memory serves. All SU HIF44E.

[Richard H]

My thoughts exactly. I don't suppose anyone has an autochoke 1.3 carb in good working order they want to sell?

Would this carb be an auto or manual choke? Came from a 1992 car.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUSTIN-ROV...item51b484bb02

This one is definitely an autochoke, I think, but there's no guarantee it's any better than what's already fitted. It's also for a 1.6, is this the same as the 1.3?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Maestro-FZ...item2ecb96790c

[G51 NAV]

Shame to hear of another car that has been 'improved' with the manual choke conversion. In nearly every case case, the conversion doesn't fix the real cause of the misdiagnosed fault that it was fitted to cure.

[BIGDAVE]

i think another carb is the best way to go unless you can get a new choke kit

[Richard H]

Thanks chaps. I can't decide whether to repair this door or look for a better replacement. I think I'll have a go at repairing it, although I've never had much luck welding door skins. For now I've given the bottom of the door a coat of Champagne to tidy it up and I've also cleaned the underseal off that ugly MoT welding at the back of the sill/wheelarch (the previous owner had that done), and painted that too. Looks much better already, although I'm looking forward to chopping that all out and repairing it properly.

I like welding and bodywork, it's just the mechanical side I'm not so good with. I charged the battery and had another go at getting it started today. With the broken manual choke mechanism removed completely I tried to start it with my foot to the floor. It tries to go, but just won't fire. There is a strong spark at number one plug and plenty of fuel getting through. Next I'll try blanking off the choke part of the carb completely, the bit where the o rings go, and see if I get any joy there. To be honest I'd really like to get hold of a better carb as it's always been difficult to start.

[G51 NAV]

Some of them seem prone to it. Of the seven Maestros we've owned (so that's 28 doors if you look at it that way), only two doors had rust issues at the top: one of our two H-reg MG 2.0is (H788 MOG) and our most-recent MG EFi (D246 DPE). Both driver's door too. Generic rust treatments never gave a permanent cure.

Thanks for the update, Richard. My Arum White Maestro had rust on the top of one of the doors, I think this is only the second one I've seen it on!!

[Richard H]

Well I've done a bit more on the Maestro. I got fed up of seeing the rusty wings so whipped them off and cleaned up the inner wings. Fortunately no rot found.





The wings had suffered terribly from a build up of mud and road salt.



New dealer sticker fitted:



I then started to have a poke at some of the rust bubbles on the car! Fatal I know, but I can't own a car with rust bubbles, I always have to poke at them, which usually leads to some ridiculous weldathon.

This is solid enough.



This isn't, and will be a job for the MIG. Fortunately the ariel needs replacing anyway, and the headlining needs to come out as it's sagging, so I'm hoping it won't be too difficult a job to weld it up.



Strangely, three of the doors on this car are mint and rust free, yet the N/S/R door was bubbling on the top and bottom of the door skin.



And these are the scabs at the bottom. The metal is pitted but wouldn't succumb to the prod from a screwdriver. The inner frame of the door looks good.



I was wondering if I could get away with a splash of rust converter, then a skim of filler on the bits that aren't holed...any advice?

I also bought an old AA badge for it and fitted it today.



And fitted the new front plate from DMB Graphics.



Just need to get the new wings and a few other pieces now. It's coming together, slowly.

[Richard H]

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[Captain Slow]

I'll have to see if he can do anything special - I want a spare set of plates for mine, but they're a 3D font from new. If he can replicate that he'll be getting some money from me.