Hi fellow MG folks, in light of the recent turn of events I thought I had better start a diary on events on the restoration of this very rare car.
Here where this story started:-
Car as advertised on Car and Classic
Previously: The Challenge
I had put the Car up for sale, this prompted a journalist to contact me to use the car in a featured article in an up coming magazine, he had been looking for a 2.0L digidash for a while and finally found one albeit for sale, after a long story (will tell this another time) I decided to remove the car from sale and am pleased (and worried) to say on the 22nd June the MG will be put through its paces against the legendary Astra Mk2 GTE from the Vauxhall Heritage centre.
I decided to take the car off sale and restore the car, however this is true CAR SOS style I only have 4 weeks to get the car restored.
So with a deep breath here goes:-
18th May
Panic sets in; the fantastic bodyshop that rebuilt my Stag 5 years ago was in the process of retiring and a Bodyshop is desperately needed, lots of phone calls led me to find a Bodyshop in Peterborough called MH Autos - turns out Mike has history with Practical Classics and thankfully has agreed to do the Maestro within the timeframe needed.
26th May
Car stripped, all interior and trim out and off, for a Maestro was amazed at how much of the car was still left!!
27th May
OMG what have I done - serious grot found in roof panel and behind nearside wheel arch- previously had been bodged - major welding required on roof, however Mike the true Knight isn't fazed by this set back.
The floors in the Maestro are cleaned out and treated with FE123 and repainted.
28th May
All floor repainted and now looking better.
29th May
Mike turns up at 10:30pm - he had been finishing his Escort Mexico till late and then fell foul of the A1 closures, car loaded up and sent off to Peterborough.
6th June
Jobs Done
Called into the bodyshop at lunch and had a big shock...well have a look for yourself
Have made good progress today,
Jobs Done
Had a night off and grouted the Patio,(yes I am also in the middle of DIY on the house in my spare time) after which I set about removing the body tape from the side mouldings, found that a scalpel blade running longitudinally seemed to fair the best.
13th June
Went to Mike's to look at the Maestro, it's now had the roof repair and wheelarch rewelded, it looked really well in the primer, all doors and boot now off, got home and set about the following
Jobs Completed
Think we are going to be very tight on time - 9 days to go, Mike isn't sure Maestro will be back with me this Friday which is going to give me a big problem if I don’t receive it until Monday - I think I have around 16 hours work to refit everything, change rear shocks and put new front discs and pads on….Hoping and praying Mike can get the windscreen fitted on Saturday that’s for sure
.
Jobs still to do before car return:
1 Paint 2 more wheels
Here where this story started:-
Car as advertised on Car and Classic
Previously: The Challenge
I had put the Car up for sale, this prompted a journalist to contact me to use the car in a featured article in an up coming magazine, he had been looking for a 2.0L digidash for a while and finally found one albeit for sale, after a long story (will tell this another time) I decided to remove the car from sale and am pleased (and worried) to say on the 22nd June the MG will be put through its paces against the legendary Astra Mk2 GTE from the Vauxhall Heritage centre.
I decided to take the car off sale and restore the car, however this is true CAR SOS style I only have 4 weeks to get the car restored.
So with a deep breath here goes:-
18th May
Panic sets in; the fantastic bodyshop that rebuilt my Stag 5 years ago was in the process of retiring and a Bodyshop is desperately needed, lots of phone calls led me to find a Bodyshop in Peterborough called MH Autos - turns out Mike has history with Practical Classics and thankfully has agreed to do the Maestro within the timeframe needed.
26th May
Car stripped, all interior and trim out and off, for a Maestro was amazed at how much of the car was still left!!
27th May
OMG what have I done - serious grot found in roof panel and behind nearside wheel arch- previously had been bodged - major welding required on roof, however Mike the true Knight isn't fazed by this set back.
The floors in the Maestro are cleaned out and treated with FE123 and repainted.
28th May
All floor repainted and now looking better.
29th May
Mike turns up at 10:30pm - he had been finishing his Escort Mexico till late and then fell foul of the A1 closures, car loaded up and sent off to Peterborough.
6th June
Jobs Done
- Wheels stripped and repainting has started.
- Tackled the passenger seat to clean fabric, am particularly impressed with traffic lane cleaner from Rug Doctor!
- Got a quote for the Boot badge to be re-enamelled this was 250+VAT which was a shock, I have decided to use Engine enamel to repaint it followed by a lacquer over the Nickel .
Called into the bodyshop at lunch and had a big shock...well have a look for yourself
Have made good progress today,
Jobs Done
- wiper arms painted
- Fuel filter bracket and battery tray all painted first coat.
- Masked and sprayed the centre cap MG logo and the results looks promising. 2 coats put on the 2nd wheel, wish I had some slave wheels as exchanging 1 to 1 is not ideal.
Had a night off and grouted the Patio,(yes I am also in the middle of DIY on the house in my spare time) after which I set about removing the body tape from the side mouldings, found that a scalpel blade running longitudinally seemed to fair the best.
13th June
Went to Mike's to look at the Maestro, it's now had the roof repair and wheelarch rewelded, it looked really well in the primer, all doors and boot now off, got home and set about the following
Jobs Completed
- Have finished Boot badge tonight, I decided to paint it in the same colours as the MGOC logo - which ironically is opposite way to the way it was!! It does look good - let me know what you think.
- Painted bonnet stay
- Final coat on battery tray
- Remaining centre caps sprayed ready for the MG logos to be painted. I managed to find an EFI badge for the boot today so have ordered that, am in 2 minds whether to put the 2.0i on the doors, Not sure if that was only on the mk2 Maestro
- cleaned and repainting the seat hinges.
- Scraped all the over sprayed off the roof inserts from the previous poor paint job - why they didn't remove them is a mystery!
- Reblacked front spoiler and rear arch mouldings
Think we are going to be very tight on time - 9 days to go, Mike isn't sure Maestro will be back with me this Friday which is going to give me a big problem if I don’t receive it until Monday - I think I have around 16 hours work to refit everything, change rear shocks and put new front discs and pads on….Hoping and praying Mike can get the windscreen fitted on Saturday that’s for sure
.
Jobs still to do before car return:
1 Paint 2 more wheels
- Paint the MG Logos on centre caps
- Find a centre insert for front spoiler - it may have to be a fabricated aluminium insert for now!
- Clean rear seats
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