Africa Rally Maestro progress thread

[CPL593H]

Congratulations to all involved.

[E_T_V]

Yes congratulations to all. A true endurance event and one we all knew the maestro was capable of. Aside from a couple of fuel issues it seems to have been a trouble free run. Lets hope they sort it for the next run (and I hope there will be one)

[E_T_V]

I love this quote from one of the entrants

"I got a new Jeep with a big V8 and put on Baja desert racing suspension and drove it half way round the world down the full length of Africa …I've just been well and truly beaten by two birds in an old Maestro" - Marc Buchanan, Jeep Wrangler

[Guest]

Just Classic!

[G51 NAV]

Seeing that they were sponsored by* Practical Classics, I do hope there's one heck of a good article on the way.

*their car carried Practical Classics' decals, I don't know if any money changed hands.

[Guest]

Ok Guys and Gals.............

While the now Famous London To Cape Town Maestro is likely to be loaded and on it's way back to blighty after a successful campaign, there is still some work to do.

After an exchange of emails with Philip there are a few bits needed to be repaired.

Due to my current situation, (and the fact I dont have a clue if I have any).........

First bits needed will be...

New Valves for a 1.6 S series, got any going spare? please let me know.

Also, please keep an eye out on the bay of E and other suppliers.

They will be needed for when "Betty" arrives home for her well deserved rest, and TLC.

Mal.

[Guest]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUSTIN-MAE...#ht_562wt_1185

[Guest]

Thanks for that, main issue is exhaust valves at the moment.
(should have put that )

But if a full set could be found, then it may be a bonus.

Mal.

[E_T_V]

I reckon a compression check is in order before pulling the head off and replacing the valves, but I've burnt one out before. Infact that is what ended up scrapping our old HLS.

Strange to burn a valve out with hardened seats though on a newly built head, which is why I reckon a compression test is in order first.

[Guest]

I agree Dan.

Although not 100% sure, with all the work that was done on the head, you would think it unlikely, unless..........

New valves were not fitted and the old ones were reused?

After rebuilding they would have been very clean and having only done minimal mileage had no "lead memory"?.

But I'm pretty sure they would have checked the usual such as ignition and plugs etc before coming to there conclusion.

[Piggy Bank]

Before starting to take it apart I like to ask a few questions.
Who is the owner of this rally Maestro?
Will it be on display somewhere before it gets refurbished so we can see it in its original battled form?
Will there be a meeting with the ladies, Tony and Philip with the vehicle so we can hear the experiences direct from them?
What are the future plans with this car?

[E_T_V]

As the head was ported out I'd assumed that hardened valve seats had been fitted so you wouldn't need a lead memory.

Poor fuel won't help though so anything is possible!

[Guest]

As far as I am aware...

There are no current plans to "show" the car.

Philip Own's the Car.

A Gathering of the whole team involved in the build and running of the car has been suggested, but as yet the principles involved have other things to attend to before that can happen.

Which includes catching up on lots of rest and there family's.

It has been suggested that the option is there to attend one of the "Club Open days" at Gaydon with the car and those principles involved.

But I would guess that it will be a while before anything is confirmed either way.

My own take on it, is that the car may yet be used on other rally's organised by the Endurance Rally Association.

The best thing to do, is to wait for Philip to rest up and confirm on the forum as to what the future hold's for the car and the team.

There is a book on the rally planned, as well as a Film covering the exploits of all teams during the rally.

[Guest]

It has been a good servant to them glad that it is on it's way back and the car done them proud! It is good that it made it all the way when many others failed!

[E_T_V]

I hope it gets improved and run again in future rallys to fly the flag for our motors! It'd be a shame not to seeing all the work that has gone into the car.