Newbie with 1994 Maestro TD

[Guest]

Some pics of my new acquisition - explanation to follow!

Mike

[maestro dave]

Some pics of my new acquisition - explanation to follow!

Mike

That looks tidy

[Oli]

Gordon Bennett - that looks incredibly tidy!

Tell us more

[Guest]

Sorry, had to get the pics up on the PC quickly before retreating to my phone as I haven't quite got round to admitting new purchase to the wife...

I'm well chuffed with the car - bought on a whim on Tuesday after I lost out by minutes on getting the mint City X mentioned in the sale thread but perhaps this was meant to be as it only cost me £425 (so far at least!) with six months' tax and test plus a boot and back seats full of spares that I haven't sorted through yet.

The bodywork is as good as it looks in the photos - rust free bar a tiny scab in the bottom right corner of the hatch window and the Nightfire Red (COQ) paintwork is excellent.

The interior needs a bit of a clean but there's no wear on the seats - the only things that let it down are the usual drooping headlining at the back and a warped dash (looks OK in the photos but it's quite badly discoloured - hopefully my trusty bar of Vanish will improve it!).

It's only done 57k - 3 owners and some history/old MOTs etc but unfortunately no indication about whether/when the cambelt has been done, so that's top of the list, plus there's a bit of clutch judder in 1st once the car is fully warmed up. Hopefully just a stiff linkage but we'll see - anyway, it got the price down! It drives extremely well and is a very different experience from my last dealings with a Maestro - my in-laws bought a new Clubman in 1990 which they kept until it began to rot in the late 90s but with an n/a diesel and no power steering it was a bit agricultural! Mind you, I'd forgotten just how noisy the Primas are when cold...

Anyway, enough of my ramblings - I'll be back soon with lots of stupid questions once I get stuck in to getting it fettled.

Cheers,

Mike

[Guest]

Sorry, had to get the pics up on the PC quickly before retreating to my phone as I haven't quite got round to admitting new purchase to the wife...

LOL love it!! Have known this situation all too well!! It becomes more easier the more cars you have though, as I have said to her before 'well it's the one I already told you about a couple of months ago...!!! Worked when KGM came into the picture anyway

Car looks lovely and in top condition aswell, as I said in the other thread you probaly got the better car in the end. And now you have some spare cash to think about how to sweeten up the missus with the news and soften the blow . An announcement perhaps over a meal with a couple of bottles of plonk on the go...

[normanmg2000]

nightfire maestro

very nice welcome and good luck with the car, so that's how you do it eh matt, you must be a smoothie ,i haven't perfected that bit with the cars yet.

[Austin-Rover]

Wow. That's nice. Make sure you keep it in a vat of Waxoyl, the later cars are right rustbuckets!

[Oli]

the later cars are right rustbuckets!

Which is why i was so surprised to see it in this condition!

[Guest]

I'll have to 'fess up in the morning because the kids now know about the car (my wife was out this afternoon and evening and my approach to responsible parenting was leave the children to entertain themselves while I go round the back and get some work done on the fleet!).

Anyway, I had a productive few hours. Dash is now cleaned (the discolouration was because it was seriously filthy) and treated with Armorall. It now looks fairly presentable, although one day a replacement would nice as its got some major cracks. Stripped down the front doors, shampooed the door cards and deep cleaned all the plastic trim, swapped over the door locks (the driver's side had been replaced so had a different key which was bugging me) and put it all back together again. Few more jobs tomorrow (like reconnecting the aerial lead to the stereo, which I discovered was the reason for lack of reception).

I'm going to need a new parcel shelf as mine has snapped and it held together by a DIY brackets and about 15 unsightly screws, so if there's anyone with one going spare?

[Guest]

A quick update:-

1. 'Fessed up to Mrs P - took it fairly well!

2. Clutch arm soaked twice in WD40 seems to have completely cured the judder, so a result there...

3. Finished deep clean of the interior and fixed the aerial connection, so the R750 now working perfectly (is that the original fitment? Was surprised to have RDS given that my mother in law's much later Rover 25 doesn't)

4. Best of all - the car is now in use and is currently in Snowdonia where we're having a short half term break. Had a great journey here, I'd forgotten how comfortable a Maestro is on long run and the fantastic visibility comes into its own on the motorway and for the great scenery around here!

[Jeff Turbo]

I'll have to 'fess up in the morning because the kids now know about the car (my wife was out this afternoon and evening and my approach to responsible parenting was leave the children to entertain themselves while I go round the back and get some work done on the fleet!).

Anyway, I had a productive few hours. Dash is now cleaned (the discolouration was because it was seriously filthy) and treated with Armorall. It now looks fairly presentable, although one day a replacement would nice as its got some major cracks. Stripped down the front doors, shampooed the door cards and deep cleaned all the plastic trim, swapped over the door locks (the driver's side had been replaced so had a different key which was bugging me) and put it all back together again. Few more jobs tomorrow (like reconnecting the aerial lead to the stereo, which I discovered was the reason for lack of reception).

I'm going to need a new parcel shelf as mine has snapped and it held together by a DIY brackets and about 15 unsightly screws, so if there's anyone with one going spare?

Know exactly what you mean about now telling the wife. Lol. Mine doesn't know yet about my digidash MG Montegos

[Guest]

Must start a member's cars thread but a final word on this one - just got back from Wales, covered more than 600 miles on one tank, 64.01mpg brim to brim!