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Maestro diesel bodywork problems - help needed!

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  • Maestro diesel bodywork problems - help needed!

    Hi, I inherited my dad's Maestro (which my parents called Richard) in 2008. I picked it up after it had been standing outside my parents' house for 9 months and it started instantly so I drove it around and it grew on me very quickly! Brilliant on fuel, easy to drive, and built in the days when the world made sense. Plus it was my dad's car.....I used to run him to the hospital for treatment in it. I had all the bodywork fettled and sprayed at M.A.P.S. in Cirencester and used it constantly until 2014 when it suffered another head gasket failure (the garage where my dad had it serviced every year had never changed the coolant, and I suspect that the block face might have some erosion because a new head gasket etc lasts about a year/15,000 miles). It had been standing outside, uncovered for a few years before I organised covers for it but the bodywork and paint is in need of serious fettling. I'd really be happy for a skilled Maestro enthusiast to have a go at sorting it for me.......Jon at M.A.P.S. did a good job but I think he may have gone rather pricey/upmarket! I'm in Sutton Coldfield but am willing to transport Richard the Maestro anywhere to get things properly sorted....

    All the best

    Karl

  • #2
    I can't help with the bodywork, but I suspect that your gasket problems may be due to using non genuine gaskets, they never seem to last well.. Not sure how easy they are to find now, but I'd steer clear of anything other than genuine Unipart/Rover, Perkins or Volvo (engine is the same as a Volvo MD22T). Years ago I blew head gasket on ä Montego diesel in a spectacular fashion while taking advantage of the German Autobahn's lack of speed limit..undérbonnet fountain, water up windscreen etc etc..got it home, bought a genuine gasket from Rover dealer, no time to plane head (I guess it probably needed it ), put it back together, no more bother... More recently I did a Maestro that had an easy life ahead of it, so used a £20 pattern gasket set....a year later it failed & in this case I had planed the head/spent time doing it properly. Next one I did I got a Unipart head gasket, & another £20 set for the other gaskets...cheapo head gasket went in the bin though.

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    • #3
      I suspect the torque settings might need adjusting to allow for re-torquing with the cheaper gaskets.
      if the head bolts have scored the head thin stainless steel washers might help.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by robert1 View Post
        I suspect the torque settings might need adjusting to allow for re-torquing with the cheaper gaskets.
        if the head bolts have scored the head thin stainless steel washers might help.
        It is torque plus angle, so difficult to guess at a better figure than Perkins arrived at & bolts are flange headed The bolts are reuseable (subject to checking for stretch) so should be possible to overtighten without risking failure, but not something I'd be trying on one of these engines. Apparently the head gasket was something that Perkins spent a lot of time on, as they had some problems with it at first.

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        • #5
          I am not surprised perkins had trouble, angle tightening bolt of different lengths by the same angle will only give even clamping force if all bolts enter the plastic range. and if the gasket compresses more after tightening the short bolts will lose more clamping force than the long.

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