Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

The Maestro turbo! A true last gasp.. Bolt a big turbo to a truly awful car and neglect to upgrade brakes and suspension.

Edit to add that I learnt to drive in a BRG Montego GTI Estate!

The suspension system was sorted by the Rover 100 and MGF, so far too late to save the allagro. Did read about the suspension set up and issues, but can't remember it all. Still fascinated by Alex Moulton, and his little wheel bike, and his ideas about suspension.

I had a few maestro and monties, I lowered one MG monty and got the suspension set up properly too. All I did was making the handling worse and give it severe torque steer. The brakes were poor on the injected version and scary on the turbo.

But I will not accept anyone knocking the MG 1600 maestro. ;) Hint is sharing carbs with a ferrari.

Oh my deities! I was once gifted a Montego turbo as a company car, it cornered like a hippo with a replacement hip and at 6 months old the alleged sunroof showered me with rust. I didn't stay with that company long enough to find out what a 1 year old Montego was like. Still, it was only marginally worse than a Renault 25, which were apparently made entirely of coke cans....

You had a few? Wasn't one sufficient?

You need to watch a few hippo documentaries...as what you say is really offensive to hippos.

Wonder if it was the metric tyres? Replacing the rims (5.5 maestro and 6j on the monty) with yokohama tyres helped.

The Montego GTI spent much of its time in the garage being repaired.. Its predecessor, a humble 1.6L estate, was fairly reliable!

Edit.. The GTI had fold up seats in the boot for a proto mpv win

I don't find Hippos to be big readers or regulars on cycling forums, so I reckon to be safe. However, there are probably more surviving hippos than Montegos wandering the wilds of this small island.

They were very cheap or free and a great source of spares.

Remember when you had to pay to get scrap cars taken away? Also this is me and my vehicle logic.

A client in 2000 turned up one day with a 205 GTI 1.6 on a flatbed which he had picked up for free from an acquaintance for free to avoid the charge for scrap.

Those rear facing seats like a volvo?

The gti front seats with the mg badge looked good and were comfortable. Also you hit the nail on the head, they weren't very reliable. Had an early one monty, that was a cat d as the car had a rear bump and needed a rear bumper, lights and boot with the reflective infill. Was given a £10 to take it away, with 3/4 of a tank of fuel.

EDIT: Having access to places to store cars, and being able to weld/straighten damaged cars, family friends in the damaged car storage trade, and people in the trade so the wierd and wonderful and cars that hadn't sold in 90 days came my way. Studying in London and access to free parking meant cars came from the midlands to London and back the other way.

Yes to the volvo seats.. The GTI estate was pretty rare. Non MG.

Edit.. I think mainstream cars changed massively in the 90s. They became much better built, faster and more refined. I remember getting a lift in a new E39 and being amazed at how quiet and composed it was at 90. Similarly the first time I got a lift in an impreza it seemed mind boggling fast for a saloon.

think mainstream cars changed massively in the 90s. They became much better built, faster and more refined. I remember getting a lift in a new E39 and being amazed at how quiet and composed it was at 90. Similarly the first time I got a lift in an impreza it seemed mind boggling fast for a saloon.

I don't know, or not sure and it could be an age thing, or my bias ;) But remember my dads 7 volvo, at 90-100mph and being able to have a conversation at normal volume and not feeling that fast. What I will always remember of Subaru, that initially sold to farmers or via farming supplies places rather than a dealer network. The cars were work horses and had a hard life but built subaru reputation for build quality.

@Colm89 That is a shower of shit, one of the first things we always did at the dealer for ECU faults was inspect for water damage.
Two most important checks are the drain holes behind the plastic box and remove the wiring plugs and inspect for corrosion as in some cases the 'Mapped Thermostats' would leak coolant up the electrodes which would then get right down the wiring to the ECU with a combination of pressure and capillary action eventually filling the ecu with antifreeze.

The oil level sensor uses a comparison between two capacitors to calculate the oil level so any resistance in the wiring to it can effect it's readings. I am very surprised there would be no fault codes stored for it. Sensors are common for failing as are software issues, especially if the vehicle was overfilled with oil, I have seen many that needed coding after failing to reset after an overfill.

Munich Legends seem to have a love hate relationship, I do think they are better geared for the older Classic BMW's.

Others to consider are ;
Bexley Motror Works or BMSport in Bexleyheath, Jags & Nigel
https://www.bmsport.com/

or

Crago Autos in Dartford, Ritchie & Ben
https://cragos.co.uk/

Had a mg Metro Turbo as a teen. Slammed, really loud, slow a f*CK, awful to drive. Great times

This post deserves some rep

Just fixed a headlight bulb by removing the flimsy plastic face, jiggling the connection and swearing at it a bit and then screwing it all back together.

Basically Henry Ford now.

Discovered that my car is silver, not brown.

1 Attachment

Always have a good selection of swear words to hand. I have some imperial ones that are useful for older vehicles.

Brown Mercs seem popular at the moment. May be a connection with where you park.
https://www.reddit.com/r/JusticeServed/comments/gpdtf4/dont_park_in_the_farmers_field/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Looking at a Berlingo tomorrow. 40,000mi, 2009 1.6tdi
Anyone got much experience with them? An old colleague swears by them as the best cheap bike hauler/car camping/occasional van you can get.

It’s a little older but very few miles considering. Hpi checks all good. Anything specific to keep an eye out for on it? It’s from a respectable dealership not a private seller..

I’m leaving my job(and therefore company van) next week so really need to sort something out fairly swiftly.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202003108227556?advertising-location=at_cars&is-quick-search=TRUE&postcode=e175ft&model=BERLINGO&sort=price-asc&page=3&radius=80&make=CITROEN&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&advertClassification=standard

Hola,

Look up egr valve gumming up and issues with oil feed to the turbo killing the turbo.

Check that the proper PSA oil spec has been used.... Do you still have my number? Gimme a shout and I can tell you what to look at engine wise. Have the Citroen/PSA software too.

Check the heater doesn't stink when it's on full or its a big job to replace

Thanks for the tips, @lynx I’ll give you a bell if I need ya. Watching egr valve vids on YouTube to know what to look for ta :)
My pa is 40yr veteran of the car trade so been schooled by him as well.
It’s not like they aren’t common as muck so can just walk away if it’s no bueno.

Hola, was looking at citroen C5 with 1.6 HDI engine, as cheap road tax and insurance compared to the 2l. https://pmmonline.co.uk/technical/tackling-turbo-trouble-psa-1-6-hdi-engine/ as the turbo does seem to be an issue. Cit/pug specify a different oil spec compared to the ford/mazda not sure about the mini. There is a filter mesh in the turbo oil line that should be cleaned and or replaced regularly. If that filter clogs, the turbo gets oil starved.

If the turbo is a variable vain one, check that the vain move, google how. Some of the electrics suffer from dry solder joint fails, the inner turbo vains do stick but the vanes can be freed off with mr muscle oven cleaner to remove the carbon build up and get the vanes moving. This is common on way to fix variable vane turbos.

The filter should all be purflux (as they are cheap from GSF) and there is a lift pump issue on the some of the ford and c5 that the lift pump in the fuel tank breaks up and sends little metal fragments in to the main pump and then it dies.

Always to get a better price and or longer warranty, that will cover the turbo/egr/fuel pump stuff.

EDIT: Remembered that a friend on another forum got berlingo for the same reason as you, check the seams on the boot/rear passenger seat spot welded join can rust if water is allowed to settle there. Especially if the rear area has been washed out regularly.