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1989 MG Maestro turbo

103K views 308 replies 78 participants last post by  macca666 
#1 ·
I hope this is ok with the mods to start another thread (and apologies to those that subscribed to my previous thread) but as some of you with a good memory may recall back in very late 2013 I decided to head back to my early driving days and purchase a MG Maestro Turbo which I had posted here when I bought it

www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=325280

Also decided in my wisdom I'd try a webpage to document my progress and it's here

www.mgmaestro108.wordpress.com

As with most things unfortunately life, other commitments, laziness, weather, detailing my daillies etc. got in the way and although I've made progress it's definitely not as much as I would have liked.

For those of you that follow me on Instagram (A8VMG) you'll have seen some of the work I've done but other than that I've been pretty lazy updating anything else!!

As such rather than resurrect my old thread which really hasn't that much on it I thought I'd start a new thread to try and inspire me.

I'm working away quite a bit this year so I thought that the extra time I have in hotel rooms etc. Would at least give me time to update the thread with work I've already done and work I do. That's the plan at least.....

From my point of view I've been driving for 27 year now (dear gawd is it that long!) and it was the era as per a recent thread where you bought old cars and did most of the work yourself. I reckon in my first 4-5 year of driving I never paid more than 600 for a car and my first car at the tender age of 17 was only 18 month younger than I was :lol:

My only real car that I regretted selling was my first Maestro turbo which I had for 7 year but eventually got rid of due to extensive rot and it was beyond my capability to restore it. Here's an old polaroid of it which is before the digital days and must have been around 95/96 and yes that is an old H plate Escort Eclipse in our driveway.



This meant it was a no brainer when I decided on what project car I should look at. I would say I've a good general knowledge of mechanics and bodywork however don't have the skill to carry out a full nut and bolt refurbishment so this was what I had to bear in mind as there were some complete and utter wrecks out there.

Prior to my 40th in 2014 my OH had asked what I wanted so this was the ideal opportunity to start looking seriously so I joined the Maestro and Montego Owners Club and eventually managed to find a suitable car through it actually agreeing a deal online whilst I was holidaying in Dubai. The turbo was a limited run of 505 including the press cars and was produced in Flame red, British Racing Green, White and Black. I managed to find a flame red one the same as my original which was a bonus as we all know that red cars are the fastest :lol:

The engine was out for a rebuild so it was agreed this would be done and refitted before I picked it up. Here's some pics that I was sent prior to me buying it.



















Price agreed and a mate kindly agreed to travel the 600 mile round trip to pick it up in his trailer. I also got a load of spares and paid extra for a triple core radiator and Scorpion exhaust.

Here's a picture of it on the back of the trailer and then back in my driveway at home.







As with all older or classic cars on the face of it they look good however when you start to strip them down all is not as it seemed......That said it was in pretty decent condition and I was happy with it.

I knew that it needed two new sills which were supplied with the car and the suspension was shot but other than that I had the joys of stripping it down to find out.....

Anyway first post up to give a bit of a background posted from a holiday inn express before I head out for dinner for 1 :lol: oh the joys of working away!
 
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#147 · (Edited)
Carpets

So i've posted up the carpets before and after and I refitted them into the car. It was obviously a straightforward job and they're held in with the interior trim which i'll post separately as I needed to clean it all up before refittting so i've lots of pics.

BOOT

This came in 3 sections the piece I posted earlier plus two side panels which really just needed a brush and hoover they were in relatively decen condition



ANOTHER ANGLE



FRONT AND REAR FOOTWELL



AND ALL TOGETHER

I'd temporary fitted a couple of the interior trim panels for this one just to hold the carpet in place



Whilst I was there I needed to do the spare including the jack. Some of you may remember I did a review on a wheel cleaner which i'd posted on DW however here's some before and after pics





I also tided up the jack no paint just a good scrib and clean as can't have a clean wheel and dirty jack and brace etc. :lol:





Lastly and prior to refitting there are small touches where I think i'm losing the plot. I've not taken a picture for some reason with it however as most will know for spare wheels in the boot there is normally a bolt and plate which holds the wheel in place. Didn't take a before picture and even though it'll never be seen I decided to clean it up and paint it as well...

Here's it after painting. I also wetsanded it after painting and gave it a once over with the rotary and Scholl S20.....:lol:



Tried to get a reflection shot but couldn't really get it t show that well on camera however in real life it was looking well



Next was all the interior trim and headlining so i've loads of photos for that and i'll post up over the net few threads with that.

As always comments and feedback welcome.
 
#150 ·
Not that I'm aware of mate. Certainly this one never came with one and this is my 2nd turbo and 3rd Maestro and I don't remember any others having them though it was 20 to 25 year ago for my other 2.

The black clamp sits inside the wheel and bolt goes through and screws into the boot floor holding everything in place.

Happy to be corrected if anyone else knows differently and I'm away to Google now to see if I can find anything :lol:
 
#151 ·
Interior

So back on to the interior trim

Here's a picture of the interior trim pieces prior to being cleaned up.



For the various trim pieces I managed to get them clean with some APC and brushes.

I did the nearside first so here's the rear piece



And the front. There are still some scuffs which I couldn't quite get out they actually look worse in the pictures for some reason



And both pieces in one pic



And the offside rear piece



And the front



And both pieces together



View from the boot with the two centre pieces also fitted which go under the front seats.



The gear knob was quite manky so it got a clean up as well obviously.





And a picture afterwards. Ended up using a ****tail stick to get into the numbers and came up quite well I k now it wasn't completely obvious from the first pic but it should have looked like this.



I was quite pleased with the gearknob it came up well and didn't need to retouch it or anythign it was obviuosly jsut years of grime....

Centre console fitted around the handbrake and gearstick.



and another view



While I was cleaning up I decided to do the two plastic guards which go in the rear arches and are pictured in my first picture on this post.

Before




And after




For these I ended up using scrapers, scrubbing brushes and Surfex HD and some panel wipe. Topped off with Aerospace 303

And fitted




It's starting to come together and I was getting a bit excited with the intterior as I actually feel as if I'm finally getting there....

Headlining will be replaced in the next post.

As always comments and feedback welcome.
 
#152 ·
Headlining

Continuing with the interior as anyone who knows the Maestro / Montego and probably Rover in general a major problem always was the headlining with the material coming away from the biscuit and sagging, drooping etc.

It is not too difficult a job to recover and supplies can be bought online however mine came with a newly recovered headlining so all that was needed to fit it. Sounded relatively easy and I fitted it myself however with hindsight it would have been easier as a 2 person job as I was balancing it on my head whilst inserting clips etc.

Here's what I started with anyway



and he headlining still wrapped and on my patio table



I've not got any during shots as I was obviously doing it myself but the lining is held up with some felt clips, the grab rails, sunroof surround the sun visors.

First job was to make sure that all the clips etc. were cleaned up as some of them were in a pretty poor state and as we all know on here it's the small details that count.

I'm trying not to swamp the thread with pics so quite a few are before and after pics which I like as it shows the differences. Here's the clips and obviously top is before and bottom after. There were cleaned with a 10% solution of BH surfex and a soft brush. They came up well I think.



As I hadn't removed the headlining I had to try and work out where all the clips etc. went. After spending a while cleaning all the clips up I realised I didn't actually need them all and obviously had spares so thankfully I didn't spend days refurbing them or anything :lol:

Next up grab handles. The pics don't really show a great difference I don't think however in real life there was a vast improvement on them.



Sun visors next




I need new sunvisors or I'm thinking about trying to recover my existing ones as they are like gold dust so i've been keeping my eye open but not managed to find any as yet.......

And the other side before and after



and the holding clips for them



Next up was the sunroof surround which on first glance I wasn't sure it was going to come up at all however again with Surfex HD and this time a nail brush it came up pretty well.

Before



and after



And a shot of it all fitted



and lastly a before and after



As always thanks for reading and any comments welcome.

Next up is seats and door cards :thumb:
 
#160 ·
One of my favourite threads on here, fantastic work mate a true credit to yourself.
Sub'd.

Looking forward to seeing it finished. Great job.
Cheers everyone it's getting there if a bit slowly but I'm definitely seeing light at the end of the tunnel.....2019 is the year :thumb:
 
#165 ·
Interior pt 2

So a couple of updates in quick succession as i've been making some decent progress in the last couple of month which hopefully might please Mr Chongo ;) :lol:

It was now time for the seats and door cards to go on so again had to clean up all tthe fixings etc.

For those of you around my age this will look familiar for those of a younger generation and used to modern cars then this is what a door card used to look like it's basically thick cardboard and cracks and breaks in some way every time you have to remove them :lol:



I was missing a few clips etc. so managed to trace most of them in my box of spares....

Door accessories ??? not really sure what the official term would be but yes it's manual windows in the rear...

Before and after





Seatbelt clip before and after





And another view before and after





There are some scrapes/scuffs as you'll see which I couldn't get out. The car is going to be used and although my OCD kicks in at certain points for areas that I can fix myself It's not extending to replacing parts just because they've got some marks on them......YET :lol:

Some parts are still available new so bought some new clips from Rimmer Bros



Trim for the rear bootlid before and after



And the other side can't find a before picture for some reason but here's it cleaned up



And where it goes before and after





I was still missing one clip at this time as it's smaller than all the others.....

So door cards and rear seats were fitted



Drivers seat fitted



and yes before anyone asks as it had been so long since i'd driven it I did sit in the seat and go vroom vroom whilst pretending I was driving :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Passenger seat also fitted



Gave the dash a tidy up as well



And front door cards in as well



Decided to fit the wing mirrors as well while I was at it





So that's the interior almost sorted next is on to the front end which will be in my next post.

As always thanks for reading and comments and feedback welcome.
 
#166 ·
I just caught up with your thread, awesome attention to detail and love the car choice too! it really brings back memories. I never had one but a mate did when I had an RS Turbo, I can remember it was a deceptively quick car that beat most things at the time. I bet he wishes he never sold it now. Mind you there are a few I wish I hadn't sold too ( hindsight is a wonderful thing lol).

Really nice seeing this bought back to an amazing level.

Thanks for all the updates a great read so far:thumb:
 
#169 ·
I'm already on it and you'll be right :thumb:

It's not actually felt it was double sided tape which I thought I'd get away without. When I put it back on I could still feel movement so ended up buying some cushioned double sided tape and although I've not driven it yet the panel feels pretty secure so I think it should be ok.
 
#171 ·
Cheers mate its appreciated and TBH its the encouragement I get on here and elsewhere that keeps me going. I know its not to everyone's taste but life would be boring if we all liked the same things :thumb:

I never made any shows at all this year due to work and a family bereavement so here's hoping we get some next year.

Don't think though just because you sold on Taz and got Apollo you'll be able to keep up with me :lol: :lol:

I actually found a dump valve in my spares last night when I was looking for something else I'm sure if I fit that it would give me at least an extra 70bhp whoosh.....tish :tumbleweed:
 
#174 ·
Just caught up on this thread again and WOW! amazing progress, gave me some light reading for sure!

Have been watching other threads using the BH Deox and Hydrate but was VERY impressed with the results you have achieved from Surfex.....some of those parts are looking brand new!

Looking forward to watching this project as it nears completion, so many thanks for taking the time to write and photograph the journey for us all to enjoy :)
 
#175 ·
Have been watching other threads using the BH Deox and Hydrate but was VERY impressed with the results you have achieved from Surfex.....some of those parts are looking brand new!
Actually meant to say this earlier. Brilliant work with the Bilt Hamber. Especially the sill/side skirt clips. Brill.

Cooks

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
#179 · (Edited)
So given it's the new year thought i'd try and resurrect this thread. Can't believe that it's been just over 2 year since I last posted..........

2019 was just a bit of a mental year for me and I was working overseas for quite a large proportion of it and 2020 was just well........2020. I've been one of the fortunate few who has worked through it but that meant no lockdown projects however I have been getting some work done.

For those that follow me on Instagram on @a8vmg or @mgmaestroturbo108 you'll have seen some updates but given it's a new year I thought I'd try and get some updates on this as well.

So here goes.....................I'll try to keep it in some semblance of order.

Followign on from my last post it was on to the front end so bumper, headlights, spots, slam panels etc. were removed and tidied up either by some paint or just some wetsanding and polish.

Here's the bumper removed and what it started like



I need to find a picture with the foglight but they weren't wired in and had been snipped off so here's a pic of the rear with the foglight removed



I stripped everything off including the rubber dampers and refurbed them all so here's the holding brackets prior to clean and paint



Mid painting....



Here's the rubber dampers before and after



Badge on the grill was a nightmare but after much taping and painting.........



Grill polished and painted.



Rear of the bumper with the rubber damper pads refitted and the brackets painted. Fogs fitted as well.



Bumper mid progress



Insert painted and fog fitted though still to be polished



And polished with black stripe fitted onto bumper to replace the white for those that are paying attention



Mesh grill painted as well



Mid polish



We all love a 50/50.....



Couple of fitted pictures uploaded via tapatalk sorry for the different sizing.....



 
#185 ·
I wondered when it would get around to updating on here, following on Instagram it's been one hell of a journey. Awesome reading.
Cheers mate. I know there's a live thread on DW just now about the site being slow but it's just so much easier to upload onto Instagram which is probs why ive been putting it off but I'll try and catch up in here within the next week or two.......
 
#186 ·
Cheers Mick I'm still working but outside of work there's diddly squat to do so hopefully get more work done and updates on.

I'm on holiday in a couple of weeks and the OH is still working so going to try and spend most of it on the car and hopefully MOT ready :doublesho
 
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