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Apr 27, 2020 17:55:21 GMT
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So, in between doing lots of other life related stuff, I started thinking about filling the hole at the front with something. I had picked up a Prima non-turbo engine and a PG1 gearbox (long story there...) but I was still debating whether or not to change it out for a 1.3 A+, a 1.6 or something completely different. I went and looked at a MGTF engine and subframe locally, complete with ECU etc. It wasn't a bad price, I'd have to rebuild it with new belts and water pup at least but it was an option. Then I had my hand sort of forced. My MGF, the 'Golden Shot', developed a large coolant leak from the rear of the head gasket. Now, despite being nice sports cars, MG Fs and TFs are still worth next to nothing, especially if they've had a knock or got problems. The Shot had both, so was worth near scrap, which was very, very annoying as I really, really like that car.... So, after much heart-searching, I have decided to strip the Shot of all parts needed to build the Maestro and create a 1.8 K series van. Okay, its only 120Bhp, but in such a light vehicle, it should go OK!
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Apr 23, 2020 20:29:54 GMT
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Once I had the body solid (albeit not 'tidy'), I turned my attention to the interior and refitted the carpets and flooring Then some new door seals and finally the tidied seats, more for anything to clear the back out and make some space for other work... It was then dropped back onto the ground and moved out into the garden, to allow the 'patio' to have a spring clean as being on the north side of the house, it does get slimy and green very quickly...
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Apr 23, 2020 19:10:43 GMT
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I didn't take many photos of the work as it was one of those jobs I just wanted to get on with; I especially didn't photograph the near disaster when I started on the nearside rear arch..... The arches I had bought for the rears don't go all the way round the old arch - by buying steel bumper front wings, you can get a full rear arch out of the opposite corner (if you get what I mean) but the cost of a pair of wings just to cut up didn't warrant that and I'm not too bad sticking metal together. After removing all the old rusty stuff, I added extra to allow the inner and outer arches to meet and got everything back solid, then started fitting the new pattern arches to the repairs. It was at this point I thought "What's that smell??", then noticed paint starting to blister above the welded area. Smoke was pouring out between the load bed and the side - Oh Poo! A quick call to the local Fire Brigade had them on site within two minutes, yes, they are that close and after a few confused seconds as they wondered which car was on fire, they soon had the blaze out and the culprit dragged from its hiding place - an old rubber mudflap wedged under the load bed to stop a rattle! The inside was smoke discoloured and the whole thing covered in powder, so the next job after making sure the metal was clean and primered was to strip the interior and clean it, very, very well! I finished off both arches, then moved on to some 'rust-throughs' on the back of the floorpan and found the inner front arches were rather holey as well. New inner sills, floor and footboard both sides soon had them looking in rude health...
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Apr 23, 2020 16:58:09 GMT
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Over that year, though, I started hoovering up what panels I could to start repairs; sills in particular are like hens teeth but I managed to find one on Ebay for a reasonable sum, and the rear arches developed from pattern part Escort ones to a set of pattern part Maestro ones as the Escort ones needed a large amount of fettling. Doors still eluded me. Eventually the Metro left the garden, the 'patio' got steam cleaned and the van went in - just! I had to unbolt both door mirrors to get it through the carport and then put the nose into the garage and drag the back end round to position it for the work area. It was then jacked up to a reasonable height on some hefty axle stands and work started. The roofrack had caused corrosion to break out on the passenger side and allowed water into the shell. Now, Maestro vans are a bit odd in their construction. The front is pure Maestro car; from the B post back things change. The sills, for example, are car sills at the front, but inside the structure is a steel reinforcing 'tube' that runs the full length of the 'inner sill' and the outer sills at the rear are integral with the van sides with a seam behind the doors. The inner sill and cross members create the support for the rear chassis and the very rear crossmember is a large structural box section, which had the tow hitch bolted to it. The hole in the roof had allowed water to rust the bottom of the 'sill' out, so over a couple of weeks the whole bottom 75mm of the inner and outer sills, and the reinforcer had to be rebuilt; them swap to the other side and repeat! I also spent time sanding the writing off the van, as it was proper signwritten work! Sad, but it had to go....
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Apr 23, 2020 15:29:15 GMT
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Which resulted in this for about a year, until the Metro got shifted out of the garden!
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Apr 23, 2020 15:22:11 GMT
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I suppose I'd better entertain you with the story of one of my longest-running (without too much activity)projects; Project Minion. Now, the original idea was to buy a Morris Ital van and restore it into BR livery, giving me a load-lugger and show car all in one. That idea soon died when I found out how much half decent Morris 440 and 575 vans were going for and to be honest, if I was going to splurge a goodly 4-figure sum at something that would need a lot of work, or be in very good condition anyway, I'd rather go for another option. So, I started looking for a Maestro van - BR had them from the start and they seemed to be in range for condition/price/cost. I had a look at a yellow van reasonably locally for a reasonable price; but, and isn't there always a BUT, it transpired it was a Ledbury 1.3 with a 2.0 diesel conversion and no V5, it was also covered in pog, especially along the sills and after a few days pondering, I told the guy I wasn't prepared to take on a van with no history or paperwork. He wasn't too chuffed; so be it. Anyway, the search carried on through the usual places, normally ending up either the other end of the country with no MOT or being outbid (in some cases quite spectacularly) until a general wander around the bay of Es had something catch my eye - a van just up the road! And, I recognised it from many car shows as a traders van! Straight onto watch, a quick call to have a look at it and I met the owner who was retiring from business. The only major issue was the engine and gearbox were AWOL - he'd blown the old Perkins lump up and had started swapping to a new engine but something happened and the project stalled, so he parked the van up at his new workshop and then life overtook him and his wife (usual story...). So, as far as he was concerned, he was getting rid and ready to retire. It wasn't in the best place, but looked ok compared to some I'd looked at and had several boxes of parts in the back including brand new bumper irons and a good set of secondhand quarter bumpers (poor quality wobbly children's play pony doodahs!). To cut a long story short, I was the maiden bid and ten brown ones later, after a couple of quick phone calls to a mate with a big trailer, this happened!
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Last Edit: Sept 21, 2020 20:32:26 GMT by marinanut
Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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I had a mate who proudly rocked up in a Mk1 Escort one day, 1100cc of power! But, it did seem a bit slow. We found out a week later the rear floorpans were 'skimmed' with about 1" of concrete over the rust holes.... as were the sills which were filled with the same stuff! We picked it apart over a couple of days and after a huge arguement with the seller, he got 'some' cash back and weighed it in (git made a profit as well on it!).
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Hmmm, I'm pretty certain someone in the Marina Owners Club could source a non-servo pedal box for very little wonga....https://www.fastmarinamagazine.com/
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Genius. Especially the Pratchett...
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Just been watching tv this afternoon.... I recognised that large scruffy lump of gearbox hiding behind that tank...Hmmm...
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Mar 31, 2020 21:17:07 GMT
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Most of the F1 Brisca tracks have now gone - all either supermarkets / retail centres or housing estates we used to race all over the place - Nelson, Blackburn, Bolton, Rochdale, Bury. Manchester Belle View (old circuit), Manchester White City, Crewe, Stoke, Newton Aycliffe, Boston, Long Eaton, Leicester, Cleethorpes, Coventry, Wimbledon, Newcastle, Ipswich I think the following still survive - Sheffield, Northampton, Kings Lynn, Mildenhall, Skegness, Buxton, Birmingham, Hednesford - possibly a few more have survived but I never raced at them Great Yarmouth as well - old railway rails and steel cable as the fence. If your brakes fail - you stop - quickly (although I did see a run-in that snapped the rail off at ground level one evening and sent two drivers to hospital....)
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Mar 12, 2020 12:31:40 GMT
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Depends on what you want to run on 3-ph. There are some cracking inverter drives nowadays but they can get heavy with input amperages.
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Mar 11, 2020 15:32:58 GMT
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Condolences to you and your family; sort yourself out first, that is more important.
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Feb 27, 2020 17:06:49 GMT
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I need a new keyboard you s*d!.... LOL! Assuming you mean me; if I were to tell the BtD story from last Friday you'd need a wet suit My fault really; I forgot about the tea/keyboard interface on this and your Volcano Lair threads.....
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Last Edit: Feb 27, 2020 17:07:14 GMT by marinanut
Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Feb 27, 2020 15:14:40 GMT
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I need a new keyboard you s*d!.... LOL!
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Feb 14, 2020 15:34:54 GMT
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Arrived at my local Lidl at just after 0900, after a squabble with the Mrs over "They'll still be there later....". Got the last one off the pallet. Got evils off a couple of blokes going in......:-) I think, after looking at it, that it is very close to one a company I used to work for bought many moons ago for a four-figure sum. Shows how things change!
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Last Edit: Feb 14, 2020 15:36:34 GMT by marinanut
Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Jan 30, 2020 20:22:54 GMT
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Indeed, very similar colours but Kingfisher is a slightly deeper shade on the R8 200/400's. I slightly prefer it...
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Jan 23, 2020 19:25:42 GMT
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They are cracking cars, even in standard form, and chronically underrated - until they've nearly all gone...
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Jan 16, 2020 20:31:12 GMT
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Good God man, that was one of my favourites in Look and Learn! (Roman armies, WW1 battleships and jet fighters... what more could you ask for!) What? All at the same time? Who won? That was the mix-up of the story; brilliant though! And in other news, just to cheer georgeb up, our 'local' weather FB page has published reports about Taal and the increased seismic activity, fractures and ground swell of 40cm+ as well as drying up rivers. Last time this happened it didn't end well.....
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Jan 16, 2020 15:50:37 GMT
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Yeah thanks George, I’ve already been outside in the howling gale all morning, and now the old joints are playing up, I REALLY need to come back in and be reminded how old I am! 😩 Remember the Trigan Empire? Good God man, that was one of my favourites in Look and Learn! (Roman armies, WW1 battleships and jet fighters... what more could you ask for!)
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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