1994 Maestro Van - added Special K..

Okay, delays in getting paperwork sorted with regards to my Mum left me slightly kicking my heels figuratively as we couldn't progress anything other than just fiddly bits. So, I decided that the exhaust needed sorting out (sort of). Oh yes, first up, a nice piccy of the new driveshaft in place....


Anyway, I'd acquired a Rover 200 exhaust downpipe which once trimmed back, looked quite good; but I needed to wriggle it above the crossmember. I bought a 90deg 2" mandrel bend and had a while thinking about it, then using highly technical 'about a closed fist away and a finger above' measurements, cut the pipe up and tacked it in place. Not far out. The flexi needed to miss the anti-roll bar, so the high tech 'two fingers away' method got the depth of the next cut and after drawing alignments, tacked in. It went in close, but a good whack with a hammer and steel pipe should give some extra space. So I welded it all up and bolted it in.



Not bad for a guesstimate!
A quick question for the knowledgeable; will I need a cat on a 1994 vehicle? I picked one up 'in case', but the other K series into Maestro's appear not to have one.

depends on your tester...nudge nudge wink wink!



(no idea on the official line but i dare say a 17 hour search on the vosa website will leave you just as unsure!)

L reg and a van should be a basic sniffer test of 3.5% CO and 1200ppm for HC 

Age of the vehicle is what it goes by. Which ever is oldest and easily proven, which in this instance is the van 
Thats the reason my 1995 Ford engine isn't fitted with cats in a 1984 Granada 

I was still scratching my head over cooling - the MGTF alloy rad fits but only if its solidly mounted which I didn't want to do, so, I had to come up with another plan. The Rover rads usually sit between two rubber 'puck's top and bottom but to fit these, I'd need to adjust the slam panel. I'd also splashed out and bought a R200 top rad hose with the 'jiggle valve' pipe and header overflow all in one; it will need some adjustments but looks a lot more professional than a collection of mis-matched 'stuff. So, after some fiddling, out came the slitting discs and off came the rad support rail;

Then after some thinking and head-scratching, I cut it in half to make the locating holes in the right place and tacked it together;

It needed some additional strengtheners as I'd been a bit too keen with the discs and also moving the LHS mount put it in a different place at the end angles. Not pretty I know, but this was development...

Once it bolted back in OK, with the pucks in place and the rad was firmly held, I gave it a good whack with the hot glue and made it all solid; not pretty, but solid.

This shows how far up the slam panel I had to move it. The original position was the RH edge...

And in position.

I could have made life easier, but what I want is for someone who doesn't know Maestro vans to be able to lift the bonnet and see nothing usual, which is why this sort of detail is required:

And the Rover top pipe (which will need a bit of re-arrangement)

The bottom pipe is a bit of a head-scratcher as I have to go from 25mm to 32mm.... I have a plan though....

I need to update soon, things have moved on a bit. I had to move the van to a different position to access the exhaust properly and the fuel tank, to enable the pump/filter to be installed once the tank is 'petrolified'. What I did find out, is that to slide a car sideways, two old kitchen doors, pumped up tyres and washing up liquid make life SO much easier.....

Great to hear from you & wishing you well on all fronts

She'll be a cracker!

Glad to see you are slowly getting back in the saddle.

I will update very soon. The depression knocked me for six this year; I really couldn't get into anything for months.
Anyway, I has been battering doors and making tools to remove door pins. For reasons only known to themselves, BL/ARG decided to bolt the doors onto the A posts and weld the hinges to the doors. Fine, but add in sound deadening packed into the A post and it all jammed in behind the dashboard and things get interesting. The bottom hinges are easy; top one - not a snowballs chance unless the cab is gutted. So, quick rummage in the tool chest and an old ball joint splitter came out. Plenty of razzing with a grinding disc and some addition of steel with the hot glue made a tool that can get the interference fit pins out enough to prise them out! Once uploaded I'll add some photos to show what I've been up to with the back doors as well. I want to get the body 'finished' so I can concentrate on fuel/exhaust and ECU.