1989 Austin Maestro 700 L Van 1.3 to 2.0 Turbo

[alexhatcher]

Such a great time at the Weekender, thanks to all the guys that made it happen first and foremost!


Van was faultless round the track, I was a bit worried as the turbo seals are on their way out so can be a bit of a smokescreen sometimes, luckily its only when sitting idling really. Also the wheel bearing were whining their heads off haha. But it was really good, wasn't the fastest by a long shot but had enough power to make it fun Saying that the only thing that didn't work was the launch control, I think I might have reset the controller whilst it was in my pocket on the pit lane by holding down the button, I'm not sure. Just had to hit the limiter and ditch the clutch, seemed to work! I also took my C5 with me on the roof for the first time, had a lot of strange looks on the way up from Devon Although it did dent the MPG and performance somewhat so put it in the back on the way home! Was great to meet people with nothing but good comments about the van so thanks to all of you that said hello






Ready to leave



Arriving at the campsite in the rain



Chilling in the paddocks



Lining up



Out on the sighting lap (photo from fourninesix)



Rolling shot (photo by fourninesix)



Showing on the Sunday (photo by Vamp Original)

[Deleted]

I loved seeing this. One of my favourite cars of the weekender.

[alexhatcher]

May 27, 2019 20:18:41 GMT @quatermass said:

I loved seeing this. One of my favourite cars of the weekender.

Thanks buddy, means a lot

[Mercdan68]

Yep good to see it in the metal at the weekender
Didn’t get a chance to say hello, our van was opposite yours on Sunday , but we spent so much time looking about we Didn’t spend much time on our stand

[alexhatcher]

May 27, 2019 20:38:20 GMT Mercdan68 said:

Yep good to see it in the metal at the weekender
Didn’t get a chance to say hello, our van was opposite yours on Sunday , but we spent so much time looking about we Didn’t spend much time on our stand

Ah the green one, did catch my eye! That's the trouble there's so much to take in, almost too much haha

[asbo23]

Excellent van, love it.

[alexhatcher]

Over the past year or so the turbo has been starting to smoke a bit. It's only when your idling for a while or going down hills. I've diagnosed this to be the turbo seals as it's not doing it under pressure. It's more of embarrassment rather than anything as it's not really using much. Got myself another second had T3 and had a stab at rebuilding it. Got myself a kit of eBay and did so YouTube learning! Was easier than expected but I don't want to jump the gun as I haven't fitted it yet...
Before

After

[rickygolf83]

Good luck man!

[alexhatcher]

Well so far so good, have been driving the van since swapping the turbo a few days ago. Gunna get a few miles on it before the drive up to the gathering 😎

[alexhatcher]

So far so good on the turbo front, boosting well, probably better actually especially at top end. Although it makes the clutch slip if I boot it quickly in 5th!

Also a few cosmetic additions this year include a lip spoiler and some mad iridescent tint for the rear windows. See you all there! 👌

[alexhatcher]

Had a great time at The Gathering as always! Was looking forward to sleeping in the van again as I only do it at these events 😂 Went to Caffeine and machine on the Saturday too which was cool. The only problems I had with the van was the pipes to the heater matrix rusting out and popping again, which is a common issue with maestro's. Luckily I still had the blanking pipe from last time! And the rear exhaust hanger snapped but that was bodged with cable ties and tent pegs, in fact I've been driving round like it since 😂 .

[alexhatcher]

As much as I've grown to love the A series over the past few years something came up that I couldn't say no to...

Managed to get myself the 2 litre turbo out of a montego turbo. It runs the same blow through carb set up that I'm used to and should drop in pretty easily. Got everything I need to get it going, engine, box looms and ECUs etc. Has 150 brake out the box but you can get it close to 200 just by adding boost and a good tune 😉

It's probably not going to go in this year but I'd like to get it going for either the Weekender or the gathering next year!

The funniest part was that it was delivered in a maestro overnight all the way from Birmingham! I couldn't believe it when I looked out the window at 7am on a misty Sunday morning, to see the hatchback pulled up outside, significantly lowered at the back 😂

I've been after one for a while as they're very thin on the ground. Should give the van some proper decent power 👌

[fer4l]

Looking forward to where this is going & hats off to the deliverer!

Loved seeing the van at Goodwood & this will take it to a whole new level

Cheers

Matt

[Tamber]

Well, that should shift it sharp-ish!

[SmokeEm]

One of the fastest things I ever drove was a Maestro Turbo. Proper weapon it was so this should fly!

[alexhatcher]

Haven't really done anything to the van as I've recently bought a house although it did come in handy when moving! Luckily I have my own garage so the van is getting luxury treatment! I have now bought the 2 litre over, so I'm going to start re building the turbo and carb in the new year then hopefully work on getting it in, we'll see....

In other news I have got a new daily last summer in the shape of the 850 saloon in the background. Manual 5 pot turbo is glorious 😉 might even take it to the Weekender and try and get track time if the van isn't done in time. It's running a flashed ECU should be pushing 270 ish  👌

[alexhatcher]

Sorry I haven't updated in a while! Although not a tremendous amount of work has been done to the van...

I have been working on the engine on and off including stripping it down and having the head skimmed and valve re set. I've changed the valve stem seals as they were definitely gone. I'm in the process of getting new shims to do the cam clearance as it was reset due to the valves being done. Have gapped up the new rings and put the new big ends on today so getting there...

[alexhatcher]

Have finishing rebuilding the new engine now but have yet to put it in due to staring doing my other project. I've also started a YouTube channel called The Rust Room so document all of that on there 👍

👇👇👇

youtube.com/channel/UCkGy2WiVma4lxihqrzIbExw

Got my ticket for the weekender and got accepted for track time again 😁😁 gunna be fun hooning it round again! Will post some finished new engine build pics at some point.

[jonnyboyraver]

Aug 16, 2019 6:52:30 GMT alexhatcher said:

So far so good on the turbo front, boosting well, probably better actually especially at top end. Although it makes the clutch slip if I boot it quickly in 5th!

Also a few cosmetic additions this year include a lip spoiler and some mad iridescent tint for the rear windows. See you all there! 👌

Love the Morty photo! Cracking project. Like the Alternative route of it all

[ivanhoew]

like this a lot.