MOT Faliure

[Rich]

Hi all,

I am trying in vain to get F48 through another MOT, it failed on a few items which I have been trying to put right. The "play in the steering column" has been solved by stuffing the gap in the top with paper!!

The 2 problems i now face are the windscreen, and the bottom ball joint on the drivers side.

How easy is the ball joint to replace, it only looks like 2 bolts to me. Am going to raid the scrapyard tomorrow for one hopefully, but you dont have to remove the whole wheel and hub and driveshaft do you??

The windscreen is a saga, basically, it has 4 light scratches on from the wiper, it passed the MOT last time with them, and because the blade was changed, they havent got any worse. I dont want to replace the whole screen, as it needs to last for another month or so, then I will scrap it. So, how easy is it to cut a scrap cars windscreen out and stick it into another one? I was thinking cheese wire, and a tube of silicone.....??

Any thoughts anyone??

Rich

[D87 SMW]

:banghead: Can't you keep F48? It's a shame that he/she is to be scrapped. :(

[tony]

ring round the scrapyards some will take them out for you,it stops you dammaging glass then not paying,try autowindsreens and the like they will for a price take them out, or they may do u a cash and carry deal,the balljoint ,just done mine for the mot a new one cost £15 there is 3 bolts to take out,sometimes the are rivited in ,you have to drill them out, and a pinch bolt behind the disk,not too bad to do,2 hours for mine :)

[Rich]

Hi thanks for the advice Tony, now i think about it there is an car glass person on the industrial estate near me, I may give them a try.

That ball joint doesnt sound that bad, thanks for letting us know about the rivits!

Not wanting to go into to much detail, F48 was given to me free, I passed him on to Jason (one of my housmates) just over a year ago when he didnt have a car. Since then, F48 had done few miles, and Jason now has a company car. As much as I want to keep him, we have no space, and he needs a lot of bodywork done on him in reality. Despite the fact he starts first time, and runs like a dream, he has one final use, then he will be stripped for parts and the rest scrapped. As much as its sad to have to do this, and I wish I didn't have to, it looks like I have no alternative with no storage space, or money for such a large project. Basically, before he goes, I need to use him for a bit, so thats why I am trying to get him through the dreaded MOT for little or no expense. Its sad, but I cant see a way of keeping him at the moment, but we will see what happens......:(

Rich

[e692wtt]

The original balljoints are rivetted in by the factory, to replace the balljoint the 3 rivets need drilling out and the replacement comes with 3 nuts and bolts to suit. If your balljoint already has the nuts 'n' bolts, it's already been replaced at least once.

Shame you can't keep F48. Is there nobody in the club who could take him over? A Maestro with 11 months MoT has to be worth using as a runaround while your own Maestro or Montego is in dock, hasn't it? I'd have him but haven't the room with a dead VDP on the drive and quite possibly no off-road parking when I move. Unfortunately.

The other other Rich.:banghead:

[Mat_C]

To replace the ball-joint *you will* have to remove the lower suspension arm. Then probably best to take just the arm to a garage and ask them to replace the ball joint.

The best way I found to it is to drill the rivets down, chisel remains off then use a vice as a press to remove. Putting the new one on is easy as pie!

You must be careful not to elongate the hole in the suspension arm otherwise its screwed!

HTH, Mat.

[Maria]

I did the balljoints on Hexie (well, Chris did!) for the last MOT and it was a BUGGER! One was OK, and the other.. well, it took a lot of drilling, hammering etc, even an attempt with oxyacetylene from the college engineering department, and still the rivets wouldn't come out! Eventually we got brand new, decent drill bits from B&Q which did the trick.

The moral of the story I guess would be to use the right tools from the start!

[John]

When you've finished with F48 why don't you put it on e bay, I'm sure someone will bid for it especially with 11 months MOT and you'll get some money back.

[SimonR]

Sorry to hear the sad fate of F48 Rich!

What incarnation of Maestro is it btw - I can see VP/Mayfair mirrors, grille, door handles and front bumper but standard door trims...

It's not another white VP, but with replacement doors, is it?

Good luck with the ball joint replacement. :)

[Rich]

That photo was taken the day before F48 was due to be delivered to us, outside his previous owners home on a secret reconacence mission!!

He is a 1.3 Mayfair, and has not got a bad spec, temprimental temp gauge, auto choke, central locking, front electric windows, instument pack with rev counter (as standard), all the chrome bits. The original wheel trims were missing. Check out this pic of what he looks like at this moment in time.

[Rich]

Also I gave up on the balljoint for now, tried in vain to remove one in the scrapyard yesterday, never again, the bruise on my shoulder is huge and very sore, where the spanner slipped off.......:censored:

I went to the garage that I took F48 to last year in the end, and spoke to the bloke who actually did the MOT's and told him about it all. He said he wouldnt worry about the screen, as it wasnt cracked, and gave a very good argument for it to pass, with ony a few scratches/scuffs. So hes booked in there for wedensday afternoon, i hope the ball joint will slip through, i suspect its an ATS money maker, as it was fine last year, and the car has only done 2 thousand miles since.

Heres the other pic, and not in the one above the b:censored: d that broke the fuel cap off one night.........:banghead:

Rich

[D87 SMW]

Pretty nice looking car. How do you tint the rear light clusters like that?

[topgear]

coat them with old engine oil every day? Thats what im gonna try! ;)

[D87 SMW]

Could you spray the insides of the light clusters with black car paint?

[Austin-Rover]

I am sure if you know the right 'boy racer' shops there will be kits to that sort of stuff!

[topgear]

the black spray paint sounds like a cool option to me.. and do you know what?

Im gonna :censored: try it too! :)

[D87 SMW]

Do you know what? I think I will too!

[tony]

is there not plenty of rust on our cars to keep use busy:) :laugh:

[D87 SMW]

In my case... no. :rolleyes: :laugh:

[John S]

That tint spray stuff comes in spray cans of black, blue, red, green etc. You spray the exterior. Xenon effect light bulbs are also now available which I would like to buy sometime for the headlights - all from Halfords.

[D87 SMW]

Or Halfrauds in Rich's case... or do you think better of them now you got a free car wash kit?:laugh:

[MGTurbo]

Ok here's my chance to get a picture in a post.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/mgmaestro/hpbimg/TurboBack.jpg

[D87 SMW]

:) :cool: :cool: Very nice!:cool: :)

[mgdavid]

why struggle at a breaker's yard when new QH balljoints are only 8 quid from a factors.

[Wonko_The_Sane]

F170-My lights are darker tinted, but the same way..:) The stuff I used is called "Savage Light Tint". You can find it online quite simply..but if you wish to remove it again, you have to use nail polish remover..:laugh:

That was after having a chat with the company about "I can't shift it with petrol!"

If I can dig out an old piccy of my Silver Maestro, I'll post it. Back lights, indicators, and headlamps tinted on that..:)

Nice Icon by the way! :D I should get some pics of mine when I get home..