MG Maestro Turbo. Yes or No?

[D87 SMW]

I have spotted an MG Maestro 2.0 Turbo for sale today, and wondered whether the price is right for it...

It has failed it's MoT on it's sills, and rear wheel bearings at least.
It is priced at £250. Is it worth this much given the details I have mentioned, and if so, how much worse could it be before the £250 price needs to drop?
There is also another Turbo in almost exactly the same are, and is priced at £700. It is BRG, but after the experience of J373 ONC, it is highly unlikely that a Maestro of such colour could find it's way into our Maestro ownership again.
It is MoT'd til August 04, and apparently it is an unfinished project which needs very little. Thid advert is already pretty old, and so the car could have been sold.

So. What is it to be? We have the rest of this year to restore it, so what are your ideas?

Steve. :cool:

[Austin-Rover]

Oh, well if you are working of superstition again, i would definatley not even concider the green one - its just going to be such an unlucky car - i bet the numbers in the numberplate would add up to 13 too!

:rolleyes:

A project Turbo would be nice to have to restore - you would have to watch that it didnt get stolen off the drive tho! :eek: Do you know which 'number' turbo it is? Although, surely, your A reg 1.3 would be a much better project to undertake due to its rarity and the fact that you already own it and its sitting there waiting!

[D87 SMW]

Originally posted by RDGelder
Oh, well if you are working of superstition again, i would definatley not even concider the green one - its just going to be such an unlucky car - i bet the numbers in the numberplate would add up to 13 too!
:rolleyes:

Yes, that is correct. ;)

A project Turbo would be nice to have to restore - you would have to watch that it didnt get stolen off the drive tho! :eek: Do you know which 'number' turbo it is? Although surely, your A reg 1.3 would be a much better project to undertake due to its rarity?????

Well it will not be kept on the driveway. Do not know which number it is.
A615 NFV will be staying. For the moment anyway...

[malcsmaesty]

are they both genuine turbo's steve?
the £250 one doesn't sound too bad as long as there is nothing more
underlying,faultwise that is,try starting at £100-£150 and see what response you get! the £700 one,i wouldn't let the colour put you off again,if a car is going to get stolen,it will be,unless you make it harder to steal,i.e better security products and if your up to restoring,then if you can put up with all the headaches try a start price of £500;) there's always the mg 2.0i on ebay at the moment starting at £250(i think):D

[H48HPE]

Remember to think about the cost implications of a turbo i.e insurance wise, do an online quote for it and see what I mean.

insurance (http://www.car-insurance-online.uk.com/car-insurance-uk.htm)

It wouldnt be a bad project taking on either car, £250 seems like a fairly reasonable price remembering the rarity of the cars (you would need to be certain it was original). I expect that like me you will need to master the art of welding! I dont think rusty sills are too much of a problem to sort because as a tempoary measure to get through an MOT you can get away with untidy welding there. other items are all good practice for fixing, and you'll have a year to do it at least.

Where will you be storing it because it will become vunerable to theft.

Andy

[Austin-Rover]

I bet an insurance quote will be good for a laugh - 17 year old located the wrong side of the River Irwell (salford side). Id hate to think what they would come back with (if anything) when the most expensiev i got was £4500 for a 1.3!

:(

[G51 NAV]

To anyone considering taking ANY car on as a project, I pass on the following worldly-wise advice:

1. It will want more work doing to it than you currently perceive;
2. To do the job correctly, you will spend between two-times and three-times more money on it than what it will eventually be worth;
3. Before it gets better it will get worse, and you'll almost certainly reach a point where you wish you'd never started and consider selling/scrapping it

BUT...

4. When, after all your hard work, you finally hit the road in a car that you can be proud to say you've restored from a complete shed, there are not many better feelings in life to be encountered while still fully-clothed.

Read the classic-car mags: car restoration is like bringing up kids: it takes over your life and saps all your money, but in the end you've got something that you're proud to show to anybody.

If you think you're ready for that kind of commitment, go for it!

[D87 SMW]

Originally posted by H48HPE
Remember to think about the cost implications of a turbo i.e insurance wise, do an online quote for it and see what I mean.

insurance (http://www.car-insurance-online.uk.com/car-insurance-uk.htm)

It wouldnt be a bad project taking on either car, £250 seems like a fairly reasonable price remembering the rarity of the cars (you would need to be certain it was original). I expect that like me you will need to master the art of welding! I dont think rusty sills are too much of a problem to sort because as a tempoary measure to get through an MOT you can get away with untidy welding there. other items are all good practice for fixing, and you'll have a year to do it at least.

Where will you be storing it because it will become vunerable to theft.

Andy

The car would be for dad, as he can sell the Astra at the end of the year. I have already looked for insurance, and for him, it will be less than that he is paying for the Astra! :eek: £400!
How much would a set of full sills be? NFV needs them too. :o
Have a welder, so that's some money saved! :laugh:
If anyone has a list of the 505 registrations I could take it if we go to view the car, if not, I can check the registration on the AA website M170 RFA posted the other week. ;)
Am well prepared to respray the whole car too, if it sorely needs it...

[H48HPE]

Ive just done a quick quote for myself on a turbo, I got £1750 for fully comp. Thats having had a licence for 2 years 9 months and having accumulated 2 years NCD.

Im going to try and get better quote from another company as I recon thats a bit much!

tesco have come through with nearly £1400 which is better and if I opt to go down to TPFT cover Ill get it for £980 which is quite acceptable. On both quotes I said I'd got some form of alarm/imobiliser.

Andy

[H48HPE]

steve

see my thread about body panels and check out the link, at under a tenner each side they're not too expensive!

[E_T_V]

The cost isn't in the panels themselves it is all in the preparation, welding (which isn't as easy as it looks) and the painting.

I'm fairly confident at doing most repairs however bodywork is still a black art to me! Guess I'd better start learning.

Insurange for a turbo that you could drive would be horrendous I'm betting. I'd love one but I can't afford to insure one. :(

[G24 BDG]

even if you can buy the car pretty cheap,it could be worth breaking the car if any of the parts are good enough,i know it would be a shame,but i supose there would be quite a few persons on this site that could do with a few bits......

[MGTurbo]

Breaking isn't an option, unless it has serious accident damage any car can be rebuilt. I see too many car's being scrapped because of minor rust that could be welded in a couple of days.

Gareth

[H48HPE]

Breaking isn't an option, unless it has serious accident damage any car can be rebuilt. I see too many car's being scrapped because of minor rust that could be welded in a couple of days.

I totally agree, Its bad enough when a 1.3 with minor rust gets scrapped, but to scrap any turbo other than one with serious accident damage is just unforgivable. I understand that spare parts are needed by people but there are other ways to get the bits and if people with this 'strip it for bits attitude' carry on there will only be a hand full of them left. this is both a shame and will mean that I for one wont be able to have one to restore a couple of years down the line.

Andy

[E_T_V]

There was recently (well about 8 months ago) a bit of a hoo haa about someone scrapping a turbo for bits. I tried to buy the car complete from him but he wanted over the odds and insisted he'd make more money breaking it (He was a commercial breaker). Lets just say he hasn't made half what I offered him for it in parts as the parts are pretty common. Perhaps he'll take my advice next time... oh well.
I'd be suprised if most of it still wasn't there as I've seen bits advertised on e-bay a few times without sale.

[H48HPE]

I read about that car on the MG BBS and saw it's parts for sale on ebay. I thought it was a shame as the car appeared to be one of the nicer examples with a fair bit of its history with it. its always disapointing when someone like that gets their hands on a good example and are too stupid to see that it was worth more as a runner than as parts.

:banghead:
Andy

[Beaker]

Well I wouldn't go as far as saying it was a good example. It did have some scary rust in places, but nothing that couldn't have been fixed.

It would have made a good restoration project tho.

Lindz

[G51 NAV]

As it happens, at the moment I'm in the process of trying to rescue a reasonably-sound MG Maestro Turbo that's in danger of being broken for spares..I'll let you all know how I get on.

[MGTurbo]

Originally posted by G51 NAV
As it happens, at the moment I'm in the process of trying to rescue a reasonably-sound MG Maestro Turbo that's in danger of being broken for spares..I'll let you all know how I get on.

John if you cannot find space for it let me know ;)

GK

[G51 NAV]

Thanks...I don't really have the space (I'd have to store it under a car-cover behind the big gates down my drive, or try to get it in the garage) but G51 is so 'boringly' reliable and rust-free; there's nothing to repair. What's the point in having a classic that doesn't need anything doing to it? :laugh:

If I buy it, expect plenty of postings here and on the MG BBS begging for help!

[G24 BDG]

Originally posted by MGTurbo
Breaking isn't an option, unless it has serious accident damage any car can be rebuilt. I see too many car's being scrapped because of minor rust that could be welded in a couple of days.

Gareth

would like too say that i would only break a car if it was not possible too put it on the road...

[D87 SMW]

Here's the advert for the MG Maestro Turbo...

MG Maestro 2.0 Turbo, failed MOT on sils, back bearing and exhaust, recon head, new cam belt, 4 good tyres £250 Ono.

[H48HPE]

if its not been sold and you've somewhere to keep it get it! then you'll have some real restoration work to do. sounds like a good oportunity to me not to be missed (providing its one of the 505)

Go on you know you want to

Andy

[G24 BDG]

al resore it from £2000,...we dont use bodge and cornflake packets like you lot..am a lead miester!:eek:

[Ricky]

Bodge and cornflake packets?? I'll have you know my sills are made of nothing more than the finest andrex and a dash of polyfilla, encased with a bit of chicken wire! :laugh:
As for the wings, couldn't afford carbon fibre ones, and wanted to get the weight down, so me and my bro decided that paper mache as the best bet..... only took a week's worth of the express and a couple of daily sport's before we had perfect looking front wings, albeit a little rippled....!:laugh:

I am only joking, although I would easily win "Frank Spencer Of The Year 2004" purely on the strength of my DIY.....

Ricky.

[Alan the Vanner]

Lead meister? Ooooooh! Get you!
Seriously though, back in the summer when I was fitting the new sills and rear arches, I was looking all over for some suppliers/advice on lead loading. I got some funny looks from the local tool suppliers and motor factor people, so I had to settle for using the old p38and p40. Still, does the job!;)