FWD Newsletter
Welcome all to the first Centrespread of 1998, which I am happy to say won't be just my ramblings for the next three pages! I offer my sincere thanks for those who have contributed and as usual urge others to follow suit and pass on their experiences, short or long so that others can benefit and enjoy. Contributions should be sent to The MG House, 8 Rydal, Wilnecote Tamworth, Staffs. B77 5TB. Ideally all text on a floppy disc or by email please.
Drayton Manor Metro's
The FWD Register AGM will have been held just before you read this and a full report will appear in a future column. Other news circulating before Christmas is that Drayton Manor Park and Zoo, in Tamworth, will once again be sponsoring the MG Metro Championship. This continued sponsorship reflects how well the Championship is run and how successful it is. The first race will be at Cadwell Park next month, March 22nd. Close and exiting racing is always the order of the day so if you have a free day, go and enjoy the action. Further race dates and venues were not available when I prepared these notes, so keep an eye on Safety Fast for the calendar. Anyone wishing further information should initially contact the series Press Officer, Alison Grooms on 01298 79413.
Metro Maladies continued
Dave Wellings now continues with his theme of life with MG Metros
You may recall my earlier story about the slow warm up and warm running of the F reg. Metro 1300, and the partial cure of cutting slots in the weathershield' to allow more air under the bonnet. Well I've now gone a stage further. The cooling system has never pressurised on this car, even when hot. It was possible to conclude that the thermostat was malfunctioning, but quite how I don't know. The ease of replacing it depends on whether you've done some preventative maintenance earlier. The first MG Metros had three studs to fix the thermostat housing, topped by nuts and washers. Three bolts soon replaced these, so that the whole bolt turned in the housing during removal. You should periodically remove each bolt in turn, smear the full length in coppaslip and re-fit. With luck the water seal won't be broken, but if it is little coolant should be lost. If you fail to lubricate these bolts, removal can be very tricky indeed. (Or a real pig of a job Rog) Anyway, replacement of the thermostat has now seen the system pressurise and the running temperature reduce noticeably. The warm up though, is just the same slow!!
Note also that the gearbox casing is heavily ribbed not only for strength, but also to assist in cooling. Invariably, there is a build up of oil from the inevitable leaks, and so dirt and dust build up on the outside of the casing. As a consequence, the oil will run slightly hotter than it needs to. The solution is to periodically Gunk the gearbox casing something that we all do I'm sure!
Rogers tip on coolant enhancers was interesting but if this magic liquid reduces surface tension, beware of leaks an interesting long-term evaluation I think. (Yes I agree. Similar leak potential as when adding anti-freeze. Longer-term views will arrive soon. Rog)
I can also confirm Rogers gearbox comment Mini/Metro gearboxes lasted better with steel caged bearings, than with the nylon caged bearings. The nylon (or whatever material it is) cages are fine with clean oil, but it's quite obvious that contaminated oil will grind these cages away in double quick time. I had two fail in quick succession in the A reg. Metro I had a few years ago. The grinding noise is unmistakable, as the ball bearing fall about in an uncontrollable fashion. Watch also for the bush easing out of reverse gear. It's a well-known problem the symptom is a very stiff movement across the gate, and cannot be fixed without first removing the gearbox.
Around the same time, the fuel gauge, which was showing full on an outward local journey, suddenly was showing empty on the return. (About 3 miles) The filler cap had not been tampered with. Obviously the sender? My local garage warned me not to be so sure, the earth tag sometimes breaks loose. (Ahh, just like MGB's. Rog) Unfortunately this was not the case and I had to order a new sender unit. It's exactly the same fixing as the later MGB, secured with a locking ring probably the same part! (Yes, common to many later cars Rog)
On the Metro though, it's not so accessible, being located on the front edge of the tank above the exhaust system and handbrake cable. The first job was to fill the tank so as to be sure of not running out, and secondly to put a couple of gallons in a can in the boot as a standby. Then I calculated that at 140miles use at 35mpg would allow me to access the sender by tipping the car up on the nearside on axle stands, without losing any fuel. This worked very well.
The two wires may be pulled off the sender, and the flexible fuel pipe is best pulled off at the metal fuel pipe end on the body it's easier to get at! The handbrake cable can be pulled clear, and the only tricky part is loosening the locking ring using a blunt screwdriver and hammer. By careful twisting the sender may be withdrawn. Refitting is, in those immortal Haynes words a reversal of the removal procedure! Extreme care is essential with jobs involving petrol. Don't take chances one spark is all it takes, so be very careful and methodical. Isolate the battery and ensure that dropped tools will not spark on the ground. (Seconded and keep any working lamps a safe distance, especially mains operated ones- Rog)
Whilst my hands were black (I suggest to anyone that they get a supply of the latex gloves, about £8 per 100, they protect the hands from dirt and some damage never have my hands been so white! Rog) I took the opportunity to change the exhaust, the new one having been lying in the garage for a while. It's an easy job, but like any other, much better to do in summer. Don't leave it until the nights get long and cold! It's the same for the MOT. What's the point of having your MOT test in the period October to March? Far more sensible to have it done in the summer, even if you have to go well before the current certificate expires. You know it makes sense!
The only dodge with the 1300 Metro exhaust is to ensure that the down pipes both mate properly with the manifold. Some front pipes do not exactly match the manifold without gentle persuasion to make a good fit. If you lay underneath (car properly supported) you can match it all up by eye usually the best way.
Dave Wellings
Keeping on the Metro theme I have a feature from Neil Cairns, who previous MG activities and writings need no further introduction from me.
My Little Mate
The MG Metro
When the Issigonis Mini arrived in 1959, it was dubbed the little car with the BIG heart. Its rapid development from the in-house components of the Austin A35, gearbox under the engine in the sump, transverse location, has been copied so many times since, everyone has lost count. There never was an MG version of the Mini, simply because BMC had engaged the Cooper family firm to uprate the car for performance use. This produced the Mini Cooper that followed MG practice very closely, in that it had many differing engines, (16 in fact) whether for racing or road use. It eventually settled down to the 998cc & 1275cc Cooper and Cooper S made from 1961 to 1971.
Eventually the Mini was replaced by another Super Mini, the Metro. Contracts with Cooper and Healey from BMC days had expired, so this new car could be badged as required. It was a painful development, as this new secret car had so much press coverage it was almost killed before it emerged. In 1980 we saw the first Metros amongst the local traffic. After a while they began to merge into the slippery shapes of all modern small hatchbacks and, with a bit of a start, people began to see a rather special Metro in mid 1982. It had posh wheels with pepperpot style, a smart interior, and it carried a badge that had thought to be relegated to the rubbish bin.
The MG Metro had arrived on the scene. As always, those who think they know best took deep breaths and complained of the use of a famous name on a car unworthy of it just as they had done to the Z Magnettes in 1953, the Farina Magnettes in 1959, and the 1100/1300 FWD saloons from 1963. This view of the Metro was too hasty in its execution, as the little car fits very well the ideal of an MG. It is small handles exceptionally well, is quite fast, and is certainly fun to drive. In all it is Safety Fast. It is also the saloon model with the second biggest ever-sales figures of 142,405. The 1100/1300 just beating it with 143,067. (And where have they all gone now? - Rog)
Like the Mini that actually carried on in limited production, the Metro was made for a lot longer than originally anticipated. Our MG version took its bow out in 1990, the last few having lead free cylinder heads on their 1275cc A Series. The Rover Metro took their place (latterly called the Rover 100) with basically the same body fitted with a modern engine and gearbox.
For those who wanted a real road burner, the model could also be fitted with an exhaust-powered turbo-charger. A friend I had who owned one of the first MG Metro turbo's, had lots of problems with blown cylinder head gaskets, eventually traced to thin a face on the cylinder head casting. His garage fitted a new head and araldited the lot down!! I wonder who has it now, and how they will ever get the head off?
The little A Series engine still seemed unburstable in the Metro. I often take ours well up the RPM scale to get past others quickly. At 70,000 odd miles it still seems as sweet as when new. However, I am well aware of the cars faults, as our previous Metro had its final drive double ball bearing fall to bits on my poor wife. (The car is unmoveable when this happens) The car had only done 55,000 miles! The bits from the bearing race ruined the oil pump as well, once sucked up into it. Once I had fitted a new bearing and pump, the car stormed off to do another 45,000 miles before we sold it. By then the front seat footwells were rotting away, and the car was on its eighth steering column flexible joint! It was an '83 model. Our present *9 version has an improved steering joint, (I am told) but has suffered oil seal failures all round, on driveshafts, gear selector and timing cover. It too has had to be welded up under the front footwells. Rear radius arm bearings and shafts were replaced this year, and were much easier to do that on the Mini.
The interior of these sporting Metros is very smart. The MG Octagon is used very tastefully, which is not quite what I thought of the decals on the sides of the car. The car fits about you and becomes part of you, and is responsive in its excellent handling and ample power. No, it's not a super hatch, the Turbo version fills that slot, but it is ideal for today's traffic. It is very easy to park, and the sunroof makes it nice and airy. The only fault I can aim at the car is, if you are anywhere near 6ft, as I am, the rear seat headroom is too low, caused by the rear seats being higher than the fronts to cover the folding forward mechanism. Which leads me to it's other good point, you can carry an awful lot in a Metro, like Farina MG Magnette engines & gearboxes complete, or YB back axles! My wife tells me it easily copes with a monthly shopping expedition.
The Metro is often seen at MG meetings, and I always make a point of having a good look at them. It's nice to see that good examples are about, and being kept so for the future. Their values are not high and are a very good buy, though perhaps a lead-free conversion would help the seller secure a sale.
I am very enthusiastic over the Metros, and I know others are. It perhaps has more of a following than it's bigger brothers in the FWD field, but then it is far more available, and often a second family car. It is cheap to run, has a low insurance class, quiet to drive, fast, economical to a point often unbelievable, comfortable, different enough to be noticed, easy to modify for lead-free. The only job I found a real pig to do was changing the front swivel top and bottom ball joints, as these were Locktited in by Austin Rover. Unlike the Mini versions they are not fitted with shims or grease nipples. As a practical everyday car they are ideal. As an aspiring car for attention of the enthusiast, they certainly qualify, and that's from a man who is often seen in his YB on two wheels!!
For once I will not mention my Farina Magnette, damn, I have!!!!!
Thanks once again Dave and Neil for interesting experiences.
Now I wish to share with you extracts from a letter I recently received from Ton Matthuis, MGCC Luxembourg. Ton runs a rare S engined 1600 MG Maestro, which has suffered some common Maestro problems
Front Wheel Bearings.
The early split ball bearings are a nightmare. Mine last in the order of 5000km. As new bearings already have more play than tolerated by our local MOT, one tends to torque them down too much. After reading your article in Jan '95 Safety Fast, I have understood that I should not do that and have bought a heavy-duty torque wrench. In the past I have even ground the inner edges of the bearings where they touch, in an attempt to reduce the play, but this reduces life even further. (Note that many cars fail the MOT with excess play listed as bearing play, but in fact it is often drive flange wear Rog)
Also after reading the article, I have decided to convert to the later single bearing hub with taper bearings. I am collecting the parts and you need the outer part of the driveshafts (outer CV joints) the hub and bearings. It is nicer of course to change to the ventilated discs as well, but then you need the wheel carriers and calipers. The standard 1600 bits do fit the newer assemblies. (Any post D reg. Austin Maestro 1600, or Montego 1600 D to early F reg. parts will do Rog)
This whole matter becomes urgent, because since BMW took the local Rover dealership away from the established garages, parts for the older models is becoming almost impossible to get. BMW dealers are definitely not interested in supplying parts for Maestros! Trying to obtain them from Motobuild, well, they are nice guys but (Ton feels improvements in service could be made! Rog)
Noise From the Front
Even with good (?) Wheel bearings, the noise from the front is terrible. It is like there is no rubber insulation between the suspension and car body. I have a long time ago fitted lowered springs and shocks. It has always worried me that the top plate of the shock stands about 10mm proud of the inner wing. I had to add rubber to fill the gap and to stop the banging when the wheel loses ground contact. Still it doesn't look as if there is metal to metal contact, but what can be different? (Ton, have you got the rubber insulators at the top and bottom of the springs, within the strut? Upper part number NAM 3961, lower NAM 3962, two of each and same for all cars)
Irregular Running
As long as I have had the car (5+ years) it has shown some hesitation between 300 and 4000 revs. I had the carbs tuned, tried another ECU, pick up at the flywheel, different spark plugs, etc, but no definite cure was obtained. Some time ago, after a power wash of the engine bay, suddenly I found the problem cured. It has come back occasionally, but only for short periods. I finally know how good the power output of this little 1600 engine is. I have been thinking that the knock sensor could be the cause of the drop. I may have put it out of action with the power wash. I have not dared to disconnect it as I have always been running on lead free super plus and felt quite safe to do so with the presence of a knock sensor. Any comments?
(Yes, the engine is set up to run on 97RON fuel, so if your fuel is at that level or above then the base ignition settings within the ECU will be what is used, and the knock circuit should be inactive. Unplugging the knock sensor should then have no effect on performance, but if it does then I would suspect a fault in the sensor or circuit)
Modern Petrol
I have also noticed huge differences (Ref. previous comments concerning varying performance with different brands of petrol) The Maestro seems happy with 98 octane lead free, but even with the cooling fan for the carbs, the low fuel boiling point is a problem. On high compression engines using 98 octane leaded, I have particularly bad experiences with Shell, Q8 seems acceptable and I do not use ESSO, but will try.
Petrol Flow Meter
A nice gimmick, but the flow meters do not work for long. I have used 3 so far. I opened one, but you only see a membrane, which is OK. The bits that do the measuring are in a box that is sealed for life. Any experience? (Yes; your experiences are fairly typical)
Heater Motor
Mine stopped working and with the winter we had, I had no choice but to take it all apart. Steering column, dash and heater unit out, to finally get to the heater motor by splitting the unit. Just cleaned it and the resistance unit re-assembled it and everything works again. What a job!! A friend of mine with a 1600R has already done this three times, because the heaters of that model have push in pipe connections which always start leaking. What nice cars the MGB and Midgets are, to work on their heating systems!"
Ton and others with MG Maestros outside the UK are to be congratulated for their dedication. With the difficulties that spares supply poses, maintaining the modern FWD cars is far from an easy task.
Maestro Turbo
I mentioned previously about my enforced separation from the Maestro Turbo during its repaint, and the withdrawal symptoms that were becoming somewhat difficult to cope with!! Well I had a very satisfying re-union during November with the car resplendent in a complete new coat of BRG.
The amount of work required was in truth quite disappointing, needing not just the panels I mentioned last month, but also two doors, tailgate, repairs to an area of drivers floor and inner sill, and to the offside inner wheel arch. This doesn't take into account the corrosion split that I had repaired some months ago between the boot floor and rear panel, and the repairs needed round the windscreen frame once what turned out to be a poorly fitted replacement screen was removed. In all quite a long list that does explain the time taken to complete the work.
On thing that became clear during the work, was that there had been a little more than just paint rectification in the past. I was always aware of several different shades of BRG when viewed under sodium street lamps but the panels didn't give any indication of damage rectification. However, when various panels were removed it could be seen that some other work had been carried out. Shame is that this work was done properly, except for the re-treating of the inner box sections with rust inhibitor. All the good work has been let down over time with the lack of protection!
Needless to say once the car was collected a priority job was to lose a large volume of Waxoyl in every nook and cranny, with the able assistance of the compressor. The list of work is long but there was much that could have been dealt with in a simpler way, but in the interests of longevity the more involved and complicated route was chosen.
Driving the car was like a drug, but now I am torn between wanting to enjoy it, yet balanced against keeping it out of the target zone for stone chips, shopping trolleys and moronic minded vandals. Have you noticed how you actually try and drive round puddles, and feel like nipping up the nearest driveway on the approach of anything bigger than a Transit from the opposite direction!
Aftermarket Exhausts
An old and well-used saying is, you get what you pay for and by and large this usually turns out to be true. However if continuing experience is universal, then the sports exhaust field is an area where you don't get what you pay for! Put simply the systems are not cheap and on many occasions don't fit. There are exceptions of course and there are a couple of manufacturers whose products are superb, but there are more that fall well short of the adequate mark.
The problems are mostly of the exhaust knocking against some part of the car. Yes I know that clearance for some standard exhausts can be marginal, for example the Maestro Turbo where the tailpipe exits the rear panel. There is also the factor that sports exhausts usually have a larger bore which reduces clearance, but the system manufacturer should properly engineer these problems out. The two photos show one such example I have dealt with recently and which turned what should have been a straightforward job of about half an hour into a four-hour epic. Note the differing bends and silencer position, which are only minor, but which caused a considerable headache and much work.
Anyone who has recently bought, or who is likely to buy a system, should note that many installation difficulties are not of their making, and should make the appropriate noises to their supplier or direct to the manufacturer. If we don't moan then the same old rubbish will continue to be produced.
Register Benefits
The Register is here to provide benefits to you the members, such as is within the financial and practical scope to do so. Obviously contact through these pages is the main theme and here I ask you to take the trouble to just let me know your thoughts. I have had a few comments, all of which are very positive and I thank you, but occasionally it is beneficial to assess what you want. From membership information it seems that there is quite a turnover of FWD members so it would be useful to have a little feedback as to what you want from the column and the Register in general. Send replies to me at the address shown at the start or e-mail me thanks.
On that note I wish you all well and hope to see more of you during the coming months.
Roger Parker <roger.parker@virgin.net>
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