My 20 year old has a new MOT. No advisories

[rustic]

One of the rear parcel shelf in place, it folds in half, in fact I also made another piece, so if I leave the third row folded down, it fits in front.

[rustic]

Forgot pic

[rustic]

Pic of rear seat folded, and extra piece of parcel shelf fitted

[Banshee]

Originally Posted by rustic

Pic of rear seat folded, and extra piece of parcel shelf fitted

That's a smart little DIY project you've got going on there Rustic

[rustic]

Originally Posted by Banshee

That's a smart little DIY project you've got going on there Rustic

The rear parcel shelf was not an option back in 1995, so I thought I could make something to fit.
The side pieces are held in with 2 x M6 thumb bolts into the plastic panel. I had to remove the side panels, to epoxy M6 nuts behind the panel.

This project was the first one on the mav, and has survived 19 1/2 years. so far.

I can still seat 7 at the drop of a hat.
I even modded the clevis pin, on the hinge, of the third row, as on the earlier models, they were riveted over and so I replaced it with a clevis pin and "R" clip, so I can remove the rear seat in 10 seconds. Well I couldn't do it that quick today, with my shoulder.

I do love the Mav, it's not doing the mileage it should, and 97 k is the genuine mileage. The Mav in it's early years wasn't used much for a few years either, as I had a company car with .... wait for it ... free fuel... That drove to France on Booze trips...: Well you wouldn't use your own would you lol...
The free fuel loop hole closed, so that changed things slightly.
The Mav was my Wife's daily commute to work in the early five to ten years of it's life, so it was used daily. For the first five years I drove into West Bromwich, daily, 30 miles round trip, and a recorded fuel economy of 30 mpg. Excellent at that time lol.

For the last 10 years it became the second car, as the Picasso did the long distance travelling, but even then I used it daily for work... Now I am retired, so is the Mav lol....
I could go on...

[perelaar]

Rustic, how do you keep the interior (especially the seats) so clean and intact? My T2 is a bit younger, with rather high mileage, and the seat sides are all torn...

[rustic]

Originally Posted by perelaar

Rustic, how do you keep the interior (especially the seats) so clean and intact? My T2 is a bit younger, with rather high mileage, and the seat sides are all torn...

We have also dragged up two kids too, I guess the no eating drinking or smoking in the car policy I had from day one helps.
Also I am not really a Jeans person, so the seats don't take the wear and tear of those rivets and studs from the pockets of the jeans.
I'm sure they don't help.

I'm not sure if Ford's spec on the Mav was higher in terms of wear quality than say the later Terranos.
It certainly was higher on the under body protection.
This was the first car that Ford were pioneering with a full three years warranty from new, at that time all other Fords were 1 year.
Clearly to promote the Maverick vs the Terrano, it had to match Nissans three year warranty.
And to be fair... Ford were now onto a winner with the Maverick.

[rustic]

This would be my number plate if I could have it lol...

[Terranical]

Originally Posted by rustic

This would be my number plate if I could have it lol...

Mine (21 years old) has gone for it's Spanish MOT too today, son-in-law has taken it to Estapona, the other side of Marbella, about 30 miles away - not optimistic - 155k on the clock and in continuous daily use up and down rocky, rutted, potholed and muddy Spanish tracks (and although he and my daughter have free use of a totally funded car they do nothing to it maintenance-wise, hence my lack of optimism at getting a pass) (

[rustic]

Originally Posted by Terranical

Mine (21 years old) has gone for it's Spanish MOT too today, son-in-law has taken it to Estapona, the other side of Marbella, about 30 miles away - not optimistic - 155k on the clock and in continuous daily use up and down rocky, rutted, potholed and muddy Spanish tracks (and although he and my daughter have free use of a totally funded car they do nothing to it maintenance-wise, hence my lack of optimism at getting a pass) (

Good luck with that, it's the suspension that takes a hit I guess, speed humps wreck ours lol...and the pot holes.
Is corrosion an issue in your region of Spain? we in the UK probably think that Spain is always hot and dry, and wonder why you have windscreen wipers lol

Would you consider the Spanish MOT is more stringent than UK? if so what areas?

We in the UK seem to allow advisories, like a bit of slack in a ball joint, or bearing, but to be fair, if I found that on mine, I would change it or make adjustments.

[Terranical]

Originally Posted by rustic

Good luck with that, it's the suspension that takes a hit I guess, speed humps wreck ours lol...and the pot holes.
Is corrosion an issue in your region of Spain? we in the UK probably think that Spain is always hot and dry, and wonder why you have windscreen wipers lol

Would you consider the Spanish MOT is more stringent than UK? if so what areas?

We in the UK seem to allow advisories, like a bit of slack in a ball joint, or bearing, but to be fair, if I found that on mine, I would change it or make adjustments.

You're right about the suspension having a hard life (had a rear spring snap last year), plus the bushes harden and wear quickly. Although Spain is obviously drier than the UK they still do get their share of rain (quite a lot the past few weeks). This runs off the mountains and across the tracks leaving ruts that can be 12" deep or more, also exposing buried rocks and boulders, not good for the springy bits under the car!

Rust is less of a problem for Spanish-sourced cars, but mine came from the UK about 5 years ago, so the tin worm already had a pretty good hold. Luckily it's only the lower sills in front of the rear wheels and the wheel arches so nothing structural (apart from the front bumper hangers). Areas around the rear sear belt mountings are all sound. I think it was probably undersealed from new, as most of that still remains.

Re the ITV (Spanish MOT), I would say that the stringency is about the same, however, there are no advisories, it's either pass or fail, so it's possible to have a fail for say, empty windscreen washers. This would mean another 60 mile round trip for a retest (all tests are at dedicated ITV stations, mostly by appointment only. In some respects this is better than the UK system, as there is no mileage for them in finding things wrong - if a brake light bulb is blown that's a fail, but the downside is that wherever the test is done usually requires a lot of driving. The two available to me are Malaga, about 20 miles away or Estepona, about 30 miles away. Allegedly Estepona are slightly more forgiving than Malaga, hence the reason my son-in-law has taken the Terrano there today.

Still waiting to hear from him (with bated breath!) We will be over there next week for 2½ weeks and I really don't want to spend a large part of that time sorting car problems, then having to go for a retest (which has to be done within two weeks, or a fresh charge applies).

[rustic]

This is the view from my study... The Mav rests about 8 feet away.
I decided that it was time to put the Mav to bed, and fill it back up with all that junk you carry, jump leads, tow strap, two stroke oil, tow rope etc etc.

You can see from the photo at the clearance above the car roof and garage door, that a body lift, or even roof bars, might stop the Mav being put to bed in the warm dry garage. Sorry that is NOT an option.
This has probably been the main reason for the low rust, well that and 20 litres of waxoyl lol. and many hours of care.lol.

[jims-terrano]

Brilliant, words fail me at just how good your car is. It is a credit to your efforts.

[Terranical]

Well, mine failed (as I suspected it would!) BUT, it appears only on the rear anti-roll bar bushes. The tester's writing on the sheet was, in my daughter's words "worse than on a doctor's prescription" so she can't even translate it, so it may be something totally different. More will be revealed tomorrow once she has been to the local garage to see if they have any more success in interpreting what it failed on. (The rear anti-roll bar drop links and bushes were replaced late last year, so I don't see how it can be them)

[rustic]

Originally Posted by Terranical

Well, mine failed (as I suspected it would!) BUT, it appears only on the rear anti-roll bar bushes. The tester's writing on the sheet was, in my daughter's words "worse than on a doctor's prescription" so she can't even translate it, so it may be something totally different. More will be revealed tomorrow once she has been to the local garage to see if they have any more success in interpreting what it failed on. (The rear anti-roll bar drop links and bushes were replaced late last year, so I don't see how it can be them)

I wonder if it's the bushes on the rear axle, and not the drop links...