MGTF - Insert Head Gasket Joke Here
Discussion
Thought Id decide to start a thread about my MGTF . Iv been updating my journey with a 911 on here so thought id start one on my MG. Ill warn you, its going to be a long one.
Lets go back to December 2020:
Id finished University back in July 2020 and id promised myself that if I finished Uni id buy myself "something fun and interesting" to go alongside my daily Aygo (the 911 ended up replacing the Aygo as a daily at the end of 2021)
I wasn't in a rush to buy a car - I was just browsing autotrader/ebay etc every few days or so. The criteria was sub 1K and something that wasn't 'slow'. At age 20 and being used to a 69hp Aygo anything 120hp plus was my version of 'not slow'.
Id always wanted a MK1 MX5, however anything sub 1K was a pile of rust and/or been butchered by previous owners. I wanted to butcher my own car, not buy one that already had been.
The search then veered me to the likes of MK3 MR2's and MK2 MX5's (still suffered serious rust issues).
I was bored one Sunday afternoon and ventured onto autotrader and just set the search to Convertible and 1K max price. After setting location to closest first one of the top choices was a 2004 MGTF 135 Sunstorm Edition. I liked the look of it and I had seen them before but hadnt entertained them. I started scrolling through the photos and under the bonnet was nothing. The photo after showed the engine in the middle of the car. This got me interested straight away - I like things that are different so a badly made mid engined British car from the early 2000's was right up my street .
I checked the MOT history and it looked pretty good, only really minor fails which for a 16 year old car was fair enough.
Being 20 the first thing I had to do was check how much insurance would be - after ringing admiral it only worked out about 200 quid more to insure for a year then my 1.0 aygo. So I rung the person selling the car to get a general feel for the seller.
The seller was a small independent dealer run by an older gentleman, he said he had had the car in part ex towards a NC MX5. The door handle on the drivers side had broke and the car only had about 2 months left on the MOT, the car was sitting on about 80k Miles. The seller was open and honest about this and explained it was why he had it up for a cheap price.
Now if you're not 20 and stupid you'd be wondering why he wouldn't put 12 months on it and fix the handle to increase his resale margins.
Well I was stupid so about an hour after the phone call I drove to Wakefield to view the car.
On arrival the dealer was a small one run out of a guy back yard. I had a look round the car and it did impress me, it was silver with a matching colour hardtop and the nice 11 spoke wheels. I noticed behind the wheels there was some big 4 pot AP calipers. I did some man maths in my head and decided that the hardtop was worth £150 and the brakes must be worth at least the same. The wheels must be worth £100 and so would the nice half suede half leather interior. That totted up to £500 and plus £150 if I had to scrap it, I would only be £250 down if the car was a complete deathtrap.
The test drive was great, it was dark and chucking it down so what a perfect way to drive a RWD for the first time ever, even driving slow it still felt way quicker than my Aygo and id decided I wanted the car
So now the man math's was completed handed over a small deposit to the dealer and I was to return once id sorted insurance.
The next morning, after no sleep due to excitement, insurance was sorted so I caught a 60 mile lift with my brother to collect the car and fetch it home.
The car still looked good in daylight and I handed over the rest of the money and set off to come home. Id never driven summat with more than 70hp so this car with a 1.8 with 135hp felt like the quickest thing ever. I don't think I even lifted off the accelerator on the way home and got back about 20 minutes before my brother.
The car made it home without breaking so I classed this as a win and went about life using this as a new daily
Here is the car in question :
Ill update this thread with my full ownership experience to date over the next few days
Lets go back to December 2020:
Id finished University back in July 2020 and id promised myself that if I finished Uni id buy myself "something fun and interesting" to go alongside my daily Aygo (the 911 ended up replacing the Aygo as a daily at the end of 2021)
I wasn't in a rush to buy a car - I was just browsing autotrader/ebay etc every few days or so. The criteria was sub 1K and something that wasn't 'slow'. At age 20 and being used to a 69hp Aygo anything 120hp plus was my version of 'not slow'.
Id always wanted a MK1 MX5, however anything sub 1K was a pile of rust and/or been butchered by previous owners. I wanted to butcher my own car, not buy one that already had been.
The search then veered me to the likes of MK3 MR2's and MK2 MX5's (still suffered serious rust issues).
I was bored one Sunday afternoon and ventured onto autotrader and just set the search to Convertible and 1K max price. After setting location to closest first one of the top choices was a 2004 MGTF 135 Sunstorm Edition. I liked the look of it and I had seen them before but hadnt entertained them. I started scrolling through the photos and under the bonnet was nothing. The photo after showed the engine in the middle of the car. This got me interested straight away - I like things that are different so a badly made mid engined British car from the early 2000's was right up my street .
I checked the MOT history and it looked pretty good, only really minor fails which for a 16 year old car was fair enough.
Being 20 the first thing I had to do was check how much insurance would be - after ringing admiral it only worked out about 200 quid more to insure for a year then my 1.0 aygo. So I rung the person selling the car to get a general feel for the seller.
The seller was a small independent dealer run by an older gentleman, he said he had had the car in part ex towards a NC MX5. The door handle on the drivers side had broke and the car only had about 2 months left on the MOT, the car was sitting on about 80k Miles. The seller was open and honest about this and explained it was why he had it up for a cheap price.
Now if you're not 20 and stupid you'd be wondering why he wouldn't put 12 months on it and fix the handle to increase his resale margins.
Well I was stupid so about an hour after the phone call I drove to Wakefield to view the car.
On arrival the dealer was a small one run out of a guy back yard. I had a look round the car and it did impress me, it was silver with a matching colour hardtop and the nice 11 spoke wheels. I noticed behind the wheels there was some big 4 pot AP calipers. I did some man maths in my head and decided that the hardtop was worth £150 and the brakes must be worth at least the same. The wheels must be worth £100 and so would the nice half suede half leather interior. That totted up to £500 and plus £150 if I had to scrap it, I would only be £250 down if the car was a complete deathtrap.
The test drive was great, it was dark and chucking it down so what a perfect way to drive a RWD for the first time ever, even driving slow it still felt way quicker than my Aygo and id decided I wanted the car
So now the man math's was completed handed over a small deposit to the dealer and I was to return once id sorted insurance.
The next morning, after no sleep due to excitement, insurance was sorted so I caught a 60 mile lift with my brother to collect the car and fetch it home.
The car still looked good in daylight and I handed over the rest of the money and set off to come home. Id never driven summat with more than 70hp so this car with a 1.8 with 135hp felt like the quickest thing ever. I don't think I even lifted off the accelerator on the way home and got back about 20 minutes before my brother.
The car made it home without breaking so I classed this as a win and went about life using this as a new daily
Here is the car in question :
Ill update this thread with my full ownership experience to date over the next few days
Nice!
Mine is a 2003 and also about 80k miles. They are far better then all the naysayers go on about and fun to drive - try it at night with the roof off for a different experience. It might have had all the bad stuff sorted buy now but I can recommend Rough Luck Racing who are a mobile expert mechanic team for any woes. Have a check that it's got decent tyres on as they are very sensitive to brand and can feel horrible when it's wrong. If it hasn't got a coolant level sensor kit fitted, do so!
I didn't realise you've had it for a good while and probably already know all this stuff by now!
Mine is a 2003 and also about 80k miles. They are far better then all the naysayers go on about and fun to drive - try it at night with the roof off for a different experience. It might have had all the bad stuff sorted buy now but I can recommend Rough Luck Racing who are a mobile expert mechanic team for any woes. Have a check that it's got decent tyres on as they are very sensitive to brand and can feel horrible when it's wrong. If it hasn't got a coolant level sensor kit fitted, do so!
I didn't realise you've had it for a good while and probably already know all this stuff by now!
Edited by tonyvid on Wednesday 18th May 13:00
After using the car for a few weeks I jacked it up on my driveway to assess the overall condition of the underside of the car.
I know these cars are known for rusting so I didn't have high expectations , however I was pleasantly surprised. The subframes had some surface rust but none of it was bad at all. The front subframe mounts were completely shot and rusted out though and there wasn't much left of them.
I was unemployed at the time (by choice - no way was I going straight from uni to work - I wanted a few months off. As the next time id have off would be when I retire in about 50 year). so I had plenty of time to go about sorting any issues.
Over the next week I went about changing the front subframe mounts and cleaning up the subframes. I purchased some stainless steel front mounts from MGFNTFBITZ ( a great store and run by a lovely and helpful couple with vast knowledge)and some underseal and rust convertor.
The subframe mounts were an absolute pig to replace, all the bolts were rusty and snapped and I also ended up smashing my phone in the process ( this becomes a theme - iv smashed 3 phones now working on this car over 16 months) .
I managed to get the new mounts in after 2 long days and they went in with new stainless steel bolts.
I then painted over the mounts with some black paint, looking back I have no clue why I did as they are stainless steel, oh well.
Once the mounts were done I wire brushed down the front subframe, painted them with rust convertor and then undersealed them. It was a lengthy and messy process but I think the end result was really good
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/nabaYava.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/1zZTgwSt" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/1zZTgwSt.jpg)
|https://thumbsnap.com/1zZTgwSt[/url]
I didn't get round to sorting the rear subframe as I started a new job
I know these cars are known for rusting so I didn't have high expectations , however I was pleasantly surprised. The subframes had some surface rust but none of it was bad at all. The front subframe mounts were completely shot and rusted out though and there wasn't much left of them.
I was unemployed at the time (by choice - no way was I going straight from uni to work - I wanted a few months off. As the next time id have off would be when I retire in about 50 year). so I had plenty of time to go about sorting any issues.
Over the next week I went about changing the front subframe mounts and cleaning up the subframes. I purchased some stainless steel front mounts from MGFNTFBITZ ( a great store and run by a lovely and helpful couple with vast knowledge)and some underseal and rust convertor.
The subframe mounts were an absolute pig to replace, all the bolts were rusty and snapped and I also ended up smashing my phone in the process ( this becomes a theme - iv smashed 3 phones now working on this car over 16 months) .
I managed to get the new mounts in after 2 long days and they went in with new stainless steel bolts.
I then painted over the mounts with some black paint, looking back I have no clue why I did as they are stainless steel, oh well.
Once the mounts were done I wire brushed down the front subframe, painted them with rust convertor and then undersealed them. It was a lengthy and messy process but I think the end result was really good
|https://thumbsnap.com/1zZTgwSt[/url]I didn't get round to sorting the rear subframe as I started a new job
Edited by adean22 on Wednesday 18th May 12:46
Edited by adean22 on Wednesday 18th May 12:47
Edited by adean22 on Wednesday 18th May 12:48
lockhart flawse said:
Excellent. Bit of a bargain these I think.
The main appeal to me was just how low the prices were. They aren't the best cars and there is certainly better cars for similar money .
However the values of these have started to creep up so I wonder if they ever become worth something. I'm not interested in resale as mine is exactly how I want it and id never get the money back that I have into it. But it would be nice if at at some point I may break even?
adean22 said:
lockhart flawse said:
Excellent. Bit of a bargain these I think.
The main appeal to me was just how low the prices were.
They aren't the best cars and there is certainly better cars for similar money .
However the values of these have started to creep up so I wonder if they ever become worth something. I'm not interested in resale as mine is exactly how I want it and id never get the money back that I have into it. But it would be nice if at at some point I may break even?
crofty1984 said:
I really miss mine. I'd love another at some point.
If I was to buy one now id go for a MGF TrophyYou get the 160bhp vvc engine and the Trophy will be the one that should go up in value the most (they've already tripled in the last 2 years)
Interested to see what you replaced your TF with?
Mine's a 2003 car that was bought sight unseen with a relatively short ticket also
Thread here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
They're cracking little cars aren't they, I'm in the early stages of planing a Euro road trip with mine, just need to sort out tent stowage now as I have a pop-up that won't fit in interior or boot!
Enjoy yours, it looks like a nice one.
Thread here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
They're cracking little cars aren't they, I'm in the early stages of planing a Euro road trip with mine, just need to sort out tent stowage now as I have a pop-up that won't fit in interior or boot!
Enjoy yours, it looks like a nice one.
Next up was to give the car a good service. Including a well overdue cambelt service!
Upon trying find when the cambelt was last changed I found out the car had full service history, but the cambelt was about 2 years overdue, albeit not overdue on the mileage, just the time.
So I bought a cambelt kit, spark plugs and oil etc and set about servicing the car .
Everything went smoothly apart from the cambelt . You need to undo the engine mount to slide the belt through but one of my bolts had seized completely .
The other 2 bolts on the top of the mount had seized aswell, I tried everything, huge breakers bars, 2 different powerful impact guns and they weren't for undoing. I bent a long breaker bar trying to undo it so that assured me that these bolts were never coming out.
In the end I managed to split the engine mount into two and slip the belt between it - it only took me 4 days in the snow and ice of working on the car. 4 days that I never want to repeat .
The old belt looked fine and didnt have any cracks in it, however you could tell it was old as it had gone a bit hard and brittle.
But the new cambelt was in (aswell as new aux belt) so that was that done and can be forgotten about for a few years.
The car was running decent after the service and because of the new cambelt I had the confidence to drive the car more now without fear of the cambelt breaking.
Next up was 4 new tyres. The car came with 4 different brand of tyres, including one called a linglong, they had also worn down on the insides so the tracking needed doing aswell.
I opted for 4 toyo proxes and a 4 wheel aligment. After this the car drove so much better and became great fun to fling around country lanes.
Upon trying find when the cambelt was last changed I found out the car had full service history, but the cambelt was about 2 years overdue, albeit not overdue on the mileage, just the time.
So I bought a cambelt kit, spark plugs and oil etc and set about servicing the car .
Everything went smoothly apart from the cambelt . You need to undo the engine mount to slide the belt through but one of my bolts had seized completely .
The other 2 bolts on the top of the mount had seized aswell, I tried everything, huge breakers bars, 2 different powerful impact guns and they weren't for undoing. I bent a long breaker bar trying to undo it so that assured me that these bolts were never coming out.
In the end I managed to split the engine mount into two and slip the belt between it - it only took me 4 days in the snow and ice of working on the car. 4 days that I never want to repeat .
The old belt looked fine and didnt have any cracks in it, however you could tell it was old as it had gone a bit hard and brittle.
But the new cambelt was in (aswell as new aux belt) so that was that done and can be forgotten about for a few years.
The car was running decent after the service and because of the new cambelt I had the confidence to drive the car more now without fear of the cambelt breaking.
Next up was 4 new tyres. The car came with 4 different brand of tyres, including one called a linglong, they had also worn down on the insides so the tracking needed doing aswell.
I opted for 4 toyo proxes and a 4 wheel aligment. After this the car drove so much better and became great fun to fling around country lanes.
We actually broke that same engine mount on mine and had to buy a new one after spending a couple of hours grinding the remains of the bolt out and re-tapping it, turned what should have been a fairly straightforward job into a right pain in the neck. Ended up replacing the water pump also as there were a few telltale leak marks.
I run mine on Toyos as well, nice tyre.
I run mine on Toyos as well, nice tyre.
K50 DEL said:
Mine's a 2003 car that was bought sight unseen with a relatively short ticket also
Thread here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
They're cracking little cars aren't they, I'm in the early stages of planing a Euro road trip with mine, just need to sort out tent stowage now as I have a pop-up that won't fit in interior or boot!
Enjoy yours, it looks like a nice one.
Thanks, they are flawed cars in many ways but I do love it. The lack of creature comforts got to me after using it everyday for a year so iv retired it to an occasional car and purchased a 911 for daily duties Thread here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
They're cracking little cars aren't they, I'm in the early stages of planing a Euro road trip with mine, just need to sort out tent stowage now as I have a pop-up that won't fit in interior or boot!
Enjoy yours, it looks like a nice one.
I found a solution for the tent problem when I went around Scotland and Cornwall. Its called a bootbag, they are fairly dear but worth every penny.
I have a large inflatable 4 man tent that's extremely bulky and it carried that round perfectly fine .
Its surprising what you can fit in these cars.
K50 DEL said:
We actually broke that same engine mount on mine and had to buy a new one after spending a couple of hours grinding the remains of the bolt out and re-tapping it, turned what should have been a fairly straightforward job into a right pain in the neck. Ended up replacing the water pump also as there were a few telltale leak marks.
I run mine on Toyos as well, nice tyre.
I think its the alloy they use reacts with the steel bolt and chemically welds itself together. I run mine on Toyos as well, nice tyre.
I did purchase a water pump but the old one looked fine and there was no leakage or play in it at all. I know I should have changed it but it was -2 degrees and snowy so I wanted to finish the job as I was fed up of working on the car. Every morning when changing the cambelt I had to clear about half a foot of snow off the car and then spend all day freezing cold dealing with seized bolts, so my patience was wearing too thin to start changing the waterpump aswell.
As I purchased the car in lockdown I hadn't been far in it and hadn't been on the motorway properly yet.
Once I started going on the motorway I was getting a check engine light, it didn't phase me too much as the car still drove great and engine felt great.
After plugging in a code reader it was coming up with code P420 which was catalytic convertor efficiency below threshold . Thios pointed to a few possible things:
1. Dodgy O2 sensor
2. Exhaust Leak
3. Cat was knackered - most likely
Looking underneath the car the cat was a ebay special one that would be worth about 2 quid.
I managed to get a second hand but good used manifold and downpipe for about 30 quid in total, I would swap these out just to eliminate it being any exhaust part before the O2 Sensor. This swap went fairly easy, despite some bolts being in some very hard to reach places.
This didn't solve the issue but it did make the exhaust quieter so the downpipe must of been leaking a little - is common on these cars as the flexi is fragile.
The engine light was annoying but I could live with it as funds were a little lacking so I would sort that issue another day.
I'm thinking this was probably the reason the previous owner sold the car, when a car is only worth 1k any repairs become a huge percentage of the cars value. I was already too deep into the car anyway and I was loving every second of it .
Once I started going on the motorway I was getting a check engine light, it didn't phase me too much as the car still drove great and engine felt great.
After plugging in a code reader it was coming up with code P420 which was catalytic convertor efficiency below threshold . Thios pointed to a few possible things:
1. Dodgy O2 sensor
2. Exhaust Leak
3. Cat was knackered - most likely
Looking underneath the car the cat was a ebay special one that would be worth about 2 quid.
I managed to get a second hand but good used manifold and downpipe for about 30 quid in total, I would swap these out just to eliminate it being any exhaust part before the O2 Sensor. This swap went fairly easy, despite some bolts being in some very hard to reach places.
This didn't solve the issue but it did make the exhaust quieter so the downpipe must of been leaking a little - is common on these cars as the flexi is fragile.
The engine light was annoying but I could live with it as funds were a little lacking so I would sort that issue another day.
I'm thinking this was probably the reason the previous owner sold the car, when a car is only worth 1k any repairs become a huge percentage of the cars value. I was already too deep into the car anyway and I was loving every second of it .
Edited by adean22 on Wednesday 18th May 15:33
After the cambelt was done the mot was now looming upon me . This was a nervous time as the car was cheap and old so you never know what to expect.
Surprise surprise the car failed its MOT.
It failed on...................
Being out of windscreen washer liquid - and it wasn't even out of it, the jets had just froze over and blocking the water coming out .
This was sorted and then the car passed.
And also had 3 advisories which were:
1. play in front nearside ball joint
2. play in steering rack inner joints
3.rear sub frame corroded but not seriously weakened
The tester commented that the car was in pretty good nick and said that advisory number 3 was just surface rust and he said if i did the same as i did to the front subframe then it would be fine. He said the play in the steering rack was minimal but the ball joint needed doing asap
It must of still passed emissions as it was which was a bonus.
I sorted the balljoint a few days later, it was a pain as they are riveted in. You have to drill out the rivets and then replace them with bolts. At least the next time I swap it it will be easier
To celebrate the recent MOT pass i decided to make custom LED halo headlights for the car. I had seen others on the FB group do them and they looked really smart.
These act as DRLs and change to amber for the indicators. I also got smart with the wiring and I have them coming on when the car is unlocked so at night it lights up infront of the car when you walk to it.
I may be biased but I think they really suit the car and modernize the front end
Surprise surprise the car failed its MOT.
It failed on...................
Being out of windscreen washer liquid - and it wasn't even out of it, the jets had just froze over and blocking the water coming out .
This was sorted and then the car passed.
And also had 3 advisories which were:
1. play in front nearside ball joint
2. play in steering rack inner joints
3.rear sub frame corroded but not seriously weakened
The tester commented that the car was in pretty good nick and said that advisory number 3 was just surface rust and he said if i did the same as i did to the front subframe then it would be fine. He said the play in the steering rack was minimal but the ball joint needed doing asap
It must of still passed emissions as it was which was a bonus.
I sorted the balljoint a few days later, it was a pain as they are riveted in. You have to drill out the rivets and then replace them with bolts. At least the next time I swap it it will be easier
To celebrate the recent MOT pass i decided to make custom LED halo headlights for the car. I had seen others on the FB group do them and they looked really smart.
These act as DRLs and change to amber for the indicators. I also got smart with the wiring and I have them coming on when the car is unlocked so at night it lights up infront of the car when you walk to it.
I may be biased but I think they really suit the car and modernize the front end
Not much happened with the car over the few months after the MOT .
The front NS wheel bearing was replaced (was an absolute pig to get out)
It was due another service (i like to do it every 5k miles)
I managed to purchase a full size alloy with a new tyre and a jack for the whole sum of £20. This was to go in the front boot to act as a spare wheel as the car only came with that crap puncture repair foam.
The heater broke on the car but was fixed by replacing the resistors in the resistor pack - these are now ceramic resistors so should last.
Last but not least I fitted a boot release kit. From factory the boot can only be opened using the key turned in the boot lock, this is inconvenient so i fitted a boot popper that's activated by a button in the cabin. Also prevents me from locking my keys in the boot
I had also booked time off work in a few weeks to embark on the NC500 in the MG, so the rush was now on to prep the car for this journey
The front NS wheel bearing was replaced (was an absolute pig to get out)
It was due another service (i like to do it every 5k miles)
I managed to purchase a full size alloy with a new tyre and a jack for the whole sum of £20. This was to go in the front boot to act as a spare wheel as the car only came with that crap puncture repair foam.
The heater broke on the car but was fixed by replacing the resistors in the resistor pack - these are now ceramic resistors so should last.
Last but not least I fitted a boot release kit. From factory the boot can only be opened using the key turned in the boot lock, this is inconvenient so i fitted a boot popper that's activated by a button in the cabin. Also prevents me from locking my keys in the boot
I had also booked time off work in a few weeks to embark on the NC500 in the MG, so the rush was now on to prep the car for this journey
I had an mgf on an r Reg for a few months last year was alright to be honest fell like I was sat on it rather than in it but everything worked. The reason these aren’t popular is because they are nowhere near as good as an mx5 or mr2 mk3 to drive. They make sense at a grand but no more than that imo
They are underrated. I've had my MGF since 2012. It cost me £875 and I can safely say even with the money I've lobbed at it since its been worth it. Its not as dynamic as an Mx5, but much more civilised as a daily (I have both). Even managed to fit 2 weeks worth of stuff in it when we went camping round Europe a few years ago. Didn't break down over the 2000 miles either 
Did a lap of the ring too
And isn't a stranger to the odd track day
Or even some mild child ferrying.
Not sure about future plans with mine aside from keeping it going!
Did a lap of the ring too
And isn't a stranger to the odd track day
Or even some mild child ferrying.
Not sure about future plans with mine aside from keeping it going!
Merry said:
They are underrated. I've had my MGF since 2012. It cost me 875 and I can safely say even with the money I've lobbed at it since its been worth it. Its not as dynamic as an Mx5, but much more civilised as a daily (I have both). Even managed to fit 2 weeks worth of stuff in it when we went camping round Europe a few years ago. Didn't break down over the 2000 miles either
I am yet to fetch mine on a track day. How do they cope?. Also just noticed your from wigan, so am I. surprised iv not seen your car before.
Did a lap of the ring too
And isn't a stranger to the odd track day
Or even some mild child ferrying.
Not sure about future plans with mine aside from keeping it going!
I am yet to fetch mine on a track day. How do they cope?. Also just noticed your from wigan, so am I. surprised iv not seen your car before.
Did a lap of the ring too
And isn't a stranger to the odd track day
Or even some mild child ferrying.
Not sure about future plans with mine aside from keeping it going!
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