MGF freebie

[The Arch Bishop]

Ok, well the quote for the engine repair is around the £700 mark. This includes the resealing of all four liners, uprated head gasket, cambelt and water pump and the reassembly of the head which is in many bits in the garage. All of this work can be accomplished without the engine being removed. Economically worth it? Just about. Can I do it at the moment? No, so I'll be giving it a few months to get the Puma sorted and back on the road then I'll see where it stands.

 

[warrenpenalver]

Im surprised you cant find a good condition second hand lump for a lot less than that!! Do a cambelt change, new payen or freelander head gasket and uprated girdle from a freelander and you should have a solid engine!

 

[The Arch Bishop]

I've done the math on that already Warren. £250 gets you an engine but add in a compulsory head gasket, water pump and cambelt (beyond my abilities) - £450 + Vat. Potential additions are liner sealing (all four of mine need doing) £40 per cylinder. Add to that the hassle of having to swap the engine which is not easy on these and it stacks up. I'm looking to get a reliable engine that's been put together by someone who understands K series and doesn't turn into a frustrating epic slog for me. I haven't the time frankly!

 

[TGPlayer1]

As far as I can tell you're getting a nice car with a freshly rebuilt engine for £700, and that's a bargain in my book.

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Yep, will be worth it in the end!! Few other costs to consider though - Needs two new front tyres (one is borderline and the other is called a 'Sunny' which doesn't inspire confidence in front-end grip) and the Hydrolastic suspension will need pumping back up (it's a proper low rider at the moment and you can't really get a jack underneath it). As with other old cars it'll need some other bobbins that aren't apparent yet, but it's no different from buying a £700 banger from the Friday-Ads and having to spend out on that so it all evens out I suppose!

 

[Blue3]

I just bought a 60k engine that had a new mlm updated headgasket and a skim that was only done 6 months previous then the car failed its mot on rust and was scrapped £180, keep looking you never know what you might find

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Will keep my eyes open for one! Usually it's the delivery that's the killer!

I decided to have a tinker today and started doing a bit of cleaning up (as I can't afford to get the thing moving).

Firstly, the front compartment - started like this;

After some scrubbing up;

Then I gave the rusty old tail pipes a clean up - top before, bottom after obviously!

I then discovered the melted boot carpet;

Which I 'fixed'...

Then I found out how you get to the head and everything else without removing the engine - unclipping the rear of the hood and removing the inspection cover. Quite a bit of room in there!

Finally had a play with the tonneau cover;

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

Now that we are into Rovers, I will hijack your thread a bit (still as jealous as a dog ). I went to do a PDI on some cars at the main car compound where cars are held after the delivery from factory before being shipped to their owners. And made an incredible discovery! There are still 5 rovers which are sat there for 12-13 years! It is difficuilt to call them new, but they have delivery mileage on them only! Two rovers 200, two 400's and one MG ZS (2.5 V6 with 170-180 bhp IIRC).





The tyres are low on pressure, moss is developing on the cars, incredible. True ofphans, the distributor went bust, the factory as well. I guess somebody owes money to somebody and hence the cars are still there, but incredible, isn't it?! I don't know if they are still starteable, or their engines seized, they surely would need a good clean and polish...
Normally, cars are at the compound for few weeks, two-three months tops, but these have been there for 12-13 years!

Such a waste.....

PS. Sorry AB for the hijack, but thought it would be fitting to share it here

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Weird and such a shame! I'd have that ZS in a heartbeat! I seem to recall they were a very good steer back in the day and they remind me of this excellent looking racer;

 

[Catweasel]

Bought a set of new 18" forged Team Dynamics wheels recently, probably came from the MG/Rover Longbridge factory clearance, they were destined for an MG ZT but fit my Toyota GT86 perfectly.

 

[XAF]

Now that we are into Rovers, I will hijack your thread a bit (still as jealous as a dog ). I went to do a PDI on some cars at the main car compound where cars are held after the delivery from factory before being shipped to their owners. And made an incredible discovery! There are still 5 rovers which are sat there for 12-13 years! It is difficuilt to call them new, but they have delivery mileage on them only! Two rovers 200, two 400's and one MG ZS (2.5 V6 with 170-180 bhp IIRC

The tyres are low on pressure, moss is developing on the cars, incredible. True ofphans, the distributor went bust, the factory as well. I guess somebody owes money to somebody and hence the cars are still there, but incredible, isn't it?! I don't know if they are still starteable, or their engines seized, they surely would need a good clean and polish...
Normally, cars are at the compound for few weeks, two-three months tops, but these have been there for 12-13 years!

Such a waste.....

PS. Sorry AB for the hijack, but thought it would be fitting to share it here

AB - love that MGF. Top work! There is an old guy at the top of my parents street who has an 1998 220 Coupe that's he's had since new and I can remember him polishing the life out of it every weekend. It's been sat outside for a year now and I have an unhealthy desire to knock on his door and see if he wants to part with it before it's scrap.

And taking of unhealthy desires, is it bad I really want want that MG in the storage yard! I can't get my head around why they haven't been sold off already. Can you do any digging Wild E?!!

 

[The Arch Bishop]

The Tomcat Coupes were nice cars. My sister had one from new and it went like stink, handled pretty well and was lovely to drive! I think they had a lift-out glass roof as well. Hers was nicked and never seen again. Very rare nowadays - I can't remember the last time I saw one. If you can save it then do!

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Further work today...

The hood was pretty green and tired looking, so I started looking at hood cleaning kits. Typically, they are £15+, but my wife mentioned that we had some Fabsil tent cleaning solution, so I gave that a go.

It started looking like this;

And after a really good scrub and rinse, it's started looking much better;

We've also got a big old bottle of Fabsil sealant that apparently works very well on car hoods, so that will be for another day.

I did finally get around to actually cleaning the car all over as well. A quick swill and dry and it began to look very presentable!

While I realise that this is currently slightly pointless as the car doesn't even run, cleaning it up has given me extra incentive to get it all sorted out.

 

[XAF]

The Tomcat Coupes were nice cars. My sister had one from new and it went like stink, handled pretty well and was lovely to drive! I think they had a lift-out glass roof as well. Hers was nicked and never seen again. Very rare nowadays - I can't remember the last time I saw one. If you can save it then do!

I'm getting my folks to put the feelers out too see what the score is. I love the thought of saving something from the crusher even though I'm not entirely sure what I'd do with it!!!

 

[PhilLew]

That's looking amazing :grin:
reminds me of how mine USED to look before the dreaded tin worm caught hold, it barely scraped through it's MOT last week with advisories for rust on sills and rear arches :-( ....I'll just need to drive the wheels off it this summer in case its our last one together lol :grin: :grin: :grin:

 

[The Arch Bishop]

That's looking amazing :grin:
reminds me of how mine USED to look before the dreaded tin worm caught hold, it barely scraped through it's MOT last week with advisories for rust on sills and rear arches :-( ....I'll just need to drive the wheels off it this summer in case its our last one together lol :grin: :grin: :grin:

It's cleaned up better than I thought it would to be honest!

So far as I can tell, it's had plenty of bodywork done over the years as there are a few paint jobs that I've picked up on. Both front wings have some defects from spraying up and the rear offside wing has definitely seen some repairs as there is a bit of micro-blistering. The other bad points are the rear of the sills. It looks like someone has made a bad job of jacking it up and the seam along the bottom is twisted. The metal is still solid so it shouldn't be a difficult fix.

Any pics of yours?

 

[PhilLew]

Any pics of yours?

Pretty much the same as yours....but rusty :-(

http://s585.photobucket.com/user/phillew15/library/MGF" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

And taking of unhealthy desires, is it bad I really want want that MG in the storage yard! I can't get my head around why they haven't been sold off already. Can you do any digging Wild E?!!

Did some research. The cars were imported way back when we weren't in EU. That meant the import customs were applicable. The importer went bust and didn't pay it at time. So the interest was pileing on them. As things are now, they wouldn't be applicable to customs duties as the origin is in EU, but how would that end up your guess is as good as mine. The storage fees have also most probably elapsed the value of cars few times by now as well.
But, in theory, the cars are for sale. Haven't enquired about the prices though. And those are LHD vehicles, meaning the SW is on the left of cars. I don't know if you can drive such cars in UK?

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

Further work today...

The hood was pretty green and tired looking, so I started looking at hood cleaning kits. Typically, they are £15+, but my wife mentioned that we had some Fabsil tent cleaning solution, so I gave that a go.

Top job. Looks so nice in green, so fitting if I may say so

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Plans are afoot. I've sold a few bits and bobs and raised a little money towards it and my folks are going to lend me the rest, so hopefully it'll run soon enough.

A trip to Tesco this evening with just my eldest daughter in tow was fine in the Puma, but with the good weather today it would have been great in a soft top...

Basically impatience is catching up with me.