RE: Shed Of The Week: MG TF

[jamespink]

kambites said:

jamespink said:

The article mentions they had Metro suspension but omits to say the whole chassis is in fact an entire Metro back to front.

You see this claimed a lot, but sadly it's complete and utter rubbish. The front subframe of the MGF is lifted from the metro with relatively few modifications (mounted forwards); the rear subframe is a significantly modified version of the front subframe of the metro (also mounted facing forwards). The rest of the chassis is bespoke. The subframes of the TF are significantly different from the F, let alone the Metro.

There's less in common in the chassis design between a Metro and an MGTF than between an Audi TT and a Golf or between a Boxster and a 911.

Edited by kambites on Friday 28th November 13:21

I stand corrected and apologise to you all. Does that mean it was something else that trashed the British car industry, other than these shocking cars?

[Evil Monkey]

I've got one of these as my daily drive and like last year, I'll be running it all over the winter fitted with a set of Toyo Snowproxes.

Had it for nearly 2 years now and it's never missed a beat but I do wait until it's up to temperature before hammering it. It's good on petrol, burns no oil, has no coolant leaks etc. I think the only things that have needed doing to it since I've had it are a new window mechanism and door handle, both of which were easily sourced and cheap as chips. MGJohn was good enough to program a new ignition key for me and give me a hand changing the window mechanism! There's a great forum at http://forums.mg-rover.org/ with loads of helpful people.

A dodgy back and knee might mean that I have to offload it next year but I'll miss it if that happens.

[kambites]

jamespink said:

I stand corrected and apologise to you all. Does that mean it was something else that trashed the British car industry, other than these shocking cars?

It certainly wasn't the MGF's design that killed it - it was very highly regarded for the first few years of its life.

I think the biggest problem with the British car industry was the unwillingness of management to invest in new designs and the unwillingness and/or inability of the workforce to screw the things together properly. On the odd occasion they actually got around to releasing a new car, it was generally pretty well received until all the build quality issues became evident.

Perhaps ironically, the MGF's build quality was merely poor until BMW got their hands on MGR. It was only when BMW started cutting costs that it became truly appalling.

Edited by kambites on Friday 28th November 14:46

[cannelldocam]

yonex said:

Depends on the spec. The K series is a great design but it was manufactured and assembled by idiots. Therein lies the problem.

Pretty much the case for most Rover products.

[daytona365]

Weren't these sheds from new ?

[FWDRacer]

jamespink said:

I stand corrected and apologise to you all. Does that mean it was something else that trashed the British car industry, other than these shocking cars?

Idiots like you continue to do it just as much damage. (... and just checked your car profile - all too predictable, do you drive it around in daylight with the fog lights on and failed to spec the optional indicator pack?).

[RobinBanks]

These weren't bad cars. Reasonably nice to drive, reasonably priced and handsome. I would quite like a VVC one. However I'd probably have a Rover 200 BRM or MG ZR with that engine instead because I don't really like convertibles.

[soad]

Another candidate for a hairdresser's car.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

yonex said:

Yes, my father used to be on the bank notes

Wow, I'm impressed. Who was he, Charles Darwin or the Duke of Wellington?

[FD3Si]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Wow, I'm impressed. Who was he, Charles Darwin or the Duke of Wellington?

Neither. He's on the other side.

[KaraK]

Years ago a friend's sister who worked for Powertrain had one as a company car and I took it out for a quick blast on the nearby twisties and I was rather impressed to be honest. It was certainly not what you would call quick by any objective measure but it felt faster then it was due to the low position and being a convertible etc. It felt a little twitchy under moderate-heavy braking which wasn't massively confidence inspiring but I imagine it's something you'd get used to. At the sort of money these are going for now I'd be seriously tempted to pick one up as a runabout/track toy at some point!

[marcosgt]

I saw one early in the year.

It was metallic blue and looked immaculate and was £2500, which I thought seemed a bargain.

Sadly I need something with MORE carrying capacity than my RX8, rather than less, so I didn't get one, but for so little money, it's hard to really find much to complain about, is it?

I bet in 10-15 years time people will be as enthusiastic about these as they are MGBs and Midgets now.

M.

[Mr Will]

kambites said:

s m said:

So if you keep an eye on the coolant/coolant pipes they're no worse in an MG TF?

The biggest problem for the K-series seems to be stressing it from cold. The huge majority of engines that suffer from head gasket failure have never been run on low coolant.

A mechanic that I greatly respect once told me that the problem with the MG F/TF was the length of the pipes to the radiator and the amount of water they held. If you thrashed it from cold the engine would get hot rapidly then the thermostat would suddenly open and dump masses of cold water in to the engine, warping the head (it in a similar fashion to topping up an overheating car before it's cooled down).

I have no evidence to back that up, but it seems logical to me.

[JohnT993]

NOPE.
just no.
Not at all.
Never.
Almost in some ways but overall its still a big no.

[anonymous-user]

Pickled said:

High Wycombe?

Got a couple of mates still in the print, even on perm nights they struggle to make £35k these days

Yes, nothing left of the site now though. I did try and get into the engineers when I was younger but the lovely Union kicked up such a fuss I walked away from it. Most of the presses were antiquated for fear of replication. Thousands and thousands of pounds was spent keeping them running. In the high security area there was a leak and a draft. The trick to getting the quality right was balancing the print against those factors, nobody ever seemed to want to fix the building!! I can recall the managers all having cars and accounts with the local supermarkets all picked up on the tab. The same went for cars, one for the person, one for the other half. Amazing how it all went tits up really

[kambites]

Mr Will said:

kambites said:

s m said:

So if you keep an eye on the coolant/coolant pipes they're no worse in an MG TF?

The biggest problem for the K-series seems to be stressing it from cold. The huge majority of engines that suffer from head gasket failure have never been run on low coolant.

A mechanic that I greatly respect once told me that the problem with the MG F/TF was the length of the pipes to the radiator and the amount of water they held. If you thrashed it from cold the engine would get hot rapidly then the thermostat would suddenly open and dump masses of cold water in to the engine, warping the head (it in a similar fashion to topping up an overheating car before it's cooled down).

The Elise has the same issue for the same reason. You can modify the cooling system to prevent the sudden opening of the thermostat fairly easily. I've no idea how much difference it actually makes to the frequency of head gasket failure; as with most mods, some people swear by it and some say it's useless.

Edited by kambites on Friday 28th November 15:39

[SpeckledJim]

TF had its faults, but in a good spec it looks MILES better than a mkII MX-5 and mkIII MR2.

It also looks better than a Z3, SLK, and perhaps gets close to an S2000.

It might not have been such a quality product, but in styling terms it's a bit of a masterpiece (within context).

[redroadster]

Bar of soap styling has not really aged ,would buy mr2 over this or mx5 for this even if I had to smash piggy bank for extra couple of hundred quid.

[Thebaggers]

Bought a 2002 TF 160 for £950 in January this year. 8k miles, one trip to le mans classic and zero break downs later sold it in the summer for £2100. Flew through the MOT.

Cracking drive, very direct and difficult to unstick. Important to get the geometry right on the rear in particular. Great cheap fun and highly recommended.

[Merry]

I've had a 1.6 mgf for a couple of years now, one of the last before the tf came along - apparently these were the best built.

It's been the best car I've had, only issues I've had are a snapped alternator belt and a new lambda sensor. I also much prefer the fs hydragas, much more compliant on rubbish roads, I'm not the tallest so driving position is good, and I've treated it to 4 toyo t1rs so handling is excellent. Roof is leak free and cosy with the hardtop in the winter.

Servicing is a little traumatic, having to remove all kinds of covers, but nothing horrific

Bought it for £850 with 46,000 on the clock. Cracking value