RE: SOTW: MG-F 1.8 VVC

[ewenm]

Colin 1985 said:

Engine was also used in the Arial Atom.

Has quite a nice torque curve with power steadily increasing all the way to the redline.

Certainly feels good in my Caterham. Will feel even better with the roller barrel TBs fitted

[Speedfreakgti]

yeah ferg ur not wrong been a while since i touched one of these, mg garage was were my apprentaship was >.<
being an apprentice and learning for 4 years on mg was pretty much NOT fun.
Think its a bad car for an article going out to the general public.

If your well experienced and youve got a good history with working on cars dropping engines etc then fine buy one , loose the hydragas its not worth the problems invest in some shocks and springs for couple of hundred and that is that solved. replaces the locators with the metal ones , loose the standard seats get some frames and seats and thatll fix the poo driving position and invest in a hard roof and youll have a wicked little toy.

Not a car to be owned by those who cannot fix themselfs i think thats the issue.

some have been lucky , some paid big , some fixed it themselfs and smiled.

[ollie854]

kambites said:

ollie854 said:

I don't know if its already been said but if the K-series was really that bad then why did lotus put it in the elise?

There are various reasons that the K-series is a better engine in the Elise than most of the products Rover offered it in. Firstly, it can actually be a reasonably reliable engine if it is meticulously looked-after (specifically, warmed up properly) and Elises are probably more likely to be pampered than Freelanders or even MGFs; secondly, the Elise is far lighter than anything Rover put it in, so it's under less stress and hence heats up more gently; thirdly it only costs 4-500 quid to fix the head gasket if it does go, which is much more palatable on a car worth 10k than one worth 1k, and if that repair is done properly the engine can be made much more reliable, but most garages don't know how to do this.

The simple answer to why the Elise has a K-series though, is that it started out as a joint project between Lotus and Rover, before Rover pulled out. That and the fact that Honda wouldn't sell Lotus the K20.

Of course the Elise benefits more from such a light engine than most cars would, too.

Edited by kambites on Monday 6th December 09:04

Thanks for that was interesting read the K-series in VVC they sound gorgeous aswel.

[ronaldo342]

My fun car road and track,love it,Not an mgf but an mgtf,owned since new 8 years,200 bhp and goes like stink, must say original built is crap,cheap pistons,suspension was shocking, brakes, head gaskets etc, took a lot to get it to the car MG could have built,little K spins to 8000 all day on the track.

[Famous Graham]

Had a charcoal grey non-VVC for about 3 years, after buying it off my mum who had it for 6 from new. Daily driver for both of us when we had it, and I took mine on several trips from Reading to Scotland as well. Neither of us ever had a single problem with it.

Except the day before I was due to part ex it in for an S2000.

A gear linkage broke as I put it into reverse. Normally not a problem - 50 quid part. But the layout of the car meant 8 hours labour to get to it (most of the cabin had to come out). That was painful.

But it was a good, fun car.

And yes, you could get the hood up when staying seated if a) the mechanism was smooth and b) you got it just right. If either of those didn't apply, you didn't half pull some muscles you didn't know about

[sunsurfer]

ronaldo342 said:

My fun car road and track,love it,Not an mgf but an mgtf,owned since new 8 years,200 bhp and goes like stink, must say original built is crap,cheap pistons,suspension was shocking, brakes, head gaskets etc, took a lot to get it to the car MG could have built,little K spins to 8000 all day on the track.

That looks one real sorted MGTF and as you say it has taken money and knowledge to get it to be the car it should have been. Good to hear a decently sorted K series engine with its low weight and high power does its job perfectly.

[Colin 1985]

ronaldo342 said:

My fun car road and track,love it,Not an mgf but an mgtf,owned since new 8 years,200 bhp and goes like stink, must say original built is crap,cheap pistons,suspension was shocking, brakes, head gaskets etc, took a lot to get it to the car MG could have built,little K spins to 8000 all day on the track.

What mod's have you made to the engine to get 200bhp and to raise the limiter? I take it new internals?

[ronaldo342]

Forged pistons, steel rods, ported head, Jenvey throttle bodies, emerald ecu piper 285 hyd cams etc,

[anonymous-user]

300bhp/ton said:

Nigel Worc's said:

If these heaps of ste were any good, why isn't the company still going ..... huh ?

Are you?

a) that stupid
b) that blind
c) that young, ie 4

pick one

d) Doesn't agree with the someone who thinks he knows everything about pretty much any car becuase he spends all day everyday on the internet on several thousand forums.

Everyone else apart from you is allowed an opinion it seems.

[Barry Gibb]

When I stumbled on 300bhp/ton’s witless comments in this topic, my instant opinion was that they were written by a ‘gutless fruit’ so I checked out 300bhp/tons profile.
I was right..... 50’s dancing, I assume he carries out this hobby with his ‘partner’! If anyone here needs any clarification on my use of the word ‘fruit’ please feel free to follow this link....... http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fru...

As well as 50’s dancing he professes to be a car collector I suppose the saying one man’s trash is another man’s treasure fits well here.

Grow up

[ewenm]

Barry Gibb said:

When I stumbled on 300bhp/ton’s witless comments in this topic, my instant opinion was that they were written by a ‘gutless fruit’ so I checked out 300bhp/tons profile.
I was right..... 50’s dancing, I assume he carries out this hobby with his ‘partner’! If anyone here needs any clarification on my use of the word ‘fruit’ please feel free to follow this link....... http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fru...

As well as 50’s dancing he professes to be a car collector I suppose the saying one man’s trash is another man’s treasure fits well here.

Grow up

You did all that rather than just refute his points? You are a strange man to decide the best way to show 300bhp/ton is wrong is to go for the personal comments. A bit playground don't you think? Grow up indeed.

If he's so obviously talking rubbish it should be easy for you to refute them regardless of his "gutless fruit" status.

Edited by ewenm on Tuesday 7th December 22:06

[Vidal Baboon]

Barry Gibb said:

When I stumbled on 300bhp/ton’s witless comments in this topic, my instant opinion was that they were written by a ‘gutless fruit’ so I checked out 300bhp/tons profile.
I was right..... 50’s dancing, I assume he carries out this hobby with his ‘partner’! If anyone here needs any clarification on my use of the word ‘fruit’ please feel free to follow this link....... http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fru...

As well as 50’s dancing he professes to be a car collector I suppose the saying one man’s trash is another man’s treasure fits well here.

Grow up

This post says a whole lot more about you than it does about 300bhp/ton.

Trying to make a name for yourself on PH?

[Barry Gibb]

This post says a whole lot more about you than it does about 300bhp/ton.

Trying to make a name for yourself on PH?
[/quote]

Can you please share you in-depth knowledge on Barry Gibb?

Ewenm beautiful use of the word refute how apt.

[Vidal Baboon]

Barry Gibb said:

Can you please share you in-depth knowledge on Barry Gibb?

Ewenm beautiful use of the word refute how apt.

From the above post I'd say it's pretty obvious for anyone to see. What would you like clarification on?

Reffering to yourself as the 3rd person? And you're calling 300 sad?

Edited by Vidal Baboon on Tuesday 7th December 22:52

[CDP]

Suggesting a British car and in particular an MG can always be a bit controversial these days but I never realised it could get quite so heated.

[andymadmak]

Barry Gibb said:

vidal baboon said:

This post says a whole lot more about you than it does about 300bhp/ton.

Trying to make a name for yourself on PH?

Can you please share you in-depth knowledge on Barry Gibb?

Ewenm beautiful use of the word refute how apt.

I couldn't decide if you were an attention we or just a tt for posting your comments about 300bhp/ton on this thread.
After careful consideration, and having reviewed your comments to Vidal and Ewenm, I have reached a conclusion: Pretentious tt.

Thankyou

[Bluebarge]

Speedfreakgti said:

what a BAD CHOICE for shed. I used to work for a private mg garage , these cars are not a good purchase , through out the entire mgf range they have used rubber locators for the head , the rubber locaters (bloody rover) quite obviously ware. Once the locators go they allow fractional movement in the head not alot but enough to cause a head gasket failure.

All i did for 4 years at that bloody garage was head gaskets, even the work pains me and its not a particulary easy job on a mid engined car so if your sending it to a garage for repair, prepare to pay close to the cars value.

If you are going to buy an mgf ask the owner when the head gasket last went (not if it has, when it did, ur more likely to get a genuine answer) and if they have had the metal locators fitted.

Obviously if your a mechanic with some spare time it would make a cracking toy not much fun to work on tho.

You can get a head gasket change with the new steel locators done for about £400+VAT. After which you'll have a nice little car. As long as you budget for that, you will find them a lot cheaper than MX-5's of the same vintage. I like 'em, so there

[Colin 1985]

Well don't I feel like a pratt, I would be driving the car I put a deposit down for now (Red TF160 with the cream leather interior) but...

dealer rang to say that on the way to the MOT station HGF! Engine seemed fine when I checked it last week.

[Agent Orange]

ronaldo342 said:

I no fan of the MG F but I quite like the look of that. I'm wondering if my dislike was mostly due to the fat bird face on the original MG F. That and having owned a K-Series engined car that was a nightmare.

Hmmm might have to revise my views after seeing this!

[LotusAlfaV6bloke]

Why wife mentioned that I was out of order for slagging off MGFs, as her close friend bought one in the summer and it has been very reliable. This is true and I felt guilty.

Had a call this afternoon from her mate - the head gasket has gone, can I recomend a mechanic???!!!!

Genius - this has maintained my 100% record of everyone one I know with a K-series having a head gasket fail (see my earlier post on this for added nerd points).