The £90 MGF !

Author
Discussion

cheddar

4,637 posts

173 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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MattGTA said:
We have overheating and mayonnaise...
Otherwise known as a toasted sandwich.

MattGTA

Original Poster:

419 posts

171 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
quotequote all
You are right, of course.

But the thread is not dead - car will be sold and whatever it makes will pay for the next chapter of this story.

It was 3200 fun miles over the summer months for peanuts and only ever let me down at the very end - I'd have taken that outcome at the beginning of this journey.

The question now is: break or sell?

Watch this space :-)

daemon

35,720 posts

196 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
quotequote all
MattGTA said:
You are right, of course.

But the thread is not dead - car will be sold and whatever it makes will pay for the next chapter of this story.

It was 3200 fun miles over the summer months for peanuts and only ever let me down at the very end - I'd have taken that outcome at the beginning of this journey.

The question now is: break or sell?

Watch this space :-)
Thats the right decision and totally agree with what you're doing.

I've had a load of fun doing similar over the years and its surprising what you can pick up for a few hundred.

Hard to know whether to break or sell. You'll probably get more for the parts if you've the space to do it, plus you've then to dispose of the remains which can be awkward to move.


PedroB

494 posts

131 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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If you are going to break it, give us a shout I've some bits I need for mine.

Bebee

4,678 posts

224 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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MattGTA said:
Harrowing news:

We have overheating and mayonnaise...

irked
For what it cost you, why not have a go yourself, if it doesn't work out you'll be in the same position less the cost of a head gasket and your time, youtube it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UXvQA-wOTM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdk7RTEnyjE

MattGTA

Original Poster:

419 posts

171 months

Sunday 28th September 2014
quotequote all
Well that was easy - sold for £230 and I get to keep the remaining tax, floor mats and the radio.

That's 3200 miles of fun for -£11, excl fuel, tax and insurance.

Pretty good going, even if I say so myself.

cloud9


Blayney

2,948 posts

185 months

Sunday 28th September 2014
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clap

Looking forward to the next chapter now! Any ideas?

MattGTA

Original Poster:

419 posts

171 months

Sunday 28th September 2014
quotequote all
Blayney said:
clap

Looking forward to the next chapter now! Any ideas?
That's a good question. I'm not ruling anything out given the funds available, but I've enjoyed this game, so will definitely be having another go.

I'm not going to put any more cash in the pot, but I am going to have a bit of a garage clear out to boost the piggy bank. There are things I simply don't need gathering dust - wings for a mini, winter wheels for a nissan trail, a couple of car covers, bits and bobs from various Lancias and MX5s; not to mention the radio and mats from the MG.

Can't wait hehe

TREMAiNE

3,904 posts

148 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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Shedding at its best!

Looking forward to seeing whats next!

daemon

35,720 posts

196 months

Monday 29th September 2014
quotequote all
MattGTA said:
Blayney said:
clap

Looking forward to the next chapter now! Any ideas?
That's a good question. I'm not ruling anything out given the funds available, but I've enjoyed this game, so will definitely be having another go.

I'm not going to put any more cash in the pot, but I am going to have a bit of a garage clear out to boost the piggy bank. There are things I simply don't need gathering dust - wings for a mini, winter wheels for a nissan trail, a couple of car covers, bits and bobs from various Lancias and MX5s; not to mention the radio and mats from the MG.

Can't wait hehe
For several years i've been buying "weekend toys" at around or below the £1,000 mark. Has included Jag S Types, a Jag XJ, several MX5s and a couple of 330Ci coupes. If you're happy to bide your time and wait on the right car, theres definitely a bit of fun to be had and without losing any money.

Some i've had a look at recently were

2002 MG ZT 2.5 v6 190 - £750
2001 Puma 1.7 - £300
VW Corrado 2.0 16v (would need recommissioned) - £350
2002 MG ZT 2.5 v6 160 - £600
1999 Peugeot 306 GTI-6 - £500

Theres a bit of headroom in each of those for some repairs and maybe a little profit too.

Really must get my finger out and buy something again!!

dom9

8,040 posts

208 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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daemon said:
2001 Puma 1.7 - £300
1999 Peugeot 306 GTI-6 - £500
Hmmm... Can you tell us more?

daemon

35,720 posts

196 months

Monday 29th September 2014
quotequote all
dom9 said:
daemon said:
2001 Puma 1.7 - £300
1999 Peugeot 306 GTI-6 - £500
Hmmm... Can you tell us more?
Was actually trying to find a link on gumtree to the 306 GTI-6. From memory, black, driving very well, short MOT, drivers seat needed repaire (common), upgraded Peugeot alloys - the five "straight" spoke ones slightly bigger than the d turbo style ones, private sale, guy had owned it a couple of years. Cant find the advert - clearly sold by now.

The Puma was high miles (150K) but going strong, one alloy missing, rear arches rusting and needed a tail light.

I do searches on gumtree

price min > £150
price max < £550
fuel type = petrol
seller type = private
distance < 50 miles.

Usually turns up something interesting.

Have seen various Jag S Types at that money and got a Mondeo ST v6 in there too.

These are close to me at the min - the mazda would be nicer with the v6 though.

http://www.gumtree.com/p/rover/rover-820-vitesse/1...
http://www.gumtree.com/p/mazda/mazda-not-ford-audi...

Any amount of MX5's nationally...

http://www.gumtree.com/p/mazda/mazda-mx5/108268564...



Edited by daemon on Monday 29th September 15:36

MattGTA

Original Poster:

419 posts

171 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
quotequote all
Update time.

My buyer literally disappeared off the face of the earth confused so I found another one, who agreed a price of £130 and then tried to knock me down to 40 quid ("for cash") when he arrived (2hrs late) furious

So the car sat for a couple of weeks going nowhere until yesterday, when, armed with nothing more than the internet and a new HG kit I set about taking it apart.

Several hours later (after much knuckle grazing) I tentatively turned the key and it fired up first time cool

Special mention goes to my local mechanic, who gave up a chunk of his saturday afternoon to answer my stupid questions. Also to my 7 yr old, who's much better at following instructions than me.

Rude words go to the inaccessible engine bay, the angle of the bolts and the ridiculous cooling system which was a complete arse to bleed.

Total cost: £61, which included celebratory beer.

Just been for a 20 mile drive - running well, good pressure, no leaking and no overheating:




Overall, pretty chuffed.

Edited by MattGTA on Sunday 19th October 10:20

Munter

31,319 posts

240 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
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It lives!

Patch888

701 posts

127 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
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The saga continues smile

P I Staker

3,308 posts

155 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
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Good man, that's what it's all about.

MGJohn

10,203 posts

182 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
quotequote all
MattGTA said:
Update time.

My buyer literally disappeared off the face of the earth confused so I found another one, who agreed a price of £130 and then tried to knock me down to 40 quid ("for cash") when he arrived (2hrs late) furious

So the car sat for a couple of weeks going nowhere until yesterday, when, armed with nothing more than the internet and a new HG kit I set about taking it apart.

Several hours later (after much knuckle grazing) I tentatively turned the key and it fired up first time cool

Special mention goes to my local mechanic, who gave up a chunk of his saturday afternoon to answer my stupid questions. Also to my 7 yr old, who's much better at following instructions than me.

Rude words go to the inaccessible engine bay, the angle of the bolts and the ridiculous cooling system which was a complete arse to bleed.

Total cost: £61, which included celebratory beer.

Just been for a 20 mile drive - running well, good pressure, no leaking and no overheating:




Overall, pretty chuffed.
Good for you.

These K-Series engines are an amateur DIYer doddle to work on. Delighted to see you had a go and successfully renewed the damaged cylinder head gasket. Reading this thread earlier I was going to reply suggesting on these DIY lines then saw you had sold it.

This reminds me of the project MGF another PHer here contacted me out of the blue to see if I was interested. Long story short I was interested bought the car and soon after fixed it up. Had a spare set of nice MG 16" Alloys with good Falkens in my garage roof loft so put the original 15" wheels and near new continental tyres on ebay. They went for £75 more than I paid for the car. Taxing, MoT and a few spares cost a few hundred quid and the car has given faultless reliable service ever since I bought it two summers ago. All that despite showing over 120,000 miles now.

When my son's daily driver was off the road for repairs he needed transport for his work so he used the MGF. He soon put another 1000 miles on it and the only compliant being a squeaky Alternator Belt on cold start-up.

The reason cars like this are so cheap is because there were so many of them sold ( on average 1000 a week for at least six years ) many still about which owners now cannot be bothered to keep and maintain when things go wrong. Plus as everyone knows, all MG Rovers are crap. Correction. Not everyone knows that. Good used spares are cheap and new parts also if you shop around or visit local breaker yards. There are more MR2s and MXs in my local scrap yards than MGFs or TFs. Go figure.

It's now over ten years since I bought my last new car. An MG ZS120 with the "They all do that 1.8 K-Series" only mine has yet to do that. Still in daily service with the family and even if it does damage head gasket sometime, cheap DIY doddle to fix for well under £100 for parts. These include new MLS Cylinder Head Gasket, Water Pump ( essential to always replace as worn ones prime suspect for so called HGFs ) Timing Belt and Tensioner if you shop around.

Folks sometimes ask how I can afford to run so many cars. It's not Rocket Science. The last to ask runs a Nissan Hybrid which costs more to buy and run than all my cars do now or did except buying new of course.

Not just MGs and Rovers available now at less than shed money. Could be a BMW or anything, even a humble Peugeot non-runner project which my sons tackled only took on two days ago :~

http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=712521

There are fine opportunities out there if you are patient they come along. In the case of my MGF, they come along even when not looking for them.... Loose change money so what's not to like .. smile Yer Tis :~





MattGTA

Original Poster:

419 posts

171 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
quotequote all
MGJohn said:
Wise words
Thanks MGJohn, great post. Looking forward to keeping you up to date.

I'm going to commute in the MG tomorrow (116 miles round trip), and really looking forward to it.

The feeling of satisfaction right now is huge - a mix of pride in having kept one more little MG on the road and pleasure at having extending my bargain roadster fun.

MG

MGJohn

10,203 posts

182 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
quotequote all
MattGTA said:
MGJohn said:
Wise words
Thanks MGJohn, great post. Looking forward to keeping you up to date.

I'm going to commute in the MG tomorrow (116 miles round trip), and really looking forward to it.

The feeling of satisfaction right now is huge - a mix of pride in having kept one more little MG on the road and pleasure at having extending my bargain roadster fun.

MG
You're welcome Matt. Keep up the good work.

Your final paragraph nails it for me. There is a problem for you now. That car is your "baby". You gave it renewed life. It will be hard to part with it when the time comes.

Anyone can buy a new car. Done it many times both privately and as a company car purchases back in the days when you could use as much company fuel as you needed privately. Great days gorn forever but, you know what, none of those new cars gave me more pleasure than one of my "babies" brought back to life over the past forty odd years have done.

My latest MG "baby" spent weeks under trees on someone's drive refusing to start and gathering leaves and rainwater in it's bulkhead plenum chambers. Leaves blocked drain holes and tubes .... Not good. Could the engine management ECU be damaged by the flood. Took a chance bid on it ..... bound to be out bid but, I wasn't... smile I was the only bidder and got a lot of non-runner car for bottom bid start figure. Move on a few weeks and life put back in the car ~ the non-start fix cost six quid in parts ~ fiddly to fit in a fuel tank 90% full of Ron's best 95. Win some win some. I thought the fuel gauge was faulty showing full ... smile The previous owner had just left the filling station when he knew something was not right. Filling the tank on this car is close on eighty quid.

Anyway, delighted with the car now even though it's another with the 1.8 "they all do that K-Series" only with Garrett turbocharger bolted to it making things even worse.... smile Car is now my daily driver complete with BMW TV, bum warmer leather seats, powerfolds climate etc etc. Now 2,000 miles on, delighted with it .. Amazing what you can buy for a few quid nowadays. Goes well too ..Yer tis :~



So guess what, bought another near identical problem car soon after for half the initial purchase cost of this now my daily driver ~ no hope for some folks. That's No. 2 project behind the grey one. A glutton for punishment me ... smile

More seriously, the Alloy wheels and tyres alone are worth what I paid for the car. So bottom line means I cannot really go wrong. Best of all, located three miles from my place so no problems getting it home. Will enjoy sorting that baby too when the mood takes me... wink

Fifteen odd years ago I went to view one of my favourite ordinary cars located deep in the Forest of Dean in West Gloucestershire. An MG Montego Turbo now owned by a lady who inherited it. It was her father's who had died some years previously and car just left under the trees. The postman used it as a post box to put all the mail in it. As I discovered when I went to view it. I removed a sackful of letters etc from it delivered to the empty house deep in the darkest forest. The daughter advertised it for sale with offers. Her brother had tried to start it and left parts of the dismantled fuel system laying about under the bonnet and gave up. My reasonable offers were dismissed. "It's very fast you know" .. smile

So I left leaving my contact details should she decide to take my top offer.

Nothing more but move on another six months and I get a message on my answerphone ... remember them? Are you still interested, if so please ring back. I did so and the lady simply said make me an offer. So I jokingly said ten quid and quick as lightening she said done! Provided the car was gone by the weekend as the empty cottage had been sold. Long story short. I took some tools, a couple of spares, a good battery and a couple of gallons of fresh fuel. It started immediately but, the rear brakes were seized fully on. The car was parked face down on a one in four slope. Reversing it meant some real clutch abuse but, those brakes freed it.

Here's what the car looked like when I first viewed it. Complete with seedling Stinging Nettles growing in the leaf litter where the wipers park.





Soon became my half tidy daily driver after a quick wipe over with an oily rag :~



I've told this story before. Know what? Some misery accused me of lying about buying a car for ten quid. Some folks dont got no class no matter what they drive. Their loss.

Keep up the good work.. There are many fine opportunities out there when you fancy another.

MattGTA

Original Poster:

419 posts

171 months

Saturday 18th July 2015
quotequote all
Time for a long overdue update and some exciting news…

The MG sold in the spring for £220 - essentially making for a few thousand miles of free 2014 summer motoring, with some heart stopping moments thrown in for good measure. Since then, the fund has been topped up with the sale of a few mini bits and bobs, a Kenwood single din head unit, some old axle stands and other assorted nonsense from the cupboard at the back of my garage.

So now… drum role… I give you…

The £400 Eunos:



Chapter 2 begins here.

M bounce