In May, 2002, my MGF was the feature car and centre fold for an MG World 'Buying Second Hand' article. 15 minutes of fame anyone? Pictured here 'on location' at the National Motor Museum, Beuleigh.	Rob's MGF Journal  Running Reports
From 1999 until the end of 2003, I wrote a regular column for MG World. Sadly, the magazine folded - a sad end to the best MG magazine ever published.	February 1999/ July 1999/ July 2000/ December 2000/ July 2001/ July 2002/ January 2003/ June 2003/ August 2003/ October 2005/ April 2009

Background:

I bought my 1.8i MGF back in January, 1996. I had been looking to buy a VVC, but back in those days, you simply could not buy one for love nor money. Even the standard car was demanding a hefty premium on the second hand market! Fortunately, Grays Thurrock Motors had a couple of MPis as cancelled orders (for owners now wanting the more powerful car). They had my then favoured Amaranth colour as well as British Racing Green - but the purple car didn't have EPAS. Knowing that my MG was going to live in the capital for most of the time, and being fed up with excessively heavy steering on a Golf GTI and then a Peugeot 205 GTi, I decided power steering was going to be a must. Plus, if I were to ever sell my MG, BRG would be a more fashion-resistant colour... The car was supplied with a factory fit hardtop, and a dealer-fit set of front fog lamps to help with driving through the often dense early morning Essex mist. And so the car remained - well, apart from a hard to resist purchase of a leather/alloy Momo gear knob - lovely.
The car certainly hasn't remained standard since - it's been actively campaigned on track - both in the MG Car Club Speed Championship, but also as a track day car, where the MGF performs admirably. Has the car been reliable? Oh yes - perhaps not entirely without some mishaps, but you can read all about that.

Now are we sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...

I wonder how many of you reading this column are thinking why is there an MGF running report? Surely there can not be much to say about a modern car like the F? And it wasn’t built at Abingdon, so how can it ever be a real MG? Before I answer the former issues, I’ll tackle the latter question.

Rover/MG would like to tell you that the MGF represents the true reincarnation of the classic marque. They will point

My MGF pictured way-back-when, in 1998. It's a standard 1.8i model from 1996

to the F’s styling and point out the many styling cues linking past and present. Hang on one moment, what styling cues are these? The front end harks back to the MGB’s nose, MG’s marketing boffins will say- the B with the federalised rubber bumpers. Really? To my mind, this is true only from certain angles, and then only if you are squinting. The rear end treatment of the F is also said to have links with the past, specifically to the 1980s concept MG-EXE. Personally I would not have a clue what the back of this concept car looks like if I didn’t have access to some pictures of it! Marketing again, but hey, it looks good. So the F is the first production mid-engine MG [MG 6R4 excepted- Scarlet Fever]. There is other evidence of technical innovation in the F, and one doesn’t need to look far in history to find that innovative engineering has played an important role in the evolution of what we now understand to be MG. But a few gimmicks on the new car hardly establish this new MG as a resurgence of the old marque.

But Rover/MG need not worry, for what they have created out a parts bin raid (that is a true MG tradition!) is a car of character. A car with a soul. The MGF is a car that you can forgive almost any foible- a true MG in other words! How can you give a car a tangible character? I really do not know, but we slowly come back to the original issues mentioned above. The MGF succeeds in becoming a real MG for reasons that transcend mere styling or two-seater configuration. Perhaps part of the reason is the camaraderie between F owners, and other MGs. Perhaps it is because it is such a terrific drive. Whatever, I have enjoyed my ownership of my F to date, a car I purchased new in February 1996. It has been mechanically utterly reliable (oops, that’s tempting fate! Where’s some wood?) blotting the copybook this only once by not starting at first turn of the key… easily remedied by a second twist! Which isn’t to say that the F hasn’t been without its problems.

It is as well that the F is an easy car to forgive, for currently my F is doing a very good impression of a colander. The carpets are currently sufficiently damp to nurture a small crop of watercress, certainly adequate for the needs of a salad garnish. Delightful. And as the nights have drawn in, doubtless conditions will be ripe for the cultivation of edible fungi too. This has really only occurred as a recent fault, and really the only one of note. The defect originates in the plastic window guides, which prevents the glass from moving in the channels, which unfortunately are prone to breaking up following years of use. Particularly as the electric window motors have no electronic switch to tell them to cut out when the window has reached the bottom of their travel: this puts excess strain on the original plastic components. They have been re designed more than once, and I believe that the latest version of this ‘window steady’ is now made from metal. Unfortunately, since replacement, the window fit on my F has been some what less than ideal. At least at the moment the seats do not get wet, which I am sure you’ll agree, is something of a nasty surprise to discover first thing on a cold winter’s day. Although my F remains equipped with the allegedly inferior Mk1 hood design with its inadequate seals, water has never entered the car via this route. Closer investigation shows that the water is tracking down behind the door trim casing, circumscribing the loud speakers, and then dripping on the inside of the door seals and subsequently onto the foot well carpet. Looking at the door mirror locating ‘triangles’ (for want of a better term), the tops of these are slightly proud when the door is closed, so I suspect that the window alignment remains out of true. Sometime in the near future I shall need to remove the door panels to investigate further, and perhaps take the opportunity to replace the standard fit speakers with some weather proof ceramic items! Given that my economic survival does not depend on watercress sales, this may be sooner rather than later.

Returning to the premise that the F is a true MG, many are starting to find their way onto the racetracks. As we all know, Racing Improves the Breed, and many tuning accessories are hitting the market from a variety of companies. Furthermore, there are remedies for a few of the F’s suspension anomalies being made available. As my F and I seem to be inseparable for the time being, I may take it upon myself to tinker with a few of these items on my car, and let you know of my progress. I have made some alterations already, but perhaps more of that next time. Who said there would be nothing to write about in a MGF running report?

What do the initials "MG" mean to you? Naturally, because you are car enthusiasts, you are thinking "Morris Garages", the illustrious manufacturers of motor vehicles. Not any old mode of conveyance of course, but sports cars. Two-seater, open topped sports cars and rapid four-seater automobiles that are a cut above the usual humdrum. Many of you are doubtless aware of the sporting heritage that MG possesses. As of course, are the current band of MG marketing men. Sadly though, apart from the tragically brief but brilliant career of the MG Metro 6R4, MG have been conspicuously absent from the race track for the last 20 years.

There has been recent movement to make amends however- the MGF Cup has been a huge success- I personally think that it is a shame that this series isn’t televised, so good is the racing (sorry, I didn’t count satellite coverage, as I do not possess one of those roof top carbuncles). But how do the marketing men capitalise on this fast, action packed race series? How does one make it relevant to the man in the street?

In 1998, Geneva saw the unveiling of the MGF Supersports concept. The car for the gentleman racer. During the week, it would serve as faithful daily transport. At the weekend a competitive racer. And it looked fantastic. The lack of a proper windscreen that made this road rocket look so sleek wasn’t terribly practical, so this last year we saw the gestational product of the Supersport. Again, it looked fantastic in its sinister black paint work. Even better news was that we are told we may be able to buy that car. Wow- very nice. I know of more than one person who has already put down his order for that car.

What isn’t quite so widely known is that MGFs are already on the tracks up and down the country, as weekend racers. I made my own personal discovery of these racing series about a year ago. I took advice from friends already participating in the sport, and read an excellent article by Graeme Bishko in the MGCC’s Safety Fast magazine about what it meant to be involved in the weekend racing series. After a bit of prodding from Graeme, I took the plunge and joined two of the available sprint and hill climb series available for MGFs- the Abingdon Trophy, and the Moss International Speed Championships (MISC). And if you are interested in cheap(ish) MG related motorsport, then I can heartily recommend it.

Modifications to your standard road car are minimal; fitment of a fire extinguisher is probably the most major, unless you wish to take your car circuit racing wherein you’ll need to fit an FIA approved roll cage. For sprints and hill climbs this is not necessary. You will need some race overalls, an MSA approved helmet, a MSA national B, non-race, racing licence, and you are away.

Here I am basking in reflected glory of others! My first ever sprint at Silverstone in July, 1999. Not for nothing was I a founder member of "Team Slow as Snails (S.A.S.)"!

For the uninitiated, sprints are timed laps of a level circuit. You race against the clock, not other cars. This is an advantage if you are using your road car: some BTCC style ‘fender bending’ action will likely lead to some panel realignment- very expensive for those of us with a budget! Nonetheless, the tacks are often challenging, and enormous fun to drive. Hill climbs are what you’d expect from the name. You drive up a circuitous hill as quickly as you can! Again challenging and good fun. Apart from the driving, there is the good natured and humoured atmosphere between all the competitors. After attending a few meetings now, I can testify to the enjoyable nature of these competitions: the social gathering is almost (almost!) as important as the racing, with drivers discussing track conditions and racing lines. Even I, a total novice at this game, was excitably discussing tactics with anyone who’d listen after only the first run!

If you enjoy motor racing, and fancied a way of experiencing what you see on the television or the track side, then your MG ownership certainly provides you with a way of entering the sport at the grass roots level. It certainly added a new dimension to my MG ownership experience, and enjoyment of the marque. Perhaps the marketing boys at MG should come along and have a look? And I certainly look forward to seeing a MGF Supersports on the track, being used in the way it was original conceived.

Oops, wasn’t this meant to be a running report? Well, the car has been running totally reliably since I last wrote. I have taken the F on holiday with me to Monte Carlo (roof down nearly 100% of the time, of course!). The summer weather has lead to the tragic loss of the cress crop on the carpet, but sadly the window seal to soft top issue hasn’t dried up yet (eek, sorry, pun unintended!). I’ll report on progress to dry the interior in a future report, but the whole episode has failed to dampen (pun again!) the enthusiasm for this fantastic little car. "Peep peep," said Mr. Toad.

Sprinting MGFs. I love it!

Graeme Bishko’s article on Sprinting and Hill climbing an MGF can be found on the world wide web: http://www.bighairy.demon.co.uk/Sprinting/index.html

The Abingdon Trophy is organised by Peter Browning, contactable at the MG Car Club office- 01235 55 55 52

The Moss International Speed Championship is organised by Jim Garvey, again via the MGCC.

Speed Championship website can be found here: http://www.mgcars.org.uk/mgccsc/

March 14th. A darkened meeting room in BMW Towers, Munich. The BMW board have just decided that enough is enough- they cannot continue to run Rover group with the operating losses of millions of pounds a day (goodness knows how many euros that works out to be...). A deal is struck to sell the Longbridge plant to the enterprising Jon Moulton of the venture capitalists, Alchemy- along with the MG and Rover names. Sadly, the scene is set for the break up of the once great Rover group and potentially tens of thousands of job losses. Thousand miles away, somewhere in the industrial heartland (and home of Rover) that is the West Midlands, at that precise same moment, the speedometer on my MGF suddenly fails. This is soon followed by the electrical power steering disabling itself as the system’s computer defaults to ‘fail-safe’ mode. I’ve no idea how fast I am travelling, and I’ve got no power assistance for steering (a good thing?). The car protests! Is it a coincidence that the sale of Rover should coincide with my MGF’s unheralded problems?

Okay, so we are not talking about the same kind of spooky events that surrounded the Pharaoh’s curse, Lord Carnarvon’s dog howling and a Cairo wide power cut, but I think that my MG was saying something to me. It told me to get it to the dealership for a fast approaching service... (You weren’t expecting anything more profound were you?)

The speedometer malfunction turned out to be a failure of part of the speedo cable drive to the back of the mechanical speedometer (the MGF has a two part speedo cable), and was easily repaired. The car flies through its second MoT with disdain, and the MG remains totally reliable but for this small blot on its copy book. Personally I blame BMW- obviously all their fault.

According to the latest JD Power report, the MGF should be an unreliable piece of junk, but from personal experience, I cannot support this view. My MGF is now four and a half years old, and continues to provide sterling service- and is the most reliable car I have owned to date (and the list includes Japanese, French and German cars)- as well as the most fun. The only problems that I have suffered with is the aforementioned speedo cable fault and the ‘cress-seed’ affair.

Ah yes, the Cress-seed affair. If you do not recall the circumstances of this dreaded  incident, it was triggered by the failure of the window channel guide stop thingy and the subsequent window misalignment. The resultant carpet soaking was enough to enable the plantation of a healthy crop of water cress!

So, to recap the Cress story so far... Whilst the Longbridge factory made my MGF water-tight (not a drop of water would enter the car, even in a pressure wash), getting the windows re-aligned following the window-stop failure to achieve  a similar level of water resistance has proven to be a long and frustrating business. In fact, the window seals weren’t the only root of water ingress. The passenger foot well was also being soaked from another source- a failed heater weather seal which was replaced by dealership number 1. The carpet was slightly less damp as a result, but the window alignment problem persisted. A year and 3 dealerships later, the problem has almost been sorted out- although drips of water do continue to enter the cabin if the car is stationary in a monsoon. Perhaps, since the car is parked on the street 365 days a year, I should invest in a storm cover?

A storm cover would also protect the hood- a good thing given the cost of a new replacement. I have however cleaned and re-weather proofed the canvas hood in this last month- a job that was well over due. The kit I purchased came from KH Assemblies- but suitable kits are also readily available from your local Halfords store. A very simple process of cleaning and spraying. And now, once again, the water just runs off the roof instead of soaking into it. Hopefully this will improve the hood’s long term survival prospects. A job I would certainly recommend. With the hood back in good order, I was horrified when, late one evening on driving to work last week, I threw the hood back to be accompanied by a nasty cracking noise as the plastic rear screen split. Aggghhh! Nothing that preventative maintenance would have avoided. So now I am looking for a reasonably priced alternative to a replacement panel from Rover - a part that costs a scarcely believable four hundred plus pounds! In the meantime, I have acquired some clear tape from a camping shop for repairing plastic tent windows. Not a particularly attractive solution, but at least it stops the rain entering the cabin... Hey, what is it with water? Hasn’t it got somewhere better to go other than the interior of my roadster??? Isn’t that what the sea is for? Must be BMW’s fault... Okay, it isn’t, but they seem to be ‘scape goat of the month’ at the moment.

Apart from these minor niggles, the MGF is in fine fettle for the start of the new Sprint and Hill climb season- and after the first couple of events, the car is driving and handling exceptionally well after some minor fettling over the winter recess. Fettling which, incidentally, has improved the MGF as a fast road machine too. More about the modifications already carried out on the car next time... I promise!

Four and half thousand rpm on the clock, I am gripping the steering wheel tightly for what is starting to feel like an eternity, waiting for the light to turn green. In the corner of my eye I see that car that was in front of me slowing down along the return road.  Adrenaline rush. Can’t say I can feel my heart rate, but it must be racing now... NOW! The light’s gone green, drop the clutch, the rear tyres chirp as the right hand pedal is buried into the carpet. Lazy left hander, apexing at the end of the cones delineating the start lane from the return road. 6000 rpm, change up, 6000 rpm, change up. In third as the cones end. Keep the car in the middle of the track- there’s a bit of a dip at the outside of the corner that threw off a Midget earlier in the year. Another corner, sharper left hander. Crumbs, going really rather fast now... mustn’t think about it- swallow the brave pills... Apexed over the concrete curb, a la F1. Still on the throttle. Right hander now. Thud-dud, again over the curb. Bit of a straight now. It’s gone well so far. Had a bit of a brain wave- I’ll try not braking for the rapidly approaching right hander this time, just lift off a bit and try to straight-line brake into chicane. Cunning plan- maybe save myself a few tenths of a second... Right hander now... uh-oh, this doesn’t feel right, the back has gone all light and there seems to be an almighty weight transfer going on back there. Gulp. Hold on, entering the chicane, haul on the anchors... Nuts- things are going far too quickly now, Look sideways to see through my side window clumps of grass being flung into the air. Hey now I am going backwards. Gravel hitting metal noise. Then quiet and full stop. Blast. Ruined the run.

As another MG year starts to turn to winter, now is a good time to reflect on another ‘year in the life of an ordinary MG’. It certainly been a hard one for my MGF. Probably will cover in excess of 12000 miles this year- rather more than my recent annual mileage’s. The end of the year also marks the end of what is effectively my first season in the sprint and hill climb championship. It has been enormous fun, and, as my above experience at Curbourough demonstrates, the learning curve remains very steep. Getting faster though as I start how to appreciate racing lines, apexes, where speed can be taken through a corner, and where it can’t. Most definitely a challenge. And the company in the friendly paddock is wonderful too; true camaraderie exists here. And as for the machinery the paddock contains, well... From pre-war to modern day, there are examples of every era of MG all out being driven hard. It is what they were intended for. As a bit of a petrol head, for me the other interesting thing are the subtle modifications that are carried out on the cars within the class regulations. In the MGF class for example, practically all the cars are fitted with aftermarket air filters. My car has one too- a K&N 57i kit that Paul, Richard, Graeme and I have previously rolling road tested to give an additional 8 bhp on a 1.8i MGF. I love the noise it makes- quiet on the motorway, but double down draught Weber hiss on acceleration. Fantastic. Others have employed other arrangements with Piper or ITG filters- which are probably as effective as the K&N so long as the cold air supply is properly sorted out. (Hot air in the intake will substantially eliminate any power gain from an after market filter, so be warned! Sorry, I’ll stop my ‘Big brother’ bit now.) A good number of the competitors have after market exhausts as well- but by no means all. As the recent MG World exhaust tests demonstrated, the standard kit  is remarkably good at its job, but 5 bhp from a Mike Satur exhaust could make a real difference in motorsport. Personally, I have Trevor Taylor’s melodious system. It farts, burbles and crackles in a way that would make even Peter Wheeler (of TVR fame) smile. I love it to bits- it appeals to the antisocial centres of my brain that makes me giggle as one thunders through towns and especially through tunnels. Your mother wouldn’t like it (as the old MGB slogan went). My mother does, but then she likes heavy metal music, so maybe she doesn’t qualify as an archetypal mother type? Other club MGF racing mods? Two more are significant. Suspension lowering and tyres. The Abingdon Trophy regulations prohibit any major suspension changes- which is entirely fair enough. This is a cheap form of motorsport after all, and should be accessible to all. We are allowed to drop the suspension height by about an inch or so- and it makes quite a difference to the initial rate of body roll, and probably goes some way to limit chassis roll-steer. People have done this in three ways- Hydragas depressurisation (not really recommended), lowering knuckles (available from Brown and Gammons and Mike Satur) or getting the lads at Tech-speed to sort the car for you (who have cut their teeth on MGFs over the last two years with the MGF Cup). I’ve gone for the first option for the time being. I can’t drop the suspension too low because of nasty speed bumps on the roads around where I live. Shame- because lower does seem to be better... As for tyres? Well practically everyone has fitted Bridgestone S-02 rubber for their cars this year, following the ever successful John Dignan’s lead. “BAA” I bleated as I followed sheep-like in following the trend. I have to say that I am smitten with the choice. The grip, feel and on-the-limit poise generated by these tyres is truly phenomenal. Even the horrific wear rate of the rear tyres (down to the wear indicators after 12000 miles/ eight months) does little to dampen my enthusiasm. I want more! In fairness to Bridgestone, the high rate of wear has been more to do with my leaden right foot plus more than a few ‘gardening’ experiences like that described above. D’oh.

Actually, my once new brake pads have been fizzled away too (again only lasting 8 months). The high rate of wear of these consumables is a true reflection of the amount of fun I have had with this little MG this year. Track days, sprints, hill climbs and European jaunts (all ways to REALLY enjoy your MG in congested southern Britain) have taken their toll on the disposable bits. But the MG itself has thrived on it. The little F always feels better for it. A bit like a horse I guess; it needs its regular runs. I’d be cruel if I didn’t exercise my F regularly, now wouldn’t I?

Boy, doesn’t the time fly? So what has happened since we last chatted? Well, quite a lot MG-wise: a tale of non-starting, steam eruptions and an expensive bill… So are we sitting comfortably?

To bring you up to date from last year, last season’s sprints went really well, and I enjoyed myself enormously. One of the wonderful things about this social sport is that you get to drive to wonderful parts of the country that you’d not ordinarily travel to. Terrific drives to and then around the track- fantastic! Despite a few excursions into the greenery, I had enough good finishes to pick up a pot too (second in class) at the annual MGF Trophy award dinner. Naturally, it takes pride of place on a shelf at home. You are looking at one happy MGF owner!

Over the Christmas-New Year period I didn’t have much time to drive the car (boo hoo- MG deprivation!). So the hapless MGF sat out in the street, loved but unused, save to pick up a Christmas tree a week before Christmas (very useful things those boot racks!). After two months sat exposed on the street in ice and snow I came over to use the car. Unlocked the car with the remote (the doors unlocked with different sounding thud-I remember wondering at the time whether that was simply just the cold) and I jumped in. Key in the ignition- heard the fuel pump… oo-er. The pump didn’t sound as energetic as it should. I turned the key and… nothing. Yes, you guessed it. The Battery was flat. This is the first and only time so far over 5 and half years the MG has failed to start- so a quick call to the Automobile Association for a jump-start, Vroooom! Off I went and no problems since. I think that the duration of inactivity combined with the extremely cold whether we had in February conspired to ensure that there was inadequate juice left in the battery to crank the engine. But the battery is original, and 5 years is a good life span, so a weak battery will be something I’ll look out for when the weather starts to turn cold once again.

The foot and mouth epidemic, as well as crippling the UK farming industry, also meant that the 2001 sprint season got off to a very slow start; practically all the events were cancelled. So the beginning of this year was also quiet, with most of my MG motoring being of a social nature and a few jaunts to visit my folks in the West Country. As it turned out, this period of relative inactivity proved to be something of a blessing because it was at this time that the second problem arose: over heating. In fact the engine overheating occurred twice- and at the same place: the A303 just before the turn-off for Stonehenge. On each occasion the car was stuck in heavy traffic, the temperature needle soared whilst stationary to within a division of the red line. Normally the temperature gauge needle stays resolutely glued one division below centre- even in the height of summer in heavy Mediterranean traffic- so over heating in the cool late winter here in the UK came as something of a surprise. However, as soon as any forward momentum was achieved, the needle immediately returned to its ‘normal’ position. That was clue number one alluding to what the underlying cause was. Clue number two was the engine speed which, even when warm, would fail to slow from fast idle when stationary. And clue number three, Scooby-Doo fans, was that when parked, the radiator fan would remain off despite building engine temperature- as indeed would the engine compartment fans. As these clues information was percolating through my grey matter something rather dramatic happened. My fiancé was driving my car home through south and then north London, when, on arriving in Archway, the engine erupted in a huge cloud of steam. This caused her some acute embarrassment as she’d been doing the girl racer act by using the F’s excellent traction to beat everyone at the traffic light Gran-Prix! And now she was standing stranded next to the stricken MG sending out smoke signals. Oh dear. Having received a somewhat frantic phone call, I feared for the worse- was it a head gasket failure? The Automobile Association once again came to the rescue, topped up the now empty coolant reservoir, and got her and the MG home under the car’s own, erm, steam, before another Mount Etna style eruption of water vapour.

When I got home, I inspected the engine compartment and the condition of the coolant cap. No evidence of water leakage from the cylinder head and none from the occasionally fragile inlet manifold gasket. No water in the oil, and no oil in the water- which are both inextricable signs of a gasket failure. Phew- that was a relief. Looking at the coolant cap valve (a brass coloured thing in its centre) the cause of the steam eruption became clear: the valve had failed. Diagnosing a failed coolant cap is quite easy- you can tell by looking at the brass valve’s centre rivet which should be in the absolute centre of the cap- if displaced then the cap needs replacing. The cap on my car certainly needed replacing- which I did (part cost 4 quid from the MG-Rover parts department) and I topped up the coolant and bleed the cooling system. The are three bleed nipples in the cooling system- one in the engine bay, one behind the heater and one by the radiator. Fortunately all three are reasonably easy to access. But I still had the intermittent over heating. And the next day I had long previously paid up for a track day at Donington. Not for anyone or anything was I going to miss a track day- so mindful that I hadn’t ruled out a possible head gasket problem I decided on the only sensible option available. Rag the MG as quickly as possible around the circuit! If that didn’t blow the gasket, then it was fit for service! And guess what? No problems at all were encountered.

Amazing how something so small and so (relatively) cheap can cause so much mayhem! The ECU temperature sensor.

Which left the over heating in slow moving traffic. After discussions with the learned folks on the MG- Internet, it became clear that the most likely fault to be causing the three problems listed about was a failed ECU water temperature sensor. The MGF is possessed of two water temperature sensors- one for the dashboard gauge, and the other for the engine management system (ECU). If the engine’s brain is fooled into thinking that the engine is running cool, then it will not trigger the radiator or engine bay fans, and it will keep the engine running in ‘warm-up’ mode- hence fast idle and reduced fuel consumption (something else I’d begun to notice). The ECU temperature sensor is easily replaced- it is screwed into the cylinder head water outlet pipe- and has a brown colour case. The replacement sensor costs a princely 10 quid- all that needs to be done is the old sensor unscrewed and disconnected from the wiring loom, and the new one screwed in (with a modest application of gasket compound) and reconnected. And bingo! Return to normal service and the restoration of a few missing Gee-gees – I hadn’t realised how much engine performance had deteriorated with the sensor failure.

So if fixing the MG’s few maladies had cost less than 15 quid, where does the big bill come in? It was the financially crippling 5 year/ 60,000 mile annual service- engine out cam belt change and the prophylactic replacement of the clutch (about 10,000 miles too early for my car, but cheaper to do then rather than later). Plus a suspension rebuild, some nice fresh Bilstein dampers, replacement RoverSport grooved discs, Mintex 1177 pads and braided brake hoses. And now the car feels better than new. For a ‘measly’ 2 and a half grand, I have a car that I can be confident I have a car that’ll happily motor on for another 60,000 miles. In my book well worth it. My Bank manager may not agree- but I can assure him that this was a cheaper option than buying a brand new car!!!

Well, doesn’t a lot happen in twelve(!) months? In that time I’ve put over 6 thousand miles under the MG’s wheels (I collected a pair of Bridgestone S-02 tyres from Germany to replace the wearing fronts – thanks Nickolaj), I’ve gotten married (I’m a very happy man), we’ve moved house and I’ve changed jobs.   Phew! I thought I’d better get my excuses in quickly! The time also brackets an important anniversary for the MG – it’s sixth year ‘birthday’ coinciding with the odometer registering its 60^th thousand mile. I can scarcely believe how the time has passed – and looking at the car, it provides precious few clues of my years of “loving” ownership. Well, except for the stone chips, of which more seem to appear every time I wash the car! Grrr! I’ll save you the rant about stone throwing gritting lorries – this time. I guess 60 thousand miles is not a big mileage these days for modern cars, but to me it is quite a psychological barrier. 60,000 miles just sounds like a LOT of miles – if I were buying a previously owned vehicle, I’d be put off buying it. Happily though, it looks as though my MG and I are going to be inseparable.

So, to problems encountered since the last running report. In the last enthralling instalment of the adventures of “N7 RMB” I was regaling you all with tales of overheating – cured by the simple expedient of replacing the radiator fan water temperature sensor for the princely sum of 15 quid. This cured the overheating, as well as improving fuel economy and performance at the same time; the ECU had been fooled into thinking that the engine was running cold, and was effectively running the engine with the choke out. Brilliant. Problem solved. But not a couple months later, just as Yimmy and I were about to set off on our Honeymoon in Cornwall, I heard a very unusual noise. Rather like a jet of water hitting the inside of a metal panel and lasted a second or two. But we hadn’t gone through any deep puddles (although we are talking England here, so yes, the roads were damp after the predictable rain over night). Puzzled, I pulled over to the side of the road: all the gauges read ‘normal’. As I came to a halt, checking the rear mirror as I did so (my driving instructor would be proud!), I noticed wisps of white vapour emanating from the boot lid vents. A number of frankly unprintable Anglo-Saxon expletives passed through my mind: had something serious occurred in the engine???? Opening the boot lid revealed that the coolant in the expansion tank was boiling, and steam was escaping around the cap. As this had been recently replaced, I doubted that the cap had failed – so I began to wonder if the car had suffered a head gasket failure in light of the over-heating experiences the car had recently endured. Happily, there was no evidence of either oil contamination of the coolant, or coolant contamination of the oil. So we re-filled the expansion tank with some tap water obtained from a small village petrol station (one that had attendant service – how rare is that these days in the UK?) and returned the MG to my parent’s house. Happily we were able to complete the Honeymoon, albeit in Yimmy’s little Rover 214Si. Whilst we were away, the local mechanic, Mike, had a look at my car. Contrary to my worst fears, he found the head gasket to be in perfectly fine fettle. The cause of the coolant loss was found to be the radiator – which after nearly six years of service had decided to give up the ghost. It has subsequently come to my attention that radiator corrosion is far from an uncommon problem in MGFs reaching the 5-6 years of age, to the point that I have advised practically everyone I’ve met with an MG of similar vintage to get their cooling systems thoroughly checked out. Similar corrosion can beset the under-body coolant pipes as well. A solution is at hand as a well-known ingenious MGF part supplier has had alloy replacement pipes made up – a mod I’m considering for when the car next has a service.

Since then, there has been a happy return to normality, and enormously enjoyable MG motoring. I’ve pitched my MGF against the new TF; I’ve undertaken a few modifications to my car to improve its character – more of which will appear in these pages in due course. Plus the new Sprint season has started again, and with the recent Jubilee weekend, a wonderful four-day jaunt in Brittany and Normandy spent in the excellent company of fellow MG enthusiasts.

My MG might be over 6 years old, done more than 62 thousand miles and be covered in stone chips. But then MGs are more than just cars aren’t they? For the afflicted, they are also a way of life. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just nip off and hug my MG…

 

January 2003 Status: Published Feb 2003

1996 MGF 1.8i Owner: Rob Bell Home Town: London Mileage: 66000

Owning an MG is an infectious thing isn't it? If you are reading this magazine, I know that you know what I mean; I'm talking to the converted. When I bought my MGF back in January 1996, I never, ever thought that I'd still own that exact same car, 7 years later. Yes, S-E-V-E-N years. Then I thought about the many friends that I've made through membership of that exclusive club that is MG ownership. I realised that I was hardly unique in this kind of long term ownership - I can readily count a dozen other F owners who have owned their cars, from new, for at least as long as I. One or two perhaps longer. Says something about the enduring appeal of the car I suppose. For me, a part of the appeal of my MG is that I can rely upon it - and very little has happened to shake my faith in it. The worst episode, really, was when the radiator became holed (which I told you about in the last running report). Since then the MG has been running extremely well, although I have had a couple of problems.

Oops - I appear to turned a set of expensive Bridgestones into slicks - nothing left on the shoulders = GULP!

One was a peculiar starting problem. You'd turn the key, the engine would turn, then pause, then start. A kind of a 'Kur - ruh - vroom!' pattern. Oddly, starting from cold was no problem: the odd starting procedure only afflicting a warm engine. Even more odd was that when my wife and I were with fellow MGF owners in France, Stefan and Jenny's MG had exactly the same problem as mine: starting our car's in a Brittany car park to the same 'Kur - ruh - vroom!' sequence caused us to exchange knowing looks of 'Ah so yours is doing the same eh?' It was an intermittent problem, and the car never failed to start so foolishly, I decided not to do anything about it. Live and learn, because although all was fine, the beginning of the autumn marked a sudden deterioration in the starting difficulty, which just so happened to coincide with a trip down to the west country for a track day with fellow MG enthusiasts. Met up with some F-owning chums at a service station on the M4. I arrived first, so stopped the engine. Met the others who then came over to say hello, and then set off to get petrol. Except me. Why? Because this was the day that the 'Kur- ruh - vroom!' turned into 'Kur- ruh- ruh- click- click- click!' So, as Ralph Harris, who delights in taunting young children with his indecipherable works of art would say: 'do you know what it is yet?' I already knew. Stefan had already emailed me to say that the problem with his car was a dead battery. After six years of use, it had finally given up the ghost. Since by this time, mine was already six and a half years old, no prizes for guessing that yes, my battery too had seen better days. My own fault really - I should have replaced it before the battery would strand me! Fortunately, cellular telephone technology saved me, and I was able to recall my friends, and jump-start the car. Had a fantastic track day, thanks to the organisational efforts of Dave Livingstone and Jerry Flint. So good, in fact, that I managed to turn my ageing set of Bridgestone tyres into slicks! Fortunately, I had the foresight to strap a spare set of wheels with fresh rubber on them, to the car (a pair on the boot rack, one in the spare wheel well, and the remaining wheel sat in the passenger seat, wearing a seat belt!). Terrific day over, I then had to swap all the wheels. At this juncture, I'd just like to say how much I hate the alloy-covered standard wheel nuts, and how much I appreciate the kind help of fellow track-day attendees. The wheel nuts are covered in a thin, cosmetic cover that is actually very soft. If you use the standard supply wheel-brace, the alloy has a nasty tendency to round off. Been there, done that, got the tee shirt to prove it. Got one XXL sized one if anyone wants it: too big for me. So I brought along my socket set. No problems then. Except that a tyre fitter had evidently over-tightened one of the wheel nuts at a previous fitting, and the alloy cover, rather nauseatingly predictably, rounded off. So there was I stuck. Wherein fellow track-day participants came to the rescue. These are people whom I'd never before met (Porsche drivers!) but nonetheless happily helped out. Fantastic people: it is the people you meet that really help make these track days - and this was one of those occasions that really emphasises this. Eventually, after a lot of cursing, but with the help of a satisfyingly heavy club hammer and an old screwdriver, the alloy wheel nut cover was removed, and the nut could be undone! Relief! There was no way that that tyre was road legal after that day's antics! So I waved goodbye to the last few people as I got on with changing the remaining wheels and loading the car up, completely alone.

Just as well I brought along a set of spare tyres for the day. Now all laden up and ready to go... except now I've got a flat battery!!!

Now you remember I said that the starting problem only struck when the engine was warm? Hahahaha! There was I, all alone (mentioned that before didn't I?). Car laden with old wheels, trolley jack and tools, ready to go. Turn ignition. Click. Try again. Click. The day had been brilliant, but it was turning out to be rather less fun right now. Dead battery, and no help in sight. As a student, I had learnt the art of the single-handed push-start to get my crumbling motor going. But this is somewhat reliant on a hill, or at least some kind of gradient being present, so you could get the car rolling, and then run after your steed, jump in, jam the gear into 2nd with the ignition on, and drop the clutch. Works a treat. When you have a hill. Except that this was an airfield track day! The strip of tarmac was as flat as a pan-cake! Luckily, the observation tower was still manned, so I was able to get a jump. Phew. Didn't fancy spending the night in the middle of the field. I might have remembered the spare wheels, but plum forgot to pack a tent! Happily the return journey was completed without hitch, and yes, I replaced the battery, and yes, normal starting has been restored!

I mentioned at the beginning of this running report that for me, a part of the appeal of my MG is that I can rely upon it. Trouble is, it makes writing these reports rather hard. Imagine my relief at suffering with a flat battery! Okay, 'relief' wasn't quite the emotion I had at the time: I'll be very happy if that doesn't happen again. And if it did? Somehow, that special 'MG' magic would make me forgive it.

3000 very enjoyable miles since the last report, as the MGCC Luffield Speed Championship gets into full swing, plus a terrific track day at Silverstone. The track day was an all-MG affair put on by the MGCC, and makes for an interesting change from the usual mixed-marque event. Organised into sessions where cars of similar performance go out in batches of 20-30 at a time, here is an opportunity to really test your car's metal without fear of speed traps, road obstructions or caravan-induced traffic foul-ups. In other words, to do the sort of driving that is simply impossible these days in the southern part of our fair and pleasant land. A couple of minor teething problems aside, the event was a massive success - aided by unseasonably superb weather (for March!). Aside from the driving aspect of a track day, there was also plenty of time to socialise with other like-minded MG enthusiasts, young and young-at-heart. Good too, to look at other people's interpretations of what there car should be: a TurboTechnics supercharged F was in attendance, as well as a Japanese import MGF, complete with Japanese sourced tuning parts and body kit - very interesting!

Of course, you don't need any modifications to make your MG suitable for a track day - although clearly, for a classic MG, there are probably more checks that need to be performed before heading track-side. For a more modern MG, such as the F, you can very nearly just turn up and drive in a completely standard road car. Sensible checks do include oil and water levels, tyre pressures, and tyre condition. Standard tyre pressures vary according to what types of tyres and the size of the wheels fitted to your MG - but in most cases, you may find that you'll have to increase these by a couple of psi. This may require some adjustment according to the handling balance you are after - but if you are confused, seek advice from others. The more experienced track day participants are a friendly bunch, and will gladly proffer advice. Tyre condition is actually very important. On one track day I attended, we inspected Andy Bate's tyres when checking pressures, and were staggered to discover that the side walls had severely blistered. Clearly unsafe for the road, let alone the track...

If you are interested in track days, then you may also want to invest in a suitable helmet - there are plenty of companies that supply MSA/FSA approved full-face helmets (essential if you fancy driving roof-down), whilst others supply motorcycle helmets (seek advice on these).

How much wear does your car get? Certainly more than the equivalent mileage on the road! Depending on how, er, enthusiastic you are, you may find that tyres wear much more rapidly, as do brake components. I checked mine, to discover that the discs had already worn down to their replacement requirements, so I booked the car in immediately for new pads and discs straight after the day finished! Interestingly, with the worn discs, I found that I got pad-fade (increasing pedal pressures required for a given retardation) during the day - presumably because the worn-thin discs meant that there was less material to dissipate the heat. Good reason to replace those rotors!

So a brilliant day. I found that I got quite a lot of tyre-shoulder wear on my Goodyear F1 tyres - and perhaps I should have used higher pressures to avoid the side walls from rolling over so much... Something else to chalk up to experience for the next serious track outing.

Part of the clattering noise was traced to the remote filler neck retainer bolt having pulled free of its mounting on the inlet manifold. However, a phut-phut noise remained...

The Colerne Sprint in May was terrific - and introduced a bit of competition in the shape of good friend, John Thomas, who decided to sprint his lovely new MG TF135 at the event. A seasoned competitor, he was consistently a second or two faster than me throughout the day over the 1.5 mile course. Happily for me, I managed to pull a fast lap on the final run, to pip John to the post by a hard-won second! JT, the excellent sportsman that he is, congratulated me heartily, and I returned home with a great smile on my face. But the MG didn't sound quite so happy. An odd clatter from behind the right ear at low revs, and an audible, 'extra' exhaust tone. Very odd. Unfortunately the sound got progressively worse until I returned home after completely the 110 mile return trip. Part of the clatter was discovered to be the oil-refill neck - which on a MGF is a remote item (as the main filter on top of the cam cover is obviously hard to get to without unbolting the engine cover!). The retaining bolt was found to have pulled itself out of place - a bit of epoxy resin put this problem right. But that extra exhaust 'tone' remained - and there was now an extra 'phut-phut' noise when cold and at low engine speeds.

I'd previously booked a rolling road session at Emerald's new facility in Norfolk with some chums - and on the day I have to say that I was none too keen to put the car on the road. Certainly, there was something 'not quite right' as the car felt as though it had lost some 'sparkle' - had a couple of ponies escaped? What the heck, put the car on the rolling road. Subjective impressions of 'something not quite right' were confirmed when the power curves were plotted - the car was down 10 bhp and 10 lb.ft compared to the rolling road figures we recorded at Emerald in January!

Asking for opinions, we figured that there must be a problem in the exhaust, and common things occurring most commonly, suspicions were centred on the flexible pipe section under the engine sump (these items are known to fail over time as fatigue and corrosion do their thing). So a replacement was speedily sourced from the MGF Centre, and off to Tech-speed for fitting (I didn't fancy wrestling with 7 year old exhaust nuts without recourse to an oxyacetylene torch!). As events transpired, the torch was not required. Nor was the replacement flexible pipe section. Amazingly, my original was still in absolutely 100% fit condition (as proved by blowing compressed air through the pipe whilst submerged under water to look for escaping air. Happily Mick was quick with the solution, correctly diagnosing a loose nut on the exhaust manifold. Stud nipped up into the head, and the retaining nut re-torqued (replacement exhaust gasket now on the shopping list), the problem was solved - and those errant nags returned to the stable where they belonged. Bliss.

So quite an eventful time since the last report. And the MG is certainly ready for more track miles!

My MGF and I have covered around 2100 miles since the last report, which works out as an average of little over 1000 miles per month. Given that the F doesn't get daily commuting mileage, this is quite a tidy total of pure fun driving! And, er, following the Kernahan's arranged track day at Castle Combe, the tyres' condition surely testifies to this. Oops. Both nearside tyres have quite severe scrub damage on their outer shoulders. Time to swap the tyres from side to side to even up the wear (most circuits in the UK run clockwise, and hence the tyres on the left hand side of the car bear the brunt of cornering loads). Indeed, with a session booked at Donington (a very fast and impressive track, famous for hosting the Motorbike Gran Prix and British Touring Car races) for next weekend as I write this, the need to get this done becomes all the more pressing. Interestingly, tyre wear across the remainder of the tyre's width is not too bad - the tread depth being 3mm front and 4mm rear: still perfectly legal. So I'll be a little upset if these tyres were to become scrap when there is otherwise so much tread left on them. Time to purchase some track-day dedicated wheels and tyres perhaps?

Given the amount of tyre-screeching antics that my MG and I have been engaged in, any mechanical maladies to report? Er, no. A bit boring I'm afraid! Cleaning the ECU's temperature sensor has done the trick with respect to water temperature control and engine performance, and the manifold gasket has held. So what to talk about? MG World El-presidente and editor, Phil Raby, dropped me a line regarding possible testing of a new product on a rolling road last month. Advertised as a 'de-coke in a can,' this product sounded suspiciously like automotive 'snake oil' - a product that claims more than it can deliver. But hey, let's approach this with an open mind, especially as the company concerned seemed happy to pay for the rolling road session - a sure indication that they felt confident in their product. I agreed, and the date was fixed.

Two cars were being tested at G-Force's rolling road in Aylesbury that day - the first being a Porsche 944 - a daily driver. The 'de-coke in a can' company's technicians squirted the contents of their aerosol can (about double the size of your usual can of spray paint or deodorant - so you MUST be buying something good!) into the Porsche's engine as it ran on fast idle following a baseline-establishing run on the rolling road. The repeat run on the rollers after a thorough dowsing with the 'de-coke in a can' demonstrated a repeatable and significant 5bhp gain in power. Impressive: perhaps my earlier scepticism was unfounded?

The last time I'd driven the car had been at that aforementioned track day at Castle Combe. I'm sure you've all noticed how much better your car will run after it has been driven hard through the gears to the red line - and yes, my F had just been lovingly abused and was purring along very nicely indeed, thank you very much. Which made me wonder whether this 'de-coke in a can' was going to have much of an impact on my engine which may already have had any carbon deposits blown away from some high-octane fun earlier in the week... Was there any chance of any improvement in power liberated from an aerosol? Great if it did, but doubts started to mount in my mind: this may not be an entirely fair test...

Strapped on the rolling road, the car was put though a power cycle (full throttle in 3rd gear) to build the reference power curve. This particular rolling road was manufactured in Australia (Dyno Dynamics) using a strain-gauge based system to determine brake horse power, rather than the more commonly used inertia roller system - which makes the apparatus extremely accurate (said to be 99.9% accurate versus 95% of inertia based systems), but also very expensive - a fact that is reflected in their hourly rates compared to other rolling roads. G-Force usually use this facility for testing and developing racing Porsches and high performance Japanese turbo-charged 4 wheel drive saloons - and not usually mid-engined MGs. Therefore, whilst there were readily available algorithms for calculating flywheel power from that measured at the wheel for a wide selection of Porsches and 4WD machinery, there wasn't anything that was directly applicable to my humble MG. As a result, the calculations to determine power at the flywheel were a little out - perhaps by as much as 5% - but still, the recorded output of 144bhp from a 1.8i with an air filter and an exhaust system came as something of a surprise! That's a VVC level of output! Now if this 'de-coke in a can' can improve on that, I'd be on a winner...

But I wasn't. Nor was the company behind 'de-coke in a can' - the power output following the spraying of 40 quid's worth of solvents into the inlet manifold was exactly the same as it was before hand. Oops. Somewhat glum faces all round. Of course my engine is not as powerful as these rollers would suggest (144 - 5% = 137 bhp) - to compare with the figures from Emerald's rollers last year, I had a measure of 130bhp - so perhaps the true figure lies between these two extremes. However, the absolute figure was not that important - it was the change that we were interested in. The fact that there was no differences between the two sets of runs told the whole story - this 'de-coke in a can' didn't work in my car. Probably what this means is that if you do track days, you don't have much of a problem with carbon deposits in the same way as you might if you only ever drove your car to the supermarket to buy your groceries. Perhaps this was an unfair test under the circumstances? Certainly our friends at 'de-coke in a can' Ltd were keen for a repeat test in an MG that wasn't ragged every weekend - and from our experience with that Porsche 944, it stands a reasonable chance of working in an car that is used as a daily hack. But I wonder whether their advertising will reflect that 'de-coke in a can' will only work in cars used in a certain way?

The second conclusion that I took away from the rolling road session was that whilst tyre wear may be a down side of track days, it seems that track use is very good news for engine performance and carbon abatement! Donington, here we come!

"One owner from new." That's the first line I'd put in the classified advert in the very unlikely event that I ever considered selling my MG - but that is no more likely than me selling a member of the family. In fact, over the last near 10 years, I think that the British Racing Green MG has become very much a part of our life in Chez Bell. In October, the MGF Register celebrated the 10^th anniversary of the MGF - and it has got me thinking what my MG and I have been up to. I owned the MG when I first meet my wife to be, for example. We've been on transcontinental holidays in it - with camping gear, tent and all the other paraphernalia that goes with the outside life comfortably squashed into the surprising cavernous boot, and the limited space behind the seats. We've driven it to posh hotels and its never looked out of place. And in more recent years it has been used in competition in the MG Car Club's Speed Championship as well as on numerous track days up and down the country. In other words, it has done everything I could ever wish a car to do - and has done it admirably well. Which, I guess, is why I like the car so much. But, being an MG means that it is so much more than just a car. It is also about the people - and actually, the whole "Marque of Friendship" thing is absolutely spot on, and possibly the strongest reason of them all for me to keep the car. The wonderful friends I've met - from literally all over the world - through ownership is something that I'll forever treasure. I also know that I am not the only one who'd say that, and I am sure that many of you reading this will have experienced the same thing. It's all part and parcel of that MG owning "thing."

Nuts - the cylinder head is scrap! What's the problem? See the ring around the combustion chamber? That shouldn't be there - not even on a car with 82000 hard miles on the clock; the cylinder head has gone soft and the cylinder liner has hammered into the alloy head. New head required... luckily I'd already purchased one for another project some months before!

But has the car been painless to own? Well, actually yes, up until very recently it has been. The most inconvenient thing to have happened is that the speedo cable has snapped - and in fact there is a story behind that which makes me wonder whether the spirit of Herbie, the effervescent Volkswagon lives on in my MGF. Every time the MG car company is in trouble, the speedo cable snaps. It occurred the first time in 2000, just as BMW pulled the plug on Longbridge (see running report, July 2000). The second time was this year - just weeks before the Phoenix era came to an abrupt end following the ultimate failure to reach agreement with SAIC of China. It is almost as if the MG knows what is about to happen, and didn't want to look… The repair was, thankfully, very straightforward - and is covered in some detail here. But worse was befall my MG - as indeed it as the MG car company it seems. Just a couple of months ago, on driving late one evening to stop over at my parents on the way to the Castle Combe Track day, I was alerted by the sickly sweet smell of antifreeze vapour as I slowed to enter a village. As the car slowed, the engine stalled… and the alarm bells were ringing in my mind. Fortunately I was able to coast into a side road in order to investigate further. Despite all the temperature gauges reading completely normal, on opening the boot to inspect the coolant level, I was alarmed to discover that all the coolant had completely disappeared. I'd checked before I set off - and the coolant level was normal then - so at some point on the A303 or on Salisbury plane, all the coolant had bled out onto the road. Ominously, I started to suspect the head gasket - but there wasn't any evidence of water/oil mixing. Fortunately I was close enough to my parents to be able to call my father and ask him to bring his tool kit. Yes, on an MGF you need a tool kit to look at the engine! Within 30 minutes I had the inspection plate off and the actual cause of the lost coolant was obvious: it had all escaped through a split in the engine outlet hose. Phew! I was able to trim the hose as a temporary repair, put everything back together and re-fill the coolant system. The MG fired up, and I was able to drive home. "Perhaps," I thought, "I've got away with it." I hadn't. At Castle Combe the next day, a few laps of the circuit saw all the coolant blow out once again - so I feared that the gasket had gone around the fire rings - pressurising the cooling system and leading to it venting past the pressure cap on the expansion tank. So it transpired: the head had softened, and there were significant indents in the cylinder head where the cylinder liners had impacted upon the cylinder head (more pictures here). Fortunately, I had a spare cylinder head in the garage (as you do), and I got Dave Andrews to port it for me - and it all went back together very smoothly thanks to the skilful hands of Gavin at Tech-speed motorsport. I also took advantage of Brown and Gammons water level warning system - if the instruments are useless at predicting coolant loss - this device would certainly be a good deal more useful.

A big mechanical failure is usually enough to shake one's faith in a car - but not mine in this one. In fact, in a funny way its proven to be a silver lining in the coolant cloud: the new cylinder head, with the slightly warmer TF135 cams that I had fitted are absolutely brilliant…

So it seems that despite ropy mechanical speedo drives and imploding cylinder heads, this MGF has still got an iron-grip on my heart strings. It's a terrific little car; I just hope that it isn't the last model line (with TF) that MG ever produces.

It would seem that I am getting worse and worse at keeping up my MGF journal as the years go by. I blame work and family - for chez Bell has doubled with the arrival of both a daughter and son. In days gone by, this would inevitably have lead to the private ad "baby forces sale", but I count myself incredibly fortunate that I do not have to sell my beloved MGF - and indeed the family now trundles around in the very capable MG ZTT CDTi - MGs first (and last???) foray into diesel family transport. I could get carried away on a tangent here and chat about this endearing and surprisingly sporting estate car that can be hustled at a surprising lick through the twisty stuff, but this is meant to be about the F! But the arrival of the ZT has meant that the mileage on the F has been kept notably low - 17000miles over 4 years? Not a massive tally is it? Mechanical maladies have been few and far between. I've been forced to replace the battery a couple of times - a victim of limited use, but last year saw the beloved F pressed into daily commuting - and this accounts for 12 of those 17 thousand miles! Nothing [serious] broke of fell off. But the time wasn't entirely trouble free.

Nuisance number one was the exhaust manifold flexi-pipe. I've got a 'bespoke' Power-Speed 4-2-1 long branch manifold on my MGF - and it is absolutely brilliant. The added low and mid range torque needs to be experienced to be believed. But its design does make packaging a bit of challenge. And unfortunately, after three years of track days and daily motoring, the short flexi-pipe needed replacing - it was rasping rudely and stealing power and effecting fuel economy. Fortunately, Dave Paris had a solution, and after a bit of welding and swearing a new, reinforced flexi-pipe, now flange mounted to the manifold, was on the car, and full economy and some peace and quiet restored. The now rather aged Mike Satur Daytona exhaust is another matter however. Its stainless construction means that it is still structurally intact and looking good, but all the silencer material has blown out of the tail pipes. With no options available to replace this material (other than chopping it open, re-packing, and welding back up again), I think that I'll look for a replacement. After 5 years, I feel the need for a change anyway! And something a little more refined would be good for a commuter than than track biased car.

Removing the inner membrane of the door to reveal workings inside - all part of replacing the door lock...

Nuisance number two was the door lock. The driver's door lock had been acting up intermittently (usually in the damp, winter months), refusing to unlock the door - and often going into paroxysms of rattling door pins has the lock oscillated between 'open' and 'locked'. And then the door closed sensing micro-switch decided to add to the entertainment y leaving the interior light permanently on, unless you central-locked the car in 'superlock mode' (double click the lock button on the key fob - and the door pins can no longer be used to unlock the doors). So I decided to replace it with a newer, second-hand replacement. This proved reasonably straightforward - except that MG had changed the wiring loom to the lock at some point after 1996 - and since my car is a 1995-built MG, it had the earlier wiring loom. Ho ho! What fun! You can read how this was over come here - but it's just typical that my car would be affected like this...

Naturally, this wasn't the only electrical-related problem to be encountered during the year. The other was the wiper motor. This was a self-inflicted wound, as 6 months previously, I'd had the brake master cylinder relocated ahead of the brake pedal rather on the opposite side of the car. The aim was to try and eradicate some of the spongy pedal feel my car has suffered from for some years now - and yes, it is much better from this perspective now. But mounting the master cylinder in the same way as found on the MGF Cup racers meant that the standard bulk-head trim could no longer be used. And this plastic trim also serves as a splash cover over the top of the wiper motor to prevent water ingress. Without it, the wiper motor was flooded in water internally. One evening, in the dark, on a strange road, the wipers slowly ground to a halt - occasionally flicking tentatively back into life before once more giving up the ghost. Clearly an electrical gremlin. Removing the wiper motor outer casing revealed a huge amount of nasty orange gunk. Dried out, it lasted a couple of months longer before one of the internal contacts corroded through. By this time, however, I'd sourced a replacement from the ever helpful MGF Centre. A TF wiper motor. It looked almost new! Unfortunately, it came with the wrong connector. Fortunately, the wiper wiring colours were identical with the 12-year older motor, so snipping off the old connector and splicing it onto the new wiper motor's short harness did the trick, and once again normal wash/wipe service was restored. Read more about this here.

In the time since the last report, there's been a few more modifications. One has already been alluded to - the repositioning of the master cylinder. This was performed by Tech-Speed motorsport. It has made a great difference to brake feel, and is certainly recommended. I'd also recommend fitting a new splash guard to protect the wiper motor from the elements - and this too has been fitted.

VHS big rear brake conversion - original 240mm discs look swapped behind those lovely grey ULW 16" wheels. But the 288mm ones look much better don't they? Work well too - and should save me a few pennies over higher miles.

Another brake related modification has been the fitment of both AP Racing 304mm 'Trophy' front brakes, and VHS 288mm rear 'big brake' conversion (read more here) - a combination that works well, even with 1144 Mintex pads. I'd previously run with 1177s - and whilst I still believe that this pad is the best option for the MGF, the 1144s are a good deal less aggressive on the discs, and consequently I've managed 12,000 miles with plenty of pad/disc life left! I'd almost certainly would have had to replace both in 7-8,000 miles with 1177s. On track? I've only managed one track day with these pads so far (Castle Combe) - and frankly it all felt a bit weird. I guess its a question of acclimatisation. Or perhaps more aggressive pads for track work??? I'll let you know.

New brakes have also meant a new set of wheels - in my case, 16" dark grey ULW (Ultra Light Weight) alloys. They're gorgeous. I wasn't initially all that sure that dark grey wheels look okay on a BRG car - but the look has grown on me. It isn't classical, but it sure is moody! I purchased the wheel centres from Rimmer Bros - and then found the same again from a trader at the Silverstone International MG Show for 50% less. Typical. Live and learn. But I needed them for the MG re-launch at Longbridge - for N7 RMB became the 'lead' car in a procession of every MGF/TF manufactured between 1995 and 2005! Fame at last.

One other electrical malady to report - the bulb failed in the driver's window switch. I was a bit lazy in the end - I simply replaced the switch with another one I happened to have on the shelf. Job done.

Other than that? No problems at all. I have got a Brown and Gammons low-coolant alarm fitted. This chirrups every time I start the car - and this reassuring self-test has meant a lot less anxiety regarding coolant levels. Since replacing the cylinder head (the head was also lightly ported by K-series guru/genius, Dave Andrews, and with the TF135 cams now puts out a comfortable 147bhp on Dave Walker's rollers at Emerald) the coolant alarm has only gone off a couple of times to indicate the need to top up. It isn't fooled on track days either, so false alarms are effectively never encountered. Definitely a recommended buy - and better than retrofitting the low-level light that MG Rover fitted to the end-of-line MGTF, ZR, ZS.

So 3 or 4 years down the line, and the MGF is still going good guns. I've still got a couple of projects planned - but then a car like this is never finished is it? And now I have another MGF - Project Shed - to play with. So N7 RMB is going to be retired from front-line competitive motorsport. Perhaps now is the time to develop 'Naughty Seven' (my wife's name for the car!) into a sports tourer? I promise to let you know soon. And perhaps a little sooner than its taken me to write this report!!!