Advice Needed

[HUE]

Can someone let me know if the following is terminal? A friend of mines husband recently died suddenly and she is left with his "project" car. The last MOT had several mechanical fails (horn not working etc) which are doable I'm sure, but the biggy is "Rear Subframe mounting excessively corroded on the front mounting point" (both sides). How big a job is this, how much is the car worth for parts/repair.

Any help would be appreciated.

[EllsoJo]

I have not done this job myself, but plenty of others have. It is generally a reasonably easy job ONCE YOU HAVE REMOVED THE MOUNTING BOLTS!

These bolts have a reputation for at least one of the set shearing off, leaving a stubborn, rusted stump in the threaded hole.
I am assuming that the mounting you are talking about is the one in the picture below. the potentially troublesome bolt heads are circled in red.

RearSubframeO/S Mount

Again, not something I have done, but apparently if a bolt DOES shear, left-hand driven, super-hard drills can be used to carefully drill-out the remains, and you can then re-tap the threaded hole or use helicoils. Some people actually centre the drill so well that the remaining threads can be prised-out and the original threads can be used with new bolts of the same (original) size.
Good luck, whatever you decide.

[Chris Tideswell]

It should be noted that the workshop manual will say the rear subframe must be lowered, this is in order to be able to remove the long M14 bolt that connects mount to the subframe. However, the subframe can be left in place and the bolt cut in half, the new bolt can be used installed the other way around. Or the OEM style mount can be replaced with a Mike Satur alternative. https://www.mikesatur.co.uk/-MGF-and-MG ... mounts-x-2

[Reckless Rat]

It's very difficult to give specific advice without seeing the actual vehicle. If it's the subframe mountings that are corroded, they can be fairly easily replaced, given the likely problems to be encountered (as mentioned in the previous post). However if the actual floor pan of the car around where the subframe is bolted into the structure is corroded then that makes things a lot more complicated to rectify. Any corrosion within 30cm of a load bearing part of the car's structure is justification for a fail, and rightly so. It can be repaired, but is it worth it.... not if you're having a professional to do it for you, I would suggest. Depends on a lot of factors and what the rest of the car is like. By the sound of it, it may be time to let it go, but before you do I would get a second opinion, from someone that knows the MGF.