Hi to all in the register and advice on purchasing.. F or TF

[purplebargeken]

Let your money bring you happiness

[David Dixon]

Higher mileage than your criteria... this any good?
http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-moto ... 1053740361

[ColinP]

Hi Bosworthian,
You know that looks about exactly what I was looking for.
Except...
I've only just realised we have two blue cars on the driveway already....
Blue is now off the list (what a tart I am, especially as Trophy Blue and the Dark Metallic Blue look soooo nice!)

We are now back from our week away and looks like the Easter Weekend will bring us much happiness in the form of TF ownership...

I joined the MGCC today and stay tuned for further developments over the coming weekend
We will be testing the mpg of our Focus on long journeys....

[nigelandjo]

When you get your car, register your details here http://www.mgfregister.org/register/ and I'll send you a welcome pack.

When we were at Martin Smith's (www.usedmgtfspares.co.uk) about a month ago he had a beautiful Mirage coloured TF for sale.

[cath's mg]

Hope it all goes well at the weekend Colin
Hope your smiles are large and long lasting

Gary

[ColinP]

Gutted but still looking.

Will put proper wanted ad up....

[cath's mg]

Hi Colin, I have just got the details for your trip from Ken.
Don't it P***s you off when people cant describe the details of a car properly
Keep the faith mate, you WILL find a good one

Gary

[David Dixon]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

Here's a Red 160 with grey interior in your neck of the woods
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... TQ:GB:1123

or in black with tan interior.

[purplebargeken]

That red one is simply stunning! That would be my choice

[ColinP]

I very much like the red one too.
A deposit has been put on it already so it's not for sale anymore.


Luckily, it was me that put the deposit down.......

[ColinP]

You have to post tonight Colin. It's the law!

The wise words of a trusted friend who helped me collect our new car this evening.
So here goes.....

A nice trip from Stansted via North London to Burnham in Slough.
I saw the M25 was closed and so we made the detour via hanger lane....

Those that know these roads will believe it would've been better to travel Sunday 3am!

Well we arrived a bit earlier than expected did the deal and drove back.

The car itself is the Red TF160 from Bosworthians post above.

What a peach.
Bodywork is truly fantastic, which was my 100% must have criteria.
Interior nice enough with some cool touches like ali door pins and heater controls, chrome h/brake button, ashtray, lighter and chrome rings on the outside of the heater controls and oil temp guage/clock.
Mechanically good enough, actually that is a little unfair, mechanically very good for a 12 years old car!
The front discs are lipped and exhibit a small judder, engine not exactly purring but no rattles or odd noises, just sounds like it needs a service.
It also has a small oil leak, seller has had a garage look at it and it is the camshaft oil seals.
Gearstick a little stiff, steering good, suspension seems ok.
The seller said it was very unstable on the motorway which was his main reason for selling.

So on the drive home I recognised his point.
Above a certain speed the steering goes very light, this is ok but when lifting off the car wanders slightly.
First things I will check after reading soooo much on this forum are.
1, Tyre pressures
2, Grease nipples to be greased
3, Four wheel alignment
4, Also, fit a spare wheel and jack/wheelbrace as it has only the can of self pumpy up stuff (less weight at the front y'see).

If the above fails then a new set of tyres all round (proxes of course )

When we left Burnham, the engine seemed to only have three or four throttle positions, very on/off not exactly smooth.
As there was hardly any fuel in the tank, we went to the nearest Shell and filled up with £65 of the Super Duper Nitro stuff.

Once we eventually found the motorway and were clear of most traffic, I coasted to 60 then accelerated hard in 4th to... er.... um... 70 in order to load the engine up.
I repeated this several times, much to the annoyance of PBK who was following in the Focus (that thing takes an epoch to hit..... er..... um..... 70.

After the 50 odd miles back to mine, the car was a huge amount smoother and far more progressive than when we set out.
The trip to North London to drop Ken off was even better again and by the time I was driving back up the A10 you could tell this was a VVC model

The comparison is simple.
When we left Burnham there was little point revving the engine past say 4,000.
By the time 100 miles had gone by it was a whole new animal...

The last part back home is single carriageway 60 MPH roads with several roundabouts.
Say no more, what a car

So in summary, a big thanks to Purplebargeken and all on this forum who have contributed to the technical side, don't underestimate the number of people who just read the info and don't post.
There must be loads!

Oh, pictures to follow of course

[David Dixon]

Congrat's Colin, welcome to the world of MG ownership, there is no turning back now! Looking forward to seeing the pic's. Enjoy!

[stuart]

Ah superb! Glad you got a good 'un- look forward to seeing it sounds like with just a little bit of fettling you'll have a great car. Enjoy it!

[adrianclifford]

Sometimes people are not aware of how much a car needs a good drive (often referred to as an Italian Tune Up), it will love you for it.

Glad you've found a good 'un, hope it stays that way for a long time.

From a very early start with my F I noticed the front end lift you mention at speeds above 50mph, I fitted the KH spoiler to the front, no more problems there.

[Dave J]

Congratulations Colin ... Look forward to meeting you and your new car at the next HNL meet

Dave J

[purplebargeken]

Those washer jets have to die though Colin, I have spare mist one's that will do nicely.

The TF is an absolute sweetheart of a car but that gearchange will build great arm muscles

I can also confirm that it is a nippy thing

See you Sunday (hopefully).

Check the tyre pressures and get the alignment done. Umm, PG needs the alignment doing too. Gary, where did you take Cath's car?

[cath's mg]

Well done Colin, Im glad you got a car you are happy with. I bet there were lots of on the way home at er um 70 ish
Im sure ill be able to find a spare wheel and Jack etc at the breakers
Look forward to meeting the Mrs and yourself on Tuesday for Ken's 60th

Gary, where did you take Cath's car?

Hi Ken got it done at Mr Unique's at Cheshunt , no complaints what so ever
Gary

[Dave J]

[quote="cath's mg"]Well done Colin, Im glad you got a car you are happy with. I bet there were lots of on the way home at er um 70 ish
Im sure ill be able to find a spare wheel and Jack etc at the breakers :thumbsup

another excuse to go to the Breakers Gary ???

[purplebargeken]

Colin! Get some photos on here or it hasn't actually happened!!!! Even though I drove it for a while

[ColinP]

Ok, quick post with some pics...
Taken on the phone in the dying light...
Hope they appear ok as doing this via the iPad after leaving laptop at work