This story goes back to 2014 But I can't see a better way to start!
Well some of you may know the story, others may have heard about it and most won’t know anything…
I am Sergi and I am from Spain and as you may guess I like BMW but I also like MG’s.
I used to have a Tahiti Blue TF 160, I enjoyed it so much while I was living in Belfast, I learned how to use a spanner with him and therefore I did some improvements, like a Daytona exhaust, TF LE500 front bumper, fully electric Recaro seats, Mike Satur roll hoops, VHS Bilstein suspension and quite a few extra bits & bobs.
Here is a pic… of my greatly missed TF “Sonic”
My wife & me were very happy in Northern Ireland but we had the opportunity to move back to Madrid Spain and start our own business so we jumped on it.
Unfortunately, my TF was a RHD, and at that point I did had invested too much money in parts and became so attached to the car that I could not see it go for peanuts (2000GBP or less), I contacted a “MG F/TF Specialist” company to convert it to LHD among with other improvements. Long story short… they did an awful job and ended up in court, awarding me some money back.
So I got a complete wreck of a TF (Some members like Rob Bell or Andy Watson did see the poor thing in the flesh) and a huge lot of nice parts!!
Until yesterday!
After so many sleepless nights dreaming with my ideal TF I could not let it go that easily, so I knew that despite of all the inconvenience and the financial loss, I would eventually get behind the wheel of a TF again.
I started the hunt of a good one after my last trip to the UK. In Spain the TF is such a rare car (Less than 15 for sale in the whole country) and I knew I wanted a Spanish registered one for three reasons:
-Avoiding Import taxes
-Lack of corrosion
-LHD
So after seeing 3 of them I found this one… Only two owners, 45458Kms in the clock (28247miles) full service history and all the right maintenance done by a MG Rover garage. Not in my preferred colour combination (Ideally Red) but I had the feeling that it was my car when I saw this in the garage where the car was stored..
In fact the car was from the owner of the garage, an ex official MGR Dealer and part of Xpart associated garages.
It’s a 2004 MG TF 135 in Pearl Black with tan interior. It is in fantastic condition but let’s the pictures speak for themselves
The car
The good bits:
-PBT Hard top
-Tan Tonneau cover
-Windstop
-Low miles
The underneath of a Spanish car :devil: :devil:
Coolant pipes
Engine mount & rear subframe
Suspension
Subframe mounts
Tools
Although it has some minor bad bits…
-Cracked rear light
-Poor front wing adjustment (Not from an accident but from a repaint) The previous owner had it resprayed as the paint was starting to show it’s age)
-No fog lights
-Tiny brakes & wheels
-Horrendous TF 160 badge (It’s not a 160… yet)
If you have read it everything I may even have a future as a magazine writer… lol
I want to say a massive thanks to a bunch of good friends made along the way from the MG Community to name a few Andy & Alex Watson, Amanda, Sandra, Kamaleon, Quickspider, Lee123, Rob Bell, Fast Jan, Mike, Chris and many others that had helped me in one way or another, thanks to all the support received during this time… and especially to my big brother Allan AKA Diesel Destroyer. He has gone beyond boundaries for me and I will never forget it.
Looking forward to show you my new car in future meetings!!
Happy MGing!!
Get Ready for part II
and fitted it to enjoy the car while I decided what to do with my bottom end (I was thinking just to fit the head and cams and get the remap) But sometimes life has other plans so when I got the chance to buy Diesel Destroyer engine I jumped in it!!
