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Just a list I made up at work this afternoon on things I have done/would like to do on my "F" as well as the "Phase" in which I will be doing them. Some of you may disagree, some of you may not...more than anything it's to help me track my progress but I hope it may come in handy for any new F owners who are thinking of a few mods.

Many will wonder about why I've put the Cat in stage 2, the answer is mine has disintegrated and I cannot stand the sound of it at low revs it makes her sound so unhealthy with half a dissolved matrix inside.

I've included (rough) prices correct at time of writing, mine is MY2000, X Reg but Mems 3 with the TF Exhaust and Coil Packs instead of Distrib Cap. On the Leads and De-Cat rows I've also included the price (in brackets) for the MK1 layout. I.e distrib cap with 4 leads and exhaust system without post cat lambda sensor. Items are in order of Phase and then relative price within that phase.

I hope this can be of some help to those considering buying an F in figuring out the cost of bringing it up to a good level. Obviously all of this is parts only and does not include any associated labour, I.e replacing spark plugs if you can't do it yourself and popping in the new Cams/exhaust fitting etc. (now to wait for someone to say "Don't worry Ryan I have the tools and ability to help you with all such things )

Item/Price/Phase
New Expansion Tank Cap/£7 - 1 - DONE
TF160 Airbox/£30 - 1 - DONE
Master and Slave Clutch Cylinder Seals/£30 - 1 - DONE
TF160 Performace Filter/£40 - 1
52mm Alloy Throttle body/£60 - 1 - DONE

New Platinum Spark Plugs/£20 - 2
New Hinge Pins/£22 - 2
Shocker Bush Kit/£52 - 2
MG(T)F Decat Pipe/£55 (£30) - 2
New HT and Ignition Coil Leads (Leads, Distrib and Rotor Arm)/£60 (£64) - 2

MGTF Steering Rack/£40 - 3
135 Cams and new Cam Bolts/£135 + £7 - 3
Full set of new suspension bushes/£170 - 3
4-2-1 Manifold/£200 - 3
Performance Back Box/£200 - 3

Alloy Gearknob/£20 - 4
Alloy Door Pins/£24 - 4
Kmaps Remap/£250 - 4

I've decided to update this with just a general list of what I have actually done to date as it has not quite followed the above.

So to date I have had to;

Change Slave and Master Clutch cylinder rubbers

Replace coolant pipe closest to the exhaust manifold due to a split as well as fitting exhaust manifold heat shield as mine didn't have one

I have fitted the 160 airbox, but not yet managed to route a cold air feed (the aluminium ducting wasn't flexible enough and just fell to pieces when being manipulated - I need to try Polyurethane or thin silicone or perhaps a silicone 180 bend to get things pointing the right way and then a coupler and whatever kind of ducting to the vent)

Changed front discs and pads

Fitted 52mm alloy t/b

Currently fitting M/s bellcrank and rod ends as well as new short gear cable

The main thing I notice is that out of all the performance upgrades I wanted to do the only one I've got to is the 52mm t/b, mainly out of my own desire to only take things apart once if I have to, as such I've got a big pile of parts building up and when I have some of the ancillaries I will storm through and get those on.

I have stored;

Secondhand TF exhaust and Cat, the style with the round tailpipes, but I still need a new Lambda, which I will the fit a MIL Elim to in prep for getting a decat and I want to order some metallic purple VHT spray paint so that I can spray the exhaust tips in the colour I'm going to spray my front grilles. I also need to buy the stainless cat fitting kit to make life easier for any future cat changes or when I fit the decat.

An alloy inlet manifold which I need to buy the two extra screws needed as well as the stainless studs kit as this may as well be done while I'm in there.

Once these two things are done (along with the gear cable change) I may actually be able to think more about a CAI and performance filter.

Hope you guys enjoyed the update and I'll try get some nice pics although she is looking a bit battered with some unsightly bodywork damage (another one to add to the list when the functionality is restored)

I think you are doing a good job but for the decat. Notice a decat makes the pollution 20 fold! Its in no relation to the bhp gain. I hope you'll could reconsider that and enjoy the car with a clear conscience.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G920F met Tapatalk

I've currently got a cat to replace with a tf backbox, but at some point I'm going to get a sports exhaust of sorts, from what I've read recently though the decat is rather loud with a decent exhaust so I may just save myself the £30 and put it towards a nice exhaust instead

jaapaap1111 wrote:I think you are doing a good job but for the decat. Notice a decat makes the pollution 20 fold! Its in no relation to the bhp gain. I hope you'll could reconsider that and enjoy the car with a clear conscience.

I have to say, I agree. Plus it's an MOT fail, so you have to swap it out every year. Not worth the effort, all so you can drive around risking a massive fine if you ever get pulled over by the police and have an emissions probe shoved up your exhaust pipe. They're doing more and more stops for that these days.

https://www.gov.uk/emissions-testing

Roadside checks

Your vehicle can also be tested during a roadside check.

If it fails the check, you’ll be given a prohibition notice. You’ll have 10 days to fix the problem. If you don’t fix it within this period you may be prosecuted.

If your vehicle is seriously in breach of the legal emission limits, or if it has other defects which make it dangerous, the notice will come into effect immediately. You won’t be able to use the vehicle. You may also be prosecuted.

I've heard reports of £3k+ fines for deliberate de-catting, but I have no proof of that. You can also be pulled over by your local authority (that is, council) and given a fixed penalty notice for a hundred quid or something - a lesser fine, but much more likely to happen.

End of the day, a high-flow cat will keep you safe from fines while having a negligible impact on performance (afaik), and you won't have to swap it out every year for the MOT.

IMHO the F does not benefit from a de-cat, apart from more noise. Due to the short nature of the exhaust it needs the cat to produce some back pressure.
Also worth noting that only the F and the metro/100 K series cars do not also have a pre-cat, all other K series have a pre-cat and a main cat, both on their own is sufficient to pass an emissions test.

I have a pair of 135 cams looking for a home.

Have you driven yet with the 52mm TB?

talkingcars wrote:IMHO the F does not benefit from a de-cat, apart from more noise. Due to the short nature of the exhaust it needs the cat to produce some back pressure.
Also worth noting that only the F and the metro/100 K series cars do not also have a pre-cat, all other K series have a pre-cat and a main cat, both on their own is sufficient to pass an emissions test.

I have a pair of 135 cams looking for a home.

Have you driven yet with the 52mm TB?

Yeah that's I was saying it's too loud with an aftermarket backbox is what I've read so I'm sticking with the Cat!

Oh do you? How quickly do you want them gone? I'll have to get the cash lined up!

I have yes, and pretty much agree with what everyone says, no real power gain but the improvement in throttle feel and the general smoothness of drive is immense, you can really feel the engine being able to breathe better

A 2000 MGF on MEMS3? Interesting - it would have been MEMS1.9 originally wouldn't it?

MEMS3 is something of an advantage in terms of tuning. Although you've got smaller/lower flow injectors as standard (improves emissions), the unit can be remapped to whatever stage of development you might fancy!

Think it went to MEMS3 in Sep 2000...just after my April 2000 F was produced, meaning I can't get the Z&F remap that I want...doh!

Rob Bell wrote:A 2000 MGF on MEMS3? Interesting - it would have been MEMS1.9 originally wouldn't it?

MEMS3 is something of an advantage in terms of tuning. Although you've got smaller/lower flow injectors as standard (improves emissions), the unit can be remapped to whatever stage of development you might fancy!

Date of first Reg is Oct 2000 for me so a natural MEMS 3 I think Rob...rather than a conversion. I also had the TF airbox and no resonator...and although I have the Mk2 Exhaust set up i.e post cat lambda and the cat with the bend in the pipe, I didn't have the exhaust pipe valve for noise reduction, I'll have to check my vin but I seem to remember being pretty close to the swap over - 522675


And yes I can't wait to map it, although that'll wait until I get the 135 cams...so are you saying (as per previous threads) that it could be possible to decat my mems 3 and if mapped to match it will meet all legal and emissions standards?

Might be possible to make it MoT friendly sans-catalyst. Have a chat to Mark Stacey

Only the TF ever had the noise flap on the exhaust.

And I'm getting rusty - yes, the 1.8MPi got MEMS3 much earlier than the VVC. But it won't be fully EU2 compliant (a requirement from Jan 2001). So no post cat sensor!

Are you saying that your car does have a post cat sensor, or that the exhaust has one fitted, but not connected to anything?

I do have the post cat sensor and as far as I can tell it is connected up to the loom and fully functioning well actually I know for a fact it is as I keep getting the code come up from it due to my cat being nothing but dust and rattles

Oh lovely, not that my heart is set on a decat, and I'll have to do a lot more research on any potential benefits but nice to know that it may be an option - is Mark the chap at K Maps? That's where I'm likely to go for my map, although that's probably looking like Spring '18 rather than anytime this year!

Yes, Mark's the chap at K Maps He has a map that will do away with the post-cat sensor.

Interesting, sounds as though your car is EU2 compliant.

Ah brilliant and aaaah okay, so it's probably safer MOT and penalty fine wise to keep the cat? or do you doubt anyone who stopped me would know?

In my experience (and we rolling-road tested the cat bypass and other options) there is so little to choose between the standard (good condition!) OEM catalyst (much better than aftermarket BTW) compared to the bypass pipe that you might as well keep the standard catalyst and avoid the angst.

We guestimate that the standard catalyst is likely not be "flow limiting" until well past 160bhp - but only rolling road testing will tell you this

Yeah I've read that OEM is far better than Aftermarket, thank goodness then that the cat I have is an OE one that came with my backbox, both second hand but I'm hoping the Cat will last a fair while, god knows why my factory one has died at less than 60K - my guess is the IMG leak causing it to run rich or something so I'm getting the alloy manifold on before swapping out the exhaust

Hmmm I doubt my MPi would ever make it to 160 in any case, even with TC's 135 Cams and then 160 airbox modified to take cold air with a performance panel filter. I'd guess I can get it to around 145 with what I've got planned including a remap and a better exhaust mani and downpipe - anything further will need serious investment I think, at which point I may just sell this one and try get a 160....

I'm really liking the idea of a ZR right now though, I need something for long motorway journeys to Scotland and the like and one of the 2.0 TD's would do nicely, plus I can always whack a nice exhaust on it and if I want to Mod, FMIC, bigger turbo and a remap

The L-series really is unburstable andvery tuneable too

Is that what they are? If so that's just more reason to try and get one, once the F is a bit more fixed perhaps...I am holding off buying anything further until the new hydragas solution from Mike is out, hopefully it'll be relatively soon

Believe it or not, folks have fitted L-series diesels in MGFs before (loads of different engine transplants tried, including Honda VTEC, Rover KV6, electric, gas turbine/electric hybrid... you name it...! )

Rob Bell wrote:Believe it or not, folks have fitted L-series diesels in MGFs before (loads of different engine transplants tried, including Honda VTEC, Rover KV6, electric, gas turbine/electric hybrid... you name it...! )

I've seen the VTEC and KV6 threads as well as the 1.8T conversion but that's all a bit beyond me for now, my current job is alloy inlet manifold and then fixing my knuckle that's come out of the upper arm! after that I'm calling it time for a rest for a few months while I enjoy the car