My new 'freestyle' project

[jonny69]

Sat with his nose in the air now waiting for more work

[jonny69]

Another nice day today so took the chance to swap the old mgf snorkel for a tf one. Even though we have had nice weather the floor was still wet under the carpet on the passenger side. I took the seat out so i could pull the carpet back to dry out. There was a little bit of surface rust starting to show through so i gave it a wire brushing and a bit of rust treament. Then i painted over it with some smoothrite. It wont be seen under there and i know it will last.

I found the easiest way was to cut the snorkel out. Blimey the front right bolt is a royal pain in the arse..!! Once it was out and all cleaned up i think i went a bit over the top with the sealant (better to be safe..) and used stainless fasteners to put it back on with. Hopefully this will have sorted the wet carpet.

I had a bit more time so stripped the window wiper motor in situ. It's had no plastic cover over it since i bought it (didn't come with it) and the amount of dirty water that came out when i split it was amazing. Didn't look great in there so spent a while cleaning it up and trying to get it free. I've left it all undone now so will see when it goes back together if it works.. not holding out much hope but you never know.

Here's a few pictures from today..

[talkingcars]

It's a common problem, especially if the cover gets left out.
My wiper motor wasn't work so I stripped it but no luck.
Instead I got the motor from our parts car but it was even worse, I struggled to get the case off.
Once cleaned up and regressed it is so much quieter.

You can get kits of stainless steel allen bolts and screws for various areas in the F/TF, I used them around the front under the bonnet.

[jonny69]

Fingers crossed this one can be rescued. I have a good supplier of stainless bolts, I use them a lot when building bikes for people. There's always going to be the odd one thats a pain to match up. I need to get some for the roof latches, mine look awful. When I sort out my daughters mgf no doubt I'll need some for that

[jonny69]

The wiper motor WORKS..!! A bit slow but i'm sure a bit more tinkering will sort it out. Quite happy with that. It meant i could get the cover back on under the bonnet and finish up working on the front end. Looks so much better now. I do need some good mg badges though, both the front and back have faded




While i had the seat out i figured i might as well give the carpets a good clean. Did the leather on the seats as well, nicely fed, plus cleaned up some of the trim while i could get at it. Pretty manky in places. I did the drivers side to while i was on a roll. Nicer place to sit already

[jonny69]

Mooching on facebook i found an MG branded picnic bag on fb market place. For 15 quid including a new MG cap i couldn't say no really. It has everything for a posh picnic, even a cheese board and cheese knife. It has insulated side pockets big enough for wine bottles as well. Got my wife to model it

[jonny69]

Not too much to report right now. He is up in the air so i can change out the under floor coolant pipes for stainless ones. The old ones don't look the best but are actually pretty solid. Not had chance to put the new ones on yet.



Picked up a cheap hardtop in good condition as well. With the rear window in the soft top being a bit knackerd this is keeping any rain out for now. Looks ok i think





Hopefully get some more work done on him this weekend

[Rob Bell]

How's the project coming along Jonny?

[jonny69]

Hi Rob,

Illness and other things pretty much wrote off the last 6 months of last year and the first couple of months of this year. The last few weeks or so have seen me start working on it again and have made some good progress. Fingers crossed by the end of this month it might even be on the road I will have to get some pictures up of the progress

[jonny69]

Well, i thought i would update the thread. Lots of last year was lost due to illness so over the last month or so i have gone for it and made up for it and made a lot of progress.

brakes weren't great to say the least. All 4 were stripped, painted and rebuilt with new seals and pistons. New pads and disks all round and now he stops..!

[jonny69]

The exhaust that was on the car was a bit of a knackered bodge to say the least. It has been replaced with a nice new shiny stainless steel one and a new cat. Sounds lovely but it doesn't drone on a run like some do.

[jonny69]

Went for a 52mm throttle body and also a cold air intake set up. The induction noise when you put your foot down is great, especially from the passenger side (it's like being 12 again). I've taken the intake pipe down to the passenger side engine intake vent.







Sorry some of the pictures are a bit dark, it was getting on in the day

[jonny69]

I fitted a low level coolant alarm. It works through an external sensor rather than having to go into the coolant tank. Nice and easy to fit with great instructions and works well when i tested it (on purpose )

[jonny69]

I also changed the timing belt, tensioner and water pump. The alternator has a new belt and the rose joint adjuster upgrade, much better. A new battery was fitted and i managed to find a really good hood, plus i fitted the roll hoops. The original cd/radio is fitted and working, all the underneath of the car and the arches, subframe, pretty much anything i could get to has been rubbed down, rust treated and painted. Stainless coolant pipes replace the old scabby looking ones. All that plus a hundred and one other jobs and he flew through the MOT with no notes at all. Still a few things to sort out, like the bloody rear view mirror that won't stay put and also the interior lights have a mind of their own about wether to go off or not when you lock the car. All in all though i'm pretty pleased with him now, at last

Cheesey photo time

[Rob Bell]

Brilliant!

[jonny69]

Brilliant!

Cheers Rob. Onto the next one now

[jonny69]

Hi all,

Blimey, time flies. Due to more health problems (amongst other things) I haven't been on here for a long while. The 2 other mgf projects I picked up had to go, not much chance of me getting on with them any time soon. Not many miles put on this one either

A couple of issues have raised their heads though. Random engine light on I need to get checked and the clutch slave cylinder has gone. The arm going into the clutch doesn't seem to be seized so fingers crossed it was just old seals. Got a new one on the way so if it ever stops raining I'll fit that.

Hopefully back to some sort of fitness and can get out and about this year much more than last.

Happy new year (a belated one )

[jonny69]

Quick update. The new clutch slave cylinder sorted things out, clutch arm seems fine Engine light has also turned itself off which is a result. Downside, (as is normal with these) headgasket seems to be on its way out. Always something.

[EllsoJo]

I fitted a low level coolant alarm. It works through an external sensor rather than having to go into the coolant tank. Nice and easy to fit with great instructions and works well when i tested it (on purpose )

Hi Jonny. Hope your project continues to progress. Can you advise where you bought the Low Coolant Alarm. I am intending to do this a sthe next upgrade on my 2002TF135.

[EllsoJo]

You mentioned: "like the bloody rear view mirror that won't stay put" I suspect you have the same problem I had in the first few miles when I collected my 2002TF in 2021. I improvised by placing a polythene bag over the "Shoe" which was (at least in my case) still on the windscreen. I then forced the mirror over the shoe + plastic bag, then cut away the excess plastic film. I have subsequently made a tidier job of cutting away the remaining excess, but other than that, I have had no subsequent falling off or looseness/vibrating rear-view image.

Good luck!