Turbo or 'as is'?

[PhilipCSwift]

Judging by the 'how many left' website, MGF non-VVC's are way better than VVC. But we knew this all along though, unless you retro-fit an induction kit and/or manifold you have to rev upto 7k rpm for the VVC to give you any benefits. We need torque lower down so it's the Turbo thing again. Who wants a Turbo MGF 1.8i? Well yes, I would, but I feel only to see what it can do. After that, the craving would probably fade away. Also, there is still the sacrilege element plus risking losing any appreciation for having ripped into a 'as is' or untouched version.
Keeping an MGF 'as is' is probably the way to go unless there is a safety issue that overides any desire to keep it 'genuine'.
20 years ago there were about 21,800 MGFs' and 11,700 MGF 1.8i VVCs'. SORN came in at the last quarter of 2007.
10 years ago there were about 10,680 licensed and 3,726 SORN MGFs' with 5,512 licensed and 2,135 SORN MGF 1.8i VVCs'.
This year, at the 2nd quarter, there were about 2,782 licensed and 5,082 SORN MGFs' with 1,686 licensed and 2,835 SORN MGF 1.8i VVCs'.

So now we know there are more SORN than Licensed it show some hoarding going on, just in case prices rocket.
If you want the car to rocket, DMGRS have a SAIC (genuine MG) turbo for £299.99 that now includes oil pipes (saving £30). It's meant for 75/ZT but it's a K series 1.8T turbo!
https://www.dmgrs.co.uk/products/rover- ... -pmf000090?

[Notanumber]

Have you any details of it being fitted into an F/ TF though ? There have been rather a lot of forum posts over the years asking about fitting turbos, often pointing out the benefits, the simplicity and the low cost of acquiring a bare turbo and usually these are from those who have newly arrived on the forums with a handful of posts to their name.

If one of these enthusiasts had at any time produced a detailed How To of which parts to buy, how to carry out any necessary modifications, an impact assessment of the additional heat build up with a proven solution to resolve and how to avoid any clearance limitations i think many of us on the forums would be very excited indeed.

Please report back your findings

[mgb281]

The F and TF are not the best basis for increased power, whatever you do will be expensive, see Retro Sports cars for their KV6 conversion.
If you read Roger Parkers book there are problems with fitting a turbocharger in a MGF or TF, firstly the lack of space and the heat build up. The 1.8T engine out of a Rover 75 is the obvious solution but it means modifying the bulkhead which in turn means modifying the fuel tank. It's a lot of work for the increased power (220bhp), then there's the problem of fitting an intercooler. I had the priviledge of riding in a TF with a supercharger at Castle Coombe, a fabulous car but again a lot of money but gives 260bhp. I also was able to get a ride in the TF featured on the Maidstone Sports Cars website, 450bhp but again a lot of money but great performance. Another car that I rode in was a MG ZS fitted with a 1.8 turbo engine from a modern MG6, bolts straight up to a PG1 gearbox and was again giving 250bhp. Rob Bell has an excellent website giving the potential alternatives; https://mgf.ultimatemg.com/group2/engin ... ptions.htm
If you are concerned about "originality" then keep yours original and buy a cheap one and convert that, you can have an original one and a modified one where future value is of no consequence. I had an engine failure and I bought a very nice one for £467, swapped the engine into my original TF and sold the exhaust for £200. I effectively have a rolling fully trimmed bodyshell for nothing.

[Notanumber]

If you just want to affordably add a few more bhp to your 1.8 120 MGF then a pair of good 2nd hand TF 135 cams plus a proper remap should get you to 148bhp, which is slightly more than the VVC F's 145 and would feel slightly better to drive. You should be able to do that for £ 400 to £ 450 if you do the work yourself and that would include a new cambelt.

[Reckless Rat]

and a new engine loom and ECU because the MEMS 1.9 isn't re-mappable...

[Notanumber]

and a new engine loom and ECU because the MEMS 1.9 isn't re-mappable...

MEMS 1.9 shouldn't be an issue for Philip though as the 2001 MG F he has will have MEMS 3. The F changed over from MEM 1.9 (or MIMS 2 for the VVC) to the later MIMS 3.0 at VIN number 522572 (arrival of the MK2 MGF).

[Rob Bell]

I've thought about this so much, I even have both a supercharger and a turbo charged 1.8 K-series from a Rover 75! More than that, I even had a turbo manifold made based on the BBR GTi manifold from their turbo conversion back in the day...

If you don't have airconditioning, then the front mount intercooler could make good use of the air con rad mounts. The physcial installation after that would not be too difficult. The more challenging part is that the R75 used a different type of crankshaft position sensor, but Mark at KMaps can get around that conundrum for you... Oh, almost forgot that you'll need the turbo's MAP sensor (positive pressures!)

A few cars have been converted - you should have a chat to the MGCC general manager, as he is responsible for a few of them!