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MG MGF Technical - Buying advice

Hi, I've been a regular on here in the midget and Sprite area for many years. Despite not needing another car #i'm toying with buying an F to have some fun with over the next few months. I've just been to see one and it's a very solid car but I have some questions.

The ride eight is very low, to the extent that at rest the NSR is nearly touching the arch, all ride heights are in the 29 to 31cm range.

What are the chances this is only a fluid level issue and will be solved by pumping it up? How likely is it that the displacers need recharging with nitrogen?

The seller tells me the NSR has dropped quite a bit recently, again, is the fact that has lost some height fairly quickly an indication of the failure mode?

Cheers
Jeremy Cogman

Hi Jeremy

You caught me napping, there. It tends to be a bit quiet around here - as you'll have noticed by the number of replies you've had.

I would be very wary of buying an F with low suspension. The displacers have probably leaked and, although you can 'pump up' the suspension, you end up with rock hard suspension, due to having all fluid and no gas.

Dave O'Neill 2

Hi Jeremy

As Jeremy says it’s a bit quiet around here compared to the Midget and Sprite forum. My answer to you would be how much is the car? If you get it for a reasonable price and you can use a set of spanners, I’d go for it.

I have a cheap grease gun type suspension pump and a
gallon of fluid, I use this to pump these systems up. Dave is correct, if a displacer has failed the system would be rock hard. Second hand and refurbished displacers are available.

I’ve had 2 F’s, the first was a VVC cost me £300 and all it needed was a hose to make it roadworthy, I drove it for 2 years and then my son had it for 3 years. I did cook the engine when another hose went and had to replace the head gasket but than that it was great car. The second was a Steptronic that I paid £200 for, I did have to replace the head gasket, I then drove it for 6 months and sold it for £500.

When they’re running properly, they’re great cars to drive, not as go kart as a midget or sprite but they are weather tight and have a good sized boot.

Bob
R.A Davis

I ran a very early 1995 MGF for a couple of years. Nice car to drive but weather-tight - certainly not. I think the earliest cars were poorly made. Mine had multiple rain water leaks, mostly through the bulkhead seams and around the windows. It took me many weeks to find and seal them up, and then dry out the pints of water absorbed in the carpet under-foam. Then there was the water you could hear sloshing up and down inside the door sills. I drilled some drain holes and a couple of pints came out, but the rust had set in and a hole soon appeared in the sill.

The spheres needed pumping up annually and as others have said, because of the loss of gas the suspension became quite hard. I had the optional hardtop which was nice in the winter, but the door windows had to adjusted to a different height depending which roof you were using.

Then the front wheel bearing collapsed on the M1, destroying the hub casting as well. I wondered if Metro bearings could cope with the loading of wider tyres.

But in two years motoring I never had head gasket problems and the engine and gearbox behaved very well. A nice car to use but hopeless for the home mechanic. By the time you have unclipped the back of the hood and unscrewed the fourteen bolts to remove the engine cover only to find you still can't reach anything, you just want to give up. No, I wouldn't have another.
Mike Howlett

This thread was discussed between 29/10/2019 and 18/11/2019

MG MGF Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGF Technical BBS is active now.