Blue Belle - Pic heavy!

Well I haven't been on here for a while, but thought I'd make a thread showing everybody what I've done to Blue Belle (With the help of my Dad!) since I bought her in the summer of 2008.

I was originally looking for an F for my Dad, but after him telling me he didn't want one, I went ahead and looked for myself. After viewing some awful examples and one or two that were "ok" I found Blue Belle 40 miles away:

I'm glad I held out for Blue Belle and didn't rush into buying one. She is a 2001 in Tahiti Blue, 1.8mpi with a full tan leather interior. My favourite interior of all the Fs. She had 29,000 miles on the clock when I bought her. The previous owners were MG enthusiasts so I knew she was well looked after. Always regularly serviced and they had the head gasket changed at 26,000 miles. I believe they were members of the MGOC.

Now when I bought her she was missing an exhaust finisher, so the first thing I did was purchase a couple of new ones. By now I was looking on some of the MG forums and reading about what mods people had done to their cars. It was then that I caught the mod bug! I also bought a rear grille and new badges as they had faded:

So my first mod was the DIY Trophy Headlights. They took a couple of days to do, but were well worth it. I also painted my front and side grilles silver as I wasn't keen on the black grilles. I also purchased my private number plate:

I then replaced the footwell lights and mirror lights with blue LEDs.

I bought some news mats. Looking back now, I do not know why on earth I bought these ones. :lol: Also some clock/oil/heater surrounds:

The next thing I wanted to change were the alloy wheels. I went for the 15" 6 spokes:

I'd always liked the spoilers, so this was my next mod along with the boot grilles:

A year on from buying Blue Belle, I wanted my car to be a bit noisier, so I looked into buying a new exhaust. I'd heard good things about the TTs so I purchased a TT MK4 #50:

By now, I wanted to change the alloys again, so I went for the 11 spokes in Silver Sparkle and also bought a bee sting aerial:

I was also adding some new interior mods: Chrome ashtray and lighter, alloy door pins, new mats with blue edging, and MG seat belt pads:

I then had my first problem with Blue Belle. She has overheated on the motorway in traffic. I managed to limp over to the hard shoulder and called my Dad who came and rescued me. I heard about this MG mechanic called Russell, so I gave him a call and he came round as soon as he could to fix it. It turned out the inlet manifold gasket was leaking and I was soon back on the road. That was until Blue Belle over heated again! This time the leak was from the coolant pipes so Russell replaced them for stainless steel ones. All was good again!

A few months later Blue Belle was poorly for the third time. Again, it was leaking from the inlet manifold gasket and Russell told me that the inlet manifold must be warped for it to have failed again. Russell drove back to his house and returned with a nice shiny manifold which he fitted in no time. I've had no problems since

A K+H splitter was the next thing on my list. It improved the handling so much! Along with this, I fitted some side scoops:

I had the 11 spokes but wanted the AP calipers and drilled and grooved disks to go under them. I'd started talking to Dan (Gotenks1321) and he offered to come and fit them. In return I took him out for dinner. We are still together now after 14 months

I was never keen on the red OEM back lights, so I bought these to replace them:

This is pretty much how she has stayed, although I did purchase an MGOC exhaust just the other month as I fancied a different sound!

I also added Mike Satur pedals, chrome footrest, chrome door latches, chrome under bonnet bits and added these lights to the doors:

I came across a shiny bluey/black centre console on eBay which I ended up buying. I also wanted my clock and oil gauges to be turned blue as well as the switches. I bought a new CD player for the car as well and painted the petrol surround blue to match the body work. A boot popper was also fitted:

So that's it so far! Next thing on the list is a glass rear screen


Hope you enjoyed reading,

Sam

SamLuck wrote: Well I haven't been on here for a while, but thought I'd make a thread showing everybody what I've done to Blue Belle (With the help of my Dad!) since I bought her in the summer of 2008.

I was originally looking for an F for my Dad, but after him telling me he didn't want one, I went ahead and looked for myself. After viewing some awful examples and one or two that were "ok" I found Blue Belle 40 miles away:

I'm glad I held out for Blue Belle and didn't rush into buying one. She is a 2001 in Tahiti Blue, 1.8mpi with a full tan leather interior. My favourite interior of all the Fs. She had 29,000 miles on the clock when I bought her. The previous owners were MG enthusiasts so I knew she was well looked after. Always regularly serviced and they had the head gasket changed at 26,000 miles. I believe they were members of the MGOC.

Now when I bought she was missing as exhaust finisher, so the first thing I did was purchase a couple of new ones. By now I was looking on some of the MG forums and reading about what mods people had done to their cars. It was then that I caught the mod bug! I also bought a rear grille and new badges as they had faded:

So my first mod was the DIY Trophy Headlights. They took a couple of days to do, but were well worth it. I also painted my front and side grilles silver as I wasn't keen on the black grilles. I also purchased my private number plate:

I then replaced the footwell lights and mirror lights with blue LEDs.

I bought some news mats. Looking back now, I do not know why on earth I bought these ones. :lol: Also some clock/oil/heater surrounds:

The next thing I wanted to change were the alloy wheels. I went for the 15" 6 spokes:

I'd always liked the spoilers, so this was my next mod along with the boot grilles:

A year on from buying Blue Belle, I wanted my car to be a bit noisier, so I looked into buying a new exhaust. I'd heard good things about the TTs so I purchased a TT MK4 #50:

By now, I wanted to change the alloys again, so I went for the 11 spokes in Silver Sparkle and also bought a bee sting aerial:

I was also adding some new interior mods: Chrome ashtray and lighter, alloy door pins, new mats with blue edging, and MG seat belt pads:

I then had my first problem with Blue Belle. She has overheated on the motorway in traffic. I managed to limp over to the hard shoulder and called my Dad who came and rescued me. I heard about this MG mechanic called Russell, so I gave him a call and he came round as soon as he could to fix it. It turned out the inlet manifold gasket was leaking and I was soon back on the road. That was until Blue Belle over heated again! This time the leak was from the coolant pipes so Russell replaced them for stainless steel ones. All was good again!

A few months later Blue Belle was poorly for the third time. Again, it was leaking from the inlet manifold gasket and Russell told me that the inlet manifold must be warped for it to have failed again. Russell drove back to his house and returned with a nice shiny manifold which he fitted in no time. I've had no problems since

A K+H splitter was the next thing on my list. It improved the handling so much! Along with this, I fitted some side scoops:

I had the 11 spokes but wanted the AP calipers and drilled and grooved disks to go under them. I'd started talking to Dan (Gotenks1321) and he offered to come and fit them. In return I took him out for dinner. We are still together now after 14 months

I was never keen on the red OEM back lights, so I bought these to replace them:

This is pretty much how she has stayed, although I did purchase an MGOC exhaust just the other month as I fancied a different sound!

I also added Mike Satur pedals, chrome footrest, chrome door latches, chrome under bonnet bits and added these lights to the doors:

I came across a shiny bluey/black centre console on eBay which I ended up buying. I also wanted my clock and oil gauges to be turned blue as well as the switches. I bought a new CD player for the car as well and painted the petrol surround blue to match the body work. A boot popper was also fitted:

So that's it so far! Next thing on the list is a glass rear screen


Hope you enjoyed reading,

Sam

Looking good Sam. A nice example fo how the darkside can slowly consume you ...and your purse

You've turned a nice car into an absolute stunner, Sam!( ...and Dad) :thumbsup:
You should be rightly proud of Bluebell. :yesnod:

Oh I am!

Sam, Bluebell is looking great. The condition is amazing.

Lovely looking car :yesnod:

What happened to the TT exhaust?

Thanks all

I sold the TT about a month ago

SamLuck wrote: Well I haven't been on here for a while, but thought I'd make a thread showing everybody what I've done to Blue Belle (With the help of my Dad!) since I bought her in the summer of 2008.

I was originally looking for an F for my Dad, but after him telling me he didn't want one, I went ahead and looked for myself. After viewing some awful examples and one or two that were "ok" I found Blue Belle 40 miles away:

I'm glad I held out for Blue Belle and didn't rush into buying one. She is a 2001 in Tahiti Blue, 1.8mpi with a full tan leather interior. My favourite interior of all the Fs. She had 29,000 miles on the clock when I bought her. The previous owners were MG enthusiasts so I knew she was well looked after. Always regularly serviced and they had the head gasket changed at 26,000 miles. I believe they were members of the MGOC.

Now when I bought she was missing as exhaust finisher, so the first thing I did was purchase a couple of new ones. By now I was looking on some of the MG forums and reading about what mods people had done to their cars. It was then that I caught the mod bug! I also bought a rear grille and new badges as they had faded:

So my first mod was the DIY Trophy Headlights. They took a couple of days to do, but were well worth it. I also painted my front and side grilles silver as I wasn't keen on the black grilles. I also purchased my private number plate:

I then replaced the footwell lights and mirror lights with blue LEDs.

I bought some news mats. Looking back now, I do not know why on earth I bought these ones. :lol: Also some clock/oil/heater surrounds:

The next thing I wanted to change were the alloy wheels. I went for the 15" 6 spokes:

I'd always liked the spoilers, so this was my next mod along with the boot grilles:

A year on from buying Blue Belle, I wanted my car to be a bit noisier, so I looked into buying a new exhaust. I'd heard good things about the TTs so I purchased a TT MK4 #50:

By now, I wanted to change the alloys again, so I went for the 11 spokes in Silver Sparkle and also bought a bee sting aerial:

I was also adding some new interior mods: Chrome ashtray and lighter, alloy door pins, new mats with blue edging, and MG seat belt pads:

I then had my first problem with Blue Belle. She has overheated on the motorway in traffic. I managed to limp over to the hard shoulder and called my Dad who came and rescued me. I heard about this MG mechanic called Russell, so I gave him a call and he came round as soon as he could to fix it. It turned out the inlet manifold gasket was leaking and I was soon back on the road. That was until Blue Belle over heated again! This time the leak was from the coolant pipes so Russell replaced them for stainless steel ones. All was good again!

A few months later Blue Belle was poorly for the third time. Again, it was leaking from the inlet manifold gasket and Russell told me that the inlet manifold must be warped for it to have failed again. Russell drove back to his house and returned with a nice shiny manifold which he fitted in no time. I've had no problems since

A K+H splitter was the next thing on my list. It improved the handling so much! Along with this, I fitted some side scoops:

I had the 11 spokes but wanted the AP calipers and drilled and grooved disks to go under them. I'd started talking to Dan (Gotenks1321) and he offered to come and fit them. In return I took him out for dinner. We are still together now after 14 months

I was never keen on the red OEM back lights, so I bought these to replace them:

This is pretty much how she has stayed, although I did purchase an MGOC exhaust just the other month as I fancied a different sound!

I also added Mike Satur pedals, chrome footrest, chrome door latches, chrome under bonnet bits and added these lights to the doors:

I came across a shiny bluey/black centre console on eBay which I ended up buying. I also wanted my clock and oil gauges to be turned blue as well as the switches. I bought a new CD player for the car as well and painted the petrol surround blue to match the body work. A boot popper was also fitted:

So that's it so far! Next thing on the list is a glass rear screen


Hope you enjoyed reading,

Sam

Hi Sam and a BIG WELCOME BACK :thumbsup: :woohoo: Blue Belle is a stunning car and you really have the bug ( MG stands for Money Grabber!!!!!!) you should have entered for the best mod competition, sorry Simon closed it last Thursday.
It is good to have you back, notice any changes???? and dont stay away so long this time :nonod: :woohoo:

Tell me about it!! Blue Belle has left a nice size hole in my pocket I've just been looking at the best mod competition - some great cars/mods in there!

Noticed a few changes - It seems a much friendlier place now, so I think I'll stick around for a bit longer this time

SamLuck wrote: Tell me about it!! Blue Belle has left a nice size hole in my pocket I've just been looking at the best mod competition - some great cars/mods in there!

Noticed a few changes - It seems a much friendlier place now, so I think I'll stick around for a bit longer this time

I think PQD44 may be in the running for the prize!!!! yes there are some great mods, i voted for him, because its a nice car overall, just like yours.
i joined the T Bar shortly after Kara set it up and have been stirring things up ever since, we have got a great bunch of people and loads and loads of new members. :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

I also joined when Kara set it up, but I always felt an 'atmosphere' whenever I was on here. But that appears to have all changed now

SamLuck wrote: I also joined when Kara set it up, but I always felt an 'atmosphere' whenever I was on here. But that appears to have all changed now

Very pleased to have you back :lol: