New life for an old MGF - my modding diary

OK. - first post in the diary is just to show what the car looks like after I got my hands on it and cleaned it. Well almost, the hard top has been added and the car stereo has been swapped out already along with replacing the front and rear MG badges as the existing ones were faded to almost nothing.

Side on but all pretty standard so far.

and inside all as it came - including knackered rear view mirror

I have already been on a spending spree over the bank holiday weekend and the mods to come so far are all minor and cosmetic:
shiny door lock pins
shiny oil and clock rings
shiny heater panel rings
speedo panel shiny surrounds
wind stop (hopefully)
mesh grill for boot vents
alloy touch up paint (until I can manage a refurb.)
additional usb ports added into the centre console compartment.

There are also some functional updates:
replacement fag / power socket
replacement rear view mirror
wiper linkage
bonnet release cable

The ideas list is far too long and changeable to list but I plan on keeping this thread up to date with the progress of the cars development into something I can be proud of whilst being able to still get out and enjoy it on the roads.

Some nice mods there

Looking forward to the many updates

Allan

Great job. The car modding blogs have always proved to be a popular read here in the past. Keep it coming. :broon:

Nice one - will be watching the posts with interest :broon:

Seeing as I am going to have to remove the windscreen trim to replace my rear view mirror I am taking the opportunity to swap all the old bolts for new, shiny, stainless ones. I also have a bluetooth only head unit with built in hands free etc. it seems like a good opportunity to route the mic to somewhere more appropriate. If the weather is clear i will be taking care of this first stage on Friday evening so will try to make sure I have my dslr to hand to document the process.

Well the modding has started to get under way. All cosmetic at first with the engine mods planned for May. The wife decided to surprise me with a wind stop. Not sure if she bought it for me or for her but it is on the car already. The stainless surrounds on the dials and controls are already in place too. All 5 minute jobs but they make a nice interior just feel that little bit more up to date without going for the overkill. Pictures will follow after I have done my list of to dos on Friday evening.

The door pins have also arrived and will be a pain to fit as the existing ones appear to be moulded on rather than crew on. I am not that sure about them either as they do not look as good as they did online and I might seek a set of polished stainless ones before this tweak is made.

Am trying to make the cosmetic changes slowly and fit them one or two at a time as I can tend to go all out on things and want to keep the interior on the right side of tasteful.

I burnt my door pins off they set on fire so take the door card off remove the pin burn em off stick new pins on I used a glue gun inside the new pins ans it went off in 5 mins then refitted

I was thinking of using my Dremel to pretty much grind / sand then off and give me a nice clean surface to stick the new ones to. Have only had the car a week and am already going to be removing the door panels and windscreen surround on day 8 of ownership. The promise of a decent weekend is making me want to get as much as possible done Friday so I can wash, polish and buff the car up first thing Saturday and then spend the weekend getting it covered in road dust and putting a big smile on my face.

Friday night saw me start my first batch of MODs a lot later than I wanted to and up a driveway so daylight was a massive factor as to what I could do. First job was not a MOD but a replacement rear view mirror - job done and very straight forwards. Next job was to add some shiny bits. Five rings later and I am pretty happy with the very minor facelift the centre console has been given. It would be very easy to go nuts with the number of accessories for this part of the cat but I want to end up looking neat and understated. A good mod should not be noticeable to the uninitiated but obvious to a fan. Only end result pictures for now as there was not enough time for me to do a step by step. I would imagine most users on here are pretty familiar with this MOD anyway. I was a little disappointed to have to effectively finish the moulding of the rings prior to fitting to ensure a decent fit.




Next was for some nice surrounds on the dials. I think the MGF dash has a very 90's feel about. Totally understandable given the vintage of the car. MGF's are not old enough for the design sins of the past to be acceptable because they are vintage - not yet anyway. As such I have added a little update to the dials without giving in to any Fast & Furious style plasma / neon / LED dials. I might change the light at some point though as I now know how easy this job is to do.

This second MOD let me find more past sins of previous owners and I discovered the dome over the dials is actually cracked. Someone has had the whole assembly off in the past and not put all the bits back correctly. I have resolved that now but still ne to replace the dome. These were all fitted with the steering wheel in situ and some very long drivers to allow access to the tighter areas.



Might not be to everyones taste but they do lift the dial panel forward into the new millenium and they do no obscure too much of the existing dials.

I am hoping to get my boot vent grills fitted tomorrow and sort out the fag lighter / power socket along with the extra USB charging ports in the centre console. Then again I might just take the lids off again and go for a drive.

i have learnt a valuable lesson about cutting corners. Don't put the roof up and down without unzipping the window. That lesson has now seen me fit a glass rear window. The hard top is retired for motorway distance trips and winter and the soft top is awesome with the glass fitted. Very easy and took me about half an hour. Pics to follow after I do the next clean of the car.

Only my second major mod (for my skills) after the long fitting of the wiper linkage kit.

Shiny bits on the way this weekend with some pictures

Thanks singlespeedman. Great read!

the dial surround mod has had to have a minor tweak. grinding a little metal away to allow the fuel and temp needles to move freely. Funny how a job that took two hours initially to fit only took half an hour with more to do. Good to get to know the car some more. Next mod is a chrome shiny bit. The oil filler bracket had snapped and another dodgy repair from the previous owner was not up to scratch. I had a nightmare finding the standard part and chrome was very easy to source so there is my Thursday night mod planned out. I am pretty happy as the pipework down seems to be the cause of my minor off and on oil leak as whenever the filler tank moved I lose a little oil. Have also just secured a folding mesh windstop on fleabay so that will be going on asap too.