"Blue 33" so now named.

Well due to being totally bonkers it seems that we now have this 97 Mk1 MPi to fix up. This particular MGF was rescued for the fate of being scrapped by it's original owner. Yep he bought it new back in 97 and had owned it ever since but now it belongs to us in the darkest depths in Rural Lincolnshire. Must be a shock for the poor MGF leaving the bright lights and glamour of Richmond, London, mind you she won't miss the pot holes................Good grief the roads are bad down there.

OK the reason for the car beign sold an threatened with being scrapped was simple Money and change in life for the owner. In Richmond one has to pay, through the nose I might add, to be "allowed" to park the car. The residents parking permit expired 31/01/2014 and the rate in 2013 was £90 to park on the road side where ignorant or jealous folks bash the heck out of your car :doh: . Yes we have numerous scrapes and dents to deal with.

Next the Road tax also expired 31/01/2013 ................................ more expense and the MOT is due in 8 days and she needs a bit of TLC to pass that including new rear tyres. Now the owner is going Down Under for several months to the poor little MGF would have been left tot eh tender mercies of the Richmond folks for several months and not moving ......................................... well hat's just like a flag or neon sign saying come abuse me.

So she has changed hands and we hope that she will be all sorted out in the coming months.

First thing is renew the Road Tax, for now steal the wheels off the Project VVC which has nearly new tyres on and replaced a slightly worn track rod end. Then get the suspension pumped up as he believes that the O/S/R displacer is not operating as it should. The drivers side is down.

Check her over adjust the headlights etc clean and submit to the test.

Then once all tested then start sorting the little niggles and paint/body defects. Once it gets light will take some photos.

i salute you for taking on another project when you already have 1 on the go. If/when i get my current project completed i wouldn't mind restoring trophy mgf back to its original condition. Keep up the great work

T'is hoped that this MPi will be an easy one to do. She is already taxed again for another 6 months, the slightly worn track rod end has been replaced, after all there were two good ones on the spare steering rack, the tracking adjuster nut is seized so it will require heat to free it. They can do that when they do the tracking but I will warn them before hand and of course fit a new bonnet release cable.

She is now sitting on a younger sisters wheels which gives us a spot of breathing space to get some rear tyres. Tomorrow will take her to see the surgeon about he sill repair. The replacement rear displacer unit should arriver either Tuesday or Wednesday so hopefully that should be it for her test renewal for the 9th..

Oh yes need to clean and adjust the washer jets and fit wiper new blades. Am off outside now to try and clean off the hood then give her a wash up.

Today was NOT a good day and easy went right out of the window. This morning (Monday) went up into town to see the surgeon about the sill repair and the price was much more than expected :omg: there is also a brake pipe to be looked at and may need to be replaced. Have to give it a clean and see how it looks. :nonod: no happy aboutt hat really. Got a quote for removing the dents and repairing the panels whcih is not soooooo bad but that's al out of the window for a while now and thsi is why:-


Well actually called in two garages to get quotes for the sill repairs and both were more than expected :help: then one the way home as the "A" road was clear I wound her up in third until the red line and was pleased to see that she revs easily so slowed down and drove normally home. had lunch then came out to clean her. Due tot eh pressure washing the windows all misted up badly so started her up and put demist on and went to applying polish. Got drivers side done and was on the near side front wing when she started to chug and run rough. First thought was running low on petrol then I looked up and saw the cloud of white steam out of the exhausts... Oh dear.

So turned her off and opened up the boot to find the expansion bottle empty. Checked temp gauge and that's normal, one line under half way, so refilled bottle and fired her up and she is running smooth again....................... weird. Check the oil filler cap and it's clean. Check dip stick and Oh deary ... dearly me the oil is now hot chocolate colour and way up on level. It was fine and clear after I topped it up yesterday so it looks like HGF.

No surgery for a while as this has to be fixed first...................................... Damn & Blast it.t thought things were going well for a change. Anyway her she is:-

Of course those Multispoke LE wheels are off the VVC project am using them whilst we sort out the 15" standard Six spoke wheels.

With the Mutt.

Hope to get this out.

Luckily I bought a Bonnet in Tahiti Blue so it will probably be fitted here.

Again a HGF that probably could have been avoided with a low water alarm.
The price of even the most expensive low water alarms is insignificant in comparison with the cost and inconvenience of a HGF.

Low water alarms are essential for our cars and are probably the best modification you can make.
They should have been standard equipment across the range, MG/Rover would have saved a fortune on warranty claims and both the manufacturer's and the car's reputations would be a lot better and as such the resale values of the cars would be better too.

I use and recommend the B&G low water alarm, it's not cheap.... but..... it's not nasty either!

Please explain how when the water was fine earlier then whilst running at tick over on the drive this HGF and NO external leaks. The boot was lifted at the garage and Vic the owner and MG fan had a look and we did not notice any coolant loss then. I did remark that the under floor pipes are starting to blister so would need changing to stainless but there was not leak then. I will check later this morning once it's fully light.

A low coolant alarm cannot stop a gasket giving up if that's what it's doing and if the original owner is correct then this head gasket has lasted just over 16 years and 60,000+ miles. As he told me the HGF happened when the car was Six months old and repaired under warranty. It was not touched since.

This was not a case of over heating as at no point did the temp gauge move from it's normal operating reading of one line below half way. The oil was a bit low when I checked it so it was topped up and it was clear no signs of water/coolant contamination. Likewise the oil filler cap is clean.

I wonder if this is a a case of the polymer breaking down over the years?

Plezier wrote: I wonder if this is a a case of the polymer breaking down over the years?

After 16 years, that sounds like a good shout. Let us know with some pics if you can... and watch Fido while you're backing up. Although, it looks like he'd hardly notice a small car going over him. :lol:

Generally speaking, head gaskets don't just give up!
They mostly fail due to:
* Overheating.
* Studs stretching.
* Cylinder liner heights uneven.
* Corrosion of the mating surfaces of the block and head itself.
* Poor alignment and fretting due to inferior location dowels.
* Poor practice when assembling the engine.
* Differing expansion rates of different materials used in the construction of the engine (this last one applies to engines with iron blocks and alloy heads. Not applicable for our cars, but I've included it anyway, as a general guide.)

Even gaskets made from inferior materials, rarely just fail without an underlying cause, they do, however, suffer failure more easily when something goes wrong as they have a lower tolerance to overheating etc.

You do of course realise, that your temp gauge sender's probe needs to be immersed in coolant to work properly, so overheating due to a lack of coolant won't necessarily show on the gauge.

Cobber wrote: Generally speaking, head gaskets don't just give up!
They mostly fail due to:
* Overheating.
* Studs stretching.
* Cylinder liner heights uneven.
* Corrosion of the mating surfaces of the block and head itself.
* Poor alignment and fretting due to inferior location dowels.
* Poor practice when assembling the engine.
* Differing expansion rates of different materials used in the construction of the engine (this last one applies to engines with iron blocks and alloy heads. Not applicable for our cars, but I've included it anyway, as a general guide.)

Even gaskets made from inferior materials, rarely just fail without an underlying cause, they do, however, suffer failure more easily when something goes wrong as they have a lower tolerance to overheating etc.

You do of course realise, that your temp gauge sender's probe needs to be immersed in coolant to work properly, so overheating due to a lack of coolant won't necessarily show on the gauge.

Well so far I have found no external leaks of coolant. the tank level was fine Sunday and neither I or the MOT tester noticed a low level at the garage. Speaking to Rover Mobile Mechanics they said it's not uncommon for the gasket to fail after non use then using the car again. perhaps my red line test plus toppign the oil level up produced the final bit of stress to finish it off.

Hopefully we will find out int he morning so fingers crossed for fine weather as Steve is coming early to replace the head gasket. No doubt the cooling system will get a thorough check over as well. The under floor pipes show a bit of minor scabbing and will be replaced sooner rather than later. The radiator will most likely get a flush through however we cannot at this point in time afford new stainless pipes, new radiator and hoses that will have to wait for finances to recover.

As I was not inside the car at the time this decided to fail I have to wonder if any warning would have been noticed and once again I point out that no over heating took place at least not whilst in my ownership which is only a few days.

I'm not sure about the gasket going after non use? Doesn't make sense to me that one. I'm not a mechanic but I'm pretty sure the really old classic cars that don't get much use wouldn't have their headgaskets blowing all the time. I've used the people who you have chosen and they are OK, hopefully the true cause of the problem will be found.

Good Luck

Well it was really gone:-

and that is why it filled the sump.

Slight indentations from the fire rings.

It was found that the water pump was weeping and although the previous owner did not mention it there was a bottle of OAT in the boot (which had leaked so carpet is wet) also got some new jump leads and a nice Halfords digital tyre inflator with lamp, one that plugs into the lighter socket.

Are we all fixed now?