New TF owners in Milton Keynes area!

Hello Everyone!
My name is Jonny and I've had my new to me 2003 MG TF 135 for about two weeks nows & just decided now I should introduce myself after getting some help on buying tips from this forum.

She was the exact spec I was after, Le Mans Green with the Champagne Oxford Leather interior & the hard top! So far I've got some new badges to add on and I've replaced the heating system plastic dials with nice metal ones.

This is my first foray into modern classic cars and I'm really excited to be part of an owners clubs. Ever since I was a kid watching Top Gear i've always wanted to have the ability to work on my own car, meet other enthusiasts and just understand more about the in's and out of the car. I've always wanted a performance car to really enjoy and previous Focus ST and Fiesta ST's I've had, while fun, never really gelled with me as they were my daily commuter car whereas now this TF is not, so it feels special every time I drive it.

I have no real experience with actually working on cars other than installing dashcams or doing plug and play type changes so I'm a little nervous/ excited about getting my feet wet into this world but looking forward to learning. I think I'd like to start with general servicing and the first big target being brake pads and rotors.

Hoping to meet some people in the Home Counties North area (Milton Keynes, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard and Aylesbury area) to learn from and chat with! To share something interesting about myself, I worked in the Film Indsutry for a number of years and now for a company that makes cinema cameras, so I'd be very happy to get some lovely shots/ clips of anyones cars should they be interested at any meets!

If I was to start with a question for anyone reading this, I'd be interested to know what would be some essentials I should make sure I keep on hand for my TF?

Jonny
(Apparently I can't add images or links to images, so just imagine a nice green TF with the oxford interior)


 

Welcome from Spain, Jonny 😊

Now you are in the best place to learn everything about your MG 👍🏽

 

David Aiketgate wrote:

: welcome2:
 

Red110 post=222602 userid=23449Welcome from Spain, Jonny 😊

Now you are in the best place to learn everything about your MG 👍🏽
 

Thank you David and Red! Already had a quick look at the How To Guides, looks like some fantastic info in there, will be some fun weekend reading! 

Hello and welcome!
You are in the right place for all things MGF &TF. There are a lot of members on here that have done almost everything you can on these cars.
Try to find out if the head gasket and cambelt have been done previously. It will give you peace of mi d and an idea when the cambelt needs changing again.
One thing that is a must is a low coolant alarm that alerts you to low water in the reservoir.
One of our members @Brucet135tf ...does a very good but inexpensive kit with instructions and pics that anyone can follow! A great job for you to get hands on with the car.
Stick around as you will learn a great deal.
Enjoy your car..I love mine!

TA22GT wrote:

Hello and welcome!
You are in the right place for all things MGF &TF. There are a lot of members on here that have done almost everything you can on these cars.
Try to find out if the head gasket and cambelt have been done previously. It will give you peace of mi d and an idea when the cambelt needs changing again.
One thing that is a must is a low coolant alarm that alerts you to low water in the reservoir.
One of our members @Brucet135tf ! A great job for you to get hands on with the car.
Stick around as you will learn a great deal.
Enjoy your !

Thank you for the welcome! The Headgasket, Water Pump and Cambelt were done by Trophy Cars this year, so I'm pretty happy in that regard. 

I've seen a few comments about the coolant, one chap said he's never had any worries about coolant levels in the 20 years of owning them but the fact there is a mod out there has me thinking! 
As i'm not really going to be driving it as a daily, is just checking it everytime before I drive it fine enough? I guess that should also mean I keep some coolant on hand incase it drops too much. I have added it to my list of mods to thinking about doing though, thank you for the tip! 

Welcome aboard. 
I would echo the thoughts about fitting a low coolant alarm. 
It will give you peace of mind and confidence in the car. 
These are brilliant little cars and if looked after will last for years. 
My only other advice would be to let the engine warm up before giving it the beans 🫘 and enjoy. 

Welcome Jonny.  Another Green one is especially welcome! 

"Brake pads and rotors" ?   You should do a search on those, they are a regular discussion.  

We may be able to help with your problem downloading photos Jonny whats the issue?
Also you might like to put some detail in your profile, d.o.b. and narrow the location down a little perhaps.
Where did you buy the car, was it a dealer of privately ?
We may even be able to help with history of the vehicle.
 

Sorry, the issue was that I am not allowed to upload images yet. I wanted to post some to show the car to people as I know it's always interesting!  I will add more details to my profile though.

Car was bought from Trophy Cars, I know from my research (as commented on my very first post here) people debate the private or dealer route & while I know I paid a premium, it was nice to know the head-gasket, water pump and camblets were done as-well as ensuring the mechanics of the car are in good order. I did not feel too confident to be buying a car like this privately ! 

Reg is OV03 XDT, I can see it was an old member of the MG Owners Club as it came with a keyring on the main set of keys & it looks like a previous owner did lots of work themselves as there is lots of receipts for various parts/ mods over the years. 

Lovely stuff.
That looks like a matching hood too ?
Its still on the site but there as sold.
It looks very good and is probably given the warranty head gasket cam belt etc a good buy.
The interior is very nice, particularly with the addition of the wood.
If you want to get an independent view and look over you could do worse than join the MGOC yourself.
Upon joining you get a free health check at their headquarters which is not too far from you.
The magazine alone makes the membership fee worth it in my opinion.
Good luck with it and I am sure once we get the open top weather you will have bags of fun.