Hello from sunny Wiltshire

Just checking in to say hello.

I'd been browsing the usual suspect places for a cheap summer convertible but everything I was finding was either miles away, a rusty wreck (or most often both!)
I hadn't totally settled on an MG (I was looking at MX5 and Z4 as well) but a few days ago I saw an eBay listing for a car that threatened scrappage if it wasn't sold by Monday.

Checking the MOT history I could see nothing seriously offputting, so had a chat with the seller (a garage who'd taken it in px against a Range Rover so just wanted rid) and then negotiated a price we were both happy with.

I grabbed a train down there this morning to be greeted by an obviously currently unloved car, filthy dirty but importantly showing all the signs of being well cared for in the past - a huge history file, 4 matching Toyo proxes, only 2 owners from new etc etc.

A quick dose of tax and a handover of cash and I was on my way home.


So what have I bought?

A 2004 (53) MGTF 135 
93k miles
MOT until Dec
history shows prior head gasket and recent lower arms and sill welding

As with all used cars there are a few things to fix though.

Cambelt last changed in 2016 so that's overdue
blowers only work on speed 3 and 4
Throttle pedal is "sticky" feels like it doesn't depress / release smoothly
it's utterly filthy inside and needs a good polish outside too

Mostly it just needs driving lol

Anyway, I've rattled on enough, sure I'll have more to ask as I've never owned one of these before.

 

Hi and     to the forum from John in Yorkshire .  Well done in saving another from the breakers yard , I'm sure you will enjoy your new purchase .
I know it is probably not high on your list of jobs to do but , the throttle sticking is something I have tackled on my TF recently . Now I know that I should have diagnosed the problem before I bought a new cable but as with most things I let my heart rule my head . As you can imagine I had mixed feelings when I removed the pedal from the car to release the cable and found that the cable was as free as a bird . Inspecting the pedal assembly I noticed that there is a couple of white nylon bushes that the pedal pivots on . These bushes were actually stuck to the pivots on both sides . I had to carefully knock the bushes out and then clean off what was black paint from the pedal assembly . Unfortunately I didn't take the all important photos of the offending item but the job of freeing off what was a very jerky accelerator pedal was quite easy compared to removing and threading in a new cable . The car is totally different to drive now the pedal is free so, just make sure you don't make my mistake.            

John 

Thanks John, both for the welcome and for the advice.
Once the overdue belt is taken care of, I think the sticky throttle is my next priority, I just took a mate out in it for a quick demo run and it really does make moderating the throttle in traffic quite tough.

I just couldn't see the car go to a breaker, it just "spoke" to me!
 

Welcome to the Forum Derekmines

Hi Derek, welcome aboard!

:welcome2: 

Hi and welcome to the forum

James

Thanks all for the welcome. Did the first little job today, using one of the guides on this forum I changed the blower resistor and now have 4 working fan speeds instead of the 2 I had before!

Welcome to the TF fold. I'm probably not far from you as I'm in Somerset near Radstock. I've changed my timing belt a couple of times and I've got a flywheel locking tool if you want to borrow it, message me if you want to meet up and talk TFs.

Hello from Wiltshire too!