Please say Hello to Clayton, our 2003 TF 135

Well, time to formally introduce Clayton. He’s actually been with us since July, and has had quite a few things done/added to him. But, those of you with keen eyes may have noticed that my Avatar used to be a red1955 TF. Sadly, that car finally sold today. I bought it in 1967 so that’s a wrench. Now you’ll see that Clayton features in all his Trophy Blue glory, complete with badge bar, badges and a vinyl number plate on his bonnet.

His changes have been pretty much the usual. New mats, Momo gear knob, Mike Satur aircon control knobs, rear light covers, luggage net, hand brake and gear lever boots, dual MGF horns, windstop, re-lined tonneau cover, chrome ash tray, locking wheel nuts replaced with solids, new MG badges. On the more technical front the gear change mechanism has been tightened up at the front and a Mike Satur bellcrank and rose joints fitted at the rear. An under bonnet light and an electric boot release have been fitted.

He’s only done 52,000 odd Km, but tyres are old and hard and I’m tired of opposite locking on roundabouts, so new tyres go on next week. It’s quite hard to get any tyres the right sizes here, let alone good ones. A set of Bilstein shocks is also on order, as are five new relays for the Pektron box. These choices, and several others, have come about because I’ve been avidly reading my way thru these Forums – thanks to all, and particularly to the ‘How To’ers.

Why ‘Clayton’, you ask? Many years ago an NZ firm called Claytons produced a zero – alcohol liquor. Their slogan was ‘The drink you have when you’re not having a drink.’ So, Clayton’s ‘The TF you have when ….” Sorry to any offended owners.

:welcome2: Clayton!

Hi ya Clayton, welcome to the forum from John in Yorkshire. :woohoo:

Hi Dave welcome to you and Clayton

Hi there 😎

Just an update on Clayton. I wanted Michelin tyres, but the rear size is not available in NZ. So I've got Hankooks. I'm not rapt, but they are a lot better than the old, hard, mismatched tyres. The Bilstein shocks are on, and work as well as all the posters on this site foretold - thanks. Feels not all that different from our Audi.

Lately I had SS brake lines and the Mike Satur Brake Servo brace kit put on. Only issue is that, despite the instructions, we weren't able to access one of the lower mounting nuts to get the backing plate on. The air conditioning got in the way. Result is that now the whole unit bulges out of the bulkhead, instead of only half of it. Still a great improvement in feel.

Replacing the throttle cable finally dealt with some remaining scratchiness. And I have my Pektron relays, but their fitment awaits my Xmas visit to an electronically minded friend. Have I told you yet, John?

David

Thats a great update Dave. Have you been driving Clayton much recently ?

Yes, a few times a week and on our MGCC Canterbury events. I've been on the track twice, and found that , with the Hankooks, Clayton is very definitely an oversteerer. On the faster corners, at the end of straights, I need quite a bit of opposite lock at 100 mph and over. I still need to learn more about track behaviour - I find I'm using the same braking points as with my old TF (I am quite a bit faster) and not getting the most out of the disks.

Photo is at Levels Raceway, Timaru. Our Centre website is https://www.sporty.co.nz/mgcarcanterbury/Home-1

That looks excellent fun. Is it feasible to tweak the wheel alignment, camber etc to reduce the oversteer ?

I understand that TFs are very sensitive to tyres and pressures, so perhaps some experimentation with pressures would be beneficial before making adjustments with the alignment.

Tracking is a whole bucket of worms, one tweak too many one way & not enough the other & you’ve got a different car. You have to entrust your car, whose foibles you have learned to live with, to someone who claims to be an expert, even though he’s just clambered out from under a transit you’d have reasoned should be in a scrapyard.
And if after it & you’ve been done over & it’s awful, how can you return it to how it was before. Where’s your datum?
I’ve been putting together a system which will provide me with that datum & I’ve been at it, more off than on for ages.
There’s a number of videos on the internet base around string, “boxing” in the car in & taking measurements, mainly to the tyre. I’m using laser & right angle isosceles prism with reference to the off side front hub.
It’s an interesting experiment & I know I can return it to datum if all goes tits up
M

Thanks for the ideas. I do intend to get a four wheel laser alignment for the new tyres, but haven't got round to it yet. The oversteer is under high - usually full - power on the corners and reminds me so much of my 55 TF I'm quite happy with it. If it gets too much of an angle I just back the power off a little to bring the tail in. I did try a little more pressure in the rear tyres to stiffen them up, but it made no difference. The old TF needed to change from 26 to 40 PSI on the track.

The car runs very well under normal conditions, and the tyres show no signs of odd wear yet, so I don't think it's far out of line. Not enough to generate strong oversteer, anyway.

Of course, sometimes my '55 TF would understeer at the limit, too.