replacing the starter motor

That's a great story .
John.

No, they said that they made no such attempt. They stopped once they established that it was not a starter motor problem. They do not apparently venture into the engine....

My attempts to remove the cover so as to inspect the belt have floundered as I have yet to find out how to access the 4th and 5th bolt. The simple instruction in the workshop manual to "remove the five bolts" does not give any indication as to how to get access to them all!! I will keep looking for a real "idiot's guide" to doing this - but have to suspect that even if I find one I will have neither the tools nor the confidence to complete this apparently simle task..

Phil, you can do this. Purchase a good inspection mirror and with a bright light, you will be able to find all the bolts.

Mirror tool

One of the bolts is just about the alternator on the right hand side. The bottom one is accessed from the wheel well, its sort of behind the engine support bracket.

If you would like, I could do a video of the location of the different bolt locations.

[attachment=30145]231023 spark plugs - 1.jpeg[/attachment]

Better late than never: herewith photos of the spark plugs that you said, some while ago now, could be useful to see.

Regards,

Phil

That indicates serious damage, has the timing belt been inspected?
I think you find that the timing belt has failed causing serious damage to the cylinder head.
It would appear that the pistons on two cylinders have had interment relations with the valves of those cylinders!
The timing cover will need to be removed to confirm this, and the cylinder head will need to be removed to properly assess the damage but I’m betting the engine is fornicated!
Given where you are and the lack of local knowledge of these engines, your best bet will be to locate and import a good 2nd hand engine…. And before installing I’d replace the timing belt, it’s tensioner and associated parts

+1 a good second hand engine will be the most sure footed way forward now.

I spotted this one, which being a VVC from an F should be a straight replacement. https://www.mgfntfbitz.co.uk/shop/mgf-vvc-55k-engine/

It would be worth an email to Darren there to explain your predicament and ask him to calculate the price of shipping to the US as they will export. It would also be worth asking how much extra he would charge to supply and fit a new timing belt and tensioner for piece of mind- and perhaps the clutch too unless the clutch on your old engine was changed quite recently that is.

Whatever you do, dont scrap the car. !

You WILL get over this . It is achievable and you will soon be back driving the F

After some research which involved a puzzled look & a guess, I estimate that there are more f’s dropping out of the bottom of the market than are being looked after. This means that after studying graphs & extrapolations, working around mean values, bell curves, prospected fluctuations in the old car futures market & waiting for the kettle to boil, an MGf in the States in good working order would be a very attractive vehicle to have.
Is there a twenty five year rule which says that certain cars not imported into the states for some original perceived non compliance are now able to be tubbed over & sold.
There was a chap looking around for 25year old f’s a bit back, it could easily be the same chap hoovering up Land Rovers. They sell at one hell of a premium out there so an MG could easily be a great prospect.
Not’aNum’ is correct in his evaluation & recommendations & if I’d dollars in my pocket & had something interesting to spend it on that’s where it would go.
As they become fewer their values will increase, not EType values but handy enough to have & less of a worry if it got bent.
M

F's, and TFs have been making their way to Canada since 2010 (15 yr rule) and into US since 2020 (25 yr rule). To my knowledge there over 150 F/TFs in North America. We have owned our two '95 Fs since 2011 and 2015 respectively.

I have waited seven years on a different continent to be reunited with my MG, Scrapping it is not any part of my plan - such plan as I have is more focussed on how to placate my very understanding and long-suffering wife! I do, however, wonder sometimes whether I have been selfish and the car would have had a better life staying in the UK, in the hands of an MG enthusiast, rather than being stood in a garage for the past seven years .

25 years after a car is first registered it is eligible for importation to the US without meeting any of the US requirements. As the MGF was never intended to be sold new in the US it was never put through the US requirements at manufacture. Thus, mine has sat in a garage for seven years awaiting its 25th birthday and was then shipped to Galveston, TX

The idea of buying a replacement engine is enticing - but it seems that the cost of freighting it here from the UK makes an arm and a leg seem cheap, based on the quote from Gill at MGFnTFBITZ.

Does anyone out there have experience of using a US-based company to import car bits? I have contacted FreightCenter, Freight Specialist and Freightright so far and will continue to search for possible US-based companies, but any suggestions from past experience would be gratefully receved.

Cheers,

Phil