MGF and MG TF an underrated great buy if you know what to look for! Scare stories explained.

You may have seen an MGF or MG TF and liked the look so here's a closer look...

The TF (left) and the F (Right)

History

The last days of MG production under British Leyland were sad for those of us who thought that the MG brand would die and just be another badge to put on a tired BL base unit to try and prop up sales.

For many of us then, the MGB and the MG Midget had been the stalwart sports car offering from the factory, cars going back at least 18 years. Indeed, many of the old Midgeteers and Bee-ers were the sort of people to sit up and take notice of the new MGF.

With the Rover group acquisition and no competition from the Triumph marque as in the BL days with the Spitfire and TR7, the road was open for a new MG model and not some bodge engineered, badge changed upgraded car.

My TF in Trophy Blue one of the colours that really suits the car

The new MG - The MGF

The new MGF was a car that had been carefully developed, yes it did use some parts from the Metro parts bins, but it was a totally new body tub.

Much care had been taken to style the new car and it does have a similar look to the then production Lotus side on.

The 1.8 Twin Cam engine had been used in the BMW Z3 no less and mated to a 5 speed gearbox gives great performance and economy.

However, much of the car was new, but MG Rover sensibly used some components of the MGF which were already standard fitment on the Metro, because they were available and not expensive. For later years this made great sense, common parts availability is no bad thing.

(The Phoenix 4 debacle did however really cause problems for MG. If the factory had not closed, the cars would have enjoyed longer in production and new models may have come along.)

The MGF Trophy 160 a special edition with bigger brakes and yellow paint 

The TF in yellow with optional colour coded hard top

The MGF came with Hydragas suspension inherited from the Metro, the old MG 1100 and original 1959 Mini, the TF was changed to coils, which gave a slightly harder ride.

An aftermarket coil conversion is available at around £700 for the MGF. The MGF Trophy 160 uses different sized Hydragas spheres which can cause a problem spares wise.
 

Essentially, the TF was a facelifted MGF but with a few upgrade changes, as happened when in 1953 the then MG TD was updated and became the TF. The modern TF had a new front, restyled side panels and a lip put on the boot lid. It gained ABS which is good and some TF's had larger disks and brake callipers. The scuttle was braced on the TF to reduce shake.

The cars both came with a hood as standard and an after market hard top could be had, colour coded to your paintwork. Hard tops are interchangeable between F and TF.

So what was not to like?

The 'problems'

So what are the problems of a by now 20 year old car?

As with any car, its how it was looked after, but the main 'issue' has been the head gasket and here's why.

The MGF and TF have a radiator at front and a mid engine, behind the seats. Therefore the water pipes have to go from front to back, here was one of the problems, unfairly blamed on the head gasket.

When changing the coolant, all the air must be gotten out of the system, I fill the system, raise the front of the car about 12 inches off the ground and then squeeze the rubber hoses and tap with a plastic hammer lightly on the metal ones to displace any air bubbles that are trapped. Bleed the heater matrix to by undoing the small bleed screw. Also leaving the radiator cap bolt off allows the air to escape upwards, when this is achieved screw the plug back in and the heater bleed screw.

Run the car and check the heater, as soon as you get warm air from the vents, you know the system is ok. Let the coolant cool and top up. Let the car down onto the flat and check at the rear expansion tank. It is worth running the car for a few minutes and adding coolant as required, it should not take much. Allow to cool, then check and refill if required, the level is for the fluid to be level with the seam on the see through expansion tank.

The MG TF had a PRT Water system, many F's have been upgraded and I did mine, also fitting new Stainless water pipes at the same time which was a good upgrade. The PRT improves the waterflow and does away with the in-line thermostat. It can be tricky to fit but is well worth it.

If a car has had a new head gasket it should also have had fitted a new bolt rail, which the head bolts go into. Essentially, this improves the strength of the assembly.

Most head gaskets have been upgraded to the multi layer type. If you see bubbles in the expansion tank when the engine is running, you may have a start of a head gasket failure, the car should not be run as water becoming steam, can erode pistons, I have seen this on a water cooled ATV.

Bodywork corrosion is not a common problem on most F and TF's but a car should be kept washed off as much as possible to stop any salt getting to work, the sub frames can rust if not cleaned off. Also make sure you can get the wheels off, alloys can 'grow' onto steel hubs. Better to ensure you can get the wheel off rather than be stranded!

Essentially the F and TF are quite simple cars to own and maintain and you can work on them, although the engine being where it is can make some jobs tricky! It is better if you have access to a ramp or a pit as the cars are low.

The clutch shaft can stick in the bushing in the gearbox which is an inherited fault of the Rover era gearbox, but a greasable shaft can be purchased and at this stage a new clutch is worth fitting too as the gearbox has to come out to do the job.

Really, they are very easy to keep on the road as a daily or weekend car.

So buying one?

I think the car still looks modern and people often comment on the look of the car, it looks more expensive than it is. Prices are starting to rise so they are a good investment, up to a thousand might get you a car on the road and of course low mileage, service history book cars and more recent cars are more expensive.

Driving, they are a delight, light and stick to the road. Ensure tyres are to the correct pressure and the wheels can be set up on a laser tracker to get the best angle to the road.

If you have owned an MG Midget then this is like the next generation and gives over 40mpg on a run if driven carefully. The fuel injection and engine management give better economy than on the old A and B series engine cars of the Longbridge BL days.

I have an F and a TF and they are nice cars, insurance is cheap and can be had as classic policy limited mileage, tax is a bit over £200  a year which is a shame but maybe the threshold will change in the future because these are 'clean' cars.

As someone who has owned an M type from 1930 and a 04 TF I have had both ends of the scale, I often think as I drive my cars that this is the last British made MG Sports car, but we may find that the Chinese owners introduce a new convertible MG in the future.

Value for money, these cars are cheap and will rise in value, they are almost worth buying and putting away for later as they will never be as cheap again. The spares too are cheap at the moment. An alternative may be the Mazda MX5 but I like the MG name!

My other car is a 1930 MG Special