Topic

Hi
Last Saturday (25/4) I bought my wife a MG TF ! (I'm sure she will enjoy it when I let her )
it's a lovely 02 1.8 trophy blue with 43k see avitar !!
it does seem a bit more of an undertaking than I first thought

the brakes are s t
there are very small brown dots in the paint work ( see pic)
I hope it's not rust !!


there is a small gap in the hood (hopefully is adjustable)

I have scrubbed & sealed the hood as it was probably the only thing that let the car down.

over all the car is bags of fun, gets loads of admiring looks
and some thing a bit different to a fiesta ( my wifes last car)

thanks in advance for any help given
Paul1966

Welcome to the loony bin.

The hoods fine, they're all like that.

Don't let the look of it let you down, nobody can see it when it's folded down and covered by the tonneau cover!!

Brakes aren't the beast for a sports car but can be freshened up with new discs n pads and maybe a servo bracket.

Next step after that is a big brake kit consisting of larger discs and AP 4pot calipers but you have to have bigger, 16in wheels and deep pockets.

The black spots, are they like tar spots or paint spots??

If they're tar then something like tar remover to soften them up which is available in halfrauds or such like, if they're paint then something like moths or white spirit would work then a good polish!!

Loads of helpful information and friendly natives on the T-Bar.

yes same colour as mine lovely........I don't think the mg brakes are the best.........still well worth checking out............mine to was for the mrs but ive only let her have ago of it once..............well worth checking if your new to the mg is if the wheels can be removed and the spare is easy to remove..........I had a bit of playing around fortunately on the drive......they were well stuck on

Hi and welcome to the forum

Mrs TC thinks our VVC belongs to her............

I had similar marks in the paint on my trophy yellow ZS, they were burn marks from tar, I work next to a tarmac plant so I guess it was fall out from their chimley.

James

Thanks guys for the quick replies & warm welcome !

@ Andy the tyre man, the spots are brown very small ( unlike close up pic urk ) can feel lumpy texture... was thinking of using T-cut
but I understand the beautiful pearlescent finish is in the clear top coat.

servo bracket ?? haven't heard about this, was depressed last week when I found cost of 16" wheels & brake kit
the wheels I have are imaculate & tires very good, the calipers look odd, I mean like one hasn't been put together properly
will get pro to check out

@ mgtfbluestreak, have had spare out twice lol rubber was stuck to car, dont think it has ever been used !! was upset to see it was steel,
maybe will 'find' a 185 alloy at scrapyard to replace, also looked very closely at wheels while cleaning & each has a 'dummy key' lock nut
how do these come off ?? weights have come off both front wheels & will need to be rebalanced.

thanks again to all who have posted
Paul1966

your dummy key locknut cover is extracted with a tool which should be with the car....it is a black plastic tube which you push over them and after lockin on you simply pull off........the tube also keeps the locking nut in a safe place....mine is left pushed inside so the two items are together...........the tube is used on a wide range of rover cars and is often sold on ebay for around a tenner...........looking at my mgtf handbook this tool is shown in operation on page 101 under wheel changing...the tool part number is kbp100050..............the lock nut tool kept inside this tube has a number stamped on the end .......make a note of this number incase you need a replacement..............my car is covered in a brown and white manky looking substance............but I know where its from ruddy blackbird on the telephone wire

Just remembered I had a metro when I worked at BSM that developed rust spots in the clear coat, then I remebered I chopped up a mini next to it and these were the result of fragments od metal that had been flung at it.

On your car I would try clay bar.

The dummy lock nut covers will hid actual lock nuts, it the tool kit should be a black metal tube for removing the cover, there should be a lock nut key as well. These tend to fail so I normally fit MacGard lcoking nuts, they were O/E on later cars and are much better.

Thanks guys,
found the black tube while cleaning jack bag...
tried it on lock nuts but think it needs pushing on hard
(thinking back maybe my old rover 200 had this ??
will buy some car clay just seen some on ebay for about £5
anyone recommend anything different to that ??

thanks Paul1966

cant comment much more about the cleaning side .........but back on those wheels,it is worth noting that the tyres on front of the tf are different sizes to the ones on the rear smaller on the front

I had an old rough looking vvc wheel that I put a 185/55-15 tyre on so the missus has a proper spare instead of the 14in spare.

It doesn't matter if it's the wrong size as it's an emergency fitment only.