Hi There!

Hello folks! 

I recently bought a, fairly dirt cheap, 1996 MG F VVC. 
I'm slowly but surely working through the, few, issues it has and felt like joining this Forum might be a good resource to help me do that. 

It's a British Racing Green MG F with about 215000km on the clock. The hydragas is absolutely shot and the soft top is not long for this world. Add to that the fact that shifting gears feels like stirring a pot of noodles and you've got a real piece of work on your hands...

Anyway, I wanna nurse this piece of work back to health. And I intend to document at least some of that work here, even if it ends up in me just yelling into the void. 

Car aside I myself am a 23 year old IT tech from The Netherlands! The MG F is my daily and replaces my 1990 produced Audi 100 C3 Avant. 

Thanks for reading, hope to say hi to some of y'all sometime soon! 

Welcome. That is a lovely MGF in a lovely colour.

Yes, this forum is exactly the place you need to be. As An IT tech you will probably already have a mechanical mindset so you will soon soak up lots of information to give you the confidence to work on your MGF. These are not difficult cars to work on but you have to understand their foibles.

I would reccommend investing some time reading through the forum. There are lots of resources here, the manufacturer's RAVE workshop manuals and circuit diagrams in the Library sesction plus the useful How To articles by forum members. There are also useful snippets of information everywhere in the general threads.

These cars are finally starting to increase in value but there are still lots of affordable 2nd hand parts available and the supply of new parts is also good.

There is a guy that several of us have sent our hydragas spheres to for regassing. Unfortunately many mechanics who dont know these cars just pump more fluid into them- it makes the suspension rock hard and uncomfortable though. The proper process is to replenish the nitrogen gas in them. It will make them work like new again

Thx!

There's a few local shops (at least within the country) who sell hyragas spheres with nitrogen nozzles. But truth be told it's an investment which I'm putting on the backburner for now. Far more interested in getting all the plastic washers in the gear mechanism fixed and getting it all shifting smoothly again.

Also saw a bellcrank upgrade kit which I might look into, uncertain about the results however.



Anyway enough of my yapping, thanks for the welcome!

Hello and welcome Ellie..you have come to the right place!
Your car looks great.
That is some mileage and is it the original engine do you know? It is very impressive and good to know if it is.
A few regulars on here have just done their hydragas suspension and I am sure they will be able to help you.
Lot's to read on the Forum and just join in.
Enjoy your stay!

Thanks for the welcome!

I'm as of yet uncertain whether the engine is original or not, there is very very little (read: none at all) documentation with the car. Which makes figuring out the history rather difficult haha.

Really good looking car!!!

Welcome to the forum from Spain 

There is nothing special about the bell crank it’s the rose joints which do the tightening up & to be honest unless you initially start with a snappy change you won’t feel much of an improvement.
Oh welcome by the way. I’m always interested in folk from “off shore” who have our type of car. For us they are part of our lineage & those who dedicated so much time to them do so either from pity or guilt. You have the world to go at, yet you chose to join us.
Absolutely super.
It’s such a long time since I took my gear change in hand, I can’t remember whether I worked it out myself or whether there’s a “how to”.
Go there first, then if it’s not clear, we’ll start from square one.
M

G'day and welcome, here is a link to a checklist for new members and owners: https://www.the-t-bar.com/forum/54-how-tos/99326-a-check-list-for-new-owners It may prove helpful.

I'll have a look at the gearbox situation sometime soon, though that might still be a few months out. 

For now I'm going to do my best to enjoy this lil runabout for the summer months. Weather has been insultingly pleasant here and the MG F is extremely well suited to it. 

The bell crank kit is overkill. Just change to cable end sockets. Very easy to do and makes a big difference. Parts are not expensive and available from many sellers. 



If your shifting is difficult after making this change, your clutch slave cylinder made need replacement.

While you are at it, be sure to lubricate the clutch fork arm. 

I did this a few years back and it made a huge difference. 

Is there a list anywhere of the parts to order for the cable end conversion please ?

Found a local shop which does full rear end redesigns based on the bell crank design of the Lotus Elise.

I'm gonna inquire with them, mostly out of sheer curiosity.

I'll post further updates in the "Wocha bin doin on your MG this week then?" thread.