Topic

I took my car in for it`s Provincial Safety Inspection today and it failed with flying colours!
Before I give the bad news and ask my questions I will say that the MGF was a big hit at the shop. I was barely out of the car before a crowd gathered asking questions about the F. Of course, this is the first MGF in town so very few have ever seen one before.
Anyway, the car failed on several counts, not least of which was rusty rear brake pipes. This was very obvious as one blew while I was driving to the shop! It seems the pressure has increased now that the rear brakes are actually working after I installed new EBC rotors and pads last weekend. Replacing the pipes is standard stuff so no questions there.
Another fault was rear suspension bushings, most of which are also straightforward. My main question is regarding what I would call the Trailing Arm. This is the curved arm leading back from the subframe to the lower suspension arm. It seems the bushings at the large round housing at the round end of the bars is shot. Are these bushings replaceable on their own or are they molded into the arm? If so, can anyone supply a part number?
Other than that I have to replace worn rear droplinks, a bent track control rod, front subframe rear mounts and the dreaded coolant pipes which were so bad the tester was afraid to touch them! (Frankly I'm glad he didn't give them a poke! Stainless pipes will be going on.
By the time I got the car home someone posted a spy pic of the car on Revscene.net , a local car site. Funnily enough there was also a picture of a TF with Connecticut plates which also happened to be in Vancouver.

Cheers,
Rich

rear lower suspension

D'oh!
Duplicate post,
Please see below:oops:

Cheers,
Rich

Rich in Vancouver wrote: wrote:

Thanks David, That's a well done page.
I also found a good tutorial on poly bushings here Link

Cheers,
Rich

Rich in Vancouver wrote: wrote:

Rich in Vancouver wrote: wrote:

Thanks David, That's a well done page.
I also found a good tutorial on poly bushings here Link

Cheers,
Rich

Powerflex are good, i found the same detailed information for a front suspension bush on my wifes VW Polo (a cheap rubber bush that fails quickly) the poly replacement will last forever. are you now going to do all of the bushes on the front and back in poly? The rear brake pipes are a common problem with early Fs and are quite often a MoT failure here. You brakes job looked very good, you replaced the rear calipers too or did you refurbish them?? Some disc suppliere have stoped drilling them right through because cracks were radiating from the holes, yours have been dimpled. Really like the black finish too. Uncanny that you were spotted and posted on the way back from the testing station.

You can't drive anywhere around here without the paparazzi spotting you! There are a lot of young Chinese guys here whose families have come from Hong Kong and Mainland China with lots of money and they are very much into the car culture. Lots of BMWs, Mercedes, Mitsu's, WRX's, tuner cars, and quite a few exotics. It's not unusual to see Maseratis, Skylines and Audi TTs parked in the student parking lots at the High Schools. It's nice to know that they appreciate my humble MGF.
As for the brakes, I have to admit that the calipers were in good shape so they just got a couple of coats of "Rebuild in a Can"
I just ordered the bushings from Moto-Build. I was really happy with their service the last time I used them and their prices are pretty good too. I am going to order all new fasteners from Rimmer's just in case I have to cut any rusty nuts/bolts off.
This is a pain as my budget for the car is pretty much shot but I can't argue with any of the repairs the tester noted as they all need to be done and most are safety related. And of course...I can't get the car registered until it passes!

Cheers,
Rich

Thank You, not surprised that your budget is shot, you do know that MGF stands for Money Grabbing F****R Moto -Build are good and prices too. Great idea about bolts, so much easier with new ones, many will be rusted on, plenty of Plusgas too. regards Bryan