Topic

The sad answer I think is no and its due to the electronics.

I have owned my F now for nearly 10 years but I only use it during the 6 summer months and during the winter it sit in a nice dry garage and gets started every couple of weeks or so.

However I'm always getting electronic faults when I put it back on the road most of which right themselves after a bit of a run BUT if you don't have an MOT you can't go for that run and so this can cause a problem getting it through an MOT.
One of the biggest issues I had with it was when I went to Spain for 3 months so it didn't get started so the battery went totally flat. It would not start after that even with a new battery I had to put jump leads on and crank it for sometime before it finally kicked into life so I have always had it connected to a trickle charger since and its not be a problem since no matter how long I don't start it for.

So 25 years or so down the road you find one in a barn it will never be a simple as say an MGB clean fuel, battery, clean points and start her up (well not always that simple) but an F or TF ..or most post 1995ish cars you will have a ECU and a load of sensors which will most likely be dead and imposable to replace

As time goes by it is getting easier to diagnose faults making the electronics easier to deal with.

It's an interesting question. It will probably come down to money in the end. While you may be able to get a barn find B going you will probably have to pay a small fortune to restore the rusted body and anything rubber will have perished. As MGs tend to be undervalued because they were 'common' the cost of any restoration isn't covered by re-sale value. I expect there will be far fewer Fs & TFs around in 5 years let alone 25 and the remainder will have a loyal following prepared to shell out and someone will be fixing ecus etc. It's a future icon as the last genuine British sports car for the masses.

Richard

Is the hydragas going to be the killing of the F's in the near future?Is it a case of once it's no longer serviceable, the car's a gonner? With the Suplex kit not being worth a wank, is that it, or can the Aussie kit be gotten?

Stekelly wrote: wrote:

Is the hydragas going to be the killing of the F's in the near future?Is it a case of once it's no longer serviceable, the car's a gonner? With the Suplex kit not being worth a wank, is that it, or can the Aussie kit be gotten?

Another option is to swap to TF subframes and suspension.

Stekelly wrote: wrote:

Is the hydragas going to be the killing of the F's in the near future?Is it a case of once it's no longer serviceable, the car's a gonner? With the Suplex kit not being worth a wank, is that it, or can the Aussie kit be gotten?

The Aussie kit is still available, and If I ever get my shit together I'll get round to fitting my prototype modified rechargeable spheres for testing.
So all is not lost!
But one way or the other, it looks like you Pomgolians are gonna have be dependant on our Aussie ingenuity

The Aussie spring kit with suitable dampers does seem like a good replacement for hydragas. The problem is the shipping costs so the solution might be for one of our entrepreneurs to import a container full to sell on to the Brits and near neighbours taking advantage of bulk rates. I'm sure there would be quite a few pre-orders if the price was right.

Richard

Yeah, that was my next question. surprised it hasnt been done. The other option is people who are returning after emigrating. I'm sure there are plenty of people coming this way permanently so subletting some container space to offset cost could be an option.

I'd be all over the aussie kit.

p24hrsmith wrote: wrote:

However I'm always getting electronic faults when I put it back on the road most of which right themselves after a bit of a run BUT if you don't have an MOT you can't go for that run and so this can cause a problem getting it through an MOT.(

MOT it at the end of the season so it's MOTed when you first get it out, it also gives you a change to sort the advisories over winter.

I do as rule make sure it still has some MOT at start of season but doesn't always go to plan

Of course the bigger issue is governments actively discouraging petrol engined cars in favour of electric power.
Where I live electric car sales are really picking up momentum and the new Tesla is only going to increase this trend.
Our government is giving sizeable rebates on electrics and is also providing them with free parking and the use of carpool lanes.
It may be that in 10 years time we won't just be hunting down Hydragas replacements but also electric conversions to keep our
cars on the road.

Rich in Vancouver wrote: wrote:

Of course the bigger issue is governments actively discouraging petrol engined cars in favour of electric power.
Where I live electric car sales are really picking up momentum and the new Tesla is only going to increase this trend.
Our government is giving sizeable rebates on electrics and is also providing them with free parking and the use of carpool lanes.
It may be that in 10 years time we won't just be hunting down Hydragas replacements but also electric conversions to keep our
cars on the road.

The electric conversion was proved very good in 2013.... I don't think there was much interest unfortunately...



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