Topic

Safety Devices made an approved roll bar for the MGF for race use but it had a diagonal that made engine access a bit worse than with hoops.
It was also too tall to use the standard hardtop which was one reason the race hardtop appeared
I have given up on the three front engine cover bolts and don't seem to have any influx of gases from the engine bay. The speaker enclosure presses
the seal down which must help a bit.
The Safety Devices roll bar/cage is still available. Check it out: Safety Devices F/TF

Honda engine...yes too much work for me to get involved....heard about a company some years back fitting Honda type r engines to the tf.....not cheap....the Honda offers a lot more power..I don't think twin pot calipers that are fitted to mg are up to it...so the fitting I think involves suspension brakes being reworked...
I thought if my engine give up premature....I might just pack the tf on a trailer and send it away for the Honda refit...
Never liked changing anything while it's working well...
But who knows....

On the question of quick release of the engine cover, I slotted the screw holes which are underneath the T bar, with a bit of wiggling the cover now comes out with just a couple of turns of the screws....saves a lot of time.

I must be missing something but I have no access problem to my engine bay cover bolts. They are 10mm bolts on mine - not sure if that is normal or not, but a simple 10mm ratchet spanner has them off in no time with no issues. But I do like the idea of slotting them to make it even quicker!

Nik

Yes Nik. ratchet spanner is the only way to go...without them it takes ages to get the blighters off.

Nik, is your F a Mk1? They didn't have T-bar speakers and it's the plastic boxes for the speakers in the Mk2s that makes the access to 3 of the bolts difficult. My solution was to ditch the speakers in my Mk2 (later on I also ditched the radio and fitted a SatNav in its place - removing the big door speakers too as why carry dead weight around?). For some reason, while I listen to stuff in my daily drive, I never did in the F and the Sat Nav is actually of some practical use.

NikTheGeek wrote: wrote:

I must be missing something but I have no access problem to my engine bay cover bolts. They are 10mm bolts on mine - not sure if that is normal or not, but a simple 10mm ratchet spanner has them off in no time with no issues. But I do like the idea of slotting them to make it even quicker!

Nik

Yes I used a ratchet spanner on the 3 m6 pins with a 10mm head....but starting them when putting them back can be tricky....might be me being impatient...neh I've read about this topic before and there is plenty of people who moan about the access and there is a few people who are happy who say it's not a problem...even people leaving the bolts out alltogether..In the 2018 I intend on doing engine checks on a more regular basis...and will be happy in the thought that I can remove and replace the pins with minimum effort..without leaving them out.....yes I know what you mean about slotting the cover I did think of that method...take out all pins but just slacken the 3 and slide it out....but went for the other option because of cutting through the rubber seal.

Blow-in wrote: wrote:

Nik, is your F a Mk1?

My "F" is a TF, 2004, so maybe that's why it's easier then?

mgtfbluestreak wrote: wrote:

.....In the 2018 I intend on doing engine checks on a more regular basis....

but you can do all the regular checks from the boot without removing the cover.

Yes but your limited what you are checking..you can't see a great deal from the boot.. .it's a bit like a game of hide and seek.....or the darkside of the moon.

Oil and coolant.

Brake fluid, washer fluid and power steering fluid are under the bonnet,

What else do you need to check that often?

Checking things like chaffing....by doing this I've detected things that could go wrong in the future...1 hose was being gradually bitten away...a water hose problem is not what I want...leaks anything really...the tf is a hobby and not a full time runabout and me being a engine builder has my full time job ...means I want to check anything has i see first hand how engines fail and now my cover comes off quicker I'm happy chappy...because that's the way I like it....call it obcession or even paranoia....The scania I'm working on would still be running if the mechanics checking it regular spotted the slight oil leak that developed into a leg out of bed excuse is we couldn't see that side of the engine its tight in...

I even check for bearing wear in the engine bay fan.......all this done in my own garage listening to rock music ...
When I got my tf the rad looked in great condition viewed through the vents...it didn't loose any water....but because I went that extra mile and had the bumper off to check it found the rad ready to disintegrate and the rad fan had distorted due to the rad corroding and bowing...the fan had shaved itself against the outer cowl...The moral of the story.... don't just check coolant levels...check everywhere it goes ...not a glimpse through a peep hole....when I say regular basis..well maybe once every month between may and October. ..6 times ....has Oct to may..it's garaged......and after all how can you clean the engine with the cover on.....noticed a bit of phosphor appearing on that new alternator.....just had to Polish it off.