Topic

Hi folks, After fancying one for a while I've recently bough an 1996 MGF to have some fun with while my '63 Sprite is off the road having an engine rebuild. The MG is in good (ish) condition but has been little used for a few years so needs exercising and snagging. I'm up for most mechanical jobs but it's in the garage having a cambelt tomorrow as I realised it was a couple of years overdue and I don't really have the time at the moment.

However another thing I've noticed is the brakes are a bit firm and I'm wondering if the servo is working. Is it possible to change the servo without disconnecting the hydraulics. I could bleed the brakes but I'd rather not.

Many thanks

I think your mistakenly trying to save yourself the job of bleeding it, you stated the cam belt is overdue which suggests a lack of regular maintenance so I wonder when the brake fluid was last changed?
If you go down the route of bleeding it I would check the rest of the system first, brake lines, flexi's, calipers etc and incorporate anything needed into the job, checking advisories on previous MOTs might throw something up. New ownership is a pain/pleasure mix but if you do it now you will save having to do it again in the near future.

Thanks. Absolutely I will do all those things over the next few months but I'm planning on doing an event on Sunday and if I could do a quick and dirty on the servo it might be handy. So is it possble to do a 'dry' servo change?

Hi Jeremy welcome to the forum. As someone who bought a TF as a way of cheering myself up during a painfully slow refurbishment of an MGBGT I understand where you are coming from on this- breaking maintenance down into a series of tasks that can each be done without taking the car off the road for any length of time.

As a look under the bonnet will reveal the brake servo is mechanically between the brake pedal and the master cylinder so as long as you can seperate the servo from the MC there would seem to be no reason to disturb the hydraulics.
I use the word Mechanically deliberately there. The Servo and MC are on the opposite side of the car from the pedal. There is a rotating shaft that runs between the two, a very different looking setup from the MGs of old but mechanically the same.

Whilst there check the servo for flexing, an aftermarket bracket fixes this and improves brake feel. Check out the How To guides on this and the other brake related subjects: https://www.the-t-bar.com/forum/54-how-tos/25321-a-to-z-of-how-to-guides-pics-and-videos As a general rule you will be unlikely to encounter anything that hasnt been done and documented before by someone on here.

What did you decide ?

The brakes have improved considerably with use and feel much better, they are nicely progressive (as opposed to our 2010 Zafira which is shockingly off/on). I have a secondhand servo on the shelf but feel no need to fit it. I suspect a combination of corroded discs and possibly even a seized piston or calliper.

Typically I'm not a heavy braker but I've tried some brisk stops in both dry and wet and the car stops well and nice and straight with no pulling.

It's very satisfying getting a car that was loved but little used back in to daily useable condition.