The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Hi Chaps

Now that my Tc is done it's time to get the wife's MGF done that I bought her a few months ago. The body work isn't too bad for a 1995 car. And it will keep my wife quiet while I get on with the Vitesse after this.

The MGF started it's life as a Jap Export and came back to the UK in 1998.

My wife always wanted a purple one, and that is what she got, I thought it was worth a punt, and as I only paid £200 for it, I wouldn't lose money if it turned out to be a bad egg.

So far we have bought a new TF interior, back box, cat and down pipe, we think these must have got stolen with the last owner as it was chopped. And It only cost me £45 for the 3 pipe's from the bay.

When we bought her the guy said she did run but there was a problem with the alarm, so first job a few months ago was to sort this out. I looked up known problems on the old internet and found that you can reset the fob. And not knowing the condition of the battery in the fob I bought a few new ones.

After resetting the fob without the battery in, then putting the new one in, hey presto, she started with the first turn of the key.

She needs a weld to the rear of the passenger side wing where it meets the rear arch, so first job now she is in the garage is to sort this, and have a dig, before my TC I wouldn't have touched a car that needed work.

Some Pics













Any comments etc always welcome

Many Thanks

Darren

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

Gotta be the first to ask?

How is the Head Gasket?

I was waiting for that one

_________________
Round The U Bend Looking for my Camera

When we got it going a few months ago, we left it running for a good 30 mins and it never boiled, so hopefully we have a good one Alan

Thanks for asking tho

Darren

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

Had to be a good one out there somewhere just on the law of averages. Glad you were the one to find it mate.

My wife's happy that's the main thing and it keeps her of my back for my Triumphing win win

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

My wife's happy that's the main thing and it keeps her of my back for my Triumphing win win

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

Nice one Darren, I fancied one of these as I actually fit inside without any issues but auto's are a bit thin on the ground in the 'cheaper end of the market'. Looks like a damn good buy and should present no real issue for you. If you want the interior cleaning up just give me a shout.

Hi Ken

I will post some pics soon of the interior, we have changed the seats and door cards with TF ones, we got a really good deal from a guy on the mgf forum that was too good to refuse. Just got to fit the T bar at the back and the new speaker bar which we got from him too.

Looks a lot better than the F interior that was in it, I can't understand why Rover were using the same style seats in the early F's, the original seats were half leather with bright green tubing in a purple car .

It shows that rover were still using the parts bin 20yrs on.

Many Thanks

Darren

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

So today's job's was to get the old down pipe of, well what was left of it, and then put the new down pipe, cat, and back box on. Sounds a lot better now.

We hadn't really left the car running for long before so we decided to leave her running for an extended amount of time and see if there was anything lurking that we hadn't been told by the previous owner.

Some pics And Vids

http://s773.photobucket.com/albums/yy20 ... 112001.mp4

http://s773.photobucket.com/albums/yy20 ... 112002.mp4





All the best

Darren

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

not much wrong there squire.

A k series I was always told should sit almost dead centre on temp gauge.

_________________
Round The U Bend Looking for my Camera

Thanks Glen

Wasn't to sure where it was meant to sit, Mad has been panicking cause people in work keep saying to her change the h/g before she uses it, but I said to her if it doesn't need it you don't touch it.

Need to make a brake pipe or 2, wire in the oxygen sensor and do the weld, then I will throw it in for the mot. The underfloor pipes don't look fantastic so looking to buy some stainless ones, (do you sell em in your place ).

Need to finish it a.s.a.p

Then Vitesse time

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

Been doing the welding today, there was more rot than anticipated, but that just made the patch bigger

Pics









Many Thanks

Darren

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa

The big problem with the F engine is a badly designed head gasket (yes I know, everybody knows that!) but what it does is allow engine oil into the cooling system so your first port of call (and frequent future checks) is for mayo in the header bottle. While this is ok the engine is healthy but the odds are it WILL fail eventually, If you are going to work on the "if it ain't broke...." theory then the knack is to catch it early when it does go!
I am also a little worried by your description of this as a Jap export car, does this mean it has aircon? I only ask because I had to do do the head on a similar aircon fitted export model. This car had been left so long that the heater rad was blocked solid with mayo and had to be replaced. Its different to the standard one so its hard to find AND its necessary to remove EVERYTHING from inside the car to get it out! And I MEAN EVERYTHING from the board behind the seats to the complete crash pad and steering column assembly!
With this in mind you may agree with me that prevention is better than cure! On the upside, I have never had one fail that i've done once, so long as you fit the modified gasket and MOST importantly, replace the useless plastic head dowls with steel ones.
Sorry to be a prophet of doom, but I have altogether TOO much experience with the K series engine. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the K series, actually I rather like it to drive behind (or in your case in front of) its pretty pokey and very free revving. Its even pretty easy to work on once you understand it. Like a lot of other BL stuff its a bit of a flawed masterpiece!

Steve

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.

Thanks Steve for the info

It is indeed a Jap export, and it does have aircon , the head dowls do look like they are steel, water oil etc all look very clean. Hopefully we have a goodish one. It rev's up fine, just got to find how to adjust the gear cable's. Seems to hold it's coolant temp and oil temp well. We left her running in the garage for a good 45 mins yesterday and she idled really really well, and no coolant loss, this was the longest we had her running since we bought her, the water is def going around the whole system as the heater is very warm.

Darren

_________________
1974 Triumph 1500TC In Maple Brown, (MABLE) GGN 647N
1968 Triumph Vitesse Saloon 2L MK2 Not for the faint hearted, mega restoration
1973 Triumph Spitfire In Mimosa