The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

I have been helping to fix my fathers MGF, and I am beginning to get more impressed by it. Initially I thought it was a plasticy car with a harsh ride and many electrical faults.. THe harsh ride turned out to be adjustable shocks turned up to max, now fixed. The electrics were cured with a bit of soldering, and now it has a glass rear screen, you can actually see out of it.

Assuming you had to buy a British sports car, cus lets be honest if you had any sense you buy an MX5, why would you buy any other?

1)Price, £1000 will get you a decent MGF. A £1000 will buy you a pile of rust with an MGB or Spitfire badge.

2)It doesn't desolve in the rain nearly as fast as a Spitfire, Midget, MGB or TR7.

3)It is much faster than any of the above, it will outrun all of them easily.

4) The roof actually keeps the rain out and the heater works.

5) There is much less chance you are going to spin round and head backwards into a tree. The car handles much better.

6)It has power steering, so you can park it without giving yourself a hernia

OK you should still buy an MX5, because the Japanese decided that fitting an engine that didn't blowup would be a good design feature, but with every other British sports car costing silly money, why would you buy a different British car?

They are appalling things. I hate them with a passion. They are probably the worst car in the world to work on.
But dont mind me, buy one anyway

I love my MX5. I was tempted by an MGF but then my wife's MG had HGF and I realised that it was a bad move to buy a second classic whilst I worked on my Dolomite, reliability was essential to me to minimise cost. I still like the MGF but wouldn't spend my own money on one.

They are now very cheap, just watch out for the rust which is well hidden.

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Mark

1961 Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier Sportswagon
1980 Dolomite Sprint project using brand new shell
2009 Mazda MX5 2.0 Sport
2018 Infiniti Q30

The MGF is temperamental, hard to work on and it's "on the limit" handling is profoundly unpredictable. Arse first into trees is disturbingly possible!
The head gasket deficiency can be dealt with permanently (if not cheaply) and if you don't mind welding, which, lets face it none of us do or we wouldn't have Dollies, then it's not a bad car, not brilliant , but not bad. But my £1000 Saab Turbo HOT convertible will show it a clean pair of heels, has a power hood, no rot issues and much more predictable handling (understeer and more understeer)
If you really MUST buy an MGF however, now is definitely the time, they'll never be any cheaper.

Steve

Oh, I quite like MX5s too, but early ones do rot rather badly hence the number of them donating their engines to Dollies and their seats to - well everything really.

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'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.

Yeah, but you have three marks and tons to choose from. Not to mention the cheap price.

I have to admit a smart roadster always tempted me, but too pricey. Saying that Spitfires seem to be at the 6-8K mark now.

I think the MR2 has been forgotten as it too is cheap and fast, handling and roadholding can be tricky though.
My daughter has an MR2 turbo as her track day toy and she loves it.

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track action maniac.

The lunatic is out................heres Jonny!

I recently sold a running driving 72 Spit IV with overdrive, hardtop and in a rare colour for £600 It needed a floorpan and a couple of other bits of welding, some trim work and a respray but was a sound project. A mate has just bought a 78 1500 Midget with similar tired floors but running and driving well for £500.
I don't think you should write off the older Brits just yet, while prices for just restored cars are climbing fast, base cars for DIYable restoration are still in range of the less affluent (unlike mkI Escorts) and with the rising prices for the finished articles the job is more economically viable (as if that had any bearing)

Steve

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'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.