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MGF FAQ Part II
Version 4 - 16th October 1998


This site is entirely independent of the Rover Car Company and MG Cars. It is compiled by enthusiastic owners and represents additional advice for owners. It is not a substitute for the official MGF handbook and no responsibility is accepted for any loss or damage.

Click the relevant topic to quickly jump to that area.

Extended Warranty

You have up to 10 months to extend your Rover 12 month warranty - one or two people who have had problems with their cars have had their warranty extended free of charge when they have experienced inconvenience so it may be worth waiting six months or so before extending the warrantee if you intend to do so.

Collection Checklist

  1. 30 day/1000 mile money back no quibble guarantee - if you are unhappy with the car for any reason you can always hand it back under this Rover satisfaction guarantee or ask for another e.g., if you decide you don't like the colour. I don't think many other car manufacturers offer this kind of a deal - so this should allay any fears. Your dealer will explain this to you on the day you take delivery. There is £150 damage clause so if you do hand the car back it should be still in one piece!
  2. PDI checklist - ask to have a copy of it. This is a list of checks that the car is supposed to go through prior to handing it over to you. It's another piece of paper to add to your collection
  3. Ask the dealer "If I have any problems with the car do I get a courtesy car whilst mine is being put right? And is the courtesy car an F?" NB. Not many dealers have an F courtesy car.
  4. Ask the dealer to show you how to bypass the alarm system if the bleeper fails..... the batteries don't last forever.
  5. MG Car Club Free membership - A few dealers offer this to all new F owners. Unfortunately they are in the minority. If the dealer you are buying from doesn't offer this, ask him why not. If you are only at the stage of ordering then maybe you can get him to throw this in.
  6. Get the dealer to demonstrate the soft top. Even if your car arrives with a hardtop fitted ask them to take it off and demonstrate the operation of the soft top. It will be difficult to close the top the first time, as it fits very tightly.
  7. Test the alarm by leaning over the car when the hood is down and removing something from the seat.
  8. Test windows seal with hardtop and soft top. Check for any gaps between the glass and the rubber seals.
  9. Don't sign the bit of paper until you have given the car a really thorough looking at. Look at the paint on your door edges and bumpers very closely as apportioning blame may be difficult after you drive the car away.
  10. Visually check body panels for good even fit.
  11. Read this FAQ for further info

MGF related links

Pictures

The MGF's 1st birthday party
Large promotional type pictures
The Cambridge & District F Image Gallery
Casey's Pictures
MGF Cartoons

Reviews

Carsource 1.8i
World of wheels
Irish Review
Views from a MG site
Daily Telegraph
Review of the MGF race car

MGF Garages

Trident Garages
Clive Sutton
Swain & Jones
Edwards

Official Rover Sites

Rover MGF page
Rover Thailand Page

Safety

MGF Twin Roll Hoops

MGF Owners on the Net

Dirk
John Thomas
Olof Anell
Caroline
Hamant Kumar
Franky
Martin Woods
Richard Osborne
Scarlet Fever

Third Party Add-ons

Mike Satur - interior designers and manufacturers
Newton Commercial Accessories
MotoBuild Web Site
Stephen Palmer Performance Web Site

MGF Car Hire

Pearl Car Hire Web Site

Miscellaneous

The MG Car Club
The MG Car Club F Register
The MG Cars Enthusiasts Club MGF Page
Autolist 2nd hand MGF's for sale in the UK
SuperCars Web Site - MGF page
MGF Events List
MGF Bulletin/Chat Board - come and say hello to fellow enthusiasts

Insurance Prices

MG has been advised that the Alarm and Immobiliser system as fitted to current MGF models has now been approved to Thatcham Category 2 Level. This information has been relayed by Thatcham to all the British insurance companies subscribing to their services. There is a Thatcham help line for MG and Rover customers on 0990 502006.

Insurance prices as of November 1996 varied between £270 and £430, so it pays to shop around. Check if you get discount for being a member of the MG Car Club (1st year membership free with a new MGF). Also check the amount of excess you will have to pay.

If you have a tracker fitted they will send you a list of insurance companies who give a discount for tracker fitted cars - Tracker Freephone 0500 090909

SRS Warning Light

The following is for information only. From a safety point of view you should get your MGF checked if the SRS warning light comes on, as per the manual.

If you find that your SRS warning light comes on and stays on, check the wiring to the 'explosive' seat belt restraints. The wiring is under the seat and comes up from under the carpet and goes into the seat itself. The position of the wiring means that it can easily get trapped under a metal bar that rests on the carpet. Moving the seat back or forward can then pull the connector apart.

How to access the engine under the hood

First release the clips that hold the lower rear end of the soft-top to the back parcel shelf. Raise the rear of the soft top toward the front of the car. Then remove all the parcel shelf trim and layers of sound insulation to reveal the engine compartment cover and undo about 10 small bolts that hold the cover down, lift it off to reveal the engine in all its glory.

For further details see the section on Fitting a K&N Filter

Changing the oil

While the engine cover is off you can change the oil - there's a proper filler cap on top of the engine and you can pour oil in there far more easily than the proper way which is in effect 'down the dipstick tube' or you can drain the oil and access the filter from the side, just in front of the rear right hand side wheel.

Removing the headlamp

Remove the bumper (two screws each end , five across the top and two bolts behind the indicators) then undo the two 10mm bolts and release the lamp assembly from the side and lower retaining clips. Once out the lens is retained to the reflector by six clips.

101 uses for an F

  1. Put red wine in the tonneau cover net inside the boot to warm up your wine on the way home
  2. Carrying 6ft x 18inch trellis panels and 8ft fence posts (top down, in passenger seat only half a mile)
  3. One bale of compost (gets you funny looks at the garden club when you heave a bag into the F boot. The rest use Volvos).
  4. Carrying life size cardboard cut-outs of Darth Vader on a tour of Ealing, Southall, Heathrow, M25 (at speed), Merton, Morden and Sutton.
  5. An informal skip - with bags of garden rubbish in the boot, on the luggage rack and on the passenger seat on the way to the dump
  6. Instrument carrier:Double-bass, neck down, in passenger seat with roof down.
  7. Carrying a life size medical skeleton in the passenger seat, equipped with leather jacket, shades and a baseball cap for the journey between Guys Hospital and Southhall.

Differences between the 1.8i and VVC (UK spec)

NB: Specs change from country to country, this comparison is based on the UK specs July 1997

Specifications

Published performance

The 1.8i has a maximum power of 120Ps at 5500 rpm, the VVC achieves 145Ps at 7000 rpm (ie the VVC needs much higher revs to get the extra pwr). This is a 17% difference

The 1.8i has max torque of 165 Nm at 3000 rpm, the VVC has 174 NM at 4500 rpm ie 5% difference

If you look at the graphs in the brochure, up to 5000 rpm, the 1.8i and VVC have identical power bands, after this the 1.8i goes down, the VVC keeps going up.

Similar with the torque, up to 5000 rpm there's little in it, the VVC dies off after the 1.8i does

0-60 manufacturers time has the 1.8i at 8.5, the VVC at 7.0

TopGear gives 0-60 times of 8.8 sec for 1.8i and 8.4 for VVC

Autocar gives 0-60 times of 8.7sec for 1.8i and 7.6sec for VVC.

John Thomas has graphed rpm/mph/gear for 1.8i and the VVC

Driver Comparisons

I have driven my 1.8i for 12,000 miles, and a VVC for 600 miles. In my opinion, the VVC revs more freely, has a raspier engine noise, and seems a little quicker, but there's not much in it. I find the PAS makes the VVC seem more twitchy, compared the non-PAS 1.8i. I also find that the 1.8i picks up better than the VVC, the VVC seems to exhibit a kind of 'turbo-lag' at lower revs. Greg Hilton

I've completed just short of 12,000 miles in both. First of all both engines take a very long time to run in. In fact I feel that they both took at least 10,000 miles. The 1.8i, by the time I traded it in, was much quicker to drive than my dealers demonstrator VVC. Its pull was good especially up the rev range. Where it was possibly still lacking was low down, especially if you were maybe one gear higher than optimum. If you floored it at 30 in 3rd, the response wasn't really electric. If you were in 2nd it was great.In terms of entertaining B road driving, the 1.8i was more than enough for me. It was possible to oversteer on the exit to bends in both 2nd and 3rd, especially on a poor surface or in the wet.

The first thing about the VVC is that the gearing is shorter. This definitely makes motor way driving a shade noisier. The VVC also makes a different, slightly gruffer, noise. It's not a TVR but if you're in a garage it is obvious. Once the VVC was run past around 6,000 miles I'm sure it felt a bit quicker than the 1.8i. Its not that the 1.8i can't be made to be almost as fast as the VVC in normal driving, its just that you don't have to work or think so hard to achieve it. Especially on B roads, I found that I could drop from 4th to 3rd for a bend and still punch out: in the 1.8i I'd have wanted 2nd for the exit but the overall result would have been similar. Basically both cars have limits that I only ever access because I'm a *bad* driver. If I was smoother, picking better lines etc, I wouldn't have lost as much speed in the bends and wouldn't have needed to test adhesion limits on the exit.

Obviously you can't often drive this way on public roads either. On the motor way there is definitely more punch in the VVC: it pulls in 5th much better but again this could be explained mostly with the gearing difference. The extra rev-range (basically there is no discernible drop in power or acceleration right up to the vicious rev limiter) is great but sucks petrol at a frightening rate. Drive to the limit often and you'll see sub 24 MPG figures as opposed to my average of 32 and best of 42. Graeme Bishko

Installing a handsfree car phone kit

It is possible to install a handsfree car phone kit into the MGF, and it's perfectly usable, until your driving over 30mph with the roof down.

There are four components.

  1. The aerial. I have mine installed onto the front screen. I have seen others installed on the rear of the car, just like the radio aerial. The downside with this is you have to drill a hole in your F, and also then pass the cables through the engine compartment.
  2. The phone or mobile holder. I have this attached to the left of the radio. Another owner has this screwed on over the ash tray.
  3. The microphone. The installers hid this away rather nicely, just in front of the dash.
  4. The speaker. I have this screwed onto the fuse box, in the upper right hand 'roof' of the driver's side. No picture yet.

Remote lock/alarm

The aerial for the locking and security transceiver can be better positioned

There is a triangular panel which houses the footwell light in the passenger (left hand) side of the car which is secured by two cross head self tapping screws.

Remove this panel and just behind it you will see a part of the wiring loom and you should see an ultra thin bright yellow wire that is probably coiled and taped to the loom.

Remove tape and straighten this wire, you will see it only connected at one end to black connector block just behind the dash.

Lay the yellow wire in as straight a position as you can behind the footwell light panel, I found it went towards the front of the car behind a couple of large wire bundles and rested quite nicely in an existing cable support.

Try your blipper and adjust as required, when satisfied with the results use a small piece of insulating tape to secure the cable in the desired position, there are plenty of bits of wiring to tape to.

Check your blipper again, and replace the footwell light panel.

Another way to increase the range of the blipper is to hold the blipper against a piece of bare skin on your body (head / hand etc) and press the button.... adds a good five feet or so to the range.

Brake Lights

Problem:- Rapid or sudden application and release of the brake pedal (Emergency stop, autotesting etc) causes the ratchet mechanism in the brake light switch to close up a notch or two, causing the brake lights to be sensitive to bumps or, at worst, on all the time.

The solution is to reset the ratchet as discussed below

The switch is situated under the dash, just above and behind the pivot point of the brake pedal. It is a pig to get at and is released by twisting (if I remember correctly). The ratchet can also be reset by depressing the brake pedal and at the same time pulling the plunger on the switch out.

All you need to do is either remove the switch or while you have your head in the footwell, give the plunger of the switch a VERY hard tug. This pulls the ratchet out and the next operation of the pedal sets the switch clearance up.

Workshop Manual

The manual is a normal Rover/MG part, and can be ordered from any parts department - just quote the product code. This is: Part No. RCL 0051 ENG.

The ENG bit is the language so your dealer may be able to try others e.g DEU is the German version.

Lumbar Support

If you feel the seats in your MGF don't support you enough, you can buy an inflatable pad to fit in the lumbar of the seat. The pad is invisible when installed and can be done in 5 seconds with no tools or damage to the seats! You simply pull the lower seat upright forward a little and slide the flat, uninflated pad behind it. All that remains is a small inflation pump that rests next to the seat and allows you to pump up or deflate the pad.

Because you install it yourself, you can adjust the height at which the support is provided, not many built in lumbar supports provide this level of adjustment!

The pads are made by the racing seat manufacturer Corbeau, and you can buy them by mail order or in person from RipSpeed. Each pad costs £22.00 and I've had one in my drivers seat for over six months with no problems.

RipSpeed can be contacted on: 07000 747 77333 or 0181 803 4355

The lumbar support is on page 15 of their catalogue and priced at £22.00. There is another lumbar support in their catalogue, made by Sparco, but you want the Corbeau one. Their cheapest postage (parcel post) is £5.50. Their shop is in North London very close to White Hart Lane football stadium.

Clubs

The MG Owners Club

The MGOC was formed in 1973 to serve the growing needs of the MG enthusiast. Over the last 24 years the Club has concentrated on making it easier, cheaper and more enjoyable to own an MG. Membership has grown to 50,000 making it the world's largest single marque car club.

The MGOC offers its members many benefits including:-

The MG Car Club

The M.G. Car Club is an international club based in the heart of M.G. country - Abingdon in Oxfordshire. Since formation in 1930 by John Thornley O.B.E., the Club has provided high quality support and backing to all its members. The Club is unique; organising events, activities and fun, as well as offering comprehensive technical and historical information for EVERY MODEL OF MG from the 20s to the 90s.

The Club Head Office, Kimber House in Cemetery Road, Abingdon, is sited on the edge of what was once the M.G. Car Company's headquarters and factory - where Cecil Kimber (Managing Director from 1935-1945) and John Thornley (General Manager and subsequently Managing Director) successfully ran one of the world's most well-known and well-respected car manufacturing companies.

As an M.G. Car Club member you will receive a complete range of benefits:

The M.G. Car Club now boasts 14 Registers including a Register for the MGF, 13 UK Centres, over 80 monthly meetings and in excess of 85 affiliated overseas organisations. Whatever you want to know about M.G.s - from rebuilding to where to hire an M.G. for a film, photo-shoot or television advert - the M.G. Car Club has all the answers.

The M.G. car has always been known as the great affordable British sports car, not only by the manufacturers, but by those people who have bought, owned and loved them. The M.G. Car Club plays an important role supporting this enthusiasm.

The MG Car Club Was awarded 'Best improved Club of the Year 1996' by Classic Car Magazine


MG Enthusiast's Magazine Club

Awaiting further details.....

Financing an F

A load of useful information on financing your MGF can be found here

Performance Enhancements

From: Dirk Vael,

Various pictures following his VVC being modified with the K&N filter and SP performance pack by Stephen Palmer Ltd.

The mounted chip, close up of the engine after the enhancements, good overview of exhausts, how the whole K&N 57i kit looks.

From:John Thomas, firms that are in the F tuning market :

MOTO-BUILD

638 Hanworth Road,
Hounslow,
Middlesex,
TW4 5NP

Tel: 0181 893 4553
Fax: 0181 893 4713

MotoBuild Web Site


STEVE PALMER MG

90-100 Tamworth Road
Long Eaton
Nottingham
NG10 3NA

Tel 0115 972 2321

Stephen Palmer Performance Web Site


ROVER SPORT

PO Box 400
Wallington
Surrey
SM6 9SQ

Tel 0181 647 5757


ROVER SPORT PARTS

PO Box 72
Cowley
Oxford
OX4 2PG

Tel 01865 383328
Email roversport@unipart.uk.co


MOOR LANE GARAGE

Moor Lane
Preston
Lancashire.

Tel: 01772 555020
Emailtony.r.bolton@virgin.net

MIKE SATUR

Unit 10B,
Goldthorpe Industrial Estate,
Goldthorpe,
Rotherham,
Lancashire.
S63 9BL


Tel 01226 750147
Fax: 01226 751523


Email 106054.1000@compuserve.com
Mike Satur Web Site

Moss

MOSS offer a new catalogue of MGF goodies, including a supercharger.

Tel: 0800-281182

e-mail: mossmag@easynet.co.uk

Moss WebSite

K and N FILTERS (EUROPE) LTD

John Street
Warrington
Cheshire
WA2 7UB.

Tel : 01925 636950

Fax :01925 418948.

E-mail: kn@kn.u-net.com

K&N Web Site

Fitting After Market Airfilters

The K&N 57i (part number 57-0238) has gained wide acceptance in the MGF community as one of the best options for an after market filter.

Independent rolling road tests have demonstrated an 8 BHP gain on standard 1.8i models, and an impressive 15 BHP on the VVC. At a unit cost of approximately £100 including VAT and delivery within the UK, this represents excellent value for money, at up to 0.15 BHP per pound, compared to 0.02 BHP per pound for a performance exhaust system.

The unique aspect of the K&N kit is the adoption of additional cooling ducts that run from under the car into the engine compartment, reducing the temperature of the air being drawn into the engine by up to six degrees Celsius. Cold air is denser, and there fore contains more oxygen. More oxygen means a more efficient burn of fuel, and more power.

A common feature of all the cone filters available are that they are attached almost directly to the inlet manifold (via the throttle body/ plenium chamber). This eliminates the somewhat tortuous route that air drawn into the engine has to take as standard (turning over 300 degrees in its 2 metre passage into the engine). Furthermore, these filters enable high airflow through their elements, have good filtering characteristics, and be washed and re-used almost indefinitely!

Is there any bad news? The majority of insurance companies do not raise premiums for fitment of these airfilters, although I'd advise you check first (for instance, General Accident do not allow for ANY modifications to your car). The issue of the Rover warrantee is a little unclear, but most MG dealerships appear to be very enthusiastic about these products, and have a quite liberal policy. Again, it is advisable to check with your dealer first. Of course, you could always remove the filter before you returned your car to the dealership... In fact, removal is so straight forward, it should enable you to fit a filter to a hire car too, although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it!

The PiperCross cone filter/ Vector cone filter is available from Motobuild, with a ITG cone filter kit available from Mike Satur.

Fitting a K&N Filter

The K&N filter seems to be the filter of choice amoung many MGF owners, with the cold air induction kit it provides a great roar, and enhanced performance for little money. Below are fitting instructions which should be used in addition to the K&N instructions.

1. With the boot lid open, remove the engine grill. This is clipped in place along its front (towards front of car) edge- gently pull the four clips from the rubber boot seal and lift the assembly clear of the car.

View of engine bay, standing at rear of car, looking forward: right- oil filler and dip stick; centre: engine, and closer to you, the plenium chamber; left: airbox and flexible tube jubilee clipped to plenium chamber.

View of engine bay, standing at rear of car, looking forward: right- oil filler and dip stick; centre: engine, and closer to you, the plenium chamber; left: airbox and flexible tube jubilee clipped to plenium chamber.

2. Remove engine cover from inside car.

a. Erect hood. From inside the car, there are five clips visible at the base of the hood, under the rear screen. Release these, and raise the rear of the hood so that it is vertical. Take a piece of string, and tie the hood in this position by fastening one end of the string to the hood retaining clip, and the other end to the front of the hood at its retaining clasp.

b. Remove carpet and sound deadening material from the rear deck. It will require a bit of tugging, but should come free reasonably easily. Exposed will be the engine bay cover: a dull-metal coloured plate, fixed in place by a number of hexagonal headed bolts. Go round each of these in turn, unscrewing them and putting the each in a safe place.

c. Put all of the hood-securing clips in the down position. Push the released engine cover plate towards the front of the car, lifting the free trailing edge upwards. Ensure that each of the hood clips are under the trailing edge of the engine cover plate. Once completed, pull the cover free from the car. You will now have a much clearer view of the engine bay.

A quick word of caution: there is a sharp edged piece of metal under the rear edge of the T-bar- this will easily graze unwary knuckles!

3. Undo the jubilee clip at the airbox, and the spring clip at the plenium chamber, holding the flexible air duct in place. Remove ducting.

4. Remove the black plastic screws (should be two, although often only one is to be found!) holding the airbox to its mounting bracket. Pull the airbox free. Now peer down into the engine bay, from inside the car looking towards the rear. On the right, near the bottom of the engine bay is a black plastic box. This is the resonance chamber. On its inner surface, there is a rigid elbowed plastic tube pointing upwards towards you, that once lead into the airbox that you have just removed. This needs to be removed to thread through the 57i cool air induction tubing. It comes free will a non-too-gentle tug (it won't damage anything).

5. Assemble the filter cone as described in the 57i kit. The induction tube is curved asymmetrically. Make sure the curvature is closest to the cone filter itself. Affix the assembly to the plenium chamber. Tighten the jubilee clips. It is tight enough when it is no longer possible to pull the induction tube off the plenium chamber when attempting to move the attached cone filter back and forth.

Click here to see what it should look like.

6. Attach the cool air ducts.

You will need two small cable ties, and FOUR large cable ties. (You will need to purchase extra , as the kit only comes supplied with two or three large ties).

a. Extend the compressed cool air ducts (x2) to about 40 cm.

b. Take two large cable ties, and attach them together (via one of the ratchet eyes)- and do the same with the other two large ties. This is done so that the cable ties are large enough to go around both cool air ducts. Affix these cable ties at either end of the extended cool air ducts to fix them both together.

c. Thread the ducts into the engine bay from the top, so that the bottom of the ducts are under the car. Fix the top end of the ducts so that they are 4 inches (10 cm) from the K&N air filter. The best place is probably a convenient point on the front fire wall; fix the ducts using the small cable tie tied around the composite large cable tie.

7. Underneath the car, next to the near side rear wheel, draw the cool air ducts so that the lips of each duct overlie the Hydragas inter connector pipe by pulling/ extending both of the tubes down and forward. Bind the two ducts together with the two large cable ties. The Hydragas inter connector pipe is attached to the floor pan, just ahead of the near side rear wheel.

At the point where is kinks outwards, away from the centre of the car, hold up the two cool air ducts. With the small cable tie supplied with the kit, fix the cool air ducts by encircling the large cable tie holding the two ducts together and the pipe. Click here for a picture

8. Replace the engine cover, in its correct orientation. Position the hood retaining clips to facilitate the process, and recover the clips above the engine cover plate to allow it to settle in position.

DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN THE RETAING BOLTS: the screw threads are fragile, and the bolts will strip if tightened over enthusiastically.

9. Reposition the sound deadening material and carpet- pay particular attention to that sharp edge under the rear edge of the T-bar. Restore rear aspect of the hood to its original position, and clip back into place.

10. Replace the engine grill from inside the boot.

11. Now rev your engine, with a manic grin on your face! Enjoy!

Budget about 60 minutes for this process. It is quite straight forward, and the difference the filter makes to your car is staggering. You will notice greater forward thrust through all the intermediate gears, smoother running, and some people have reported up to 10% increases in fuel economy. The sound that the filter makes is pure induction noise. It is almost shocking when you hear it for the first time from inside the car. But the greatest plus is that this sound is almost inaudible at a constant cruise. You only get the roar when you want it: when you are putting your foot down!

 

A site in New Zealand is collecting info on tuning the Elise engine, which is the same as the MGF VVC, so check it out for some useful tips and contacts.

 

MGF Regalia

A large amount of well priced MGF regalia, including an excellent product for cleaning the rear windows is available from:

Martin Woods
8 Kitwood Drive
Lower Earley
Reading
Berks
RG6 3TA. Tel. 01189 669834

http://freespace.virgin.net/martin.woods/index.htm

Martin Woods

Removing the fascia

It is fiddly rather than difficult.

Start at the bottom, after removing gear lever knob, from the section nearest the cigar lighter. You need a spatula type tool which you gently insert into the crevice gap at one corner. Then moving the tool into the center behind the gear lever you will feel a resistance as you come against the spring clip. There are two slightly off center, you have to push these and lever up at the same time. Once you have these up it a matter of easing out the upper clips, two (one each side) just above bend about level with the switches and two by the radio.

Seatbelts

To over come the problems of the plastic surround trapping the belt.

  1. Using 10mm length of 4or5mm inside diameter PVC sleeving across the split, forms quite a tidy cover and will not come off once the surround is placed back in it's normal position.
  2. A little glue over the crack will stop the seatbelt catching.

 

MGF computer goodies

Download two MG animated cursors for use under Windows NT or Windows 95. Created by Michael Wendell, and posted with his permission.

Get the Spinning MG Octagon cursor here, and the spinning Octagon with arrow here

Or check the original site, at http://www.kwyjibo.com/bmw/

Get an MGF screen saver from, http://www.mediatek.co.uk/mgf

Preventing stone chips

From: Paul, Poole

"Armourfend" is a thin (about quarter mm thick) piece of clear plastic film which you can stick on your car's paintwork to protect it from stone chipping (a common problem is seems on F's).


I ordered just the bonnet section, which seems to be where most of the chip have occurred on my car. It cost £60 + VAT and comes in 3 sections. 2 small pieces to cover the front of the front-wings and a large section to cover the front of the bonnet itself. It covers the roughly the front 6 inches of the car.


Installation is very easy for the 2 small pieces, but I found the larger section was a 2-man job (or 1 man and 1 woman job in my case!). You can liken it to wallpapering - stick the stuff on and then work like the clappers to get rid of any bubbles before the glue goes off! 72 hours later (with a day spent parked in the sunshine), the bubbles had all gone


Armour fend also have a fitting service (approx. £20) but unfortunately is only handy for those of you in London ;-(
Instructions are also given on how to remove it, so if it ever becomes tatty over time, it is possible to get rid of it.


From 5+ metres away the armourfend is completely invisible ;-) but as you get closer you can see the rear edge of the film as a very thin line across the car.


Also, the paintwork under the film doesn't look as shiny as that film-free, but this difference is really negligible. What I can say is that if the stuff works (which I'm sure it will) then the plus points (ie. no more ugly stonechips) far outweigh the very minor visible bits of the armourfend.

http://www.zantech-systems.com/armourfend/

Armourfend Limited
Studio House
Delamare Road
Cheshunt
Hertfordshire
EN8 9TD
United Kingdom

Tel: 00 44 (0)1992 642 642

Fax: 00 44 (0)1992 642 499

Fuel Gauge

The fuel tank is a saddle tank with the left portion having the sender unit to the fuel gauge, and the pump intake. Since both lobes of the tank contain fuel when at a low level, the fuel in the right lobe cannot be picked up by the pump. Hence, the gauge appears to fall quickly since it only measures part of the contents at 'empty'.

When driving on cross country roads, take a fast right hand bend or roundabout as fast as safety will allow and the contents of the right lobe fall into the left to be picked up by the pump and consequently, the fuel gauge will rise considerably. If driving on a motorway, take an exit ramp and drive quickly around the roundabout over the carriageways and return to the motorway.

If you run out before you notice what the fuel gauge reads, rock the car from side to side to achieve the same result.

 

High Level brake light

There is a 'push connector' on all models as they all have the same wiring loom.

To find the connector, first ease out the boot illumination lamp fitted in the boot lid (it is only a push fit). Gently pull it out as far as you can and work the wiring out with it. Attached to this part of the loom will be the 'push connector' for the high-level brake light.

The connector is an ultra-fine type but if it does not marry up to your high level wires it is a simple matter to remove that connector and fit your own, if you are fitting the official Rover High Level light it should fit.

The wire for the Light itself can be routed through double skin of the lid behind the high-level brake light. Then brought across the lid and into the double skin where the boot internal lamp is. You will find that the boot lid already has 'tags' in place on the struts of the lid.

Olaf Columbus reports that not all Fs have the wiring loom, or at least his european F doesn't. He says that within the Rover-Part No. XFN 100180 there is an extra Cable, some cable-fixing-strips, and a detailed Installation Instruction.

 

Tyre Rubbing

With larger wheels the tyres may rub. This is a way to rectify that

1. Drive at full lock both left and right as driving onto your drive at home. This marks the plastic insert.

2. Remove the insert (remove the road wheel first) (2 screws and a quick flick)

3. With plastic arch in hand use an electric paint stripper and slowly warm the plastic where the tyre was rubbing.
Then push out slowly and re-mould the plastic.Leave to cool

4. Refit insert.

5. Refit road wheel and test.

6. No more grating when at full lock.

Stereo and Speakers

If you are looking at replacing your speakers, they are 16.5cm These Kenwood speakers have successfully been used to replace the standard ones:


Model No: KFC HQR175C
165mm Pearl Mica Cone Woofer, 30mm PPTA Balanced Dome Tweeter
Max Power 150W
Greq Responce 30Hz to 30,000Hz
Sensitivity 91db/W at 1m
Impedance 4 ohms
Weight (each) 300g

Price £100

Tom Satchwell has fitted an Alpine 3DE-7886R head unit. This head pumps out 4*35Watts from a front-loading 3-disc multichanger.

He says the sound quality is simply excellent, especially as it is connected to the Kenwood HQ-series speakers (one set of 2-way 6.5" speakers, coupled with a set of tune-up tweeters).

He also took the opportunity to sound-deaden the doors. For this, he bought a special sheet of self-adhesive 3mm thick rubber material - it cuts down the resonance and reverb in the door panels.

Wind Deflectors

When fitting  the Rover wind deflector make sure that the rubber backing side faces the rear window as you can fit it the wrong way round.

If you drop the drivers window and keep the passenger window up it reduces the backdraft.

If you turn all the air vents to the driver and turn on the heater fan to the number2 setting.  Then set the drivers facia air towards the open window, you will get a swirl of hot air behind your neck.

If you have a passenger reverse the settings otherwise they receive all the back draft.

Front Indicator Lenses

If you don't want to break the feeble plastic sprung catch which holds the lenses in then you need to insert a screw driver in the inner point nearest the MG badge on your bonnet (that's the inner recess of the indicator lense) .

Gently press in the screw driver blade (insert one inch) to release the sprung plastic catch - only very slightly. With a second small flat bladed screw driver you can prize the lense forward and out. You can then remove the bulb or remove the front bumper main bolts (there are several others that also need undoing....but that's another story).

When levering the lense out protect your paintwork with a cloth or something. A piece of cardboard taped in position will leave your two hands free to manipulate the screw drivers.

If the inevitable happens and the plastic spring catch breaks then you either have to go to your dealer and fork out about 25 notes for a new lense or you can repair the broken plastic by first supa gluing it (which won't hold on it's own) and then reinforcing the glued break with a compound called Milliput. You can buy it from Beaties or any good model shop. Mix the two putty like substances together and apply around the glued join. Leave 24 hours and it will set rock hard.

Creaking Noises from the front of the car

Some cars have been known to make creaking noises, it helps to understand what is creating this noise. This information from an owner who has had this problems fixed.

If you can imagine the cross member. It runs behind the dashboard at steering wheel height. At either end it fits into a tubular socket. When the bar is inserted into the socket welds are placed around the joint. The bar is now fixed.

The noises you are hearing (if it IS the cross member) are coming from the BLIND end of the bar (the end which is deep inside the socket). The noises are caused by the end of the cross member rubbing the inside of the socket. It only requires a tiny movement to create some very loud creaks and cracks!

When Rover did the first fix on my bar they drilled the socket to allow welding of the blind end of the bar to the socket(to stop it moving). They drilled the outward facing side of the socket because it was easy to get to.

All went well for a couple of weeks, until it started creaking again (not enough welds). This time they drilled all over the socket to allow multiple welds. This seems to have cured it. As you can imagine drilling and welding behind this bar is an extreemly awkward job which is why they didn't try it first!

The factory welds are strong enough to hold the bar (as far as structural integrity is concerned) but they appear not to be able to withstand the body flex which can manifest itself as creaking in some cars.

The job is made all the more unpleasant because the ENTIRE dash board has to come out for the welding to take place!

If your dealer is having trouble then ask him to contact Rover as this is a recognized problem.

Because this item is a stress bearing member, a couple of tacks is not much more that the equivalent of a 'get you home' job. The whole unit will have to be welded to the frame and to achieve the correct degree of penetration around the wole thing involves considerable heat. This will have to be done properly for two reasons.

1, the immediate fire risk if combustable materials are not fully removed.

2, The longer term risk of corrosion as the welding will destroy all paint and any anti corrosion treatments.

This means that the whole area (in the panels as well) needs to have a proper re-treatment to maintain the original level of protection.

Hiring an MGF

Pearl Car hire will hire an MGF in the UK.  The minimum age for a hire is25 with £ 1000 excess. If you are aged 30 or over the excess is £350

They will deliver anywhere in the country for bookings over10 days.

See the Pearl Car Hire Web Site for further information

Starter Motor

From Hugh, France

My F almost let me down on Friday in a rather populus place. I already knew that there was a problem with the starter motor, so perhaps I can blame myself for not changing it earlier..... but....

I’d seen an old Austin 7 brought back to life by giving the starter motor a big whack with a hammer, but this didn’t seem to be feasable, what with the inaccessability of the F’s engine, and the lack of afore-mentioned tool. However, just as the ‘depannage’ van turned up, I had an idea. I pulled off the grille covering the engine and took my trusty pop-out umbrella from the boot. With the fabric still held to the shaft by the velcro to prevent having to remove a mangled umbrella from the innards of the engine bay (try explaining that at casualty!), I aimed the umbrella at the starter motor (just visible) and pushed the button.

Out shot the head of the umbrella, hitting the starter motor. I turned the ignition key, and hey presto, it started as normal, instantly.

Splitter

The Krafthaus Splitter

So what's the problem?

Many have noticed that when driving their F rapidly the steering becomes a little light in feel at speed, and the car can feel be a little unsteady in cross winds. What may be less obvious is the understeer that afflicts the F in faster corners. The cause of these characterists is aerodynamic lift.

In the book, 'Project Pheonix' (pages 186-187) an aerodynamic aid is descibed (and pictured) fitted to the bottom of the front bumper. This was said to dramatically improve the handling of an otherwise standard F. For a number of reasons, this aerodynamic 'spoiler' failed to make it through to production.

What's the theory?

There are two types of aerodynamic aid found on a car: a wing (an upturned aerofoil, like an aircraft's wing) with actively generates downforce, and a spoiler which may REDUCE lift, but does not generate lift.

The Splitter, as sold by Krafthaus, is a spoiler. It more effectively causes the moving air around the car to go over the upper surface of the vehicle, and around the flanks. Air flow under the car is diminished. This is desirable as it results in a reduced pressure gradient between the lower and upper surfaces of the car. And this results in less lift!

Does the Splitter work?

A front splitter is possibly the most common aerodynamic aid found fitted to an F. Certainly in my own experience, the splitter works well, resulting in a far greater feeling of security at motorway speeds, and dramatically less understeer in faster corners.

How do you fit a splitter?

Tools you'll need:

A plumb line (or something heavy on a piece of string), an electric drill, set of spanners, a secure way of raising the front of the car (NOT BRICKS!)

A handy helper may be useful too!

Supplied should be a Splitter, pre-drilled with washers, nuts and bolts x 5

1. Securely raise the front of your car so that you have clearance to get your electric drill under the bumper.

2. Offer up the splitter to the bottom of the bumper, ensuring that it is as far back as it will go.

3. Check that it is central under the bumper, Adam recommends using a plumb line from the middle of the Grill's MG badge. Alternatively, make sure that each extreme of the splitter is even under the bumper.

4. With the aid of a friend holding the splitter in place, or some double sided sticky tape, keep the splitter firmly in place and drill the centre guide holes for the attachment bolts. You may find that the centre spar of the splitter has two guide holes- if so use them both and bolt up the splitter

Electronic Power Assisted Steering

The following has been gleaned from the manual.

EPAS DESCRIPTION

The electric power assisted steering (EPAS) system is based on the conventional rack and pinion steering system. EPAS provides variable power assistance depending on vehicle speed and DRIVER'S STEERING EFFORT Power assistance will be most evident to the driver when manoeuvering the vehicle at low speeds, this assistance reduces progressively as vehicle speed increases.

Driver steering effort is measured by a torque sensor mounted on the steering column. This information is sent to the EPAS electronic control unit (ECU), which also monitors engine and vehicle speed. The EPAS ECU uses this information to calculate the ideal level of power assistance required for the driving conditions, and sends a signal to an electric motor mounted on the steering column. The electric motor applies the required torque to the steering shaft via a worm gear.

The EPAS system incorporates fail-safe devices which cause it to revert to conventional manual steering in the event of a system failure. The EPAS ECU integral fault monitor sends a signal to the electromagnetic clutch which disconnects the motor. The EPAS ECU informs the driver of any malfunctions via a warning light on the instrument panel. Fault codes are stored in the EPAS ECU memory, for identification by TestBook.

My Conclusions:-

You can safely disengage EPAS by the withdrawal of the 75 amp fuse located under the bonnet on the left hand sde, but you should tell your mechanic when you take the car to the dealers for any work as they may read the Fault Log and then start expensive work trying to locate and rectify a fault that does not exist.

As the steering is totally disengaged there should not be a lot of difference other than the increased gearing:-

Manual = 20.8:1

Power = 19.1:1

VVC and MPi have exactly the same steering.

The twitchyness that some drivers feel at high speed may be brought on by snatching on the steering wheel causing the torque sensor to read 'strong steering effort' requiring power assistance which in turn can lead to oversteer and/or overcorrection.


Greg Hilton drop me an email if you wish to add something useful to these pages.

NOTE: Remove the words NOSPAM from the above address to mail me.