75ZT Community

I have bought an MGf for myself and (Mainly)Tina, got it at the Auction the other night for a bargain price of £350 !!!

Looks decent enough, though there are a few cosmetic issues to sort out and there are a few other problems, the Dash doesnt illuminate, the hood isn't fitting right on the Drivers side.

The plus side: It has a full service history up to 2010, its had the Head Gasket replaced and a full timing belt replacement in 2010. We have reciepts and every MOT document from new, plus countless service reciepts etc. It is a 1998 model on an R Reg.

Looks good for the money, handbrake looks..... interesting

lol, yeah, Brakes need a good sorting out, got a shock driving it home

Not sure how long it has been standing, it was a trade in Car from a "Highstreet Showroom". I have been hankering to get one for a while now, this one was cheap and had an engine that runs, something of a rarity on the lower priced MGf's (Autotrader / Ebay prices are usually around £600 for a non runner)

It was bought as a "Do'er upper" and there are a few problems to sort, Brakes, Dash lights, Oil pressure gauge doesn't work. Its last MOT only had two Advisories, a Ball Joint and a Bush on the n/s Rear shocker, MOT is due in sept, so plenty time to sort things out

it is a bit low ? they need pumping up from time to time , at last service bev's needed doing i'll have to look at Bevs mg f which is about the same year/colour but does not have leather seats . i think bevs hand brake is fairly high up , is it a vvc or standard 1.8? Bev's is just the 1.8 but came with hard top, abs which is only standard on the vvc till later , pass. side air-bag 3 brake light and it has retro fit power steering.
you have paid a very nice price for it but granted you have some issues but i hope you can get them sorted.

Thx Starbug2, I don't know if its a VVC, I assume it is a standard 1.8, the Log book doesn't state VVC on it. I haven't had a proper look through all the receipts etc yet, but will do today. Just been out to have a good look around it, left it running on tickover for approx one and a half hours, whilst I was out with it, Temp sat in the middle nicely, which is good news seeing as it is a K-Series :getmecoat:

I have found a Receipt for Suspension pump up from 2003, nothing since then, but there are a lot of receipts with it lol, so will have to see. I thought the back end looked a little low myself, but only noticed really when I got it home.

It had the Head Gasket replaced in November 2011, so it has had two HGF (Head Gasket Failure)'s in its time that I can see, it also had the Dash Illumination repaired in 2010, but that looks to have failed again

The Car itself is a standard model, only Driver Airbag and Electric Windows. The paintwork isn't that bad, though someone had kindly keyed the passenger side, but not too deep. The Bumper has flaking paint around the headlamps and there is the repair patch that you can see above in the pictures on the Driver side rear.

I found today that setting 1 and 2 don't work on the heater, but 3 and 4 do, so thats another to do item on the list lol.

I am very pleased with it, to be honest. I wasn't expecting a fantastic perfect motor for the price and what I got is pretty much what I expected.

There is from what I have found so far, 3 Braklights (1 Boot Mounted), ABS (Antilock Braking System) (Warning light is there but the dash lights don't work), Driver Airbag and I think power steering, the Steering is very light so I assume it has, it started raining so had to stop mooching at the car lol.

For £350 if that is all that is wrong with it sounds like a bargain to me - well done.

But, is this the best place for you to work? Imagining a monthly posting 'what I bought this month'

PaulT wrote:For £350 if that is all that is wrong with it sounds like a bargain to me - well done.

But, is this the best place for you to work? Imagining a monthly posting 'what I bought this month'

lol, I know. There is a 1990's "E" Reg VW Scirocco there at the moment, I did kind of think how nice it would look on the Drive :p There was also a 1984/5 "B" Plate Ford Sierra XR4i that came in on a Transporter, sadly it went out on the same transporter as it was going elsewhere, but man what a beauty it was, a very, very clean car. I couldn't get a picture of it, which is a shame as they are very rare now.

There is a lovely MG ZT-T in at the moment, but Tina has banned me from looking :p :p

BTW The Oil Pressure dial is actually Oil Temp and it does work lol, silly me......

if you look through the mesh you should see vvc on the top of the engine also the vvc rev's higher ABS ans power steering where not standard to the standard car so if a car has both and you have leather seats you may have a vvc but then someone may of just ticked the options list. i know VVC have different wheels but i don't know what may self . i assume you have the abs stuff under the front bonnet on the drivers side , you can't miss it. speeds 1-2 fail alot on these cars and other rovers as my 45 failed and the mgf didn't work either when we got it ,i have read of ways to fix them but not really my field.. i would hope it has had its Suspension pumped since 2003 as it is a service and mot issue and can mean abnormal tire wear and lights out of aim .Electric Windows was standard to all mgf's . i notice the front brakes are red which is not standard so either had new fancy brakes or just been painted ? bev's MGF has had a head gasket fitted but it was a standard one only so it may need doing ... from the pic's you car looks fine , maybe some day we can compare MGF's

starbug2 wrote:if you look through the mesh you should see vvc on the top of the engine also the vvc rev's higher ABS ans power steering where not standard to the standard car so if a car has both and you have leather seats you may have a vvc but then someone may of just ticked the options list. i know VVC have different wheels but i don't know what may self . i assume you have the abs stuff under the front bonnet on the drivers side , you can't miss it. speeds 1-2 fail alot on these cars and other rovers as my 45 failed and the mgf didn't work either when we got it ,i have read of ways to fix them but not really my field.. i would hope it has had its Suspension pumped since 2003 as it is a service and mot issue and can mean abnormal tire wear and lights out of aim .Electric Windows was standard to all mgf's . i notice the front brakes are red which is not standard so either had new fancy brakes or just been painted ? bev's MGF has had a head gasket fitted but it was a standard one only so it may need doing ... from the pic's you car looks fine , maybe some day we can compare MGF's

Cheers for the info, I will poke about under the Engine cover, the Car does have ABS lol, silly me not paying attention, the Modulator is, as you say under the Bonnet. I am still trawling the the history of the car, there is lots both in and out of the Service book!!

It looks to have been very well cared for up until 2010 then suddenly not much history, other than the head gasket in November, but I may be wrong, I have been filing the history in chronoligical order to check.

Would be nice to check out another MGf - Once we get this one sorted and back on the road We have a neighbour a few doors away with an MGf so I may even be cheeky and pop round and ask to poke about it to compare a few things :p

I will try and get more pictures too, but we have been busy dodging rainclouds to give the car a good clean, the boot / underbonnet area's are quiet dirty. I found a little tool bag in the luggage compartment, not sure what its for, will have to check the Handbook (incidently it has the original MG Handbook with leather wallet )

I am (as you can probably see) very excited about this Car lol.

Assuming you have a spare wheel the bag of tools should be the wheel changing stuff . bev's book are in the leather folder .

carlpenn wrote:

starbug2 wrote:if you look through the mesh you should see vvc on the top of the engine also the vvc rev's higher ABS ans power steering where not standard to the standard car so if a car has both and you have leather seats you may have a vvc but then someone may of just ticked the options list. i know VVC have different wheels but i don't know what may self . i assume you have the abs stuff under the front bonnet on the drivers side , you can't miss it. speeds 1-2 fail alot on these cars and other rovers as my 45 failed and the mgf didn't work either when we got it ,i have read of ways to fix them but not really my field.. i would hope it has had its Suspension pumped since 2003 as it is a service and mot issue and can mean abnormal tire wear and lights out of aim .Electric Windows was standard to all mgf's . i notice the front brakes are red which is not standard so either had new fancy brakes or just been painted ? bev's MGF has had a head gasket fitted but it was a standard one only so it may need doing ... from the pic's you car looks fine , maybe some day we can compare MGF's

Cheers for the info, I will poke about under the Engine cover, the Car does have ABS lol, silly me not paying attention, the Modulator is, as you say under the Bonnet. I am still trawling the the history of the car, there is lots both in and out of the Service book!!

It looks to have been very well cared for up until 2010 then suddenly not much history, other than the head gasket in November, but I may be wrong, I have been filing the history in chronoligical order to check.

Would be nice to check out another MGf - Once we get this one sorted and back on the road We have a neighbour a few doors away with an MGf so I may even be cheeky and pop round and ask to poke about it to compare a few things :p

I will try and get more pictures too, but we have been busy dodging rainclouds to give the car a good clean, the boot / underbonnet area's are quiet dirty. I found a little tool bag in the luggage compartment, not sure what its for, will have to check the Handbook (incidently it has the original MG Handbook with leather wallet )

I am (as you can probably see) very excited about this Car lol.

I have just pulled out the tool bag I found, it has a little yellow handled Allen Key, a Black plastic tube with a yellow sticker instructing the owner to refer to a handbook and an alloy / aluminium hand grip with a hexagon / socket like end on it. This item has "Auto Maxi" stamped into it, so I assume its actually not for the MG ?

I have a Scirrocco in the garage, a couple of years older. Another one of my 'projects' that I started back in late '98. Must stop playing with 75s and get it finished!

Rob (Trebor) has a TF and it seems the ignition switches can cause problems which affect the power steering and dashboard lights, though on his the steering went heavy rather than light if I remember right.

Thanks Duncan, I may pop him a PM and ask, I found a receipt in the folder that states this Dash Illumination problem has appeared before, cost the owner some £300 to repair !!! So far, I have found Invoices for £6,000 of Work on the car in its life, ignoring service and Tyres !! :O

Starbug2: It is a standard 1.8i, the Cover says "Injection" and not "VVC"

Looks like it was a quick fix, after I did a spot of Googling, there was a 15 amp Fuse blown No. 16 "Stop / Reverse" Lights, I replaced that and et voila !! The Lights on Alarm sounds, the Backlights illuminate too. On to the next Job

ok, So I got teh Dash Backlights going, the ABS Light doesnt come on when Ignition is at N0. 2 setting and it should do The Temp gauge has now decided to drop to zero randomnly lol and I still cannot get the footwell lights lit up, checked the Bulbs and they are fine, swapped with new ones to double check and still no illumination. Got the top down, which was interesting lol, here is a couple of quickie shots:





I love how it looks topless

ABS light could be many things, though don't rule out simple bulb failure, or bodgery where someone has blacked out the lamp or removed the bulb.

Edit:
if it's the same as the TF, then check fuse 21 in the under dash fusebox, and fuse link 2 underbonnet.

The TF information also shows the warning light as a bulb, so it may be simply removed.

Thx Duncan, back at work tomorrow so won't be able to do much this week, due to dark nights. I am hoping that it isn't a case of bodgery or hiding an ABS fault, but not to worry too much, The Modulator is half the price it ws for the 75 lol !!!

Have whipped teh Console Tunnel out this afternoon too, to look at the wonky heater, it appears that no matter where I put teh Blower settings the Heater always blows out of the Face level vents, even if I manually move the spindle on teh heater Motor itself rather than the Console switch.

Great fun

Just to update this thread, Lots of things have been sorted, still have the Heater Control knobs to replace and the footwell lights to fix, but the car is running fine, although it is in true K-Series Engine style, loosing water internally ( The exhaust is very steamy ) I will look at this over the next few weeks, but the Rover comes first and I have a few jobs to do on that.

The MGf is bloomin great fun to drive and incredibly speedy, something I didn't expect

Rimmers have a clearance on many items, so parts are fairly cheap, especially things that are Cosmetic lol, so I am buying what I can afford for the future

carlpenn wrote:Rimmers have a clearance on many items, so parts are fairly cheap, especially things that are Cosmetic lol, so I am buying what I can afford for the future

Just think of when the Rover torches were going very cheaply and the price they fetch now that there are very few available. Buy a quantity of the right parts and it could prove a nice investment.

PaulT wrote:

carlpenn wrote:Rimmers have a clearance on many items, so parts are fairly cheap, especially things that are Cosmetic lol, so I am buying what I can afford for the future

Just think of when the Rover torches were going very cheaply and the price they fetch now that there are very few available. Buy a quantity of the right parts and it could prove a nice investment.

I was thinking that too I have a new Cooling Fan to buy from Jules this month and I am also taking advantage of RadioGuys offer on the DD Unit that he currently has going, so I am a little over spent this month (again lol) More so as I am bidding on some ZT Door Cards to fit to my Tourer, I am having a Trim change lol, sort of a ZT / 75 amalgamation, with the Dark trim from an ZT and the Wood from the 75 - I reckon it will look kinda cool, especially when I eventually get the Wooden Gearknob / Handbrake that I never seem to be able to buy lolol