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MG MGF Technical - bought my first mgf

hi all,
well i bought the mgf i looked at last sunday (see my post what to look for if you dont know what im going on about)
any how i feel stupid asking ,but this is my first mgf and i dont want to bugger anything up.
is there a knack to putting the roof down??as sometimes mine seems to get stuck half way down??
come on tell me what im doing wrong!!

also although mine has only done 26500 miles a few of you have said to get the cam belt done as the car is 5 yrs old.
any body know of a good garage in the hampshire area that could do this job ,aswell as services for mgf's
what prices would you expect to pay for these jobs.

and finally my brakes feel pretty soft ,so i was going to change all the brake fluid ,is this a straight forward job on the mg ?? is there a sequence to follow ?or can you just bleed any wheel in any order??
many thanks in advance
pat.
pat

Hi Pat,

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the 'F' Family. Hope the car gives you as much pleasure as my had. I would encourage you to join up (free) and then you will have access to all the achives with priceless information at your finger tips.

The roof is helped to fold back by 2 elastic straps that are hidden ontop of the seat belt type straps which are located in between 2 frame links. Check these straps and you will see that they have lost their elasticity.
As a temporary action you can help your roof folding down by pulling back (towards the rear) the 2nd frame piece from the front. You simply do what the elastic would do.
You can get this fixed by upgrading with a strap kit or by adding your own flat elastic piece like I have done. Refer to a recent post as someone is selling these here.

Also as a temp fix, I used an old pair of my kids trouser suspenders. see pic.

Soft or Spongy brakes can be due to air in the system and will need bleeding. But, while you are there first check that the discs and the pads are all within spec.
Bleeding is performed in this sequence (usually the longest brake fluid path down to the shortest). LH rear, RH rear, RH front then LH front.

You may also concider aquiring a MGF workshop manual, either on CD or hard copy. A must for DIY owners.

Cheers,
Branko

Branko

Hi Pat, re your question about putting the hood down you do need to be careful when doing this as the rear window can easily split particularly in cold weather. I have found that after releasing the windscreen clamps you need to stand just to the back of the drivers door, in line with the top back of the hood. With your right arm slowly raise the front of the hood and this will start the cantilever action to fold the hood. After a short movement you will encounter the lock up problem you mention but you should also see your back window flexing to go down into the folded position. At this point put your left arm across the entire width of the width and create a curve with no sharp creases in it. When you have done that then with your right hand you can feel up the inside of the hood and you will be able to feel the cross member that is causing the hood to stick. Just move this slightly backwards and the hood will then start to move again. Keep an eye on the back window and as the hood folds down make sure you smooth out any folds or creases that develop - in other words maintain a natural smooth curve in the flexible plastic window. This sounds a little bit complex but its quite simple and after a few practises it becomes quite easy to do. In really cold weather its best to zip out the back window before thinking about dropping the hood. Hope this helps. Robert
Robert Matthews 1

thanks again you 2.

your both stars.

p.s . ive now joined the club ,so hopefully i can learn some more bits and bobs.


pat.
pat

Hi Pat

My roof does the same you fold it half way and it gets stuck. I prefer it like this because it give you chane to make sure the window has a nice curve in it before you fold it all the way back. As said in the earlier thread. just find the cross member and move it slightly then the roof will fold all the way back.

As for the brakes does sound like air in the system or a leaking master cylinder rubber.check to see if you are loosing fluid.
M Carr

I used to have the hood lock-up problem and ended making some straps to solve it. They were so successful that others wanted them and I now sell them on Ebay. Once fitted you just forget about them, since the hood now folds like it was intended to. Good advice given by others regarding cold weather - always make sure that the plastic window is soft enough to bend before you drop the hood. Here's a link to the straps -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170156492717&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=007
David Clelland

thanks all again for all your help,

david ive just bought some of your straps of ebay
i do hope they come with idiot proof instructions

he he



pat
pat

They do !!!.
Andrew W Regens

Pat,
Welcome aboard the MGF fan club.
Had mine 6 months & thoroughly enjoy it ...great fun car.
Pat, they do like to be warmed up very gently in the interest of longevity.
In 6 months mine has not used a drop of oil or water but it is worth keeping an eye on the coolant level on a very regular basis (just in case)
My water level sits just above the half way line (ish)of the header tank which I believe the guys with F experience appear to think is the optimum.

Also the car likes it's tyre pressures to be as per the handbook ...a little out can change the drive quite considerably,in my experience at least.
J M Brown

This thread was discussed between 13/10/2007 and 15/10/2007

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