hatsu
Part of things
Posts: 156
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Oct 16, 2012 15:49:48 GMT
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I could go on but I wont. why not? Its far more interesting than "don't buy an MGF just because". Would love to see the mk1 mr2 they made with a k lump in the back... Your wish is my command The 1st 3 pictures show a base 1.8 car that we were all allowed to borrow for a couple of nights after the MGF was launched. Last picture shows a very small section of the team, but all 4 of the K series powered cars, before they were scrapped. We were powertrain, predominantly emissions related stuff, from engine mapping, and valve timing to catalysts and exhaust design. I was only an apprentice at the time but even then i could tell that the MR2 handled very well and was very fast with the VVC engine fitted.
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Oct 16, 2012 16:13:00 GMT
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So many people have a downer on the K series that it's not true. Yes, they can kill HGs. So what? So can any car if not built right or mistreated. In fact, I'd probably bank on doing one if I were to buy an MGF ('specially if it's never been done before). But you know what? Do it right, look after it, and it'll never need doing again. LR multi-layer gasket, maybe the new bearing ladder, a nice flat cylinder head, new OE stretch bolts, steel dowels and the right liner protrusion will make the engine a LOT more robust than stock. Move the thermostat to the top hose instead of the bottom hose and it'll reduce the thermal shocks that kill the HG as stock. On an MGF it would be worth replacing the front-rear coolant pipes as they are mild steel and will rust and leak. Finally, check the coolant religiously - there's not much of it so any leak can be catastrophic - replace the antifreeze every year as specified by the owner's manual, and it'll be fine for decades. I'm driving a K-series engined car at the moment and I'm not living in fear of it going pop at any moment - I just check the coolant frequently and drive very gently until it's up to temperature. The K series is categorically not a bad engine, just too advanced to be understood by most of the people that worked on it and even some of the designers at Rover - whoever put the 1.8 in the Freelander and the MGF with the standard thermostat location didn't fully consider the consequences. The fact that it's so well engineered to save weight and materials means that it doesn't have the safety margins of some engines - but keep it within those margins and it'll be fine. Compare with the Imp engine: a wonderfully light, potent little engine that was simply not understood by the mechanics of the time - coming to a compact all-alloy OHC unit would be quite a culture shock after years of pushrod cast-iron lumps - and as a result it gained a reputation for being fragile when in fact it's robust and loves to be thrashed as long as it's looked after. It's been said that giving the Imp engine to the mechanics of the day was like giving a thoroughbred race horse to someone used to looking after a Shetland pony - and I think the same can be said of the K series. WHS. My R8 Rover 214SEI is just showing the first sign of the original head gasket starting to go. At just over 100,000 miles. Weird that, when cack-handed ham-fisted owners managed to kill them by 50k miles and then blame the car...
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Oct 16, 2012 18:04:20 GMT
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Reading this... I'm getting very tempted to buy an MGF in the future, as a plaything built for the dragstrip however
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You're like a crazy backyard genius!
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ToolsnTrack
Posted a lot
Homebrew Raconteur
Posts: 4,121
Club RR Member Number: 134
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Tell me about MGF'sToolsnTrack
@overdrive
Club Retro Rides Member 134
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Oct 16, 2012 18:05:39 GMT
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Hatsu, you should see one with a Camry v6 fitted...
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Oct 16, 2012 18:45:16 GMT
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Hatsu - thanks for posting those photos. Really interesting!
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'03 Porsche 996 C2 3.6 - Sort of Retro '84 Porsche 924 - Definitely Retro!
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Garry
East Midlands
Posts: 1,722
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Oct 16, 2012 20:16:32 GMT
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Ripe for a bike engine I feel... call it an MGF'ing Hell Thats Quick!
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Last Edit: Oct 16, 2012 20:17:00 GMT by Garry
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Oct 16, 2012 21:26:42 GMT
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Nice one Hatsu!!! Fantastic stuff! I bet the chap off AROnline will be all over those when he finds out about them.
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1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 Mazda 929 Coupé 1986 Mazda 929 Wagon 1979 Mazda 929 Hardtop 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 1989 Subaru 1800 Wagon 1982 Hyundai Pony 1200TL 2-dr 1985 Hyundai Pony 1200 GL 1986 Maserati 425 Biturbo 1992 Rover 214 SEi 5-dr 2000 Rover 45 V6 Club 1994 Peugeot 205 'Junior' Diesel 1988 Volvo 760 Turbodiesel Saloon 1992 Talbot Express Autosleeper Rambler 2003 Renault Laguna SPEARS OR REAPERS
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Oct 16, 2012 22:24:26 GMT
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A MGF doesn't do it for me, strange because I like the GTM Libra which is a similar car. The coupe is nice, but the they did more cool stuff with them.
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Click picture for more
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Oct 16, 2012 22:39:51 GMT
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L-series would be a good swap, and would only require the drivers side mount fabricating and some cutting and shutting of the lower engine steady. Other than that you'd have to run an electric water pump as the diesel one is combined with the PAS-pump (not needed as F's have electric PAS) and clobbers the front of the subframe. I know this as I have an L-series built on a TF subframe ready to go in a Rover Metro.
You can get good power from the L's, 160hp/300lbft, more if you delve more into turbo upgrades.
Also there is no shared body panels with the Metro. Yes the bulkhead is similar in respect to the fact that the pedal box and heater area has the same layout but that's it.
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Last Edit: Oct 16, 2012 22:42:21 GMT by customsinc
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Oct 16, 2012 22:45:42 GMT
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Ripe for a bike engine I feel... call it an MGF'ing Hell Thats Quick! . Hmmm, I dunno. They aren't the lightest 'vert what with two full subframes etc. Saying that I biased as I'm not a bikeswap fan in general.
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Oct 16, 2012 23:56:42 GMT
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I know this as I have an L-series built on a TF subframe ready to go in a Rover Metro. You can get good power from the L's, 160hp/300lbft, more if you delve more into turbo upgrades. Now that's interesting. Do you have a build thread anywhere? Should go well and absolutely sip fuel too.
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1989 Peugeot 205. You know, the one that was parked in a ditch on the campsite at RRG'17... the glass is always full. but the ratio of air to water may vary.
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Oct 17, 2012 10:25:51 GMT
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I know this as I have an L-series built on a TF subframe ready to go in a Rover Metro. You can get good power from the L's, 160hp/300lbft, more if you delve more into turbo upgrades. Now that's interesting. Do you have a build thread anywhere? Should go well and absolutely sip fuel too. I keep meaning to start one, just looking for an ultra mint non-sunroof 3dr shell to put in, along with my NOS metro van window blanks and other rare early Mk3 Metro body parts, so in effect I'm building the Mk3 van Rover never built, but with more poke and a proper stance!
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Oct 17, 2012 15:18:34 GMT
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You may be interested in my mate, who's making a standalone VNT controller for the L-series then Should be expecting a comfortable 160Bhp from a GT1749v, without it shoving out silly amounts of boost pressure. He's got a GT2256v, which should flow enough for close to 250Bhp, at only 23psi! I'm also building a mechanical vnt controller - but I'm only expecting to build one. And it's going on my GT1849v
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You're like a crazy backyard genius!
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Oct 17, 2012 16:03:05 GMT
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Hahahaha
This has really turned into an interesting thread (a lot more interesting than i thought it would anyway!!)
See it seems deep down, a few of us are perhaps thinking of having a tinker with a MGF !!!
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Oct 17, 2012 17:03:42 GMT
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You may be interested in my mate, who's making a standalone VNT controller for the L-series then Should be expecting a comfortable 160Bhp from a GT1749v, without it shoving out silly amounts of boost pressure. He's got a GT2256v, which should flow enough for close to 250Bhp, at only 23psi! I'm also building a mechanical vnt controller - but I'm only expecting to build one. And it's going on my GT1849v Tbh I'm not huge fan of VNT's, especially on Derv's as I spend my days replacing them on various VAG's and Merc's. For what I want to use it for the stock turbo with 135/140hp & 250lbft in 800-ish kilos of Metro van should be enough! It's mainly due to having done numerous VVC Metros I just fancy something different. I've been keeping my eye on the F's for a while as I think one would suit the missus, especially stances down on some S1 Elise rimmage! Just got to persuade her to do her test first! I've had a few of them already but they were mainly fix-up-and-flog-on'ers.
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Oct 18, 2012 13:37:38 GMT
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I like the thought of having it as a base for easily having the ability to have a RWD L series, with some PROPER wheels on the back to put the power down with - not restricted to skinny things that also have to turn the car, lol
Do you think you'd fob off the intercooler (using early SD parts) extend the pipework to the front (eek!) or cobble together a chargecooler for it?
And a question for peeps who play with MGFs - the rear bulkhead between the boot and engine bay.... would it mind having a big hole cut into it? Or would that make it very wobbly?
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You're like a crazy backyard genius!
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Oct 18, 2012 14:11:30 GMT
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And a question for peeps who play with MGFs - the rear bulkhead between the boot and engine bay.... would it mind having a big hole cut into it? Or would that make it very wobbly? It probably wouldn't but I'm 100% sure the fuel tank won't like it!!!!
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Last Edit: Oct 18, 2012 14:12:24 GMT by damien4884
1977 datsun 810 180b estate
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sparkyt
Posted a lot
selling stuff
Posts: 1,767
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Oct 18, 2012 15:03:40 GMT
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We've cut about 12 up in the past, never made any money out of them . No body wants parts not even good engines we still have 3 .. tbf didn't find any rust problems under any of them . I think they just got a bad name ..
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Oct 18, 2012 20:45:59 GMT
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Cutting the primary bulkhead would not be a good idea, rather inherent to the strength on 'Fs. As the diesels run cooler than petrols, you could use one (or both) of the side vents to position intercoolers behind, there are aftermarket scoops made to fit that would aid airflow through them. Two small coolers on each side would be interesting! But saying that due to the high boost levels you can run on these L-series engines, the pressure drop from running long pipes to a front mount cooler shouldn't be a major issue.
I'd deffinately be using later TF subframes to bin the Hydrogas set-up, and also the TF strengthening braces. I'd also use an MGF rather than a TF as a base car, not overly keen on the sharper styling on the TF's
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Oct 18, 2012 21:27:51 GMT
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I'd deffinately be using later TF subframes to bin the Hydrogas set-up, and also the TF strengthening braces. Why would you bin the hydragas if you don't mind me asking? Agree on the strengthening braces although al least two of the three need welding and one is a dash out job. For cooling I would be looking at a Toyota Celica GT4 charge cooler. Cheap and compact, you just need to locate a small radiator somewhere. The redundant nearside vent should do it. Or you could have a straight through exhaust and put it where the hefty back box used to sit.
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'03 Porsche 996 C2 3.6 - Sort of Retro '84 Porsche 924 - Definitely Retro!
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