Mgf 1.8 vvc good or bad

Stulc

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I've read about head gaskets but the seller said it's fine and doesn't affect his. I was just looking at them for something different to the Merc
 

Blobcat

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It's about £600 for a full replacement head gasket job - of course the sellers said it's fine and doesn't affect his...:rolleyes:

How much is he asking for it?
 

Yugguy

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It wasn't as bad as made out. They just had a low coolant capacity so if neglected it was easy to overheat. So it doesn't mean all the 1.8Kseries engines needed a new gasket.

We had a TF 135 and it did exactly what we wanted, simple open-top motoring with enough grunt to have fun but not to stick us in a hedge backwards.

They're a bargain now really.
 

LostKiwi

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Head gasket issues affect all K series engines except the heavily redesigned Kavachi versions (primarily used for competitive applications).
 

LostKiwi

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It wasn't as bad as made out. They just had a low coolant capacity so if neglected it was easy to overheat. So it doesn't mean all the 1.8Kseries engines needed a new gasket.

I think the problem was more about thermal shock. Due to the location of the thermostat and the long coolant runs to the front mounted radiator.

When the thermostat opens, the cold water from the radiator rushes into the engine. This causes the head to contract which rubs against the sealant on the gasket, eventually causing the sealant to wear away. This isn't helped by the fact that plastic dowels are used. With metal dowels HGF is a lot less likely, as the dowels are stronger and stop the head contracting as far.

Another well known cause of HGF are air locks which then cause hot spots in the engine. Similar to the thermostat problem, where the rushing in of cold water creates cold-spots which then makes the head contract/expand causing failure of the gasket seals. Air locks can be caused by failure to bleed the system properly or a leaky waterpump or inlet manifold gasket.
 

d215yq

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To be fair the K series was ahead of it's time; I remember choosing my Rover 214SLi as my first car is it had 105bhp and did over 50mpg which back then was a lot for a normal 1.4 and nobody even cared that much about mpg. Were nippy and fun to drive/rev too. I bet the 1.8VVC is very fun in a sports car even if nto that fast.

One of mine did need head gasket but I think the replacement gaskets were better quality so that fixed the issue (unless as above run with a coolant leak/overheated, etc).

On that age of car a head gasket could be needed whatever it is. Even my OM603 "toughest diesel ever made" needed a head gasket and skim a few years ago; though it was 28 years old and had done 270k miles, but end of the day it's still possible to have to do it on any car and I still had to fork out the money...
 
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Stulc

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LK you know your stuff :)

He wants to swap for my 06 C200 cdi elegance auto est... his is a 98 R 1.8 vvc soft top.

I was after some fun driving for a change..
 

Racersedge

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I have been borrowing an MGTF 1.8 160 for the last 6 weeks (to be returned tomorrow now I’ve finally bought a replacement car) and I can tell you they are engaging enough when driven hard. It’s back to basics motoring. VERY skittish though and swaps ends VERY easily in the damp so be careful. I wouldn’t call it a well handling car. Fun though.
 

A.J.

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I have been borrowing an MGTF 1.8 160 for the last 6 weeks (to be returned tomorrow now I’ve finally bought a replacement car) and I can tell you they are engaging enough when driven hard. It’s back to basics motoring. VERY skittish though and swaps ends VERY easily in the damp so be careful. I wouldn’t call it a well handling car. Fun though.

I drove one a few years back, probably '98 ish and my impression was that it was quite a poorly made car, noisy and didn't particularly handle very well :(
 

bembo449

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id go for a TF if I was you pal , I had 2 of these a few years back , both had had there HG's uprated and neither broke down , the TF doesn't have that silly suspension either , they are shockingly built but very good fun to drive , im over 6" and was perfectly comfy in one too
 
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Racersedge

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I drove one a few years back, probably '98 ish and my impression was that it was quite a poorly made car, noisy and didn't particularly handle very well :(

I’d definitely agree, but that doesn’t stop it being fun. Small and light (compared to modern small cars) are always good combos. I wouldn’t wanna crash in one though!
 

LostKiwi

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Yugguy

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98 would have been an MGF with the daft hyrogas suspension. I think anyway.
 

Flyinspanner

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Get an MX5 rather than the MG.

Loads around.
Cheap.
Reliable.
Fun.

Recently did a drift day in mx5, (lots of fun, and kind of harder than you think) - the guy said they take punishment all day long
 

Blobcat

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Get an MX5 rather than the MG.

Loads around.
Cheap.
Reliable.
Fun.

Recently did a drift day in mx5, (lots of fun, and kind of harder than you think) - the guy said they take punishment all day long
Get an SLK and stay loyal :p:D
 
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Stulc

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Get an MX5 rather than the MG.

Loads around.
Cheap.
Reliable.
Fun.

Recently did a drift day in mx5, (lots of fun, and kind of harder than you think) - the guy said they take punishment all day long


I would but it's the mg that I'm being offered, don't know if I said at the start, if I didn't I meant to.
 

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