MGF

Hi Pete, Suggest you do a Google search of MGF forums etc you will soon discover that pre-'99 MGFs both standard and VVC have a habit of overheating ( 2x6'lengths of pipe to the radiator at the front and cheap hose clips, out of sight) the Alloy BLMC K engine will then warp and you may need a head skim to correct the problems. On a VVC engine assuming no more serious engine damage this can cost as much as £750 to repair. A well known achilles heel.

Later models dont have this reputation.

Suggest you save a little more cash and save a lot of heartache.

P. '67MGB '98 MGF

Actually while you do need to keep an eye on the pipe work that's not the main reason for HGF.

There are a number of dowels that locate the cylinder head onto the block, on pre 2000 models these dowels were made from plastic and allowed the head to move which caused HGF. On the 1.8 K series engine the walls between the cylinders are very thin therefore the gasket is very narrow at these points and any small movement caused the gasket to fail

Replacement head gasket kits included new dowels made from steel so once a car has suffered a HGF provided it was repaired properly and the dowels replaced it should be fine. Any future problems will usually be down to damaged or corroded pipework from the rad to the engine.

On post 2000 cars steel dowels were factory fitted.

Regards Nick

Thanks both for your replies. My budget is already stretched, but at least I know the problem now, and what to keep an eye on. One other Q, Suggested mileage between cam belt changes?? TIA :)

It should be changed at 5years or 60,000 miles.

My first MGF did 83,000 before HGF and I never bothered to change the cambelt until the head gasket failed. It would have been silly to have the old one put back on!

My local garage checked the cambelt every time it was serviced and they kept telling me it was in good shape. After the head gasket repair they showed me the old cambelt and it still looked like new, all the teeth were intact and there were no rounded edges. It was even clean and the printing on the outside surface looked like new!

The choice is yours, you take a chance or you follow the book.

Thanks again Nick :)