When do you stop?

1609 Views 27 Replies 11 Participants Last post by D4KGP, 2 mo ago

coffeebreakbios

Discussion Starter · 2 mo ago

You buy a car that you want to restore to it's former glory, spend a fortune on parts,, plus time,, to get it through the dreaded MOT.
Then all of the old original components start to pack in one by one.

My TF 135 (Babs) was bought as a pandemic project, she had been laid up for over 4 years, luckily in a dry lockup.

After 2 years and too many parts to list here, she finally has an MOT.

The thing is, the car has now cost you double the true value of the car, and you are still improving and replacing parts.

I'm lucky, as yet I've no rust problems, but this could easily rear it's ugly head.

When would you consider saying enough is enough, call it quits and get rid of the money pit?
Or do you love the car enough to carry on restoring it regardless of costs?
I'd love to hear your comments
Ray

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dert

· #21 · 2 mo ago

I've had to stop as I've 12 on the drive and no longer have room for any more on my drive unless I sell some of the ones I've got...may get rid of my 160 as I've basically had enough of it (see what have you done today thread

) and want to focus on the 2006 and 2005 TF's which I need some space to work on before getting rid of, then work on replacing the engine in one of my 135 TF's and replacing head gasket on another. I hope to just have my original 1996 F, my 1996 ginger F and just one of my two 75th in the long term...will also need to probably scrap one TF as rust has taken hold on the rear sill and panel and one of my F's which had a chimney pot land on the boot/rear wing crushing it quite badly.

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Roverlike

· #22 · 2 mo ago

Man in the Car said:
I have to say that my experience of Rover/MG cars is that once sorted out properly, they are actually very reliable and cost very little in the way of repairs compared with some other marques (even some marques which are often held up as beacons of reliability).

This is exactly my experiance as well.

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mowog73

· #23 · 2 mo ago

I too agree.

I had to perform a number of jobs on the F when I first bought it in 2011, it had been neglected for many years. But once I gave it a once over, fixed the clutch hydraulics, new brakes and brake hoses, it has been a very reliable ever since.

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deepfat

· #24 · 2 mo ago

#20 Have you considered an exorcism?
I think your suffering Post MG Stress Disorder, it tends to go away when the sun starts shining, of course then follows another winter when you may have a relapse

and so on.

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Chris T

· #25 · 2 mo ago

I bought my TF 17 and a bit years ago for a smidge under £10K, it was originally supplied to its original owner in 2002 by a well regarded MGR dealer and then for the first 10 years of my ownership by a fantastic MGR dealer/Xpart service centre and then by myself. For the first 8 years it was my only car and lived outside. In the time I’ve owned it, other than tyres and maintenance it has need a head gasket, under floor pipes, exhaust backbox and an alternator. Only the alternator left the car stranded on the side of the road. I have the car in bits at the moment as after 21 years there are a lot of aged components that need renewing.

As said MGR products tend to be reliable and relatively cheap to run if looked after and not neglected, but they don’t cope with neglect very well.

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Bluestuff

· #26 · 2 mo ago

D4KGP :
who would buy a car that has no windows that go up and down,
that randomly over heats for no obvious reason ,
that has clear coat delaminating,
water leaks around the door seals ,
fan switch with 2 speeds missing,
seat needing replacement,
and much much more.

deepfat:
an exorcism , what shop sells those, il order one now ,

dert : iv got 6 on the driveway now..

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coffeebreakbios

Discussion Starter · #27 · 2 mo ago

In a moment of madness I decided to take Babs on her first long run.
I was invited to a family wedding in Aberdeen, Yip a total of 1720 miles by the time I got home..
I made sure my RAC was fully up to date, everyone nagging at me that I was crazy and that I'll never make it.

Babs sat at 65-70 all the way and wanted to give more, we did a couple of breaks,
arriving in Abedeen after 12 hours on the road.
She drove sweetly all the way, returned around 50ish mpg, used no fluids at all. no overheating etc.
Only thing I suffered was the numb bum syndrome.
Looks as though all of the work is finally paying off,
My brothers hired Focus hybrid packed in 3 times in the week of the wedding.
So don't knock the old girls, Babs was amazing, and used less fuel than a new hybrid.

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D4KGP

· #28 · 2 mo ago

Bluestuff said:
D4KGP :
who would buy a car that has no windows that go up and down,
that randomly over heats for no obvious reason ,
that has clear coat delaminating,
water leaks around the door seals ,
fan switch with 2 speeds missing,
seat needing replacement,
and much much more.

deepfat:
an exorcism , what shop sells those, il order one now ,

dert : iv got 6 on the driveway now..

I did not write those comments. D4KGP.

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