Pearlescent Ignition blue MG TF 115 16V acquired in October 2004. Factory fitted options included air conditioning, anti-lock brakes, passenger airbag, blue hood, wind stop and Kenwood KDC-5024 radio/single slot CD player. The Kenwoood head unit was later replaced by a Pioneer AVIC-X1R system.The car was subsequently replaced with a Mazda MX-5 1.8i Roadster Coupé in October 2007.

Inside is standard Ash (Black) Sebring upholstery and the interior has been upgraded by the installation of rear speakers and central locking neither of which were a standard fit nor a factory fit option when it was ordered.

Externally, a pair of colour coded powered mirrors have been fitted. Again these were neither a standard fit nor a factory fit option when the car was ordered.

Just prior to assembly of this car MG stopped fitting the rear bumper grill. Nothing for it but to purchase one and fit it - this required removing the rear bumper but that was fairly straightforward.

Other accessories now fitted include mud flaps (front & rear), overmats (carpet for summer, rubber for winter), a bluetooth hands free mobile phone kit, a powered remotely operated boot release and a Pioneer AVIC-X1R system providing radio, single CD or DVD playback and full satellite navigation capability together with a boot mounted Pioneer six CD autochanger.

Faults

Leaks, leaks and more leaks! Common to a lot of Fs/TFs, the car suffered a number of leaks, the most serious being into the passenger footwell resulting in an absolute lake being formed under the carpet and thoroughly soaking the soundproofing. Unfortunately, on this car, the foam rubber type soundproofing material is bonded directly to the back of the carpet so cannot be taken out on its own to dry - suffice it to say it took a very long time to fully dry out the footwell but all is now well.
 

The first leak occurred around the base of the air intake cowl under the bonnet. The shape of the cowl is not well matched to the curve of the scuttle panel and the sponge gasket proved inadequate at keeping the water out. Removal of the cowl and the application of copious amounts of clear silicon sealant to both sides of the gasket before refitting solved this little problem.

The second, and most serious leak, took a long time to find and was finally traced to an inadequately sealed welded bodywork joint between the bulkhead and scuttle panel just below the air intake cowl under the bonnet (arrowed in the picture, left). Again, copious amounts of clear silicon sealant in the joint cured this most major of leaks.

The final leak was the all too familiar ingress of water over the door cheater panel. Taking a pair of small sharp nail scissors to 'open out' the mouth of the drainage channel which runs through the centre of the front door seal has cured this for all but the most serious downpour, and even then, the water ingress is now minimal.

Well, six months leak free ......... and then a major leak returned and the passenger footwell was returned to its former glory of a jacuzzi. By this time I'd had enough and the car just had to go!