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MG MGF Technical - Head Gasket Question

Hi All,

I am about to purchase a MGF 1.8i Freestyle 2001

The head gasket is currently being replaced along with the cambelt, I'm new to the car , does the head have to be re-torqued down or do the ' stretchy ' bolts compensate for this ?

Thanks in advance for the responses ...
R Willetts

Hi Richard, and welcome. The F may look a complex beast, but apart from the engine being in the middle it's much like any other car. Rewards careful maintenance but can inflict grave financial wounding on the careless owner, so well worth a read of some of the websites compiled by long-time owners - Rob Bell's site is an excellent starting point - http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com

The bolts stretch as they reach the required torque, so should be checked for length before re-fitting, but bearing in mind the importance of the job they do fitting new ones regardless is a good move.
Also worth checking whether the cambelt tensioner is being renewed, not a common failure but it can reduce the engine to scrap in a few seconds so again the smart money is on fitting a new one. And right next to that is the water pump, and like all water pumps they eventually begin to leak so a new one of those too perhaps... Access is, well, restricted, so doing all the jobs while the cambelt covers are off makes a great deal of sense.
bandit

Thanks Bandit - and of course there's Dieter's http://www.mgfcar.de/ Tony's http://www.apttony.co.uk/ and a number of others that'll certainly help too. :o)

Stretch bolts get torqued, and then turned again - so there is no final torque setting as you would have on a 'normal' head stud.

As Bandit says, these bolts can be re-used, although probably no more than once, and only if their length is within tolerance. Most commercial garages will actually just throw these out, as it isn't worth their time to check the stretch bolts, and it is quicker and therefore cheaper to simply replace with new.

Which gasket are you going for? If a standard style gasket then use a good reputed manufacturer (Payden for example). The other option is to use the multi-layer shim gasket, as used by Land Rover for their K-series applications. This should be used with an up-graded oil-rail. But while these are very good, and work extremely well on new engines, you have to ensure that the cylinder liner stand-proud is within tolerance.

Lots of advice from gurus such as Dave Andrews on this - if it means that the gasket only needs replacing once, it is worth doing! :o)
Rob Bell

Thanks for the responses guys, much appreciated !
R Willetts

This thread was discussed between 08/05/2010 and 10/05/2010

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