Adding an MGF Stainless Steel Grille Kit. Even before I had actually collected and imported my MGF, I knew I wanted to do a few updates. I didn’t want too much bling, but subtle customizations are OK. One of the updates I had seen was the replacing of the side air intake grilles for the engine. I also wanted to change the front grilles. Most parts for the MGF and MGTF are readily available in the UK. So, knowing this, I turned to the eBay UK website. The UK site at https://ebay.co.uk I find searching on works well. UK sellers and with trips to the UK planned, allows me to bring things back with me.
I came across a listing for an OEM woven and polished stainless steel grille kit. It contains all the four pieces needed. A little expensive, perhaps, but it was OEM MG Rover part. This, I felt, made the extra cost well worth it as I could rely on things fitting without drama! I was not looking for drama early in my ownership lifecycle. So, I obtained the MGF Stainless Steel Grille Kit for £125.
Engine Intake Covers
These were the first items to tackle as it appeared relatively straightforward. On the MGF there are simply 2 screws behind the original mesh covers, that hold the part in place. There’s a body colored surround and the mesh across the middle. Sure enough, the 2 screws were carefully removed and the intake cover came out easily. Prior research of this procedure revealed that the mesh was simply held in place with RTV or other similar non hardening glue.
So, with the vent cover off the car I could see the holding material at various points around the outer edge of the grille. Some careful prying and pressing and the original mesh piece was coming away from the surround. Eventually, black mesh was free from the surround and out of the way. I removed the remains of the original RTV/glue and prepared to insert the new mesh.
Naturally, as with any classic car job, generally nothing goes according to plan. The fitting wasn’t exactly the same with the new mesh and the gaps between each hole in the mesh were much smaller. This made the fitting of the retaining screws to attach back to the car more complex than it might have been. But with some prying for access to the screw heads and other “finessing” it all went back together and there wasn’t lots of RTV oozing through and visible. Phase one of the adding an MGF Stainless Steel Grille Kit complete.
Front Grille Replacement
This is the second phase of the update to add MGF Stainless Steel Grille Kit. The easiest way to do this is to remove the front bumper. Just before attempting this, I saw a Facebook post about an alternative. The alternative requires access from below, patience, and small ratchet with Philips screwdriver bit. I looked at the alternative, and I could see how it might be possible. However, I decided to go the bumper removal route. Patience, is not a word that is generally associated with me. Plus, as I have an air conditioning condenser up front, there’s even less room for working the alternative method.
I have purchased a full workshop manual for the MGF. This is proving useful, I also have a digital PDF version. Using this, novel idea read the instructions, the task was quite straight forward.
The only bit of “unobvious-ness” I ran into was step 4 of the procedure. The 2 screws to the wheel arch liner I could see easily. After some poking around because the bumper would not come off I found the step 4 screws. To reveal them, some prying back of the wheel arch liner was required. In my defense, the picture shown in the instructions is not the most helpful.
I had put out a blanket on the floor to protect the bumper and with it removed the changing of the mesh on the 2 grille openings was fairly easy. Just remove a number of Philips screws around each grille aperture. Change out the mesh for the stainless steel. Affix in place by installation of the Philips screws and making sure everything was aligned nicely.
Final Thoughts
Refitting the bumper was mostly uneventful. I had multiple attempts to get it aligned just right. I discovered that one of the (hidden to me) screws mentioned above (step 4) wasn’t located quite right. This was why one side of the bumper came off and the other didn’t. Only one of the “step 4” screws was properly holding the bumper. So, after a bit of a struggle I got the bumper and driver’s side headlight properly aligned.
The removal and trying not to break the indicator (turn signal) locking tabs will have to be another article. Like most people, I have some wire holding both mine in place.
With the bumper removed I saw there was a date and some other writing on the inside of the bumper. From information shared with me I know the build date of the car is 29th August, 1996. August 29th was my Dad’s birthday (amongst other significance of this date). The date written is 27/8/96 so this would seem to confirm the bumper is original to the car, and that somehow this marking has survived. I shared this with a relative who has friends that worked at MG/Rover at Longbridge at the time. So far, no identification of who wrote this has been made. Please get in touch if it was you or you know who this is/was.
