This is something I've not seen before. The MG F cylinder head came off easily enough but it revealed some unforeseen issues. It has clearly got very hot in the past as the plastic cam belt covers have melted but that is only the least of it. The exhaust cam pulley harmonic balancer was no longer attached to the gear, if not caught now it could have led to catastrophic failure, and the head itself, as well as having significant grooves in the surface from the head gasket, was found to be corroded to such a degree that it could not be safely skimmed. I took it to Redmans Engine Centre in Fleetwood for a second opinion, I am lucky that someone so renowned for their work on these engines is so relatively local, they confirmed my thoughts. Hopefully they are going to source a good head and build it up such that I can just bolt it back onto the engine, having seen and only barely understood the VVC intake cam control I think that is for the best.
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