Year: 2022

Bromsgrove this morning…

Really good to see Keith and Karen again for some work on their fab cars.

We replaced the head gasket on his TF 135 (in paint code PBT), along with a gear box oil change, coolant flush and fitting of a USB port in place of the cigar lighter.

Then we changed the gear box oil in his MGF mpi 120 (in Volcano) and replaced the coil pack to the distributor HT lead as the others were only changed a year ago. The cars looking good, and he had treated himself to a Christmas present last year of full Mike Satur Daytona exhaust system, and sports cat, sounds great, and next up will possibly be a remap.

What a lovely morning in Keith’s company, fab weather, lots of tea and biscuits, plus cuddles with their beautiful pooches. – https://ift.tt/J8icnmb

It was supposed to be a weekend off, but needs must when things are a tad on the busy side…

We went over to Green Hammerton, near York yesterday morning to see what was occurring with Jamie’s TF Steptronic, that he had to have recovered home, as it had decided to lose a load of coolant and then subsequently not start again. He told us, in a good spirited way, that his uncle who owns and runs a garage, had politely declined to work on the car for him.

On pressure test, it was found that the hose from the head to the heater pipes had a rather large split. The expansion tank cap was also faulty. Hose replaced and new cap fitted. Fortunately, for him though, it wasn’t the proverbial as he had suspected.

But, the none starting issue, after our investigations, with fuses and relays etc, was found to be the fuel pump having packed up. A quick message to Jason at MG & Alpha Spares and one is being shipped out to us to be fitted next week. We don’t keep these on stock as they can dry out and be of no use if kept in storage for a long period of time. Good to meet Jamie and have a brew too, we will be back!

The car we had in from Filey was returned today, good to see Linda and have her reunited with her TF 135, after its bit of surgery with us. A nip over to the car park near the Brigg for a cuppa and a bacon sandwich before heading back to the workshop to get the other cars fitted in there that were dropped off today ahead of the work on them next week.

Jason and Fiona dropped off their TF from Ulceby and Kevin came over with his TF from Selby.

Think we need an even bigger workshop!! 😳 – https://ift.tt/H5gauPq

Ollie had his TF 160 transported up to us from Eastbourne, as planned, this week. It was booked in for a simple head gasket replacement, but there was more to be done on this car than initially thought, from the issues we came across as we went along…

You may have heard of the old advert of not taking two bottles into the shower, (obviously depending on your age!) one is enough, this was actually the opposite with the bottles of this evil stuff, ‘Steel-Seal’ not only one bottle was used in this car, but two!! We definitely had hang dog expressions when we saw them when the transporter chap dropped it off, what a great bloke he was, we’ve got his card for future use.

Anyway, we took the head off that was still in good useable condition, thankfully. Even though the car has a PRT someone previously had fitted a thermostat into the original housing on the rear of the engine, so we removed this and put a straight through plate in. The underfloor coolant pipes were pretty rotten, so new ones fitted. Then discovered that the PRT was stuck slightly open, so this was also replaced. On doing this found further hoses that were also leaking, along with the T-piece having a split in it.

With the cooling system being full of steel-seal we put in an oil cooler bypass to prevent further issues with the heater circuit. On doing this noticed that the hose from the thermostat housing to the coolant tank had been taped up with electrical tape, on removing the tape found that it was split.

The radiator was also shot, and when we removed it it was found to be blocked throughout many of the channels. We know this because even though the hoses were disconnected when we removed it, it still poured out over half a litre of coolant. Bit more work to do, with replacing further hoses and then the car will be good to go.

Lotus Elise S1…
Tim traveled up from Wisbech and dropped his Lotus Elise S1 with us this morning, initially this was a squeeze in for a head gasket replacement, but he asked if we could also carry out the cambelt service, and a clutch replacement while we were at it. We declined on the clutch for now!

On removing the cylinder head we found evidence of steel-seal on this also, the return pipes were all blocked. These were all cleared out, including the expansion tank was that was full of gunk!

Cylinder head replaced, along with cambelt, water pump, tensioner and alternator belt. Back up and running lovely and ready for Tim to collect. I’d have happily driven it back for him though! 😀 – https://ift.tt/zkIlbjX

A nice bright morning for a visit to Skegby, Sutton-in-Ashfield…

Jo’s fab TF 160 ‘Eglantine’ needed some work, discs and pads replaced all round, plus one of the track rod ends. All done without any probs, apart from us taking the wrong box of rear discs, (no apportioning of blame anywhere 😆) but, fortunately I knew that Nigel had a small stash in his shed and saved us a nip up to the local euro car parts!

The SRS light had also been noted on the MOT. The SRS system was code read and came up with about 8 error codes for varying resistance, being either too high or too low. These were all cleared and the system reset. The only error to reoccur then was the old favourite, the drivers side pretensioner cable under the seat. After cleaning the connection the SRS light stayed off and all error codes then cleared.

Great to see them both, albeit it brief as both were busy working.

Loving the Halloween decs Jo, look forward to seeing the final results! Thanks for the cuppas in between your calls and glad we got you sorted. – https://ift.tt/rOz6jVH

We’re getting there with the cars in at the workshop, always a lot to do…

Jon had a productive couple of days getting the welding done on Tony’s fab MGF 1.8 mpi ‘Bessie’. The nearside front sill was virtually non-existent, the rain channel had gone, the supporting brackets had gone and the inner wing had sections missing from the bottom.

Engine bay temperature sensor was faulty, so this was replaced, new alternator belt and hydragas lift done.

All done and Tony and Caroline came down from Staindrop to collect her yesterday. (Sorry I couldn’t be there to see you both and make you a cuppa, but glad to hear you got home safe and had a good drive back).

Today we continued with the work on the TF 135 we have in from Filey that had sustained 2 snapped valves, which wont have been helped by the oil pump packing up, unfortunately the valve heads had damaged the cylinder head beyond repair.

Cylinder head replaced, along with new cambelt, water pump, tensioner and an oil pump. Fired up and running nicely again. Bit of a clean up done underneath, as was looking a bit flaky from living by the coast. Hoovered out inside and tidied up as it’s just something that we like to do.

We will get the car MOT’d in the next couple of days and then we deliver back to the owner.

Work continues on the MGF 143, with the next job of replacing the internal heater pipes and a replacement front windscreen, as this one will also need putting through an MOT. – https://ift.tt/rOz6jVH

Out on the road today, but only fairly local heading to Harrogate first.

The gear cable linkage had collapsed on the rear so this was replaced with a new one, plus a new gaitor, as this one had also crumbled. All gears selecting nicely, particularly reverse which was the main issue. A new key fob also programmed as Karen had only the one for some time and just wanted another one as back-up, which is always a good idea for her fab MGF in Wedgewood, that she’s owned from new. Lovely to meet Richard this morning and have a chat.

We then went back over to see John’s TF 135, that on our last visit, discovered that the coolant temperature sensor was dodgy, so this was replaced. Plus John had bought himself a remote battery isolater, and asked if we could fit it whilst there. They’re such a good idea, not just to preserve the battery, but also for security.

From there we went further north to Sowerby where it was great to meet David who had asked us to call in when next in the area to give his sons TF 135 (in PBT) a check over.

David’s son Will has done a huge amount of work on the car, that he had bought fairly cheep with the intention of doing up, good experience for him as is now away at Uni studying mechanical engineering. He had replaced the clutch, the flywheel with a lightened one, the head gasket, and so many other upgrades and mods, too many to list, absolute kudos to Will, with no expense spared! Frustratingly for him though, after all that, the car decided to lose some coolant and he couldn’t find any obvious cause. He was about to give up on it, when his Dad stepped in, having owned an F in the past and being a big fan of British cars he didn’t want to see all of his sons efforts go to waste.

This afternoon we carried out all of our usual checks and it was found to be down the head gasket not having taken properly. There are a number of reasons why, and sometimes not always obvious straight away, but it’s nothing that can’t be sorted and Will can then take his car back to Uni with him as was his intention.

We’re so pleased David got in touch, a date now to be arranged in our crazy diary to get over and sort.

So much going on at the workshop at the moment, it’s a little bit on the chocker side. Heads down and crack on as we always do!

Glad the weather improved from when we set off from a rainy start this morning. Fab rainbow though! – https://ift.tt/atCl57A

First call of today was in Middleton Tyas, near Richmond this morning for work on one of Martin’s fleet! He had treated his lovely TF 160 ‘Ruby’ (in CBT) to a new stainless steel back box and replacement heat shield.

Thank fully all bolts came out, with only the forward mounts on the shield needing to be retapped as is usual. Unfortunately, the clamps for the tail finishers weren’t in the box! Everything else fitted in as it should and then Martin can put the quads on when he receives the clamps. Sounded good though on startup and the next step is a remap that we will do for him at some stage. Nice to have a quick catch-up with Martin’s father, when Martin had to leave for the dentist, hope it went well 😦

From there went on to Darlington to see Terry and ‘The Chairman’ his fab MGF 75th Anniversary (in CDM)

Happy Birthday to Terry! 🥳

The CV boot had split on the nearside rear, making the usual mess when these go. So Jon duly replaced this while Terry and I had a chat!

Thanks so much Terry for the bag of wonderful produce from your allotment. Yes, Jon, you’re having some veggies for tea! 🌽 – https://ift.tt/yfpgxBu

Rest In Peace your majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926 – 2022.

Strong and steadfast throughout her 70 year reign. Gone but will never be forgotten.

Deepest condolences to her family at this sad time. – https://ift.tt/kCPXjA8