Month: February 2023

Tuesday and just got back home after a couple of days away…

Our first call yesterday morning was in Balsall Common west of Coventry, where it was really great to meet Stuart for work on his ‘02 TF 135 (in JFV).

Cambelt, water pump, tensioner and alternator belt replaced. Stuart had kept up the regular servicing of the car. He also had a fab MGBGT in his garage that he uses as his daily driver, having bought it many years ago in a fairly ropey state and completely rebuilt the engine. What a gem, I would love one, and would use it as my daily too. Although Jon’s not convinced of my colour choice!

What an interesting morning chatting to Stuart.

We bid our farewells and headed over to Rubery, near Birmingham where it was lovely to meet John, who had bought a ‘02 TF 135 (in LEF) last year.

He’d had various things sorted on the car as it had been garaged for 4 years without doing many miles, one of which was the thermostat, but was still experiencing overheating and coolant loss. On pressure test it was evident that the thermostat was still leaking, when removed it had been fitted with oversized o-rings when not required, which had kinked on the way in when being fitted. All cleaned up and new o-rings fitted.

The expansion tank had bloated quite substantially, which would eventually have blown, so we replaced this with one on stock. A few other little niggles sorted for John and he can now look forward to enjoying his car in the warmer weather.

A stay over in Bosworth Hall, where we’d stayed many years ago. We inadvertently ended up spending the night in a suite, as the original room we booked, we found on entering, was occupied. Fortunately, all parties were spared potential embarrassment! No fuss from us the manager was more than happy to give us an upgrade, which was fantastic!

So with a commute of only a few miles along the road, from there, we went along to Carlton where it was good to meet Neil for work on his ‘02 TF 160 (in LEF) that he’d owned for 7 years. On taking the car in for the annual service at his local garage they had suspicions that the head gasket had gone.

With the cambelt service being over due we replaced both belts, water pump, tensioner and alternator belt and also the head gasket.

On removing the head it was evident that k-seal had been added, so we set about removing this evil stuff and cleaning everything out, including the expansion tank that was thick with it all.

All back up and running smoothly for Neil to enjoy once more.

Some really fab cars and great people, with a good run back home, ready to head over to Lincoln in the morning for a few things. – https://ift.tt/C8Y5wxB

Ramsey, Cambridgeshire…

Neill had got in touch back in November about his new acquisition of a TF 160 in Nocturne (paint code IAP). What a fab car he’s found, complete with Bilstein shockers, Daytona back box, roll hoops and lots of other very nice added extras, the car had obviously been well cared for by the previous owner.

Full cambelt service carried out today including gearbox oil change, new Piper Cross cold-air-induction fitted and a ‘Kmaps’ remap installed too. Nice subtle pops going on there now.

What an interesting day spent chatting with Neill while we worked. His neighbour popped over for a chat about the problems he’s been having with his ZR. So might be a return journey later in the year.

Bit of a pain on the way home, the alternator on the van decided to pack up just near Markham Moor, pulled off and hooked up the battery we carry as a spare for work and the jump-pack and managed to restart and get back to the workshop just before dark!

Good old Goldie got us home. New alternator ordered for the morning in Hull as the euro car parts in Doncaster didn’t have one on stock. So another rearrange of tomorrows job in Hebden Bridge to Sunday! 😔 – https://ift.tt/c1RbKDF

An interesting few days at the workshop…

Jim dropped off his LE 500 (number 356 in paint code 108) with us at the weekend. So we cracked on with that first thing on Tuesday. We had Monday off for a few things, but most importantly it was my lovely Dads 82nd birthday so we had a visit over to him.

Jim had bought himself a front and back set of Mike Satur subframe mounts. So these were fitted, no old subframe bolts sheared off, but one new one had to be tapped out from an M8 to an M10 thread for a bigger bolt to be fitted, so on the whole not too much of a nightmare! New Mike Satur rear heat shield fitted too. Plus a full cambelt service carried out as this was due from the last time we did it 4 years ago.

We then took the car round for the MOT, but unfortunately whilst in there it became apparent that something was amiss! Despite us running the car up to temperature, when obviously under load being driven the short distance to the MOT station the pressure had caused the bleed bolt surrounding that a attached to the heater matrix to become detached!

So we set about, with probably one of the most labour intensive and frustrating jobs on these cars, with replacing the heater matrix. Fortunately, we have a few of the original MG Rover ones on stock. There’s a big difference between the two, in the quality of metals and fabrications.

We set about removing everything in the interior barring the seats, and a day spent today replacing it all. All finished this evening and running, ready for Jim to collect.

Good to see Tony again yesterday, who came over to us from Mattersey near Doncaster, with his TF 135 for minor service, wishbone replacement and top ball joint and then the MOT.

Lovely to see Mick and Sammy who came over to collect their TF. Good to have a catch-up with them. Plus I managed to get a ‘nice’ shot of the car after all the nitty gritty ones! Great to have future proofed this car for them, that they will be traveling throughout Wales this summer in on their hols.

Gary came down from Darlington this morning in his TF 135 that we named as ‘Madam’ when we rescued her and Gary bought from us 3 years ago, and has had much fun in since. The heater matrix was leaking again, unfortunately the one we fitted a few months ago that Gary had sourced had also failed. Let’s hope 3rd time lucky this one does the trick! Great to see Gary and have a catch-up and a cuppa. Not that we were putting off getting on with the other task at hand!

Silly me forgot to order in a soft ride kit for Nick to be fitted today, but he’s happy to wait until it’s in and have the MOT and other bits done at a later date. Thanks Nick for your understanding. I must try harder!

Tim’s TF 160 finally got picked up by courier and taken back down to Redruth, in Cornwall at the weekend.

Van stocked ready to head off on the road for the next couple of days. – https://ift.tt/yaIkoDZ

A busy weekend, we headed over to Chesterfield this morning as Stephen’s TF 160 had been recovered home a couple of weeks and left on the busy road outside his house, so asked if we could come over and see what the problem was and get the car onto the drive. We went over armed with starter motor and an alternator. Turns out the spade connector on the starter motor solenoid had become corroded and therefore not making a connection. Jump pack on and got the car moving. Connector cleaned up, tightened up and copper greased and and now starts first turn of the key. While we were there we carried out the minor service. Good to see Stephen again who made us a cracking brew and bacon buttie. Pleased we’ve got his car sorted for him.

We then went over to Wirksworth where it was lovely to see Pam and Tony again whose TF 135 had developed a problem with the clutch. The car hadn’t been used very much at all over the past year so the clutch release arm had seized up. Fortunately, the slave cylinder hadn’t gone too. So a good one a half to two hours later the arm was lovely and free again. When easing off the clutch arm there’s no point in just doing it for only 20-30 minutes when it starts to feel a little easier as it will just seize up again. We have a combination of lubricants that we apply which does the trick. When replacing a full clutch we would take the arm out fully and clean it up, unless it was replaced with one of the uprated ones with a grease nipple. Pleased to have got them mobile again and good to catch-up with a brew.

Bit of a slight change to our plans yesterday, we headed over to the workshop bright and early to get everything finished on Mick’s MGF. The gear cable end had disintegrated so new end and gaitor fitted. There was quite a lot of play on the clutch pedal and when we removed the clevis pin, found that it was a bit on the worn side! New clevis pin fitted and the clutch now feels really good. The drive shaft oil seals that we had been monitoring were still weeping so both of these were replaced. Front bumper back on, wheel arch liners back in, realigned the steering wheel and underseal done. Pleased to have got her all finished and ready for Mick to come over and collect on Tuesday.

So a productive weekend, a shame we missed FRL this year, but needs must. Looks like it was a good turnout and some great pics of the event. We look forward to finding out who won our auction donation of a cambelt service. – https://ift.tt/bwmP2z0

Back out on the road today, it was a tad windy in Wakefield and not so sunny in Sheffield…

Great to see Tom again, whom we last saw a number of years ago with his previous MG. He bought himself this TF 160 (in JFV) in the summer, of which he uses as his daily runner. Full cambelt service carried out for him today.

Then we headed a few miles along the road where it was lovely to meet Steve who between him and his son had bought this ‘98 MGF 1.8 mpi (in MNX) to have some fun with over the summer months. What an absolute gem they have found themselves, with one previous owner and with still a low mileage and all in the original spec. The car was sitting quite low so Steve had asked if we could pump up the hydragas.

From there we on to Sheffield, where it was great to see Tony again whose MGF 1.8 mpi (in JRJ) was having an issue with rough running. Tony had replaced the plugs and the cat as this was found to have collapsed. On investigation and code reading it was found to be the rotar arm and distributor cap that both had minor corrosion. As we didn’t have these on stock we cleaned these up and reset the throttle body plus the stepper motor, which has resolved the issue. Although Tony is going to get hold of some new ones and replace them for good measure.

Some cracking cars today and great people, not too far from home. – https://ift.tt/GRNQDvT

Mick dropped his MGF 120 mpi (paint code originally MNX but resprayed Rover to BRG 3) with us over the weekend.

Monday morning found us at the workshop bright and early to crack on and replace both the rear and the front subframes etc…

A timely change too, to preserve the life of this car as both subframes had certainly done their time. Galvanized ones fitted, plus all galvanized ancillaries.

Whilst we had the rear subframe out we replaced the clutch, freed off the release arm and replaced the clevis pin as it was a bit dented in, a dent here results in excessive play on the clutch pedal, so always a good idea to fit new when replacing the slave cylinder too.

We replaced the head gasket on the car a few years ago, so that wasn’t required. Full cambelt service carried out, with a bit of a challenge with the bottom pulley bolt! Eventually after some time and lots of grunting it came undone with a torque-multiplier. Once removed we found that the washer was missing on the main pulley bolt, this had allowed water to get in and seize the threads, also when the bolt came undone it had dragged the outer pulley shearing the inner pulley key-way, so both the pulley and cog were replaced.

On the front subframe new wishbones fitted, galvanized anti-roll bar fitted, too ball joints, track rod ends and forward mounts on both subframes replaced with stainless steel ones.

New clutch line and clutch flexi fitted as the old one was hanging on in there.

We should have finished the car completely today, but it’s been a bit of a challenge as everything was so corroded, which is expected of a car of this age. We’re not complaining of course (much, haha) but every nut and bolt required the use of the brilliant Irwin nut removers, and where they failed, and our stamina, the grinder came out!

Really good to future proof this fab car for Mick, thanks to him for sending it over to us for some TLC, which is always great to know that it’s another one that will live to tell more tales and bring their owners tons of fun.

Almost done, another half a day to finish her off next week ready for Mick to collect. So no glamour shots, just the nitty gritty ones!

Back on the road tomorrow in Wakefield and Sheffield with a few to get sorted. – https://ift.tt/GRNQDvT

Departed our really fab digs reluctantly at Hadley this morning, wish we could have stayed much longer.

We went over to Stockton, near Southam to see Mick again and his MGF VVC (in COF). He’d got in touch a few days ago, asking if we were in the area, as he was told by the recovery driver that the fuel pump had packed in and the car was on a main road and the MOT was due to expire, having a bad back he wasn’t in a position to move the car himself. So with a bit of easy start we managed to get the car off the road. Sure enough it was the fuel pump so we removed the cover to check out which connector it is on it, we know a man who has one so will return to fit it. There’s no point in keeping these on stock as they dry out and just end up failing, plus with having the two different connectors you won’t know until you remove the cover.

We decided to go to the MG & Triumph Spares day at Stoneleigh as we had missed going there over the past few years. Never seen the place so packed! I think a lot of people had definitely missed it too. Really good day to catch up with everyone from near and far and meet some new people too.

Too busy chatting to take any pics, but spotted this fab car in the car park as we left, so grabbed a pic, it looks even better in the flesh!

Mick and Steve drove over from to the workshop today to drop off Micks MGF that’s in with us for a few things next week… – https://ift.tt/8Dx7ecI

A short commute this morning from our digs along to Droitwich, where it was great to see Steve and his latest acquisition…

Having owned many MGs over the years, three of which have been LEs, he fancied owning another one to have some fun in again, and a few months ago he came upon this cracking example and wanted to get it fully up to spec to just how he wants it.

So today we removed the hoops and glass wind stop and replaced with a new t-bar and mesh wind break. The side windows were a bit scratched, Steve managed to find a new pair, so these were replaced. The grills on the front weren’t looking too good, so new black ones were fitted, which really suit the car. A few other things were done, a good check over and also a minor service.

Next up will be a full detail and then will be all good to go to enjoy runs out, club meets and events throughout the year.

An enjoyable day in Steve’s company, with a constant flow of welcome tea, and we look forward to catching up with him again at an event later in the year. – https://ift.tt/oDlR4YA