Month: April 2023

Day 4 of our North East trip…

Another short commute from our digs along to Cramlington this morning where it was lovely to see Susan for work on her TF 160 ‘Tracy’.

We had gone prepared for a full cambelt service, but then we all realised that it wasn’t actually due until July of next year. So minor service done anyway as that was due and also a pre MOT check.

The offside front ball joint had done it’s time so this was replaced. The nearside rear control arm bushes were very worn so the arm was replaced. Nearside front was very clunky so we greased up the top arm and this resolved that issue. The washer jet was completely blocked on the drivers side so this was cleared.

Everything else good so she’s all set for the MOT once Susan is in a fit state to drive her again. Poor Susan had a bit of a traumatic time recently and badly injured her knee, so understandably she’s been very frustrated not being able to get out and about like she normally does in her MG seeing friends and heading out on runs. We wish her a very speedy recovery. Lovely to see her today and have a catch-up. Great to meet her friend Dave who popped over to meet us and who is also very keen on getting himself a TF.

From there we went along to Blyth for the annual service on Tony’s TF 135. We’d met him last year and hadn’t known at the time that it had once belonged to George, whom we were at 2 days ago, and we’d actually carried out the cambelt service on it many years ago.

Minor service done, plus a couple of other things. The inlet cam-shaft oil seal on the inlet side was leaking oil quite badly and was advised on at the MOT that there was an oil leak from somewhere, so this was the culprit, it had been gunked up with a load of sealant. So this was dug out and cleaned up, new seal fitted. Mike Satur pedal pads fitted. Reverse sensor box removed as it just makes a noise and doesn’t really do anything else except annoy the neighbours in a morning!

Good to see Tony again, date to be booked in for next years service. Lovely to see Steve again as we’d forgotten to stamp his service book yesterday and only lives round the corner.

A hassle free run back home. Both a bit tired now, but what a great trip, amazing hospitality, lovely people and their fab cars. Our digs couldn’t have been better either. – https://ift.tt/HBk0ACW

Day 3 of our North East trip…

Another short commute along from our digs to Seaton Sluice for a service day.

First up was Terry’s MGF Trophy (in FAR) for replacement of the O-rings on the rear hydragas connections, as since we had replaced the spheres there was a slight bit of damp noticed by Terry. Rear window wiring, relay and switch fitted plus the minor service. All set now for their NC500 trip.

Next up was Ian’s TF 135 post LE 500 run car, in paint code 289, for the minor service.

Then last but not least was Steve’s TF 135 (in JFV) for its minor service.

All cars checked over and expansion tank caps pressure tested.

What a sociable day, really great to see everyone and have a catch-up and natter while we worked, lots of cuppas and a lovely lunch laid on! Thank you, so much Terry for your hospitality. It never feels like work on days like today. Plus the drizzly rain cleared up and turned into a decent day.

Made the most of the early finish and I walked along from there to Tynemouth to meet Jon who enjoyed a bit of a snooze after his lunch. We took Steve’s recommendation and went over to St Mary’s lighthouse to see the seals basking on the rocks. Well worth a visit. – https://ift.tt/pzcyNft

Day 2 of our North East trip…

Holywell was our first call of the day for work on George’s MGF 143 (in HAM).

Head gasket replacement, cambelt service and replacement of the underfloor coolant pipes all carried out today for him, on this, great looking, all original spec car that he’s owned for many years.

It was really interesting to see the other cars in his collection and have a good chat, with thanks to him for his lovely hospitality, many cuppas and bacon sarnies.

From there we went over to Cramlington, where it was lovely to see Jim and Jennifer again. After having some annoying battery discharging experiences, Jim had eventually sourced the fault to be down to the alternator, after swapping this out the problem was solved, but having heard about the remote battery isolators was keen to have one fitted to reduce any further issues with the battery draining itself and thus rendering the car none drivable at the last minute!

Thanks to them both for their, always, warm welcome and a sit down, with a catch-up over tea and cake 🍰 – https://ift.tt/pzcyNft

Day 1 of our North East trip…

Shildon was our first call where it was good to see Fred again for work on his TF 135 in Trophy Blue, which was booked in for head gasket replacement and cambelt service and replacement of the CAT.

When we removed the head it was evident that there was something more amiss, piston number 3 was slightly lower than the rest and on measuring on them it was 7 mm out. Unfortunately, when the head gasket had gone it had become acqua-locked. So the sump was removed and piston 3 taken out, and sure enough the con-rod had a bit of a twist and a bend to it. Fortunately, there was no further damage to any other parts. Code retrieved from the con-rod and it’s bottom half and the crank, in order for us to obtain a replacement, which we should have at the workshop. The cylinder head was also quite badly pitted around the fire rings, so this will be sent away for skimming.

One thing at least, he won’t need the new CAT we took as he’s better off staying with the original one that’s on it.

Once all parts are sourced and sorted we will return to get this car up and running for him. Fred had bought it knowing it had head gasket failure, but unfortunately wasn’t to know to what extent the damage was. He’s very upbeat about the whole thing which is good to see, as he knows that it can be put right.

Thanks to Fred for the brews, it was good to chat while we worked, we look forward to going back and getting this otherwise fab car all sorted for him and his wife, who is really looking forward to driving it.

From there we went up to Consett where it was lovely to meet Tom, who had contacted us a couple of months ago to ask if we could come over and investigate an issue he had found with his MGF 143, (which was originally in Anthracite, but he had the car wrapped). From his description and then running all of our usual checks it was found to be a faulty expansion tank cap. The misfire was found to be due to a faulty coil pack, so both of these were replaced for him. All error codes cleared and car back up and running as it should.

When he’d had the car wrapped the weather strips were missing from the car, so we fitted these back on for him. Tom will now take the car over for a new set of tyres and get a MOT on it all ready for him and his wife to enjoy some runs out over the summer.

We then continued a little further north to our digs for the next few nights. – https://ift.tt/T34RVJn

The first call of the day was in Knutsford for work on Andy’s MGF 1.8 mpi in JRJ.

He’d noticed some overheating so asked us to come and investigate. We had replaced the head gasket back in 2016 and the car had been fine with runs over to Italy and Switzerland etc. Unfortunately, when the cambelt service was done in the last year or so via another garage, plus having the PRT replaced and the engine bay pipes replaced, plus fitting a random bolt into the bleed screw outlet on the radiator, the system hadn’t been bled properly, and there were a couple of leaks from the engine bay pipes and from the bleed screw on the rad, plus a lot of air in the system. So today we put right all leaks and airlocks, including fitting a new water-pump as it was suspected this had been leaking too. Not always a good idea fitting water-pumps with an evaporation chamber as it’s handy to know if the water pump is, in fact, leaking. On running up to temperature and bleeding the system all seemed well. Andy was to run the car report back, unfortunately it seems that one or all of these issues have caused the inevitable to happen. What a shame, but these things happen and are easily rectified. It was good to see Andy again after all this time, can’t believe it was that long ago! Well we will be seeing him again once we manage to find a date to return and replace the head gasket once more.

From there we went along to Northwich to carry out the annual service on Clare’s Steppy ‘Cilla’ (in paint code IAI).

Minor service carried out, with replacement of the HT leads as the ones on it had some heat damage. Couple of other things noted and reported back to Clare. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see her properly this time as she was otherwise engaged with her work.

The last call of the day was in Salford where it was lovely to meet Alan and to see this Vandem Plas, which was rescued from a shed, having been abandoned there for quite some time. Once up and running it was noticed that the suspension was a bit clumpy over potholes etc, although the car still had a lot of bounce in it, once we measured it we noticed that it was lower on one side so we pumped the hydragas up to the correct height and she’s now looking a bit more balanced. How great that this car has been saved, it’s so fantastic. We hope to see Alan and his fab car at next year’s Pride of Longbridge event.

A long haul this morning with so many hold ups due to the volume of traffic on the M62, not too bad a run home, it was time to get the admin done at least and now we’ve just got back home. – https://ift.tt/9JOGfkl

A local ish and a bit of a long one today…

Our first call was in Wales, near Sheffield for work on Lee’s TF 160 in HFF, with a green soft top, that they had bought about 18 months ago.

Head gasket replacement carried out including the cambelt service and also replacement of the thermostat and housing. Quite a few incorrect and also essential missing bolts and nuts replaced!All parts were cleaned up of all the thick mayo, so it all took a lot longer to do along with the horrible weather, it absolutely tipped it down and was so cold. But, eventually everything was put back together resulting in a nice smooth running engine.

Big thanks to Lee’s lovely wife Janet for a constant stream of warming mugs of tea, very much appreciated 🥶 Great to meet everyone. The rain finally abated right at the end which was handy for drying out the gazebo.

From there we went over to Barnsley for the minor service on Lilian’s TF 135 in HFF, also complete with a green soft-top, that she’s owned for many years and has enjoyed trips over to France in. We had replaced the head gasket and carried out the cambelt service on the car last year so it was nice to see her again and have a quick catch-up.

Eventually we made it over to Scunthorpe to check out a couple of things on a TF 135 in IAC belonging to Geoff, whom it was good to finally meet, having been unable to fit him in last year for clutch replacement. He’s been the proud owner for a couple of years, but only had one key fob. The central locking relays have been playing up, so the BCU was removed for him to send to Technozen for him to carry out his amazing wizardry. We, however, programmed a new fob for him today. He asked if we could check the car over for any other potential issues, the only thing found was a very corroded subframe mount, so a date booked in at the workshop for this to be replaced and have the MOT done on site at the same time ahead of its due date.

A long day and a late finish, but we got everything done that we set out to do, which is all that matters!

Have a great weekend everyone, hope the weather improves for some top down fun. – https://ift.tt/2K0yAgT

Wisbech was our first destination this morning where it was great to meet David for work on his Lotus Elise S2 120.

The cambelt service was due, so he asked if we could come over and carry this out for him. Cambelt, water pump, tensioner and alternator belt all replaced. Plus he’d bought a new expansion tank for it, as the old one was a bit murky, so we swapped this out for him.

Car now all sorted ready for some fun over the summer months, and a date to be arranged for later on at the workshop for a Kmaps tweak and fitting of 135 cams.

Good to meet David and his beautiful dog Boobles, didn’t get a pic unfortunately, but what a gentle sole she is.

Did get some pics of his fab car, I always say it, yes it’s a dream of mine to have one. Haha dream on! Oh and Jon wants one too!

Emma had got in touch a few days ago asking if, there was any chance, we could help her with her MGF 1.8 mpi (in CMU) that didn’t want to start from getting it out of winter storage. As we were going to be nearby and all went to plan in the morning we could get over to see her in Gosberton.

Due to being stood for so long, as it didn’t get much use last year, the alternator had seized, taking out the belt too. It was lucky that it didn’t wrap around the crank pulley and cause some serious damage! Unfortunately, the alternator couldn’t be freed off so a new one fitted. We had gone armed with a voltage regulator pack, hoping that this would sort the issue and be slightly less costly for her.

Good to see Emma again, and glad that we got her mobile once more so she can get it over for the MOT that she’d set out to do when things went a bit pear-shaped!

The trusty steed of our van had a milestone moment this morning as we drove on to the Humber Bridge… half a million miles!! That’s 500,000 miles of fixing MGs and the rest! 🤩 – https://ift.tt/DwenlxZ

A couple of cars dropped off at the workshop over the weekend, so we were back there and then back on the road for some local ones over the last couple of days.

Paul came over from Barmby-on-the Marsh to leave his Abingdon 1.8 mpi with us for the annual minor service. Although covered in some road much the cars still looking fab. A general check over and all ready for collection.

Jack came over from Leeds to leave his MGF 1.8 mpi in Wedgewood with us for a few things; heater control valve, minor service, new clocks supplied and fitted, handbrake adjusted and the hood he asked us to look at as it wasn’t closing properly turned out to be due to two of the hood control arm bolts having sheared off. So these were drilled and tapped out and new bolts fitted, resulting in a fully functioning hood! MOT carried out and she’s all good to go again, looking fab still since we did the head gasket last year.

Big restock and empty of all the recycling required with the van following our Scotland trip so we’re all good to go again.

This morning found us on our first call of the day in Barton-on-Humber where it was great to see Pete again and his TF 160 (in LEF) was due the cambelt service again. All belts, water pump, tensioner, all filters and plugs replaced. Plus an upgrade to the rear brakes with one of Will Naylor’s conversion kits.

Our next stop was in Rossington where it was lovely to finally meet Jane and her hubby for minor service on their very nice looking MGF 1.8 mpi (in CAQ). We’d met them very briefly whilst on another job a few years ago and since then frustratingly had been unable to fit them in. We look forward to seeing them again next year, date duly booked in!

The final call of the day was over to Howden to check out a ‘strange noise’ that Simon had heard on his wife’s fab TF 135 and had asked if we could come by when we had a minute to check it out plus check out a bit of a wet boot interior. Strange noise was due to the wear indicators on the rear brakes and the wetness due to the gaskets on the rear light clusters being old and not doing their job anymore, so will need replacing to cure that problem.

A very welcome change in the weather over the last few days too. – https://ift.tt/cAFhY14