Year: 2023

Day 5 & 6 – Longrock & Cranborne

A short commune along the road from our digs to Longrock for our visit to Charles’ TF 160, in paint code JFV. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see him this year, as he was working away, so had left his keys with his neighbour.

This time was for the annual service, and to replace the air temperature sensor, as Charles had reported that the engine-bay fan was on constantly.

We took along with us some pre-tensioners, as he had also reported that the SRS light was coming on, intermittently. On code reading it was found that both pre-tensioners had dodgy connections, so these were cleaned up.

While we were in there we noticed that the coolant was fairly low in the expansion tank, so pressure tested everything and ran all our usual checks. The only obvious thing that we noticed was staining on the hose for the main outlet from the block, so we replaced both of the clips on this.

Made the most of the fab weather and location so we headed over to Mousehole for a cuppa. I walked and Jon drove, with a stop off for a hearty lunch for Jon on the way. What a beautiful little place, that I last visited 30 years ago. Not forgetting, of course, the dreadful Penlee lifeboat disaster that occurred off the coast there in 1981.

This morning found us not too far along the road to Cranborne, where it was really great to see Alan for work on his TF 135, in paint code JFV. He had recently had a couple of advisories on his last MOT, so asked if we could come over when next in the area to sort these for him.

Both rear subframe mounts replaced, we did take the welder with us as a contingency, knowing what an absolute pain those bolts can be! Fortunately, all but one, of them came out no problem, and the awkward one was duly drilled out and tapped.

Both front wishbones replaced too, as they had done their time.

Big thanks to Alan, for a constant stream of tea, and good to have a chat with him. Plus he went off to the local motor factors for us to the pick up a gas cylinder for the blow torch, an essential item when doing this job, as it decided to run out half way through.

Alan had also been experiencing an intermittent starting problem, with the car, which was due to the spade connector on the starter motor being a bit corroded, so this was cleaned up as it was quite green and crusty.

The weather wasn’t as bad as forecast, we only got one dousing, and soon dried off again when the sun came back out again.

Pleased to have him all set for his run up to the north east coast later in the year. – https://ift.tt/0vpUub3

Day 3 & 4 – Newton Abbott & Penzance…

We left our digs just near Burnham on Sea and headed over to Newton Abbott, where it was lovely to meet Alan and his wife Sharon for work on their LE 500 in paint code 110.

Cambelt, water pump, tensioner and other service items all replaced. Alan had noticed a very slight coolant loss, which only seemed to occur the day after a long run. We searched all over and carried out all of our usual checks and couldn’t find anything specific, apart from some staining below the water pump when it was removed. Let’s see if that’s cured it, Alan will report back.

Very nice interior of this car, that I didn’t get a very good photo of unfortunately.

Good to have a chat and a cuppa whilst we worked. We look forward to seeing them again next year!

From there we headed over to just near Buckfastleigh where we found ourselves at our next set of digs right next to Buckfast Abbey, what an incredible place, so much history, and set in a stunning location. We had a look into the Abbey in the evening and were lucky to have the place to ourselves to listen to the guest organist, for the coming weekends’ recitals, rehearsing.

Today was a ‘travel day’ and we now find ourselves in our next set of digs for the next few nights a mile or so out of Penzance. Had a stop-off for a walk round the harbour, couldn’t see any pirates though! 🏴‍☠️ – https://ift.tt/NUkPyY2

Day 1 & 2 – Wombourne, Bromsgrove & Gloucester…

Tuesday morning and an early start to head down to Wombourne, with a lot of hold ups on the way, we eventually arrived to work on Stephen’s ‘01 MGF 1.8 mpi in paint code CMU.

The head gasket had gone a few months ago, so we set about replacing it, clearing out gunked up coolant channels etc. as we went.

When it came to firing the car up, it had issues with a misfire on one cylinder, although changing the plugs and coil packs seemed to calm this down, then it had a Lambda sensor fault, which kept coming up, causing a rough idle anyway. To top it off, the radiator fan would not cut in even when unplugging the sensor, which is meant to default by putting the fan on. The relay was tested and found to be ok, the relay was then bridged, which put the fan on, so the fan is ok, so it’s either down to a wiring fault within the car, or the ECU.

Good to meet Stephen and Bridgen and have a chat while we worked, with lovely hospitality, loads of tea and snacks, always welcome.

From there we went over to Bromsgrove to sort out the heater issue Lee had been having with his ‘00 MGF 120 mpi, in that he couldn’t turn the heater to cold and had been burning his feet on long runs.

The control arm on the valve had come off, as we suspected, because it was badly worn. We managed repair it and reshape it so that it once again moved freely. Lovely to meet Lee briefly and have a chat before we headed off down the road to our digs for the night.

This morning, Wednesday, found us back in between Cheltenham and Gloucester where it was lovely to see Jon and his Dad again for work on Jon’s ‘ 99 MGF 1.8 mpi Mk I and Jon’s son Alex’s ‘01 MGF 120 mpi Mk II.

Cambelt service carried out on Jon’s along with fitting of a Res pack as all his blowers weren’t working and cambelt service on Alex’s, he wasn’t there so didn’t get to see him again.

I knew I would forget something when packing up the van, alternator belts 🙄 Big thanks to Jon who popped over to the local motor factors to pick some up for us!

Great to have time for a chat with them both, and enjoy the fab weather, an enjoyable mornings work, plus the bonus of having doggy fusses with Treacle!

We then headed further south, with time for a visit over to the Clifton suspension bridge, as we were virtually passing. We’ve always wanted to see it, it’s really interesting and worth a trip.

So we’re now in our next digs of the trip, not too far from Burnham-on-Sea. I’ve been trying to get the admin done as we’ve been traveling so I shall endeavour to catch-up fully now. – https://ift.tt/IJMkH5n

Up bright and early on a sunny Monday morning to head over to the workshop.

Geoff had left his TF 135 in Sunspot with us yesterday when he drove over from Scunthorpe and Stuart was there to leave his TF 135 in xpower grey, having also driven over from just near Scunthorpe.

We’d gone over to see Geoff a couple of months ago to sort out an immobiliser issue and also give the car a check over for any other potential issues. The only thing that was spotted was one of the rear subframe mounts had done their time. So this was replaced today and then we took it over for the MOT. No advisories, apart from one Jon thought of, that he could be advised to sell it to him! No Jon, you don’t need anymore! 😆

Next up was Stuart’s TF that we have a check over a couple of months ago and apart from some corrosion to the nearside front sill, all was good. On closer inspection the sill had been filled, so all filler removed and cut back, and new steel welded in, plus the rain channel that had been left out on the last repair was fabricated back in. A chat with the paint shop next door but one and they will paint it all in for him next month.

Great to have a chat with everyone when they came to collect their cars. Beautiful sunny day, so tops down for the drive home. ☀️

I spent the day restocking and loading up the trusty steed with everything required for our next tour to Cornwall, with a few stops along the way. Quite a long one this one, with our first call in the morning in Wombourne to start us off. – https://ift.tt/h8XfBJs

A great end to the week, as mentioned in yesterday’s blog, we collected Lesley’s MGF 120 mpi, in paint code COF, from Grantham at the beginning of the week. Lesley having contacted us a few months back asked if we would be able to recommission her car that hadn’t turned a wheel since 2016, having suspected head gasket failure at the time they parked it up in their garage.

Lesley’s son has recently opened up his own body-shop business and as a Christmas present to her said he would get all the paintwork etc sorted for her if she wanted to get the car back up and running mechanically again.

So we got cracking, and after a few long days the following was done; head gasket replacement carried out, cambelt service, all services items, underfloor coolant pipes fitted, alternator belt, coolant flush (as it was running on the old green stuff), clutch eased off, new clevis pin and clutch fluid replaced, new distributor cap, rotar arm and plug leads fitted, coolant cap, discs and pads all round, wiper blades. Then finally the car was sent for the MOT today.

So the car is now all set to be reunited with Lesley over the weekend, when they will travel up to drive back home. Can’t wait to see them! Hope the sun stays with us for a top down run.

Because of the work her son will be carrying out we were asked not to clean the car and to leave as is, as her son wants to do a ‘before and after’ story, which is so fab! But, really frustrating for us not being able to do our usual clean up following a project like this.

With getting this one all done and finished this afternoon, we were finally able to look at a ‘96 MGF that was dropped off with us a couple of months back, from Oxfordshire, owned by father and son, Gary and Elliot. They’d had quite a lot of work carried out last year to the car, with new head and block etc. but unfortunately they feared head gasket had gone, and also that the engine had aqua-blocked, so they asked if we could take a look.

On our inspection today, fortunately for them it hadn’t aqua-locked. On removing the cylinder head it was fitted with an elastomer gasket, which had failed most due to the fact the return pipe on the inlet manifold was blocked solid, this took a bit of clearing. Everything put back together again and car back up and running, although still a bit of work to be done. But it’s a much more positive picture that we have reported back that what they had been suspecting.

We actually managed to give our ‘Goldy’ a quick scrub and head to the local car meet at the Humber Bridge (finally!!) this evening. What a brilliant turn out and great to catch up with a few people we’ve not seen for a while.

Now I really must get cracking on the admin! Have a great weekend everyone, hope you have some good runs out and the weather stays as good as it has been.
☀️ – https://ift.tt/GmxRI48

Can’t believe it’s Thursday already, the week is just flying by, and a productive one so far…

At the beginning of the week we headed down to Claypole to collect Lesley’s ‘97 MGF 120 mpi for a few things at the workshop, more about this one when all done.

Jez, came over from Barton on Humber to leave his ‘95 MGF 1.8 mpi (in paint code HAM) with us to investigate and sort the intermittent immobiliser issues he’d been experiencing with the car.

This we found to be due to a faulty key-fob and also a blown diagnostics fuse. This was rectified with a new fuse and two new keys fobs programmed to the car.

Nick drove over from Market Weighton to leave his ‘02 TF 135, in paint code LQW, for a couple of things.

Soft ride kit fitted, heater resister pack replaced along with refit of the cable on the back of the dial and a new dial. Then pre-MOT check carried out by us and then the MOT carried out on the site we’re on.

Paul came over from North Duffield, near Selby to leave his 2001 MGF VVC in paint code MNX, for the fitting of underfloor coolant pipes and investigation of some intermittent over-heating issues.

Work continued on Lesley’s MGF today, we’re almost there with it.

Really great to see everyone when they came to collect their MGs and have chance for a chat. Absolutely fantastic weather all week and so great to see everyone driving off with hoods down for fun drives home! ☀️ – https://ift.tt/qjaNi7m

Our first visit of the day was to Woodford Halse, not far from Daventry where it was great to meet Pete for work on his newly acquired ‘02 TF 135 in paint code JRJ.

Not long after taking ownership the proverbial occurred. So today we replaced the head gasket etc, initially we were just going to get him up and running again, but then found out that the cambelt service was well overdue, so we did this for him too. The alternator belt was old and cracked and the coolant cap was faulty, so these were duly replaced too.

One of the coolant hoses, the heater inlet/outlet had been a little bit bodged, so this was also replaced with a decent secondhand one, that we had with us, fortunately.

The dreaded k-seal had been added somewhere along the line in the past which has made a bit of a mess, so everything all cleaned up and put back together resulting in a decent sounding engine.

An enjoyable morning spent chatting while we worked, with a constant supply of welcome tea and a bit of sun thrown in too.

Pete will be having a trip up to the workshop in Holme on Spalding Moor at some point for some other things to be done.

From there we headed over to Stockton near Southam where it was lovely to see Mick again and his ‘97 MGF 143 in paint code COF.

Last time we were in the area he asked if we could diagnose the non-starting issue, which was found to be down to the fuel pump having packed up. So today we returned to replace it with a secondhand one. Car back up and running again, which brought a smile to Mick’s face. He’ll get the car MOTd and taxed now and get her back on the road.

On our way home now back up the M1 on a beautiful sunny evening. – https://ift.tt/vrSw9te

A reluctant departure from such fantastic digs this morning, near Brackley, and headed over to Aspley Guise, east of Milton Keynes.

We were met with a very warm welcome from Phil for work on his wife, Liz’s 2001 MGF 1.8 mpi (in paint code CMU) that they’d owned from new.

Head gasket replacement and cambelt service carried out for them, along with new alternator belt and expansion tank cap, as theirs was one of the dodgy ones.

They has asked if we could look at the clutch because the pedal was getting lower and lower, but it was still engaging. On removing the cover under the bonnet, we found that the plate on to which the master cylinder attaches to was suffering from some serious corrosion, we’ve seen them looking a bit rusty before and we’ve cleaned them up and rust cured them etc. but this was so extensive that the master cylinder was out of alignment, so would, therefore, account for the problem at the pedal end.

We are in the process of sourcing a replacement mounting for them. Other than that it’s immaculate and has been Liz’s pride and joy. Good to meet her briefly, (her homemade flapjack was a winner). Lovely hospitality from Phil, great to meet him and have a good chat while we worked.

From there we headed along to Willington, near Bedford, for a hydragas pump up on another MGF 1.8 mpi of the same year and paint code as the one earlier.

Tony owned the car for 2 years and had a local garage carry out all of the essential things when he bought it. Another very good example, but again, when we removed the under bonnet cover the bracket on the clutch master cylinder was completely corroded, which he was a surprised about. So that’s another one that we will source and send down to him. He’s got a very ‘handy’ neighbour who will help him to fit, as it’s a bit of a fiddly job, plus you need an extra pair of hands to bleed the system, unless you’ve got an Easibleed to hand of course.

It was lovely to meet Tony, who also gave us a warm welcome with a tray of tea and biscuits on our arrival, and so good to have the chance for an interesting chat with him.

A hassle free run back home this afternoon after a really interesting few days work away, taking in Solihull, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Brackley, Aspley Guise and Willington. – https://ift.tt/AiSFXjx