Year: 2023

Day 5 & 6 of tour – South West & South Wales…

Porthcawl and Gorseinon on Wednesday, Cardiff today, Thursday…

It was lovely to finally meet Paul and Diane, in Porthcawl, yesterday morning. Their TF 135 (in paint code JHG) was one of the last ones built, bought in the fire-sale period after the closure of MG.

Underfloor coolant pipes replaced with stainless, brake fluid changed, new spark plugs and a general check-over. Good to have a chat with Paul before we headed off.

From there we went over to Gorseinon where it was good to see Matt again and his ‘03 TF 160 (paint code JFV). Matt had been trying to chase down an oil leak, and asked if we could have a look next time we were in the area.

This was traced to be the seal on the exhaust cam that was the culprit. New one fitted and no more leaks. Alternator replaced for him, as well as fitting the correct bolts as the ones in it were too short. Nice to have a chat and cuppa with Matt before heading back to our digs in Pyle.

At least we managed to dodge the worst of storm Agnes! A very bracing walk in the early evening for me, along through the country park and the coast line on Sker beach, some huge waves and dramatic skies, what a stunning bit of the country.

Our last day, today found us in Cardiff, where it was lovely, as always, to see Ian and Hilary, for work on Verity’s steppy, that was in need of the minor service and an alternator belt change.

Another successful tour, with so many warm welcomes, great locations and fab MGs. Almost home now and a call into the workshop to unload a few things, ahead of setting off to the North East in the morning, for a wedding at the weekend, the only work we will be doing is pumping up Kevin’s Trophy, that is to be used as part of the ceremony. – https://ift.tt/t3rdQDN

Day 3 & 4 of tour – South West & South Wales…

Middlezoy on Monday, Barry on Tuesday…

An early departure from our super digs in Box yesterday morning and headed over to Middlezoy, where it was great to meet Grant for work on his ‘00 MGF 1.8 VVC in Old English White, that he’d owned for the past 5 years, originally bought as a doer-upper and sell on he became quite attached, so kept it.

Having had some trouble with the clutch he thought that this, itself, was on the way out, but was found to be a worn out slave cylinder, this was replaced along with new clevis on it and also on the pedal that were both pretty notchy.

The main issue, though, that we were there for, had occurred after booking the car in. Unfortunately, Grant had hit something in the road, that didn’t appear to be very substantial, but the damage it had subsequently caused was.

The underfloor coolant pipes were stoved in, the anti-roll bar had a significant bend in it and both drop links had snapped off. The underfloor tray was completely mangled on the front edge and one of the radiator hoses was split. So we set upon replacing and repairing all of the above.

The other issue he had been having with the car since taking on its ownership was a high-idle. All sensors and timing checked, all seemed ok, throttle re-set didn’t have any effect, swapped out the IACV etc, but the problem still persists and further investigation is needed as it appears that the ECU is getting the engine to run at just less than 1200 rpm.

A few other bits and pieces sorted for him, a bit of a long one, but pleased to say that she’s drivable again after having a few months sitting on the drive. What a lovely stable mate she has too, a beautiful looking Austin 7 that his Dad had rebuilt from the chassis up into a C cab version, so wonderful, I think we should have one in our collection, I’d use it for the weekly shop! Beautiful day weather wise and lots of welcome cuppas from Grant.

Our journey then continued along to Clevedon for our next place to stay for the night, last night, ahead of setting off for Barry in South Wales this morning.

It was great to meet Jon, for cambelt service on his ‘99 MGF steppy in Nightfire Red, that he’s enjoyed many trips in, over the years, taking in Spain and Italy amongst others, one of which was a Barry to Barry run, so fab!

We had to resort to ‘Plan B’ with the cambelt, as the engine mount bolts did not want to come undone! Happily this proved to be successful and she’s all set again, having not had a cambelt service for quite some time.

The second job of the day for a remap had been cancelled a couple of weeks ago, as the car had been sold, and we didn’t get chance to rebook anything else, it was an opportunity to give us a couple of restful hours off. A decent walk for me from Barry Island to Fontgary, along the coastal path, and Jon enjoyed a cuppa in the cafe there.

We now find ourselves in our new digs in Pyle, ahead of visiting Paul in Porthcawl and Matt in Gorseinon tomorrow. – https://ift.tt/BE47Vft

Day 1 & 2 of tour – South West & South Wales…

Nimlet and Biddestone, near Bath this morning, Sunday…

Our first call today was for a head gasket replacement and cambelt service on Steve’s ‘03 TF 135 (paint code LQW).

He’s owned the car for many years, and the head gasket had gone a few months back, the cambelt service had never been done to his knowledge. All sorted now for him, there was quite an amount of sludge to drain off and clean up. New HT leads, new spark plugs, new air filter and clean out of the box as there had been a resident mouse in it for a while.

Lovely to meet Steve and Claire and their grandson Bea who was keen to see what the engine looked like. Small world his daughter has just moved to the village I grew up in in Welton. Thanks to Claire for the delicious homemade biscuits.

On to the next call in Biddestone where it was great to meet Matt for head gasket replacement and cambelt service on his ‘01 MGF 1.8.

All sorted for Matt, on firing it up it was quite tappity on the hydraulic lifters, so a can of Wynn’s was added, which helped a little. The car needs to have a good run and get things moving again, if not the next the next step would be to replace the hydraulic lifters.

What an interesting day meeting Steve and Matt. A bit of a soggy one, but gazebo deployed and Matt had a car port, so all good!

We travelled down yesterday morning, and called in to Warmley, near Bristol, to see what was happening with Lee’s TF 135, that he’d been experiencing problems with rough running. Despite ours and other peoples help on his Facebook post he’d not managed to bottom it out, so asked if we could take a look, so as chance would have it we were able to.

Code reading pointed us to Lambda sensor, which we swapped out, a dodgy coil pack, despite it being recently replaced by Lee and incorrect ignition leads fitted, so we swapped these out too. Happily for Lee car now back running nice and smooth again.

Staying in a beautiful spot, in Box, home of Brunel’s famous tunnel.

The village we were working in this afternoon is where the TV series Agatha Raisin was used as the location.

Heading off a bit further south first thing in the morning. – https://ift.tt/NrgufRO

An early start on Wednesday morning to head down to Biggleswade for work on Paul’s ‘04 TF 135 in paint code MBB, that he’d been having a few issues with over the past few months, despite several attempts at trying to sort it, the car was still misbehaving. He’d been told the head gasket had gone, the thermostat needed replacing etc.

On running all of our initial checks we found that the expansion tank cap was completely duff and not holding any pressure whatsoever. All found to be good with regards to the head gasket, happily for Paul.

Cambelt service carried out, and on running up to temperature found that a couple of the return hoses were blocked, so these were cleared, the car is fitted with a PRT, which is doing what it should, the fans came on and off as they ought to and she’s all good to go.

Good to meet Paul, thanks to him for the cuppas. Fortunately, we just about dodged the worst of the rain!

We headed over to our digs for the night in a lovely village called Bozeat. They’d double booked us, which really wasn’t a problem as we got put up in the posh bit! Wow, it was absolutely fantastic and we would definitely like to return. So friendly and welcoming. Will add the link below. Maybe Jon and I could have a treatment next time! No we wouldn’t subject the lovely lady to that. 😆

I got up at the crack of dawn to enjoy a yomp as the rain had finally stopped. Crikey it was torrential! Hope everyone didn’t get flooded out.

We then headed over to Wolston, where it was lovely, as always, to see Bill and his MGF VVC in Tahiti Blue that was due its cambelt service again. Full service carried out for him, plus alternator belt, replacement of the clock as it had given up working, realignment of the steering wheel, handbrake adjustment and fitting of a new resister pack.

The plan was to replace the exhaust back-box too, but unfortunately the one that Bill had been sold was for a TF and not an F that the seller had reassured him was the correct one.

Not to worry, we can get it to fit and will sort a date out to return and get this fitted for him on his really great looking car, that’s just undergone a respray and had a new hood fitted since we last worked on it. The cat, of course, took a liking to said new hood, as they do.

Good run back home this afternoon, for a couple of nights, at the workshop in the morning to do the finishing touches to Jon’s TF ready for him to collect, restock the van ahead of setting off to the south west again on Saturday morning… – https://ift.tt/pUwHMr3

Sunday at the workshop to greet Geoff who drove up from Hilmarton, near Swindon to leave his MGF with us.

Justin had been desperately trying to contact us over the past couple of days, so as he was local in Cottingham, and we had an idea of what the issue was we asked him to come over. Sure enough as suspected his LE 500, in paint code 109, had a leak from the welds on the underfloor coolant pipes. So these were replaced for him. We reassured him about a few other things he was concerned about and also pointed out a few positive features of the car that he wasn’t aware of. Pleased to have got this sorted for Justin and he’s all good to go!

Jon drove over from Rotherham to leave his TF 160 with us us.

Work commenced nice and early on Monday morning on Geoff’s MGF 120 mpi, in paint code CMU, that he’s owned for the past 19 years and enjoyed many miles in.

Clutch replaced, along with new slave cylinder, free off of the clutch release arm, and flush through of the old manky fluid.

Cambelt service carried out, as this was well overdue. Hydragas pumped up to the correct ride height.

Great to see Geoff this morning who popped over for a cuppa, he’s staying just locally in what sounds to be a fab Airbnb, which we now have the details for, for future visitors. Good to hear that he’s enjoying his time in the area with what sounds a busy itinerary.

Work also commenced on Jon’s TF 160 that we’ve had in before, on his last visit it was noted that the sill end was in need of some attention and also on either rear sill it had been wrongly jacked up, in the past, resulting in them being pushed in, causing holes and corrosion. So Jon set about fabricating sections to put these right.

Full underfloor treatment also carried out, resulting in the car looking as good underneath as it does on top!

A productive few days at the workshop, van all stocked up too ahead of setting off in the morning down to Biggleswade and Wolston.

(Please just leave us a voicemail or send a message as we can’t always answer the phone as we’re usually under a car or in an engine bay). – https://ift.tt/4q0oXcE

Workshop – Thursday & Friday…

Paul drove up from Kingswinford to drop off his ‘05 TF 135, in paint code LEF, with us on Wednesday, for some work, having recently purchased it in March. The car is in amazing condition and low mileage, and he wanted to future-proof it as much as is possible.

Our ‘Option 3’ was carried out, which includes replacing the lower oil rail and thermostat.
Plus the following; cambelt, water pump, tensioner replaced.
Underfloor coolant pipes fitted.
New expansion tank, complete with sensor fitted.
Piper Cross air filter fitted.
New clutch slave-cylinder, clevis pin, system bleed and free-off of the release arm.
Mike Satur back-box and heat-shield fitted. Then finally a full underfloor treatment carried out.

A very productive couple of days, and we’re pleased to have everything done for Paul, ready for him to collect tomorrow morning.

He’s enjoyed a few days, visiting the local areas, whilst his car has been in with us, let’s hope the weather stays fair for him to enjoy the run back home tomorrow. – https://ift.tt/nhpWJ04

Welford & Harpole, Northampton…

An extremely wet day yesterday. Our first call was in Welford for head gasket replacement on Simon’s ‘95 MGF 120 mpi in paint code HAM. The gasket had gone some time ago, Simon had been topping it up with water so there was a considerable amount of sludge to clear out, never a nice job when it’s combined with a load of water from above! Despite deploying the gazebo we still got drenched. The car also has aircon fitted, which generally adds on an extra hour to the proceedings.

A very welcome constant supply of cups of tea kept appearing for us though accompanied by a delicious homemade lemon drizzle cake. We’re pleased to have got the car back up and running as she should be for Simon, who it was lovely to meet.

Not too far along the road found us back in Harpole for head gasket replacement on Neil’s ‘02 TF 135. Unfortunately, the wet stuff followed us! Good to have got Neil’s car back on the road again for him, and thanks to him also for plenty of warming cuppas.

Sadly for Jon one his favourite places, just around the corner from there, Hotel Choklit was closed by the time we got finished. 🙁

Ruskington & Bracebridge Heath…

A much brighter morning today, thankfully, as we headed down to Ruskington for our first call for work on Tracy’s TF 115 in paint code MBB that she’s owned since 2009.

Head gasket and all other gaskets replaced, plus full cambelt service carried out along with a few other bits that needed sorting. Lovely to meet Tracy and Chris, pleased to have the car back up and running as it should be for them.

From there we headed up to Bracebridge Heath as John and Lorraine had got in touch about their MGF Trophy that had recently developed a problem with the battery not charging. On checking it over, as suspected, it was down to the alternator having packed up, new one duly fitted and happily for them back up and running once more.

A pleasant run back home this evening. – https://ift.tt/jx8ZNvf

A trip over the Pennines to Altrincham on Thursday morning for work on Michelle’s ‘03 Stepspeed, in paint code PBT, that she’s owned for the last 19 years.

Full cambelt service carried out, plus she wanted us to give the car a check over and advise on anything else that she should be concerned about. Nice to meet Michelle who had cleaned the car the day before ahead of our visit, but the Sahara sand decided to ruin that for her!

From there we headed over to Rainow, for work on Richard’s ‘04 TF 135 80th Anniversary, in paint code MBB.

Cambelt service carried out. Richard had noticed a bit of a rattle coming from the cams, he’d tried a couple of applications of hydraulic lifter cleaner, to no affect, but he hadn’t used the better one, which is the one made by Wynn’s, which does usually have good results.

Richard asked if the cam-rack could be removed and resealed as it was leaking. We cleared out all the oil ways, resealed it and added one of our cans of Wynn’s Pro hydraulic-lifter cleaner. Once back up and running the car was sounding a lot quieter.

An interesting afternoon chatting to Richard, whose car has a couple of very nice stable mates, a V8 MGB GT and a Midget that he’d owned from his student days.

A late finish for us getting home, but what a a perfect evening for a run back over the peaks, such stunning scenery on days like that, particularly going through Winnats Pass. Lots of para-gliders out enjoying the thermals.

This morning we headed over to Hull for a nice local call, only to find that the owner had already had the cambelt service carried out locally and forgot to tell us. So we headed over to Goxhill a little earlier than planned for our next call.

We’d last visited Rob in Goxhill back in May, when we did the cambelt service etc on his MGF 120 mpi, he had asked if we could call back at some point and replace the distributor cap and rotor arm as they were original ones on it. So this was done for him this morning. Shame not to see Rob, but pleased we’ve got that done for him.

With time to spare we had a bit of a ring round local people to see if we could pull our visit forward, but everyone was at work. So went over to Rimmer Bros, to pick up some parts instead and had the afternoon free.

I walked back home over the Humber Bridge which was a little less gloomy than when we went over it this morning, a right pea-souper!

Have a great weekend everyone, hoping the weather holds up for runs out and top down fun! 🌞 – https://ift.tt/bFLhRU2