Year: 2024

Our last call, this morning, of our latest away trip was in Costessey, near Norwich, where it was good to meet Phil and Helen for work on their ‘99 MGF VVC in paint code HFF.

Full cambelt service carried out along with replacement of the underfloor coolant-pipes with stainless and hydragas pump up. Not one awkward bolt, car ran up to temperature and sounding nice and smooth. So they’re all set for some trips away throughout the summer months.

Nice to have a chat with Phil before we headed back home in good time. A successful 5 days away, with some really cracking MGs and lovely people in some fab locations, a bonus too that all our digs have been really good. – https://ift.tt/S8pUQe7

Beckenham this morning for our penultimate call of this trip…

John had asked if we could take on the care of the three MGs that he owns, 2 MGF mpi models, one of which is modified and the other a ‘10 plate TF, one of the Chinese post LE run cars, of which we worked on this morning.

Cambelt service carried out on this, obviously, very well cared for car with the previous owner, and a check over of the underneath, as John would like to bring it up to us at the workshop for underfloor treatment.

On bleeding the car, it had some sort of repair to the heater matrix bleed screw, so we erred on the side of caution and left this well alone, knowing that the Chinese ones are prone to snapping off, resulting in lots of pain and expense! Car ran up to temperature and all running as it should.

It was nice to meet John who sat and chatted to us while we worked. He’s certainly got himself a very nice example there, we look forward to seeing him and the car again, up in East Yorkshire.

From there, we headed on to our next destination for the night, what a long journey that was, so many hold ups with road works, and a couple of break downs. We eventually arrived in a very lovely village, East Harling and a really fab little place to stay, for the night. Spotted a TF 1.6, a Rover 25 and a ZS on my walk round the village. – https://ift.tt/jspJYSo

Westcliffe-on-Sea and another very short commute this morning, from our fab digs, for work on Gary’s ‘00 MGF VVC in paint code LQW.

The cambelt service was overdue, so this was carried out, along with replacement of spark plugs and all filters and oil. Gary had bought a Vadar cold-air-induction kit some time ago, so we fitted this for him. Hydragas pump up and the car is all ready for the summer months. Good to hear from Gary later on that he’d enjoyed a good blast out this afternoon.

Great to meet Gary and also meet and have fusses with his lovely woofers, Noodles and Roxy.

With an early finish and fab weather, we made our way down to the sea front and enjoyed a trip along Southend Pier, well Jon got the train and I took the pedestrian route. Sandwich and a cuppa at the end of the pier before heading off to our next destination. We’re now in our next digs, right next to the Dartford crossing with a view of the ever busy bridge. – https://ift.tt/jspJYSo

Leigh-on-Sea…

‘Pearl’, Adrian’s TF 80th anniversary TF has done a phenomenal amount of miles, throughout many countries, giving himself and his lovely wife Dawn so much pleasure throughout the years, and they plan to have many more adventures in her, with 4 trips abroad, already planned, for this year alone.

That said, Adrian wanted to take the precaution of replacing the wheel-bearings, with them being the original ones, and didn’t want to risk one going, on a mountain pass, in some remote location that they, very often, find themselves.

We travelled down yesterday, with a call in Great Doddinton, near Wellingborough, where it was nice to meet John and his S reg MGF VVC in JRJ for hydragas pump up.

With a very short commute, this morning, from our digs, we set on with replacing all four wheel-bearings, plus both rear drive-shafts and both front stub-shafts, all of which Adrian had sourced. The offside-rear was very stubborn to get the drive-shaft nut off, when it finally did come off, it was evident that all of the grease had come out of the back of the bearing, so it was a timely change for this one.

Minor service carried out, along with hood and window adjustment, as his new hood, (which looks fab), was still being awkward around the new seals that he’d also had fitted, so hopefully now, after a bit of fettling, it will now be water-tight. Couple of other things sorted for him, and Pearl is now set for many more adventures ahead.

Big thanks, to him and Dawn, for their, as always, warm welcome and hospitality. Plus, great to have fusses with Molly dog, too cute! (Meant to get a pic).

Back to our digs, with another short commute planned in the morning for work on Gary’s MGF, who had popped over today to say hello.

I managed to get a walk in, yesterday afternoon/evening, over to Two Tree Island, weather not the best, but as always good to make the most of the area we’re in. – https://ift.tt/mHIeM7R

Denton & Failsworth, near Manchester…

The usual slow, stop-start journey that is the M62 this morning, and despite a contingency of an added hour to the ETA we were still 15 minutes late!

Anyway we got there eventually for work on Steve’s ‘02 TF 135 (in HFN) that we had last worked on 7 years ago at another garage.

Full cambelt service carried out, along with alternator belt. On firing it up the car had a rough and lumpy idle. This was located to be due to very old and corroded coil packs and HT leads, so these were swapped out for decent secondhand ones. Plus there was no return to the tank as a couple of the return hoses were well gunked up with k-seal. I’d already cleaned out the tank that was full of the stuff! Car now running nice and smooth with a healthy return to the tank.

Great to see Steve and have a chat, who made us a few welcome and cracking brews.

From Steve’s we headed a few miles along the road to Failsworth, where it was lovely to meet Darryl and her ‘02 TF 135 (in JRJ) that she’s owned since 2007, but unfortunately hasn’t had any use out of it for a couple of years.

We went over today to replace the slave-cylinder and free off the clutch release-arm, to get her moving again. We discussed everything else that needs doing to bring the car back to rights, despite her being told by another garage that it should just be scrapped, which is a shame as there’s nothing that can’t be done to save it.

Jon popped over to the workshop yesterday, as Steve came over from Hull to collect his MGF that had been in with us for the subframe swap. Plus Pete came over from Barton with his TF 160 for a check over of a couple of things ahead of his track day at Silverstone today.

The van is all stocked up and ready for our trip south in the morning for a few days… – https://ift.tt/FvJfZIt

Rear subframe replacement…

Steve left his MGF 1.8 mpi (paint code CMU) with us for replacement of the rear subframe. Steve had sourced his own subframe and not gone for one of our galvanized ones. Steve had sourced a secondhand frame and had prepped and painted it up himself in Hammerite paint.

The usual crusted and corroded bolts removed and replaced along with gear-box oil change, clutch fluid and hydragas lift. The flexi-exhaust section had certainly seen better days and fell to pieces, so this was replaced, along with one of the ball joints. Car all now sorted and ready for collection.

It wasn’t the week we had planned, we had to do a bit of a switch around with the away jobs last week that should have been this week and the subframe last week done this week, due to personal family circumstances. Big thanks to everyone for their understanding and being so accommodating. Although, instead of the contingency of a 3-4 day plan for a rear subframe swap, doing it in 2 days is doable, but we’d not like to do it that way all the time as a bit stressy, all doors firmly shut, radio off and heads down, but we got the job done! 👊🏽 – https://ift.tt/jLRCgNI

Just back home from three days away taking in Mansfield, Ludlow and Alcester…

The first call on Wednesday morning found us in Mansfield, where it was great to meet Phil for work on his ‘04 TF 135 with 26k on the clock, in paint code MBB.

Low level coolant alarm fitted, Pektron key fob supplied and programmed. Plus investigation of a misfire, this was found to be down to an inefficient CAT, this is the third cheap and nasty one this week, these things seem to go in spells. Phil is considering a stainless exhaust back-box at some point so a date is booked in to return with the correct CAT and maybe fit the new exhaust.

We look forward to seeing him again, with thanks to him for the Tunnock’s and a cracking brew (he said he reads our blogs!) From there we headed west to Ludlow for the night.

With possibly the shortest commute yet, on Thursday morning, we were pleased to meet Malcolm and his ‘04 TF 135 in paint code MBB with 41k on the clock.

Head gasket replaced and underfloor coolant pipes replaced with stainless, plus a flush of the clutch fluid.

An interesting morning chatting to Malcolm, while we worked, who used to work for MG Rover and met his wife Elaine there. What an incredible time he had, for many years, as a rally driver, his garage was full of plaques showing his many accomplishments.

Our next digs found us at a fantastic place called The Stag, with its accompanying pub The Pit Stop, in Alcester, definitely recommend a visit there, full of everything to interest the petrol heads amongst you!

With another very short commute, this morning, we met with Joe for work on his ‘03 TF 135 with 60k on the clock in paint code LEF.

Head gasket replacement carried out along with cambelt service. The engine mount bolts refused to budge, so Plan B was opted for, the bottom casing bolt was stuck solid and couldn’t be removed, so we had to lever the casing out of the way and slip the cambelt out of the side, this added on about an hours work, a couple of the hoses were completely blocked with a solid oil and coolant mix, and a couple of the hoses needed replacing due to splits and holes. The HT leads also fell to pieces, so these were replaced with new. Pleased have this one all back up and running again for Joe.

Despite all that, it was a good day chatting to Joe while we worked, his late father worked for Rover for most of his life, and a load of car history to chat about between us all.

A really interesting three days away, albeit we’re a bit tired now, with great people, their fab MGs and so many stories to tell. – https://ift.tt/5LU7EvQ

Not as busy a couple of days at the workshop as expected, but we weren’t exactly twiddling our thumbs…!

Andrew brought over his 2001 MGF mpi, in LQW, from Goole first thing Monday morning and left it with us for a check over of the issue with the engine management light being on, plus an MOT. On code reading, found that the forward Lambda sensor was faulty, and the CAT that was on it was well below efficiency, I’ll be polite and not say what Jon said. 🫢 Correct CAT duly fitted, plus a new Bosch Lambda sensor. Everything else checked over, prior to the MOT, and then sent round for the test. It was lovely to meet him and have a chat.

Justin came over, from Cottingham, in his LE 500, that was also due its MOT. The rear brake pads and discs required replacing. He’d certainly had his moneys worth out of them. Good to see him again.

It was really good to meet Andrew and his wife, who had driven over from Harrogate in their 2001 MGF 1.8 mpi in CMU, which was in need of a hydragas lift. Good to have a chat with them before they headed off to enjoy the rest of the day. We look forward to seeing them again in a couple of months for some further work.

Simon came over from Dromfield yesterday to drop off his ‘04 TF 135, in MBB with us. So today we carried out a minor service, replaced the underfloor coolant pipes, carried out a health check and then sent it over for its MOT. Great to meet him today and have a chat with him. He’d bought the car from Matthewsons last year and is looking forward to having some fun out in her this summer. Date booked in for the cambelt service, undersealing and MOT next March.

Sunday morning found us at the workshop to meet John who had come over from Stockport to collect his ZR 160 track car and trailer that we’d been storing for him since we carried out the work on it. Wishing John a good season ahead!

Unfortunately, the other one we had squeezed in for a minor service was on Paul’s new acquisition of a 2000 1.8 VVC MGF, which had then developed head gasket failure, plus he had since found that the cambelt service was also due, what a shame he couldn’t get it over to us in the end. We’re trying to find a date to get out to him.

The other one we had booked in for our two-day underfloor treatment, unfortunately had to cancel last minute, due to a having a minor prang in his other car, so needed the MG to get to work.

A good few days, with some really lovely people in their fab MGs!

Van all stocked up with supplies and kit for the next few days away for the remainder of the week, with the first stop in Mansfield in the morning.

I enjoyed a long walk home one evening and met this rather cute pony on the way, and thought he deserved a mention. – https://ift.tt/A2GUz8I