Year: 2024

Day 3 of 10 (11) – South West – Warmley…

We left our fab digs in Kington Langley and headed over to Warmley for work on Steve’s two MGs.

First up was his 2004 TF 160 (paint code LEF) for head gasket replacement and cambelt service. On removing the head we found that some of the valves were bent. Steve had mentioned previously that he had experienced a problem with the car and thought something was amiss. But, it’s not as bad as we were expecting, no piston damage, no liner damage, no head damage. Steve did have scrapping the car at the back of his mind. Fortunately, not the case and a contingency put in place, valves duly ordered to be delivered to Steve’s, and we will add in another day and return at the end of this trip, so he’s not having to wait yonks for us to come back!

Next up his 1999 MGF 1.8 mpi (paint code HFF) that he’d owned for the past nine years, with 150k miles on the clock. Cambelt service carried out on it, along with new alternator belt and all good to go again.

Great to meet Steve and chat with him while we worked, and thanks to him for many cuppas, offers of lunch and his wife’s delicious freshly homemade shortbread. It was fab too to meet their gorgeous woofer Bertie, what a friendly chap. We look forward to returning next week and getting his other car back to rights.

I’m writing this from our next lot of digs, in Swansea, a bit of a contrast to the last ones, right on the edge of the A483, complete with fun-fair on the other side of the road! But making the most of the decent weather I had a good to hike up the adjacent hill this evening to visit the green man in the woods! Praying said fun-fair shuts down at a decent hour. 🥴 – https://ift.tt/k5RJhns

Day 2 of 10 – South West – Oakhill near Radstock…

A long and very productive day spent working on Neill’s 2004 TF 160 in paint code IAI, which is of course Celestial Blue, there were 11 160’s originally built in this monogram colour, of which there are 7 left.

Neill had bought the car from a dealer at a bargain price and wanted to get it back up to spec and on the road again, as it had been stood for a very long time, ever since it was thought that the clutch had failed. The cambelt hadn’t been replaced in 12 years and it was in need of a bit of attention.

So today we carried out a full cambelt service, alternator belt, free off of the clutch-release arm, replacement of the clutch slave-cylinder, brakes all cleaned up and calipers freed off, heater resistor-pack replaced, bonnet release removed, repaired and refitted, BCU refitted, centre console dial surrounds replaced and ‘Celeste’ is now good to go!

The car had been kindly stored by Neill’s sister, Helene, at her house in Oakhill, really lovely to meet her and have her company today, with big thanks too for the many cuppas and offers of lunch, so appreciated by us both. It was great to see Neill again too, who we had last seen the year before for work on his TF 135.

A run back through some beautiful villages and we got back to our digs a short while ago, admin then duly cracked on with. Bit of a chilly day for the time of year, but at least the rain held off. – https://ift.tt/9h6LeNT

Day 1 of 10 – South West – Down Hatherley & Hilmarton

Monday morning and up early to head to our first call this morning, which took us to Down Hatherley in Gloucester.

A very slow journey down the M1 and M42, seemed to take forever. But, as always, we were met with a cheerful wave and smile from Jon when we arrived. This time his 2003 TF 135 was due its cambelt service, so a full service carried out for him. Along with replacement of the slave cylinder, as the seals had blown on it, due to the clutch-release-arm being a tad on the stiff side, new clutch fluid bled through, the old stuff being very dirty, release-arm eased off and clutch now working as it should.

His MGF was sitting quite low so the hydragas pumped up on that.

Lovely, as always, to see Jon and his Dad and have a chat with them before heading off to the next call.

This was in Hilmarton near Calne, for the minor service on Geoff’s 1995 MGF 1.8 mpi.

It was great to see Geoff again and his MGF, who we had first met, at our workshop, in September last year when he drove up to have the clutch replaced, while he visited some relatives in the area. Really lovely to meet his wife, Val, this time, who made us so welcome, with a tray of tea, Welsh cakes and banana cake to take away with us! So kind, I think it will definitely keep us sustained throughout this trip. So lovely to meet their very cute puss Kizzi too, who doesn’t mind if she has a little feature on our blog.

We now find ourselves in some beautifully appointed digs, for the next two nights, just outside of Chippenham.

Weather good, few spots of rain at Jon’s, but the sun made an appearance for the most part, after a very dismal and wet start this morning when we set off. – https://ift.tt/0VMJNU3

We turned up to our call as planned and all booked in for yesterday morning, in Lincoln, for work on a Trophy, only to be told by Harry’s dad, John, that he’d already had the work done by another company. Suffice to say John was not best pleased with his son, we’ve been going to John to work on his cars for over a decade now and he couldn’t apologise enough.

So we went over to see John Ponting, a little earlier than expected, and his TF 135 (a post LE production run) that was in need of a new alternator. Sadly, for John it had given up the ghost ahead of his and Lynn’s trip in it to this years Highlander event. Nice to see John and have a catch-up, glad to have him up and running again.

Meanwhile, the other John had rang us to see if we could go over to check out a couple of niggles on Harry’s Trophy, trying not to waste our day totally. The alternator belt needed replacing and the heater-control-valve wouldn’t turn any lower than hot, we found that the arm on the valve had become disconnected from the tap control, so this was sorted for him.

So an earlier finish than expected we headed back to the workshop to crack on with some work there.

A day in the workshop today for a few things. First up was a visit from Gary who had come over from Leeds to have a full cambelt service carried out on his Trophy 160. An enjoyable morning spent chatting to him while we worked, he even offered to make the tea, he can come again! While he was there he had a chat with the dent man who popped over and also the lads at the paint shop next to us for some bits that need sorting, he’s certainly got himself a good example, bought at auction a few months ago.

Our next visitor was Andy who had driven up from Royston in his TF 160. Since we’d replaced the head gasket he was still having some coolant issues. While it wasn’t over heating, we thought we would look into other possible causes, it still had the oil-cooler connected and piped in, which can always be a cause of possible issues. so an oil-cooler bypass was put in, and monitored the temperature as the car warmed up and got up to full heat. It didn’t get as hot as before the bypass was fitted, and actually cooled down once the fans came on a lot quicker. It was agreed this could have possibly been the coolant losing pressure by venting through to the oil. Just needs to be kept an eye on and monitored.

Good to see Andy again, he’s having a bit of tour round Yorkshire this weekend, visiting family and then venturing down to the MGs in the Park event on Sunday. We wish him trouble-free travels!

Stephen’s TF 160 was taken round for its MOT first thing this morning, so that’s now ready for collection when he returns from his latest trip away.

Stock-check done and all parts ready for the next tour, totaling ten days, heading to Gloucester for the first call on Monday morning. – https://ift.tt/Vt0BuFc

Up and at it bright and early on Sunday morning to open up the workshop ready for our visitors.

The first ones were Gary and his son Liam, who drove down from Teeside in their TF 135 for minor service and check over and sort out of a couple of things.

Peter had his TF 135 transported over from Leeds, as he was concerned about the recent coolant loss he’d been experiencing, the car was booked in for a cambelt service anyway this week, and on an inspection on Sunday found the water pump to be leaking, this will be changed as part of the service so that will fettle this issue for him.

Andrew came over from Harrogate in his MGF 1.8 mpi to have the CAT and Lambda sensor replaced, we replaced the CAT with a homoligated one, as the one on the car wasn’t up to standard and kept putting the engine management light on and was therefore also causing problems with emissions.

Darren and his wife drove over from Leeds with their new acquisition of a 2003 TF 135 for a health check. Just a few things noted for them to have sorted and they have got themselves a very nice example, which will give them both so much enjoyment.

A productive Sunday and really great to see everyone, plus the sun stayed out all day for top down drives home! ☀️

Monday morning found us cracking on with Luke’s P reg MGF 1.8 120, that he had left with us to have a cambelt service, full underfloor treatment, oil leak investigated which was due to the cam oil-seals being old and perished, so these were replaced, a handbrake issue, which was found to be a faulty caliper, so a new caliper duly fitted. Sorting out of the slow windows, which required the mechanisms to be realigned and also one of the switches was broken so this was replaced. A full check over and sort of other niggles and is now for collection. We look forward to meeting Luke when he comes down from Durham on Sunday afternoon to collect.

Stuart came over from Scunthorpe on Monday morning for the annual minor service and MOT on his TF 135. Good to see him again and have a chat while we worked.

Gary and Diane came over from Scarborough in convoy to leave their TF 135 with us for the MOT, and sort out of the usual annoying leaky corner of the soft-top. They enjoyed a day out in Pocklington and came back later to collect. Great to see them as always too.

Tuesday morning work continued on Luke’s MGF. Full cambelt service on Peter’s TF carried out along with greasing all grease points.

Our visitor of the day was David who came over from Holton-le-Clay for the MOT on his ‘05 TF 135, good to see him again. Next year will be cambelt service time again, so that’s all booked in for him.

So that brings us to today and the issue on Stephen’s TF 160 with the gear selection was sorted for him. Other work on other projects continued after that. So a busy few workshop days! Stock checked up on and all parts ordered in ready for our next big trip away, on Monday, for ten days.

A fairly local day tomorrow morning takes us over the bridge to Lincoln for a couple of calls. – https://ift.tt/jwNxFEq

A long haul down to Mablethorpe yesterday morning, for our first call of the day, through torrential rain on the way, but thankfully it had cleared by the time we got there.

Rob had bought his ‘04 TF 1.6 last year and only after a couple of months the head gasket went, plus the car also had no service history.

Head gasket replacement and cambelt service carried out. Great to meet him and his parents, who had given up their garage space to store it until our visit. Lots of chat while we worked, and pleased to have the car back in order for Rob to finally enjoy. Big thanks to him for the boxes of chocs and biscuits!

We then headed a coupe of miles along the road to Sutton-on-Sea, for work on Mark’s ‘03 TF 135. He’d had an advisory on the last MOT on the discs and pads, so on asking our advice he thought he’d take the opportunity to replace them with the upgraded version that Will Naylor supplies. One of the track rod ends also replaced and the car is good to go. Thanks to him mum for the cuppas and nice to see Mark again, when he could pop over between work to say a quick hello.

We then headed along to Holton-le-Clay for hydragas pump up on James’s N reg MGF. Great to meet him and his brother and have a chat before we finally headed home, a long but good day.

A family day today, which was so good, with a couple of cars being dropped off at the workshop today, then we’re back there in the morning for a bit of a busy Sunday ahead! – https://ift.tt/qB6oYFV

A busy week thus far, and I’m that exhausted I’ve not had chance to write the blog!

Saturday morning at the workshop to get everything sorted on Susan’s TF 160, which is all back up and running lovely again. We had our other visitors from the north east, Rachael and Tony in their TF 160, that was requiring a new lambda sensor. Great to see them both as always and the sun made an appearance for them too for a top down run in both directions.

Sunday morning Jon was up bright and early to deliver Susan’s TF back to her. Absolutely no point in me going, I had a ton of work to do at home anyway.

Monday, the bank holiday when we probably should have been doing something fun was spent mostly in a state of exhaustion and staring gormlessly at the tv in the corner.

So, up and at it on Tuesday morning to head over to Horncastle, where it was lovely as always, to see Gary and Trevor. We should have been with them on the Highlander, but there’s another story, it was good to hear of all their stories about it though.

Minor service carried out on their TF 160, then after a cuppa and a biscuit we were on our way to Goulceby.

Francene had asked if we could call over and check out the window on her S reg MGF, we took a window mech with us, but was found to be down to it coming off the forward window-stop. Duly repaired and then on our way to Scotter.

Colin had fitted a soft-ride kit to his TF, having done an extensive amount of work on the car himself. On taking the car out found it to be far from a soft-ride! On our inspection we found that he’d been supplied with rear springs on the fronts, which would account for the harshness. Colin will source some front springs and swap them over. We look forward to hearing the outcome.

Good to see him again and have a chat before heading home.

Wednesday morning found us in Wilberfoss for our annual visit to Derek and Margaret and their TF 80th anniversary. Minor service carried out this time and always lovely to see them. We had ordered a new binnacle as the one on the car was split, unfortunately it arrived on the day, but not to worry will get back over to fit along with the gearbox oil change, yep in my diligence of restocking the van for the week I took that out due to lack of space. 🙄

From there we pootled on up to Beeford through some torrential rain.

Arrived at Bobs to find his TF sitting outside looking somewhat forlorn, normally garaged it was definitely sitting on the naughty step! It had decided some weeks ago to completely give up the ghost. Fortunately, they weren’t far from home and managed to get it back.

We’d gone to carry out the minor service, but not much point in doing that until we at least tried to get it running. So fault finding ensued, and long-story short, found to be a problem with the ignition switch. Car up and running by not the most conventional means! But it’s running much to Bobs delight. Service done and Bob left with instructions on replacing said part, of which he had subsequently managed to source and more than happy and capable of fitting. Good to see him and Lis as always.

We took a detour to Hornsea beach on the way back as I needed to stare at the sea for a while, plus an ice cream was in order for Jon.

So that brings us to today, Thursday, with a visit to Rainworth, near Mansfield, and lovely to see Phil again and his TF 135 for replacement of the CAT. The one on the car wasn’t up to the job and was coming up with codes P0420, showing catalyst below efficiency. Fortunately, it didn’t require a new lambda sensor, which was a bonus for Phil. Special thanks to Phil’s wife for baking us a lemon drizzle cake, so kind.

From Phil’s we headed to Rossington as the alternator belt we had fitted to Jane and Tony’s MGF was squealing like a banshee! New belt fitted. Good to see them both and have a quick chat a cuppa before heading over to Barnsley.

Lilian’s TF that we’d seen a couple of weeks ago was also reported as having a squealing alternator belt, but it was fine when we got there. Adjusted it all the same and made a couple of checks. It’s strange we’ve had a few of these lately, there may be a difference in the compound of the belts, so will try a new brand.

We’re heading back to the coast in the morning to Mablethorpe for our first call of the day… – https://ift.tt/Q2xvoDm

Wednesday morning found us in Royston for the head gasket replacement on Andy’s ‘05 TF 160, it absolutely tipped it down all morning, but the gazebo kept us mostly dry, all done and after a chat with Andy we headed over to Thrapston to undertake a hydragas pump up on Lee’s Trophy, we didn’t see Lee this time as he’d been called in to work.

A stay over in Ramsey for the night, in some really nice digs. It was there whilst I was doing the admin that we were alerted to the unfortunate comments on Facebook, we just want to say a big thank you to everyone for your amazing support and taking the time to add messages on both our page and group post about it, it really does mean a lot. Wow, thank you, so very humbling.

From our digs on Thursday morning we headed up to Turves, to undertake head gasket replacement on Matt’s ‘04 TF 115. Fortunately the rain had stopped, but by heck it was a windy one and cold. Good to get Matt back up and running again.

This morning, Friday, found us in Grantham for the first call of the day, where it was lovely to meet Phil and Tini for work on their W reg MGF mpi ‘Reg’, in HFF, that they’ve owned for 18 months, having previously owned a TF and fancied trying out an F.

Full cambelt service carried out, fitment of a new CAT and new gear cable ends and gators. Thanks to them both for the cuppas and Phil’s delicious homemade cake.

We then headed back up country, to Bilsthorpe, where it was nice to see Ray and Jan again, and of course Ollie dog and Rosie the cat!

Cambelt service carried out this time, on their MGF 143 VVC, with no issues, so the car is all set for the summer months. Thanks to them both for their lovely hospitality.

A bit of a slow crawl home now this evening. At least we’re only at the workshop tomorrow getting the work done on Susan’s TF and awaiting our visitors from the north east, Rachael and Tony, see you in the morning you two, safe travels! – https://ift.tt/4qiaZ2B