Category: News & Updates

Scotland – Days 9 & 10 of 16 – Chryston and Larbert…

Yesterday morning, found us in Chryston again for work on Ross’s 2002 TF 135, in paint code JFM. The recent MOT had advised on a few things; wheel bearing, ball joint, discs and pads all round and a possible coolant leak on the radiator hose. All of these we replaced. No evidence of a coolant leak, think it was just residue left over from when it was last bled. Plus he wanted the cone air-filter removing and the original air-box and hoses refitting.

Good to see Ross and Jacqui again and have fusses with their lovely woofer Rukia.

We left our digs in Kilsyth this morning, having stayed there for the last two nights, and headed over to Larbert, where it was great to see Craig again for some work on his 2002 TF 115 1.6 originally in British Racing Green, but had been sprayed Starlite Silver.

K-maps remap done, 52 mm throttle body fitted, airbag replace, fog-lights wired in, engine oil change, dipstick bracket replaced and replacement of the cable end on the forward to back gear-cable, which still needed a bit of adjustment as it had never been right.

Pleased to have everything sorted for Craig and ‘Tiffany’ she’s all set now for many more miles to come and good to have chats and cuppas while we worked, in between the rain showers.

So we’re now on the road heading further north to our next destination… – https://ift.tt/3dEvtF5

Scotland – Days 5 & 6 of 16 – Glengarnock & back to Bathgate…

A short commute yesterday morning (Tuesday) took us over to Glengarnock, for work on some of Alan’s fab fleet.

First up was his TF 160 in Aurora (paint code MBB haha) that was having a spot of bother with the clutch on the last time Alan had the car out and had managed to limp it home.

The slave-cylinder and master-cylinder needed replacing, along with flush-through of some very black clutch-fluid. The clutch-release arm was very free anyway, so now has a very nice smooth clutch-pedal once more.

The passenger door wouldn’t open from the inside, so we went armed with new cables and handles. Cable attachments were found to be the culprits, so these were replaced, which sorted that.

Next up his latest acquisition, a 2001 MGF VVC, in Royal Blue, that had come with a set of underfloor-coolant pipes, so we fitted these, along with replacing the alternator belt that had a very annoying and prolonged screech! We originally thought it was the engine bay coolant pipes that were to be replaced, which would have taken a bit longer.

Then on to ‘Noel’ his TF 135, on which the power-steering had given up. We had taken with us a couple of EPAS units, once swapped out with one of them, this resolved the issue.

Everything done in a day, though we had a contingency of two.

Absolutely lovely to see Alan and Andy again and have a good old catch-up with them. Thanks to Alan for lunch (another traditional Lorne sarnie for Jon) and welcome cuppas. Not to mention lots of fusses with their beautiful woofers, Bruce and Mabel.

Plus the rain that had tipped it down all night miraculously cleared when we got there!

We received a message from John in Bathgate, who we’d been to on Sunday, to say the car was making a strange noise. So having the day now free we went back over to investigate, first thing this morning. When we got there we couldn’t find anything that was making any kind of significant noise that would be of a concern. Checked the tension on the cambelt and on the alternator belt. We can only possibly put the noise, John heard, down to the inner timing-cover ideally needing replacing as it wasn’t held on by all the bolts and had obviously moved slightly having been worked on. All checks carried out to make sure all is good.

What absolutely terrible weather today! We’re tucked up in our digs again, in Uplawmoor, listening to the rain and wind battering the place. We’re staying on a working farm and just feel for all those poor ewes and their newborn lambs around us, I want to bring them all in! 🐑 – https://ift.tt/vaY4oIM

Scotland – Days 3 & 4 of 16 – Bathgate, Coylton & Dalrymple…

Sunday morning found us over in Bathgate, where it was lovely to see John again and his S reg MGF VVC for the cambelt service. We had last seen him and the car in the workshop for the front subframe replacement so it was good to have a catch-up. Thanks to John, for Jon’s brekkie of the traditional Lorne sandwich.

Making the most of an early finish we went over to visit Dunure castle, what a fab spot. Incredibly windy and some stunning views, with a cuppa in the cafe on the harbour.

Monday morning and a departure from our fab digs in Ayr, when we headed over to Coylton in South Ayrshire, where it was lovely to meet Colin and his wife Hilda, for work on their MGF VVC in Wedgewood.

Cambelt service carried out, along with replacement of the heater-resister pack and hydragas lift. A very nice example, that they’ve owned for about 5 years now and enjoy using for runs out on sunny days and meeting up with some of the local groups. They were concerned about some over heating issues, but this we narrowed down to be a rather dodgy expansion-tank cap and the fact that the tank was overfilled, plus the system required bleeding properly. Hopefully this has resolved this for them and Hilda will no longer need to take her bus-pass as a precaution each time they go out!

Really great to meet them both and have a chat, over homemade soup and sandwiches, before we said our farewells and headed a short distance along the road to Dalrymple.

Great to see Michael again this afternoon and his N reg MGF 1.8 mpi. This time the car was in need of a hydragas pump up and replacement of the front discs and pads. The discs put up quite a fight and required a bit of persuasion with the lump hammer! Glad to have this done for Michael and also the provision of the neighbours barn to work in as it was a bit on the soggy side with the weather.

We’re now tucked up in our digs, this evening, where we will be for the next four nights. It’s absolutely chucking it down now, hoping it will ease by the morning.

Found out yesterday that ‘sky-hooks’ do actually exist! – https://ift.tt/DXrs2qI

On our way back home now on a very busy M62 following our annual visit to Cuddington, Northwich for work on Steve’s very well cared for 2001 Trophy (paint code FAR).

On the list this time was oil change, brake fluid change, alternator belt, trace a very slight coolant loss and replace the engine-bay coolant-pipes with stainless. Steve had supplied the coolant pipes and on removal of the old ones we discovered that they were the wrong ones for this model. On this Trophy it was a non-oil cooler version that were needed. So a call to Jason at MGTastic on the off chance he had any in, and thankfully yes he had one set in stock, thanks Jason! So Steve nipped over there to pick them up while we got cracking with the other bits.

Stainless engine-bay pipes duly fitted only to discover that the thermostat housing was leaking, so we swapped this out with a new one from our stock. Coolant filled back up again and no more leaks. So he’s all set for the summer to enjoy runs out with his club.

Thanks to Steve and Sue for their warm welcome and fab hospitality as always.

We did manage a couple of days off over the Easter weekend. Though on Saturday we went over to Spilsby for the annual visit on Denis’s also very well cared for Stepspeed (in paint code MBB) This time what was required was the minor service, replacement of the heater resister pack and repair of the heater control dial. Lovely to see Denis as always and have a chat before heading home. We did have another call initially in Grimsby to make, but the owner had cut his losses and had got rid of the car.

Jon carried out the cambelt service on the interim van, as that was due, plus it now looks like that is going to be our mode of transport for our Scotland trip, starting at the end of the week, as the engine is still in transplant stage on the trusty steed. – https://ift.tt/VPy1vTS

Our first call yesterday morning found us in Leeds, where it was great to see Graham and his Mk I ‘96 MGF 1.8 in paint code HAM.

Graham had got in touch to see if we could replace the clutch, as he was experiencing a problem with the pedal. On investigation we found that there was a lot of free-play on the pedal, which was due to the clevis pin on the master-cylinder being very worn. This we replaced and also bled the system through with fresh clutch fluid. So, a bit of a result for Graham and a slightly easier morning for us.

After a chat we headed on our way over to Pudsey, where it was good to meet Gary and his 2001 Trophy in paint code JFV, which was sitting a little low and needed a hydragas pump up. The cambelt service is due, so a date is booked in for Gary to bring the car over to us at the workshop, in a few months time, and we look forward seeing him again.

An early start this morning for a further visit to Woolston, near Coventry, where it was lovely as always to see Bill and his MGF VVC. Bill had bought a stainless steel back-box, so we fitted this for him along with a homoligated CAT, that we had taken down with us. Great to hear from him later in the day to say that it looked great and sounded fruity, what a fab description! Pleased to have got this done for him on his pride and joy.

On the way back north we called in to Harthill, where it was lovely to meet Tony and his V reg MGF 75th Anniversary, in Mulberry, that had recently been misbehaving.

The symptoms were a random misfire, on code-reading several codes came up, of which none of them were really relevant, these were cleared and didn’t reoccur. There was a bit of a rusty connection on one of the coil-pack HT leads, so we cleaned up all of the coil-pack connections, and reset the ECU to learning mode.

Tony’s going to see how it goes, the coil-pack may have an issue, in which case he’ll come for a run out to us at the workshop, as he would like to get the speedo-cable replaced too.

Hope everyone can enjoy the long weekend where possible, and Happy Easter to all. It may not be top-down weather, but hoping it’s good enough for some enjoyable runs out. – https://ift.tt/anByzqo

Just on our way back home now after a couple of days in the Huntingdon area…

An early start yesterday morning and we headed over to Bythorn where it was great to meet Paul and his ‘04 TF 135 in Royal Blue (paint code JFM) that he’s owned for just over two years now and has been steadily working his way through getting the car in tip top condition. You can certainly see this with the care he has given it, and of which he is intending on being a keeper.

He was concerned that the clutch was on its way out, but on inspection and the fact it has only 44k on the clock we found it not to be the case. We freed off the clutch release-arm, which actually wasn’t too bad and bled the system through, which is all that was needed, clutch now nice and smooth and as it should feel.

The other concern was possible head gasket failure, but there wasn’t any evidence of this, Paul had recently also carried out a test, which proved to be negative. So for now all is well there too.

Thanks to Paul for a very warm welcome, along with mugs of tea and hot cross buns etc., plus it was good have a chat with him regarding everything MG. Date to be arranged for the cambelt service which is due next year.

We had a stop-over in Huntingdon last night as it was a bit daft to go all the way home again, when our call this morning was in Ramsey.

We’d replaced the head gasket on Brian’s previous MG back in 2016. So now his fairly new acquisition of a Mk II 2001 MGF VVC (in paint code MNX) was also in need of some work.

Head gasket replaced, as Brian had been noticing a few symptoms, and certainly on removing the cylinder head it was evident that it had gone into cylinder number 2. All gaskets replaced and ran up to temperature and running lovely.

The car had lost a bit of its bounce and having had many hydragas fills he thought it was time to replace the spheres. So we replaced all 4 with a set of our refurbed ones and the car now has a spring back in its step! All set for the summer months ahead. Great to see Brian, with thanks to him and his wife for the cuppas and choccie biscuits and offers of lunch.

From there we headed over to Turves to see what was happening with Matt’s 2004 TF 115 . Unfortunately, he’d come a cropper on the rather uneven roads round there and bust one of the shocker bolts, this had sheared off and taken out the CV boot too, leaving the threads stuck in the top arm.

He’d also noticed a slight issue with intermittent overheating, which needs further investigation. So a day needed to get back and sort these issues out for him and get him back on the road.

Almost home now with a steady run back up the A1. Oh and the weathers been really fab today too, with some very welcome sun. – https://ift.tt/G3DcMso

Workshop days…

Rich came over from York on Sunday (aka Pendas Lad) and left his ‘03 TF 135 in paint code HFF with us for underfloor treatment. So we got cracking with that on Tuesday morning (yesterday), not in bad shape at all underneath, but always a good and timely bit of maintenance to have carried out.

The underfloor coolant pipes were looking a tad ropey, so on checking with Rich we replaced these. He’d also noticed a strange rattle coming from the rear of the car, this, we discovered, was due to the fact the bolt that holds the alternator in was missing, new bolt duly fitted and rattle silenced.

He’d also noticed that the EML was flickering on the way over, on code reading it was code 1316 – misfire causing emissions, however no reason was found for it and once it was cleared it stayed off.

Car all sorted ready for collection on Friday.

Fiona had got in touch regarding her son Joe’s ‘05 TF 135, as the engine management light was coming on, as they were fairly local in Pocklington they popped over for us to investigate. Found to be the Lambda sensor that was faulty, so new one fitted and problem sorted. Lovely to meet them both and have a chat.

Great to see Chris again, who was working in the area, his TF 115 was still suffering from a squealing alternator belt, so some belt dressing was applied, which will hopefully solve this annoying problem for him! Nice to have a chat and a cuppa with him anyway, before he headed back over to Wirral, plus he came armed with a couple of boxes of biscuits. Thanks Chris!

Tom from Skipton was booked in for alternator belt fit, but he’s postponed for now.

Phil was supposed to be coming over from Knottingley in his ‘05
TF (that we’d last seen 2 years ago) for pre-MoT check and MoT, but had to cancel last minute, due to having discovered a large hole in the sill that would have been a fail straight away, so I believe he’s asked someone to step in and fit a repair panel.

Still it was a busy and productive couple of days despite that, it should have actually been a couple of days off in lieu of working the weekend and having a busy away-time, but who needs time off anyway!

Van duly stocked up and packed with the necessary parts in preparation of heading back on road again in the morning. – https://ift.tt/Plc8GqA

We returned to Acomb this morning to get everything sorted for Colin and his ‘02 TF in IAR, (that was originally a steppy in its former life with the previous owner, who had converted it to a manual).

We had initially visited a month ago for what was booked in for a straight-forward head gasket replacement. But, as of blog of 13th Feb this wasn’t to be the case, unfortunately so, for Colin.

Once we had the head back at the workshop we swapped it out for a refurbed head. The inlet-manifold was damaged so we replaced this with one on stock and Jon set about fettling all the dubious wiring and fitting new casings over it all.

Cylinder head replaced today, along with putting right many missing or incorrect bolts, fasteners and clips. Including tapping out and heli-coiling damaged threads. Good to have it all back to rights and running again.

Colin can enjoy his car again, that he’s owned now for 10 years, with many trips away, including one to Italy, amongst others. He and his wife plan to drive over to the south of France this summer.

Great to see Colin again, who was a lovely host, with lots of tea, biscuits and cake! Plus he surprised us with a box of Chocs and an Easter Egg, so kind of him, they will go down well!

It was lovely to have fusses with their dog Kelso and fab puss called Bruce.

A good run up this morning and a smooth run back home, with decent weather all morning too. – https://ift.tt/EUg8NzM