Category: News & Updates

Farnham & Finchampstead…

Day 5 of 6 – Latest Tour South.

After departing from our digs in Eastleigh this morning we started to head back north.

Our first call was in Farnham, where it was lovely to see Robert again and his ‘97 MGF 120 mpi in paint HAM.

It had been noted, on our last visit, that the engine bay coolant pipes were somewhat corroded, so Robert had asked if we could replace them on our next visit. These were duly replaced when stainless ones this morning. Along with a clutch fluid flush-through, as it was a touch on the black side, plus oil change and fuel filter replacement. The cam-cover gasket was looking in bad shape as it had delaminated, so this was replaced too.

On firing the car up it was revving too high, and on running the diagnostics we found that the ECU temperature sensor was registering about 30 degrees lower than it should have been, this was due to a poor connection. Once the connection was sorted out we set the ECU back to its default settings.

Big thanks to Robert for the many welcome cuppas and chocs. We look forward to returning next year.

From there we carried on our journey north, to Finchampstead, where it was really great to meet Frances, who had won the charity auction for a cambelt service in aid of ‘UK Homes for Heroes’, which took place for this years ‘Friends Round London’ annual run, which is held in February. (Details can be found on the Facebook page of the same name).

Cambelt, water pump and tensioner therefore all replaced on Frances’ ‘04 TF 135 in MBB. Plus we fitted the stainless steel backbox that he had bought in ready for our visit.

What an interesting afternoon, he’s got some fantastic cars in his collection and wants to increase his MG fleet further too! Big thanks, also, for the pots of tea and to his wife for baking us a lemon drizzle cake especially for our visit, so kind, it will go down well this evening. Thanks, again, to him for his winning bid on the auction, a very worthy cause.

We’re now in our last digs of the trip between Bracknell and Wokingham. – https://ift.tt/LOVZPK1

Winchester & Southampton…

Day 3 of 6 – Latest Tour South.

The first call of the day was in Winchester, after departing from our digs, in Chichester, this morning, where it was nice to meet Lyn for work on her ‘97 modified MGF mpi, in paint code CAQ.

Hydragas pumped up to the correct height as she was sitting a little low, plus cambelt, water pump, tensioner and alternator belt all replaced so she’s all good to go again for Lyn to enjoy.

We then headed over to Southampton for our annual visit on Mark’s MGF 1.8 mpi in Copperleaf.

Cambelt, water pump, tensioner, alternator belt, spark plugs, oil and all filters replaced. Plus the gear gaitor was looking a bit ragged so Mark had bought a new one, which we fitted for him too.

Really good to see Mark, as always, and have a catch-up. He pointed out that it was back in 2016 when we first started work on this car, when it had undergone a bit of a restoration, as it was on the verge of being scrapped. Mark and Joanne are heading off to Jersey for a long weekend sometime soon in the car, which should be fun. Thanks to Mark for all the welcome cuppas and the enormous cake! Jon was very happy!

We’re now in our digs in Eastleigh, and making the most of the amazing weather this evening I enjoyed a yomp through ‘Hut Wood’. – https://ift.tt/aBUXlo7

Crawley & Chichester…

Day 2 of 6 – Latest Tour South.

Our first call of the day first thing this morning was over in Crawley, with a good run over from our digs in Tonbridge Wells.

Great to meet Alex and his ‘99 MGF 1.8 in paint code MNX. Underfloor coolant pipes replaced with stainless for him today, it’s really sound car that he’s future proofing to enjoy for years to come. Next stop for it is for some body work to be carried out. We look forward to seeing him again next year for a service on it.

From there we headed over to Chichester, where it was lovely to see Rod again and his ‘04 TF 135 in paint code LEF that we’d last seen about 3 years ago for clutch & head gasket etc. Rod has since replaced the front subframe and has now commenced work on the back end. It looks like a new car underneath at the front end, fantastic job.

Today the key fobs were sorted, reverse light switch fitted, which needed new wiring putting in, so this was done for him, the crankshaft bottom pulley had a chunk missing out of it so we replaced this for him too. A K-maps remap was attempted, but, unfortunately, the signal round there was not good enough to carry this out.

Rod wants to bring the car up to the workshop next year, anyway, for fitting of a Mike Satur Daytona and 4-2-1 to coincide with a visit to his sister, so the remap will be done then. By this time Rod will have finished all his work on the car that he has planned. Great to see him today and have a chat.

One of those calls where I’m like a spare part, so I walked into the town to the post office to get some clothing orders posted out. Thanks to the people who have ordered things lately, they will be with you soon! 👕 🧢

We didn’t get as far south as planned this morning as our call in Eastbourne was cancelled, unfortunately we only found out a couple of days ago, it’s a shame as we’ve been going for a few years now, but had forgotten to let us know the car had been reluctantly sold. Never mind, these things happen.

So we’re now in our new digs just outside of Chichester town centre, which made for a nice evening walk in the sun to the cathedral, well for me anyway, Jon had a well deserved rest to watch Star Trek and eat chocolate. – https://ift.tt/aBUXlo7

Tonbridge Wells…

Day 1 of 6 – Latest Tour South.

Yesterday morning found us at the workshop to pack the van ahead of our latest tour to the south of the country.

Plus we were so pleased to meet Mik and Sarah, finally, when they came over from York to collect their MGF ‘Tess’ that had been in with us for a few things. Great to see Andrew again, who dropped off his TF with us.

This morning we headed to Tonbridge Wells, where we’re staying this evening, which proved a perfect spot to get some things looked at on ‘Pearl’, Adrian’s very well travelled TF.

The seals that Adrian had recently fitted were still leaking the drivers side window needed adjusting, it was also noticed that the cable tensioner in the soft-top had snapped, this would account for the amount of play in the soft-too edge and the inevitable and annoying ingress of rainwater!

The exhaust flexi was blowing slightly at the joint, so this was taken to pieces and resealed, being an early Mike Satur 4-2-1, it didn’t have a tubular insert, so next time at the workshop Jon will make one to fit it.

Good to see him and have a cuppa and a catch-up in the car park. Hope his journey back through the Dartford crossing isn’t as hideous as it looked when we came over the bridge, miles and miles of queues!

What fantastic weather, made the most of it with a lovely walk through the local woodland this evening. ☀️ – https://ift.tt/ir1ITX3

Cookhill, Alcester & Holbrook, Belper…

For the last day of this trip away we departed from our, not so great, digs in Evesham this morning to head along to Cookhill.

Great to see Wayne again and his ‘03 TF 135 in paint code JFV, for fitting of soft-ride-kit and gearbox oil change. With a certain degree of relief all bolts came undone easily, with only one putting up a slight fight as is the way!

Thanks for Wayne for the cuppas and the veggies, the tomatoes will come in well with Jon’s steak this evening. He’s not had one this week, all hotels are struggling for chefs, very sadly for them, a continuation of a problem following Covid, apparently, having chatted to the owners of the fantastic, ‘Vernon – Hotel & Restaurant’, that we stayed at in Hanbury, a very sorry state of affairs for the people concerned.

From Wayne’s we headed further north and went over to Holbrook, as Ruth’s ‘02 TF 135, in Spectre, was in need of a new CAT. Grinder deployed for a couple of the CAT bolts, as is common, but at least the Lambda sensor came out and was transplanted into the new CAT, saving an added expense there. So ‘Destiny’ is good to go again.

Really lovely, as always, to see Ruth, Mark and their gorgeous woofers, Sam, Percy & Ruby, lots of fusses, whilst we had a cuppa in their fab garden, so good to just sit for a while and enjoy a long overdue catch-up.

Home now and great to see Binks.

Unfortunately, our poor van is struggling again, +500,000 miles is showing again on the engine and time for a new one maybe or just a little tweak! So the next couple of days will be spent sorting it ready for the next trip on Monday morning… – https://ift.tt/ZULpVOQ

Patchway, near Bristol…

A departure from our fab digs in Chepstow this morning, which then found us in Patchway for work on this very low mileage MGF 1.8 mpi, in paint code JRJ, that hadn’t turned a wheel in almost 7 years.

Andrew thought it was about time to get her back on the road again to enjoy as it should be, so had got in touch to see if we could recommission her.

Although the head gasket hadn’t actually gone, Andrew just wanted it carrying out to offer him peace of mind, so head gasket replaced, along with cambelt, water pump, tensioner, alternator belt, brake fluid change, underfloor coolant pipes replaced and the hydragas pumped up to the correct height, along with a new pressure tested expansion tank cap. She’s now all good to go for them to enjoy many adventures.

The car is like new, with not a hint of rust, or corrosion anywhere. All of the subframe mounts were still in the original paint and we don’t think any of the bolts had ever been removed.

This one also had a lovely stable mate, another MGB Roadster, same colour as the one we came across yesterday, that Andrew has owned for many years.

Another enjoyable days work, in Andrew’s company, lovely to meet him and his gorgeous woofer Cara, who let us have lots of fusses! Many interesting conversations had while we worked, and great weather too. Big thanks for an endless supply of tea and Jon’s bacon buttie.

This evening finds us in our last digs of this trip, in Evesham, ready to head to our next destination in the morning. – https://ift.tt/ZULpVOQ

Hereford…

We left our digs in Hambury this morning and headed down to Hereford where it was lovely to meet Philip for work on his ‘02 TF 135 in paint code HFF.

Cambelt, water pump, tensioner, fuel filter and underfloor coolant pipes all replaced.

Really interesting morning chatting to Philip about his history with cars, his TFs stable mate was a fab MGB Roadster that he’d carried out a full restoration on back in 2004-06.

Thanks to Philip for the really interesting book, cuppas and an amazing lemon cake that his wife had baked. What a beautiful spot he’s in and the sun even made an appearance, making an enjoyable morning’s work.

We bid our farewells and headed on to our next destination for the evening. – https://ift.tt/rY359xv

Droitwich Spa…

Our first call of the week was for work on Matt’s 80th Anniversary TF 160 in paint code MBB. The car hadn’t run in 4 years, what with Covid and house moves etcetera, so Matt was keen to get her back on the road again.

Cambelt, water pump, tensioner, spark plugs and all filters changed for him, along with alternator belt, brake fluid change and fitting of rear discs and pads. (Matt had done the fronts). Lovely to meet him and have a chat. He’d first seen us working on a car when we had carried out the head gasket on Verity’s Steppy, quite a few years ago now, outside a hotel in Bromsgrove when the Pride of Longbridge event was cancelled due to bad weather.

Really great to see Steve Cotton too, having just recently moved around the corner, who popped over to say hello.

Diabolical weather all the way down this morning, but fortunately it stayed mainly dry while we were working.

We said our goodbyes to Matt and headed a few miles along the road to our digs for tonight. He’s looking forward to getting the car MOT’d and getting out and about on some runs, no doubt with his neighbour at some point who we’re sure will have some plans afoot! – https://ift.tt/rY359xv