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
