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Great to get ‘Meg’ back up and running again in Peterborough today for Simon, his TF 135.

Last time we were there we noticed that there were a few things pointing towards head gasket failure. Cambelt service was also overdue so both sorted today. The inner timing belt case had been exposed to heat damage so we replaced this, plus alternator belt replaced and a hose that had split.

Interesting that the previous head gasket had been replaced with a combination of the Mk II elastomer gasket and the saver-shim from an MLS gasket and put together with silicone sealant. 🤔

Once back together, the new gasket was obviously quite a lot thinner than the old two put together, so the engine ran quite rich and lumpy for a while. After learning its new fueling it settled down nicely.

Good old Meg, hopefully she will get her annual run up to Glasgow this year with friends! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Posted today to the
Rough Luck Racing Facebook page.

It was a Green Day today…

Filey was the destination for our first call, and great to see Alan again, for full cambelt service on his fab looking TF 135. Few gnarly bolts replaced plus a new alternator belt as his had seen better days.

We then went over to Appleton Roebuck, to finally get around to fitting the Lotus clutch slave cylinder support bracket to Allister’s, also fab looking, TF 135.

Thanks for the cuppas and Kit Kat’s and cookies today to keep us energised, very welcome!

Posted today to the
Rough Luck Racing Facebook page.

A day spent mainly traveling around Lincolnshire, shame it was so foggy and misty…

First call was in Spilsby to see Denis to fit a soft ride kit on his very tidy Stepspeed. Having been booked in since September and the parts ordered then, we checked each box and yes 2 fronts and 2 rears, only to discover when opening up the bubble wrap there was only 1 rear and 3 fronts! Note to self – open up all the wrapping despite the stickers saying they were correct. Luckily we weren’t far from Rimmer Bros so after a phone call to them we arranged collection of the correct bit.

We thought it would be an idea to go to our second call of the day on the way, in Sleaford, only to discover that the car was there, but the owner wasn’t. Never mind it, this was also booked in back in October.

So, back to Spilsby and the last corner fitted. Great to see Denis and also David again who popped over to say hello. A nice distanced catch-up!

Good to hear from Denis later on this evening to say that after the test drive it was a marked improvement in comfort.

Posted today to the
Rough Luck Racing Facebook page.

It was a very productive ‘F’ day today…

First call was in Hull to see Alex and David’s rare 1998 MGF 143 VVC in Old English white with a red interior. The car had failed on emissions. After we had a look at the MOT emissions sheet it pointed us in the direction of the Lambda sensor. Also while changing this we replaced the coolant temperature gauge sensor as we found this to be faulty too. Checked the live data and checked for error codes and found it to be running a lot less rich and good measure put it into its learning cycle to relearn all of its fueling.

We then went over to see Keith, in Kirk Ella, whose car had dropped a bit, so hydragas pumped up and is now sitting at a better height.

Then over to North Ferriby to return to Bob, with the parts that were required for his MGF mpi 120 that was suffering from a none starting issue. When we had first investigated we tried the usual culprits of fuel pressure and sensor issues. So we started by checking the coil pack, which made no difference, then the main HT lead, which again made no difference, so we changed the rotar arm and distributor cap and it fired up instantly. We then replaced all the other HT leads for good measure. Bob very happy to have his car back up and running again.

While we were there we had a chat with his neighbour Alistair whose MGF we will be booking into the workshop for underseal treatment later in the year.

Van all stocked up ready for next week at the workshop. What a lovely social day we had, great to see everyone!

Didn’t take enough pics though.

Posted today to the
Rough Luck Racing Facebook page.

An x-power grey day today…

We found ourselves in a beautiful location this morning, just west of Stanhope, where it was lovely to meet Paul who had bought himself a TF 115 Spark in September, having previously owned an MGB he fancied having another great car to enjoy.

With there being little to no service history Paul asked us to carry out the cambelt service and replace the underfloor coolant pipes with stainless.

What a sound car Paul’s got himself. Stunning location (Jon please can we move there) and the sun was shining too.

We then had a super run over the moors to Crawcrook where it was lovely to see Rod.

His also fab looking steppy was losing coolant, so after a bit of investigation found that there was a couple of culprits, the return hose was weeping, which was only evident when the car was running, so new clip fitted, plus cylinder number 4 piston crown was looking too shiny. Date booked in to sort.

Back home in daylight which was nice.

Posted today to the
Rough Luck Racing Facebook page.

Another fabulous looking MGF mpi in the workshop…

We picked this one up, from Barnsley, on Tuesday morning in order to carry out head gasket replacement, cambelt service, fitting of a strengthened lower oil rail and new thermostat.

Underfloor coolant pipes replaced with stainless as noticed they were a bit on the rotten side. Good opportunity to do a coolant flush as the car was still on the original blue 2 year coolant.

What a lovely car to work on. Duly returned to John this afternoon.

Posted today to the
Rough Luck Racing Facebook page.

A couple of stunning examples today…

First one was in Stockton-on-Tees, where it was great to meet Chris for work on his MGF 1.6 mpi.

Minor service, underfloor coolant pipes replaced with stainless and gear box oil change. Really nice to chat to Chris about the cars he’s owned, a very nice collection over the years.

We then went over to Redcar, where it was lovely to meet Barry who had bought his wife a MGF 120 mpi for Christmas.

The clutch release arm had seized so we freed it off and they now have an easy clutch pedal again.

Posted today to the
Rough Luck Racing Facebook page.