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Bit of a car SOS one this morning. Alison & Jon had contacted us a few months ago to see if we could rescue their Dad’s Freelander, that he was reluctant to part with, as the head gasket had gone again after only a short few weeks of having it done somewhere local.

So we went over to Rainhill near Prescot today to replace the head gasket, plus cambelt service. Whilst we were in there we noticed that the thermostat had become detached, as the engine bay pipes had not been bolted in. So new thermostat fitted. The alternator belt had certainly seen better days, so this was replaced with new along with the power steering belt. A lot of hideous radweld cleared out of many areas. Everything cleaned up and back up and running again. It will go through an MOT tomorrow and then returned to the owner on Sunday! What a fantastic surprise for him. Really glad we were contacted to help.

Andy, who we had seen yesterday, rang to say he couldn’t select any gears on his MGF. So we went back over to Colwyn this afternoon, suspecting that the slave cylinder had blown, due to the car being stood for sometime. But once bled all good again, following a test drive by Andy. When he tried to get out of the car the door release cable snapped. Fortunately, we had a couple on stock, I must be psychic I thought I should bring them with us despite not using any for ages! Again we look forward to hearing how the MOT goes tomorrow.

Another good day with lovely company and welcome sunny skies, apart from one brief soaking. Our last night on a good site at Chester Fairoaks.

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Just near Colwyn Bay this morning for our first call of the day and really great to meet Andy, finally, after the postponement back in April!

What an amazing location to work on his absolute gem of a buy, an MGF 120 mpi. We replaced the head gasket and carried out cambelt service, plus replacement of the underfloor pipes with stainless.

We then went over to Deeside, Flintshire where it was lovely to meet Roger for some work on his very nice TF 135. Both AP calipers replaced, underfloor coolant pipes replaced with stainless, slave cylinder replaced too.

Thank you to Andy and Roger for such warm welcomes, hospitality and great banter and supplying the fab weather!

Jon enjoyed his lemon drizzle cake for his pudding thanks Roger 😀 and thanks for the pics you sent, was a bit too dark for me to take any!

Love the mugs Andy!

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We left our campsite at Strathclyde Country Park and had a good run over to Blyth.

Great to see Steve as always. Soft ride kit fitted to his very tidy TF 135. PRT replaced as the next suspected cause of an intermittent internal heater issue. It’s thought that thermostat was sticking slightly open. It’s never been right since head gasket done approx 7 years ago by local garage, car runs lovely but just this weird problem with the heaters. Let’s see if this has cured it this time.

We await your update Steve. Thanks for the buns and the cuppa!

We then ventured a bit further south and went to see George in Jarrow.

George is having a bit of an overhaul of his TF 160. We swapped over the seats and removed a very soggy carpet. New indicator stalk fitted. New cat and lambda fitted. Next time we go up we shall see it with the body kit all fitted and full respray.

Thanks for the cuppa George, will send dates to return for the other things.

Now on the A1 and heading home. Will be good to be back in our own bed, well for 2 nights anyway!

What a great and successful Scotland tour it’s been. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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What a really good day we had in Glengarnock, Beith.

We had worked on of Alan’s cars a few years ago, but didn’t meet him at the time. Lovely to meet him finally this morning, and his fleet!

First off we carried out checks on his MGF VVC to see if it was viable for repair. The car had overheated and then been stood for a fair few months and mice had had a go at the wiring under the bonnet. He couldn’t get any lights to come on under the dash. This was sorted this so it is now a runner. Wiring to be repaired locally.

Next up was the his Aurora TF 160, which had an amber warning light in the dash, most of the error codes on the ECU were relating to the lambda sensor, nothing relating to anything else, other than a flat battery.

On to the next car, his Copperleaf MGF, which occasionally only overheated when pulling up in traffic. We test fired the radiator fan, pressure checked the cap and the system and found a reasonable sized air lock in the radiator. This was bled and should increase its cooling to handle stationary traffic. New coolant bottle fitted as the other one was a bit grotty.

The final car we checked out was his TF 135, which had also had coolant loss. All checks done and found mix of oil and coolant. So head gasket replaced. Some of the hoses were very swollen, and close to perishing, so these were replaced with ones on stock.

Battery clamps that we had on stock were fitted to 4 of the cars.

Was a fabulous fleet in another beautiful location.

Thank you, to Alan and Andy for your lovely company and hospitality. Great chats all day, plus fab to have more doggie cuddles today too with Bruce and Molly.

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Departed from our very picturesque campsite this morning and headed over to Bathgate.

Good to meet John who had contacted us back in July, as the head gasket had gone on his very nice MGF 143 fitted with air con. Gazebo deployed as it absolutely bucketed it down all morning. Car back up and running again, much to John’s relief as he can get out and about again in her.

We then went over to Chryston, to carry out full cambelt service on a TF135. Piper Cross air filter fitted too. Good to meet Ross & Jacqui, so pleased that they had a garage! Was lovely to have more dog cuddles today with Bentley and Rukia. Thank you, for the tea & tea cake too, very welcome on a cold
wet day!

Now on another campsite just near Bellshill, we’ve battened down the hatches for the night and got the heater on to dry everything out and get cosy. ☺️

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Bit of a misty start on the campsite this morning.

We went a few miles along the road to Blackford, really great to meet Gordon for cambelt service on his Trophy that we last worked on, with the previous owners 7 years ago, when we did the head gasket and cambelt service. Good to see the car again and in super condition. Great chats and also cuddles with Gordon’s beautiful rescue basset hounds Ronald and Raegan.

We then carried on a few more miles to Dunning, really lovely to see Donald and Morag again, in their new home, for work on their fab TF135 that we had changed the cambelt on a few years ago. Donald had got in touch a couple of weeks ago asking if we were coming up anytime soon as he suspected the head gasket had gone. So after a little bit of logistical shuffling we were pleased to get to see them. Couple of other bits sorted and car all back to rights.

What an enjoyable day with really lovely people, great cars and in beautiful locations.

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After leaving our fab campsite on the harbour top this morning we went along the road to meet Richard, finally in Wigtown.

His lovely MGF mpi needed a few things sorting. 4 pot AP calipers and drilled and grooved discs fitted. 11 spoke alloys fitted all round. Braking will be a whole new experience.

Underfloor coolant pipes replaced. Dash cam wired in. Snorkel and servo brace fitted. Handbrake adjusted. Pre MOT check done.

Lovely to meet Richard and Glynis, thank you both for the cuppas, rolls and snacks. After a brief rain shower, fab weather all day.

Parts all supplied from fab people within the MG community, Philip Bell & Andy Partridge, great service as always.

We then ventured further north, beautiful run through the Galloway Forest Park. Now on a very picturesque site in Clackmanshire in time to see the sunset.

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Gerald drove down from Musselburgh this morning to come to us for some work on his beautiful MGF mpi in Wedgewood.

All spheres replaced with reconditioned ones, new dampers fitted on all four corners. Cambelt service carried out. Few other things done on the list plus reseating the window guider seal, which was almost on the point of breaking.

Great to meet Gerald, looking forward to hearing how comfortable he finds the car now after his journey back home. Having owned a few MG’s in the past, this one is to be a keeper.

Camper stocked up with everything required for our tour to Scotland, starting tomorrow. I hope I’ve remembered it all. 😳

Think Jon was a bit tired! 😆



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