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Back up in the north east today, with our first call over to Cramlington, where it was lovely to meet Arthur and Liz for work on Liz’s very nice, low mileage TF 135 in JFV that they bought from Blackpool a couple of years ago.

They enjoy going along to shows together with Liz in the TF, and Arthur in his Lotus Elan, that he’s owned for many years, so they were really happy to have it back up and running again after the head gasket had failed back in March.

The cambelt hadn’t been changed since 2017, so today we replaced the head gasket, and carried out the cambelt service.

Once the engine was fired up, it was found that the right-hand side exhaust control valve was stuck in the closed position. This was disconnected, then forcibly opened. Albeit we managed to get it open, we didn’t think it would manage to open and close on its own, therefore it was left in the open position. This will prevent restricted airflow, as all the gases would have gone through just one exhaust tail pipe.

From there we headed up to North Broomhill where it was great to see Kevin again for minor service on his MGF Trophy, which is painted in Trophy yellow, but with an added metaflake when Kevin had it resprayed. New front reflector fitted too. A good chat with Kevin and fusses with his gorgeous dog Monte.

Baking hot day (not complaining) with lovely company. Now on the A1 heading home with not much further to go. We’re back up there tomorrow with a few ‘squeeze ins’. Should have been prepping for the South Wales and Cornwall trip next week, but we can do that on Sunday. 😀 – https://ift.tt/015ZxDl

Straight back at the workshop on Monday afternoon, after bidding our farewells to Pateley Bridge and our lovely friends, Maggy, Phil and Peppa. What a brilliant couple of days.

We went over to Huddersfield to collect a TF 160, that was in need of some work.

Paul had dropped off his MGF with us, on Saturday, after he had driven it all the way down from Georgemas near Halkirk in Scotland.

Both cars tucked up safely for the night, and we returned the following morning to get started on Paul’s MGF.

• Both rear subframe forward mounts replaced with stainless steel.
• Both rear subframe rear mounts replaced with stainless.
• Rear spheres both replaced.
• PRT conversion carried out from the standard pipework originally fitted, complete with all the replacement hoses etc.
• Full underfloor treatment carried out.

Great to see Paul and his Dad, this evening, when they came to collect. Thanks for the ice creams, a nice touch.

Glad you had an enjoyable sunny, top down run back. 😃 ☀️

Head off on the TF 160 and replacement of stem seals and pistons rings in progress… – https://ift.tt/015ZxDl

Harrogate MG Car Club – Nidderdale show ground.

An enjoyable day out on Sunday at the Harrogate MG Clubs annual show at Pateley Bridge.

We had our display of ‘things that can go wrong’ and really enjoyed having loads of catch-ups with everyone from near and far.

Some cracking cars on show. Didn’t get many photos though. It’s a cracking show, little bit down on numbers as most seem to be, but great fun all the same. With the added bonus of good weather too. ☀️ – https://ift.tt/QSlExzw

What a beautiful spot for work this morning, right at the foot of the Brimham Rocks.

Chris had got in touch as the MGF 120 mpi he had purchased last year had unfortunately succumbed to the proverbial, shortly after he got it home. He had tried swapping out the thermostat and replacing the expansion tank cap.

As we were passing by today we were able to fit him and what a pleasure it was too, meeting him and Stacey at their beautiful spot, Brimham Rocks Farm.

Head gasket replaced, along with a new coolant temperature sensor and hydragas pump up. So she’s all good to go again to have fun with on the fantastic roads around the area. Great to meet Chris and Stacey and their lovely dogs Ziggy & Travis, hope to see them all tomorrow, if not we look forward to seeing them again at the workshop for some further work later in the year.

Making the most of the surroundings, an early finish and the fab weather I took off on a 5 mile walk along part of the Nidderdale Trail to Pateley Bridge and met Jon at the tea shop there. Such beautiful countryside and stunning views. ☀️🌳

Check out their holiday cottages on air B&B. Brimham Rocks Farm Cottages. – https://ift.tt/HWixVGK

Well we had a run over to Galgate near Lancaster today, nice run over the Pennines with a mixed bag of weather as you’d expect.

SatNav kindly directed us to our destination, only to find there wasn’t an MG to be found. After waiting for for some time and trying fruitlessly to contact said owner of MG, a kindly neighbour came over to ask why we were there, and she explained that the car wasn’t there, it normally is, but not today.

Bit strange as one of the things we had it booked in for was gear cable replacement as the one on the car had snapped, so we had ordered cables in for the job. Plus it was booked in and confirmed for a cambelt service.

A 5 o’clock start, a 260 mile round trip, 5 hours in travel and £90 in fuel for nothing.

I won’t add anything else apart from what a shame when we have a waiting list for people desperately wanting their cars sorted and a whole day wasted for us. Thanks Jack. 🙄 – https://ift.tt/HWixVGK

It’s always a picturesque run through the Lincolnshire wolds and we headed back over there again to our first call in Donington, near Spalding this morning.

Dave’s TF 135 (in HFN) had unfortunately suffered from the proverbial and he had contacted us a few months ago to see when we could get back over to him to sort.

The head gasket had previously been replaced some time ago with an MLS, but as we have found over the years it seems the Victor Reinz ones rot after approx 7 to 8 years. The inlet manifold was missing its gasket altogether and had been daubed with sealant. All cleaned up and new gaskets replaced today.

What a great morning, lots of conversations and laughs. Great to see Dave again and meet his lovely wife Julie, who had heard the rumour that Jon is partial to a bit of cake. Thank you, so much for all the cakes! You made Jon a happy man. Plus it was great to have doggy fusses with Poppy and Ruben 🐶 and meet their very entertaining African Grey parrot, Billy! So funny. Thank you, both for your fab company. Glad you can get out and about again and have some fun days out. Hope you have a great time at Cadwell Park this weekend.

From there we headed a few miles along the road to Gosberton. Emma had got in touch thinking that the clutch had gone in her MGF 120 mpi (in CMU). We last saw her in 2016 for head gasket replacement etc. From the description and mileage it was, as we suspected, down to a stiff clutch release arm and seals blown on the slave cylinder.

New slave cylinder fitted and the release arm freed off. Minor service carried out and hydragas pump up and her fab looking MGF is all set to go again. Didn’t see Emma, but thanks to her partner for a brew.

Good drive back home with fab weather all day, plus a bit of an air display.

The exhaust flexi section on the van was blowing a bit, so I think Jon was enjoying the drive home a bit too much, with the trusty steed sounding more like a Land Rover Discovery, with a straight through pipe! Pleased to say the required part arrived today and he’s just fitted it in the driveway. A tad quieter now! 😄 – https://ift.tt/m69KcBO

Back at the workshop for the last couple of days.

Steven dropped off his fab looking TF 135 for some work with us at the weekend.

The car had previously been jacked up on the sill, which had subsequently stoved it in, not long after he had had the car resprayed. It’s a standard JFM paint code, but with a rainbow fleck added in. I know glitter isn’t to everyone’s taste, but I love it, looks great when the sun catches it.

So Jon welded up the sill and the vertical section pulled back out. All now looking good again.

Steven also wanted some bigger brakes, so four pot calipers were fitted along with new discs and pads.

Simon also left his TF 135 with us (in MNX) to investigate a random non-starting problem. Code reading couldn’t bring up any error codes. Checked and cleaned up starter motor connections, and the fuel pump shut-off relay connections and checked the output from the crank sensor.

Bit of a wimp out for me today as had to have two teeth pulled. At least I got the van all unpacked and restocked yesterday ready for the next few days on the road again. Plus got the ‘photo shoot’ done. Bit of a late finish for Jon, but I did busy myself with the admin so wasn’t completely useless today 😕 – https://ift.tt/dhAZEfj

Our last day on our trip south, we left our digs in Seale, near Farnham and headed a few miles along the road for our first call of the day…

Robert had got in touch just after our last visit to the area and asked if we could come and see him on our next trip to the area. His very lovely MGF 1.8 mpi that he’d owned for the past 18 years was needing a couple of things doing.

The underfloor coolant pipes had certainly done their time, so we replaced these. The hydragas needed filling up and he was doubtful about the radiator, whether that would need replacement, so went armed with a new one, but the one he has is still in good condition.

A visit booked in for next year to replace the engine bay coolant pipes with stainless and a service. It was a pleasure to meet Robert and we look forward to seeing him again next year, plus he makes a very good brew!

From there we headed up to Lower Earley near Reading for a minor service and a check over of David’s MGF VVC, that he had bought during lockdown, what a very nice example, it has obviously been well cared for and serviced regularly in its previous ownership.

Great to meet David and have a chat about a few things that were on his mind about the car, we reassured him that he’s got himself a very good example. Another cracking brew and cake and we bid our farewells.

So from there we should have been heading home, but the continuing diagnosis of ‘Big Ears’ was required, plus having the benefit of an early finish we headed back over to Worcester Park, rather than stay another night.

Following on from Mark’s test drive as detailed in yesterdays blog, and taking in the description of symptoms Mark said that the car had a markedly improved performance on power, but after a long spell when stationary in traffic it would overheat. Diagnostics therefore plugged in today and ran the car back to to temperature once more. The readings we got from the ECU were all correct. However, as the car approached 100 degrees on the coolant temperature, the gauge inside the car would shoot towards the top. On the previous day we had already replaced the sensor, but to make sure we replaced it again. When the same result occurred we took apart the engine wiring loom to try and find a break or possible earthing point in the loom.

We piggy backed a wire on the existing one just to make sure there was continuity and we also metered the existing wire and found that there were no breaks in it.

The strange thing is if we just plugged another sensor into it and rested it against the engine it all behaves as normal. The only strange thing was if we metered the cars wiring loom we were getting continuity to earth. So the next port of call to test, is a new temperature gauge itself. When this has been fitted we can test the continuity of the wire from the front to the back of the car.

Good job we like a challenge now and then! On the plus side, the engine itself is running extremely sweetly.

Bit of a late finish, but that’s just how it goes. On the M1 now and about 100 miles to go. Looking forward to seeing the cat. – https://ift.tt/WDqn0ae