Day: 27 March 2026

Beverley, Holme on Spalding Moor, Consett, Edmundbyers, Gateshead, North Broomhill, St John’s Chapel…

Whizz and another week has seemingly flown by, it’s been a busy and interesting one, with a couple of cancellations with slots refilled and a couple of squeeze ins too, and some stunning scenery en route.

Tuesday morning found us on a local one over in Beverley where it was lovely to see Steve and Gloria again for work on their 2002 TF 135 in British Racing Green (HFF). They’ve got a great trip planned this year to drive to the South of France for a friend’s wedding, but taking their time to do the trip and wanted it to be as smooth as possible. Last time we were there we talked about the soft-ride-kit, so we fitted this to the car for them, along with carrying out a minor service and giving the car a check over. The expansion tank cap wasn’t in a fit state, so a new pressure tested one fitted for them.

Thanks to them for all the cuppas and to Gloria for a specially made cake to mark the occasion, so kind. We wish them an enjoyable trip, and the pink ‘Rough Luck’ baseball cap is on order for Gloria to take with her, let’s hope it gets some use with some sunshine along the way.

An early start at the workshop on Wednesday as the engineers were due to swap out our broadband at some point that morning between 8:00 and and 1:00 pm, needless to say they arrived at one o’clock. Our first booking of the day failed to show up, so the MOT had to be cancelled last minute. Our next visitor was Paul who came over from Louth for the minor service and MOT on his 1998 MkI MGF 120, it was great to see Paul again and have a chat while we worked and waited for the MOT to be done. Then our last visitor of the day was Jeff who came over from Driffield in his LE 500 (paint code 110) for minor service, battery check and a chat about further maintenance. Date to be booked in for full underfloor-treatment, which is to be advised with the LEs.

Up bright and early on Thursday morning to head up to a very cold Consett where it was good to meet Paul for work on his 2005 TF 115 Spark in Xpower Grey (LEF) that he’s owned from new.

Full cambelt service carried out and underfloor-coolant pipes replaced with stainless steel ones. He’d been experiencing the odd overheating issue when stood in traffic. The head gasket had been replaced at some point in the and he’s had it checked locally who couldn’t pinpoint anything. After carrying out all our usual checks we concluded that it’s perhaps a very minor weep, which will of course need sorting, but Paul wants to keep an eye on it for now and monitor any further issues.

From Consett we headed over to Edmundbyers for hydragas pump up on Simon’s 1999 MGF in Mulberry Red (CDM) that he’s owned from new. Lovely to meet Simon and have a quick chat before heading over to our digs for the night near Newcastle.

So this Friday morning we left our digs and headed further north to North Broomhill for the minor service on Kevin’s Trophy (paint code FAR). Unfortunately, it’s also showing signs of head gasket failure, so a date arranged to return to sort it. Always great to see Kevin and Amanda and have a good catch-up, plus fusses with the very cute Monty dog.

From there we headed across to our last call of the week, in St John’s Chapel, to see Paul and his 2004 TF 115 Spark (in LEF). Paul just needed us to check out the front brakes, he’d noticed uneven wear on the pads, this appeared to have been caused by the pads sticking in the 4-pot calipers. Good to see Paul again and have a chat before making our way back home, again through some very beautiful countryside, which also took us through Barnard Castle, so we stopped off for a cuppa and a call in to the amazing chocolate shop, Chocolate Fayre, definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area!

Hope everyone has a really great weekend, where possible wherever you may be. We old codgers should be at a school reunion tomorrow night, but not sure we’ll make it as we’re feeling a bit fatigued now. We’ll see… – https://ift.tt/kPVy0Lo