Month: April 2026

East Hunsbury, Warwick, Kenilworth, Solihull, Stoney Stanton, Horncastle, Scunthorpe, Barnsley, Holme-on-Spalding Moor…

Back at base on Monday to get restocked and unload all the detritus from the previous week, then a trip into Hull to collect parts and more oil, that thankfully wasn’t at an eye-watering price, all set for the week ahead.

Tuesday morning found us down in East Hunsbury, that we last visited seven years ago, golly time does fly by. It was lovely to see Gary and Chris again and for work on their ‘03 TF Steptronic in Solar Red (CMU). Full cambelt service carried out along with replacing the CVT fluid, unfortunately the strainers (filters) are still no longer available. Big thanks to Chris for her many cuppas and the box of fairy buns! Plus it was lovely to have fusses again with their gorgeous woofer Margo, (should have got a pic).

Gary’s friend Ade had brought over and left his ‘09 TF 135 (paint code 293) for us. Full cambelt service carried out, along with gearbox oil change. It was great to meet Ade and Sally when they came to collect their car, they’ve got a fab sounding trip through France in the car planned this summer.

An overnight stay on Kenilworth, as seemed daft going all the way back home only to return the following day for our next call near Solihull. We did manage a whistle stop tour round Kenilworth Castle just before it closed, which was well worth it.

It was a real pleasure to meet Richard whose ‘04 TF 135 in xpower grey (LEF) has been in the family from new, and Richard himself worked for MG Rover at some point in the past.

Initially he’d asked us to replace the head gasket and other service items, but on chatting found that the cambelt service was overdue, all done and sorted for him to enjoy many more miles in. Big thanks to him for a good supply of cuppas and choccie biscuits.

From there we went on to Stoney Stanton for a minor service and gearbox oil change on a ‘05 TF 135 in Starlight Silver (MBB). It’s a good job we did do the gearbox oil change as it had been previously filled with CVT oil! It was good to meet David and have a chat before we headed home, thanks to him for the brew.

Thursday morning found us in Horncastle as it was cambelt service time again this year on Gary and Trevor’s ‘02 TF 160 in Trophy Yellow (FAR). Always great to see them both and have a good natter, we wish them many happy travels throughout the summer, one of which is ‘The Highlander’ in a couple of weeks time, a shame we can’t attend, it’s such a brilliant few days away. Maybe next year, it’s a shame if this event doesn’t continue as it really is worth doing.

The next call of the day was over in Scunthorpe where it was good to meet Paul for a hydragas fill on his MGF Steptronic in Tahiti Blue (JRJ).

That brings us to the end of the week and our last call in Barnsley, that didn’t happen. We arrived bright and early ready for a full cambelt service on a car we’ve been visiting over the past few years only to find that a friend had done it for them. It’s a shame that they didn’t feel it necessary to let us know, a quick text is all it takes isn’t it, quite simple. I did have a fruitless search through the enquiries book to see if there was anyone nearby that we could have gone to last minute.

So anyway, we headed back to the workshop, stopped moaning and got ourselves motivated to crack on with one of our doer-uppers, and in the end it was a very productive day – completing; head gasket replacement, full cambelt service, rear bumper off and taken to AM Bodyworx for them to sort some dents and scuffs, we then welded on new brackets, rust proofed the rear subframe etc, fitted a replacement exhaust back-box, refitted the bumper, chemically cleaned the wheels and then ran it up to temperature, and all sounding good. There are a couple of other things just to sort and then it will be going up for sale very soon, a stunning 1.6 Spark in Sonic Blue with matching leather seats.

It’s been so welcome to see a change in the weather, and hope it continues for you all over the weekend, near and far, to enjoy getting out and about. 🌞 – https://ift.tt/oVj7UmP

North Broomhill, Horncastle, Market Drayton, Uttoxeter, Woking, Storrington…

A bit of a longer week this week starting off on Monday morning over at the workshop to get the van sorted. Jon replaced the CV boot, front brakes and offside front shocker and then it was taken for its MOT and then all restocked up for the week ahead.

The first call of week was up in North Broomhill on a very sunny Tuesday morning for head gasket replacement on Kevin’s 2001 Trophy. Great to see him and Amanda and get the car ready for their next adventures!

Wednesday morning found us over in Horncastle for head gasket replacement on Adrian’s 2003 TF 135 (in xpower grey – LEF), plus replacing the plugs and filters. The head gasket hadn’t gone as such, Adrian just wanted it doing preemptively for peace of mind. Next up was Dale’s 1996 MGF 120 (in British Racing Green – HAM) for minor service and gearbox oil change. Good to see them both again and thanks to Adrian for a cracking brew.

We headed down to Market Drayton on Thursday for the minor service on Michael’s 2011 LE 500 (number 243, paint code 106). Good to see him again and his chatty Geese, that gave Jon some eggs last time, but not this year as they will be hatching this batch, shame we weren’t a few weeks later to see them! 🪿

From there we went on to Stafford for an overnight stay ready to head over to just near Uttoxeter, on Friday morning, where it was great to see Rob again. His 2001 MGF 120 (in Tahiti – JRJ) had been off the road for some years and they were wanting to start using it again this year.

Full cambelt service carried out, alternator belt, both key fobs synced, a couple of other bits and a good check over. Unfortunately, a mouse had got in, and made a mess of the boot liner so we took a replacement one along with us. Shame not to see Jo this time, we wish them lots of fun in the car again over the summer months.

Our initial plan was to head over to Welshpool afterwards for work on Saturday morning, but this was cancelled. This, however, opened up a slot for us to head back down to see Colin’s ZR that we’d carried out a head gasket replacement and cambelt service on last November. Following a stop over in Woking on Friday night we set off bright and early to Storrington.

He’d just recently started to use the car and thought that the gasket had maybe failed again. So we carried out all our usual checks and found nothing that pointed us towards the head gasket. However, with it being such a great distance from our base we decided to take the cylinder head off and make sure that everything was as it should be. Once removed this was found to be perfect, no leakage into the cylinders, no mixing of oil. So we refitted a new N-series head gasket. Once back together checked that the thermostat was opening correctly, it had a good coolant flow. ECU checked for error codes, only found one relating to the Lambda sensor, although this wouldn’t have caused any issues with the symptoms that Colin was describing. It was nice to see them both again though and chat to Juliet while we worked. It’s good to know that they have a really decent turnout at the runs and events they orgnanise in the area.

So we’re now not too far from home on the M18. We just called into McDonalds for a cuppa on the M1 and got chatting to a chap who was on his way back from ‘Pride of Longbridge’, it was nice to hear that this had a really good turnout this year. I know it’s some years since we’ve been able to make it, maybe next year?

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone near and far, the weathers certainly been good for all those cars emerging from their winter hibernation. 🌞 – https://ift.tt/dJeyrnt

South Wales trip 2026 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Taking in en route Waltham, Oldbury-upon-Severn, Ross-on-Wye then on to Trellech, Caerphilly, St Mellons, Pontypridd, Abertillery, Pontypool…

Our latest visit to South Wales started off with a call into Waltham on a very sunny and warm Monday afternoon for work on Phil’s 2002 TF 135 in Le Mans Green (HFN). Minor service, flexi-exhaust, front shocker bolt, aerial replacement and handbrake adjustment all carried out for him. Great to see Phil as always.

Following an overnight stay in Ross-on-Wye we headed a couple of miles along the road on Tuesday morning where it was lovely to meet Ewan. His 1999 MGF VVC in Solar Red (CMU) was due for a cambelt change, so full cambelt service carried out for him.

From there we went over to Oldbury where it was lovely to meet Mandy and Martin for work on Mandy’s 1998 MGF 120 mpi in White Diamond (NAL) that’s she’s owned from new.

Both rear adjustable arms replaced, as one was a tad bent and the bushes on both had done their time. Distributor cap and rotar-arm replaced as they’d been experiencing an intermittent non-starting and misfire issue. The cam oil-seal had been leaking into the cap so this wouldn’t have helped with the misfire. Oil-seal also replaced. Then finally a pump up to the correct ride-height. After chatting to Martin discovered that the cambelt service was in fact due, so a date arranged for later in the year when we’re back down that way. Great to meet them both and their lovely woofers, we look forward to seeing them all again on our return.

Following stopover in a beautiful quiet spot in Trellech we were up bright and early on another sunny morning on Wednesday to head over to Caerphilly, where we met Ness and her 2005 TF 135 in Xpower Grey (LEF) for a full cambelt service. Unfortunately, the wheel nuts had all been windy-gunned on at some point and were ridiculously tight, so-much-so the locking wheel nut stripped. A quick trip round to the local tyre centre soon had it removed, saving us a lot of time and trouble removing it!

We then headed over to St Mellons to our digs for the next two nights.

Thursday morning found us over in Pontypridd for the first call on Paul’s 2001 MGF 120 mpi in Platinum (MNX). Minor service, front brake pads, new dipstick bracket and finally a pump up to the correct ride-height as the car was sitting slightly wonky. Good to see Paul, thanks to him for the brews and we’ll see him again on next years visit.

We then headed on to Abertillery for the minor service on Steve’s 2005 TF 135 Spark in Firefrost (CEV). Shame not to see Steve this time, but thanks to his neighbour Steve for doing the honours with the keys.

Our last call of the day was in the Asda car park off junction 32 on the M4, to meet Paul who drove over from Porthcawl. He’d got in touch a couple of weeks ago to see when we’d next be in the area as he was having a bit of a problem with some new key fobs he’d bought. Turns out all that was up was the metal tab that sits round the battery had become too flat and was not connecting to the circuit-board. Glad to give him an easy and inexpensive fix! Great to have the opportunity for a catch-up with him anyway. Hope he and the club have a great run in the Cotswolds next month.

A departure from our digs this morning to head over to Pontypool for the cambelt services on Jan’s 2002 TF 160 in Typhoon (IAB) and Andy’s 2004 TF 160 in Moonshine (IBB). Andy’s TF did have a slight coolant loss, which was found to be a split in a hose, which was duly fixed.

Really great to see them both again for a very long and well overdue catch-up. Good to reminisce on the many gatherings of the past! Thanks to Jan for the cracking brews and choccie biscuits.

So that rounded off nicely a productive week away, with some great people and their fab MGs in some lovely locations with some sunny weather thrown in too. We’re now slowly making our way back up north to home.

Have a great weekend everyone near and far. 🌞 – https://ift.tt/ChPwfGi

Rossington, South Leverton, Durham, Coxhoe, Gosberton, Yeadon, Easingwold…

Another busy week whizzing up and around the country looking after your MGs!

It began on Monday morning in Rossington where it was lovely to see Jane and Lee, as always, for the minor service on their 2000 MGF, in Firefrost Red, that they’re taking on another adventure in this summer to either France or Scotland this time. A few things given a check over to make sure she’s fit for the journey. Hope they have a great time.

From there we went over to South Leverton. Both key fobs had both seen better days on Richard’s 2004 TF 135, in Xpower Grey, as the buttons were pretty much nonexistent, so we got hold of some new original ones and programmed them to the car. Great to see Richard again, thanks to him for the brew and biscuits. A nice easy start to the week with an early finish.

It was an early start though on Tuesday morning to head up to Durham for the first call of the day on Trevor’s 1996 MGF 120, in British Racing Green. Cambelt service time again, hydragas pump up along with investigation of an oddly intermittent stopping running and alternately failing to start issue. This was eventually found to be down to a fault with the multi-function relay.

New relay sourced from Phil Bell, who will post it out to Roger and his son will fit it for him. Good to see Roger as always, and have a chat and a cuppa before heading over to Coxhoe for the next call.

Jason’s 2004 TF 160, in Pearl Black, was also due its cambelt service. He’d noticed a slight loss of coolant over the past few months, but no other symptoms, after running all our usual checks it was found to be the proverbial, unfortunately. But, not to worry, a date booked in for us to return to sort it for him. Big thanks to Jason for our bag full of goodies, which included some Easter Eggs! Great to see him as always and we look forward to getting him back up and running again for the summer months.

Another early start on Wednesday morning to head down to Gosberton to Roger’s house for work on his LE 500 and his good friend Dave’s TF who’d left it in his garage for our visit.

First up was Dave’s 2002 TF 135, in Le Mans Green, as it was cambelt service time again. Then next up it was also cambelt service time on Roger’s 2010 LE 500.

Really great to see them both again and have a good natter. Big thanks to Roger for the buffet! That was Jon’s tea sorted for the evening, not to mention the assortment of cakes and buns, that’ll keep him quiet for a while!

On a brighter, but still cool Thursday morning we were in Yeadon for the first call of the day on Lorna’s 2003 TF 135, in Solar Red, known as Madge. Again it was cambelt service time on this one too. Lovely to see Lorna again and have a chat, thanks to her for the brew.

From Lorna’s we headed across country to a sunny Easingwold, where it was great to see Ben again and his 2004 TF 160, in Goodwood Green. Minor service carried out this time, along with replacing the fuse on the radio and interior lights. He’s certainly made a valiant effort of restoring the hood, which previously resembled some interesting artwork!Thanks to Ben for the brew and very nice jammy biscuits.

A visit to our workshop this morning to get the van all stocked with the kit required for our next away trip, when we will be heading down to South Wales on Bank Holiday Monday for another busy week ahead.

Storm Dave is set to land this weekend, let’s hope it doesn’t wreak too much carnage, and we wish everyone a wonderful long Easter weekend spent with family and friends. 🐣 – https://ift.tt/SIg61sw