š šŗļø Somerset, Devon, Cornwall trip – September 2025 – days 1-4 of 12ā¦
A travel day on Monday to head down to our first digs of the trip in Thornbury, weather really grotty, Jon was hanging on to steering wheel at times!
Digs were great and so quiet, making for a good start on Tuesday morning with only a short commute over to Brentry, near Bristol, where it was great to meet Rino and to carry out a full cambelt service on his 2003 TF 135 that heād bought 18 months ago, with little service history.
From there we went on to Nailsea, for head gasket replacement on a 1999 MGF VVC. Really lovely to meet Terry, whoās owned the car since it was three years old, heād had experiences with many dodgy coolant caps recently, which had subsequently caused this issue. Weāre pleased to have to the car back up and running for him so he can feel confident using it again. Really interesting too to view his other vehicles that heās owned for many decades and has great pride in. Thanks to Terry for all the cuppas.
Our next digs were in Brent Knoll, near Burnham-on Sea, not too far from our destination on Wednesday morning in Berrow.
Itās been a good few years since we were last there working on some of Nigelās fleet, which has grown somewhat since, along with a larger garage to house them all, a very interesting collection.
Our work for the day included; short cambelt services on three of his fleet. First up a 2009 N-series TF 85th, this one had recently had a slight coolant loss on their recent trip to Skye, this was fortunately just down to a dodgy expansion tank cap. Next up his 2005 k-series TF 135 in Anthracite, and then finally his 2009 N-series TF 85th in Enigmatic Silver, which was originally a press car. What a stunning colour.
Lovely to see Nigel and Jo again, thanks to him for the steady stream of cuppas! We look forward to seeing them again next year.
From there we drove over to our next digs, for a very wet and windy night, not too far out of Watchet, which was our destination this morning.
With a bit of an improvement on the weather we had a scenic run down the hill to the harbour top, where it was great to meet Crispin and his 2004 TF 135 80th Anniversary, in anthracite, that heās owned for two years and has brought it back to life, with new subframe, upgraded brakes, brand new hood etc.
Originally booked in for head gasket replacement and cambelt service, heād recently resolved the issue of the overheating with a new expansion tank cap. So as he had limited service history we carried out a full cambelt service for him. Having a shorter day than originally planned, I bought the requisite fridge magnet, while Jon repaired the reverse light on the van, kindly pointed out by a chap walking by.
Our digs tonight are just outside Ilfracombe, so we detoured in to the town for a walk and a cuppa, what an interesting spot.
Next stop Braunton tomorrow for a clutchā¦ – https://ift.tt/EyiHbBu
