Author: Facebook Posts

Another week filled with fab MGs in great locations, along with their lovely owners.

With an early start on Tuesday morning our first call of the week found us in Solihull, where we met David and his 2004 TF 135 in Sonic Blue (JHG) with 13k on the clock. Minor service carried out along with a Kmaps remap. Thanks to David for the cracking brews and choccie biscuits.

From there we headed a bit further south, to Charlbury, to replace the clutch slave-cylinder on Ben’s 2011 TF 135 (paint code 294) with 7k on the clock. The car was owned by his late father who loved it, and who used to work for MG Rover. Ben is looking forward to continuing the joy of it. Thanks to his lovely Mum for the cuppas and biscuits, much appreciated. Great to meet them both and have a chat before we wended our long way back home.

Wednesday morning found us in Langley Moor, just outside of Durham for work on Mike’s year 2000 MGF in Solar Red (CMU). Full cambelt service carried out, along with hydragas pump up, plus supply and program of a spare key-fob.

After a good old natter with Mike we went a few miles up the road to Newton Hall to meet George and his 1997 MGF that was in need of a pump up. He’s got quite a slope on the drive and was wanting to get the car in for an MOT, at least now he can get it up the drive and start enjoying the car again, and hopefully get out with the local MG club.

The last call of the day was for another hydragas pump up, in Hartlepool, on Martin’s 1999 MGF VVC in Nightfire Red (CAQ) that has also been stood for a while and he’s looking to getting it through the MOT to enjoy some trips abroad in.

Thursday morning found us in Huddersfield for a suspected head gasket failure on Mike’s 1998 MGF 120 in Tahiti Blue (JRJ), that he’s passed on to his granddaughter. She’d been driving it home when she noticed steam was pouring from the engine compartment. Fortunately, we found on pressure testing and running our checks it was due to a split hose, which we replaced with one on stock. Car ran up to temperature and all good. Thanks to Mike for the cracking brews and cherry cake.

We then went over to Wakefield for another hydragas pump up on Stephen’s 1999 MGF VVC, which had been stood for 3 years and was very down on its stops. Happily all pumped up with no issues, so he can now get it MOTd and start enjoying again.

So that finds us at the end of the week on a sunny Friday morning to head up to Butterknowle, near Bishop Auckland for our last visit of the week. This time for work on Connor’s two MGs.

First up was his 2002 TF 135 in Royal Blue (JFM) for head gasket replacement and cambelt service. All went well apart from the rose-jointed alternator adjuster, they’re fine when they’re first fitted, but almost always become corroded and will not come undone or tighten up again. So after some fettling Jon finally got it sorted. Car ran up to temperature and sorted, apart from a blowing flexi-exhaust section that Connor will replace himself when he gets a minute.

Next up was his 2005 TF 160 in Xpower Grey (LEF) that was due its cambelt service.

What a lovely end to a good week chatting to Connor while we worked, and lovely to catch up with his Dad, Ken, when he came home from work. It was great too to have fusses with their beautiful woofer Cobweb, what a star. Thanks to them for the punnet of strawberries.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone near and far, the forecast, is looking a bit sketchy, but we can all hope for the sun to make a welcome appearance to get out and about in your MGs.🌞 – https://ift.tt/IQw9myu

And WUMPH! That’s us back down to earth with a bang, following an absolutely brilliant couple of weeks in Greece, a family wedding for the first week and then on to mine and Jon’s favourite place for the second week. I tried to keep on top of the admin whilst away with a daily check-in, and replying where I could. I’ve now got through that mammoth task and replied to everyone, booking in as many as is possible.

Our first job back at it this week was over at the workshop, on Wednesday morning, to greet Jai and one of his latest additions to his ever expanding fleet that he’d driven up in that morning from Croydon. A very nice example of a 2003 ZS 120. This car had actually featured in the opening ceremony of the 2022 commonwealth games when they got a convoy of 72 British classic cars together, and this particular one is in the drone shot of the Union Jack. (Check out the YouTube video of it, it’s really interesting). I tried to get an aerial shot from the top of the van, haha.

So anyway, it was initially booked in for quite a list of things, but Jai had been slowly working his way through it. We carried out preemptive head gasket replacement and a full cambelt service. All done with no issues ready for Jai to travel back home that afternoon. Great to see Jai again and hear about the other cars he’s bought and is interested in.

Thursday morning found us over in Selby, where it was lovely to meet Tony and Sue for work on their 2004 TF 135 ‘Wonky’ (in xpower grey) that they’d bought last year for a bit of summer fun, but have grown quite attached to. Cambelt service carried out for them. Great to have a chat with Tony while we worked about the other cars he’s owned and adventures with the club etc. Thankfully he has a decent sized garage to work in as it absolutely tipped it down all morning.

So that brings us to Friday, and this morning we headed over bright and early to Beverley for work on Maureen’s 2004 TF 160 ‘Finn’ (in mirage). Full cambelt service carried out, the timing was completely out, which was due to a crushed roll pin on the exhaust cam, this was duly replaced and car ran up to temperature. It was nice to finally meet Maureen this time, albeit it briefly before she had to dash off to work.

From there we headed up to Beeford, where it was lovely as always to see Bob for the minor service on his 2006 registered TF 135 (in ignition blue). Fortunately we were lucky to avoid the torrential rain, which hid us on the way home. Let’s hope it clears off for the weekend for us all.

We should have been working in Hull tomorrow morning, but had an unavoidable last minute cancellation. So there’s another job that we’ll just have to get on with instead, the tax returns! Boo. 😒

Hope everyone has a great weekend near and far and that the sun makes an appearance. ☀️ – https://ift.tt/HPFkWUm

Anlaby, Sutton, Swanbourne, Bracebridge Heath…

Our first call of the week was a local one in Anlaby on Monday morning, where it was good to meet Neil and his 2004 TF 135 (in Xpower Grey) that we’d last worked on with the previous owner as Neil found a load of our old invoices with the car. Cambelt service carried out this time for him. Thanks to Neil for the cuppas before we headed off to the next call.

We went over to Sutton for work on Mike’s 2003 TF 135 (in Trophy Blue). Cambelt service carried out, underfloor coolant pipes replaced as we’d noticed on our last visit that they were corroded. Mike had recently noticed an intermittent starting issue, so we took along a starter motor, the cable was completely corroded and took a bit of fettling. All sorted for Mike and great to see him again.

An early start to head down to Swanbourne, near Milton Keynes, on Tuesday morning. We had replaced the head gasket on Sue’s 2003 TF 135 last month, but Sue had noticed an issue when taking it out for a run and suspected that maybe the head gasket had failed again. From the description we thought it was maybe the Lambda sensor at fault, so we took along a replacement exhaust-flexi section, just in case the old sensor wouldn’t come out. Fortunately, none of the above was the issue. After code reading we replaced one of the coil packs, all the spark plugs and the HT leads and pleased to have the car running again as it should. Thanks to Frank for the cuppa, nice to have a quick chat with him before the long schlep back home, when the van hit a monumental mileage!

Wednesdays job was a bit nearer to home and found us over in Bracebridge Heath, where it was good to see Lorraine and Jon again. The cambelt service was due again on their 2001 MGF Trophy (in Trophy Yellow). The exhaust cam roll-pin was crushed so we replaced that too.

A bit of a shorter week for us this week as we’re currently heading down the M1 to East Midlands, not for a job but to catch a plane to Greece! 🇬🇷

We’re away for a couple of weeks, but as I usually do when we’re away I’ll be doing a daily check-in and replying where possible. I won’t have the diary so I’ll follow up fully on everything once we’re back in England.

Have a great weekend everyone, it looks like it’s going to be warming up a tad and a sunny bank holiday weekend is in store! Get those tops down! ☀️ – https://ift.tt/zlch5W2

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland Trip – May 2026 – days 4-8 of 8…

Following an overnight stay in Grantown-on-Spey on Saturday we headed further north to a lovely spot just near Forres, on Sunday morning, for work on Stewart’s 2006 TF 160 in Xpower Grey. Cambelt service, oil change and fitting of a ‘Mike Satur’ slick-shift and bell-crank. We didn’t get to meet Stewart as he was on his hols (we would have had this trip not been changed so many times) but he left plenty of provisions in the garage, which we were thankful to work in as the weather was a tad inclement! Fab looking car that’s had quite a few nice mods.

Our next overnight stay was in Aviemore, with a respectful departure time to head over to Kilmarnock, where it was great to see Neil again and his beautiful new addition of a very energetic puppy called Galaxy. Sorry slightly distracted there! The minor service was due. Plus we also fitted a replacement heater control valve, as we’d had to do a bypass last time as it was leaking. The temperature gauge wasn’t working, which we found to be due to damaged wires on the sensor, duly fixed.

Our next digs were just in Lochwinnoch so it was nice and handy for our next visit to Alan on Tuesday morning over in Glengarnock.

Flexi exhaust section and Lambda sensor fitted to his 2004 TF 160 in Aurora and a heated rear window switch and relay installed.

A new ‘Jakabi Design’ instrument cowl fitted to his 2001 MGF 120 mpi, along with repairing a snapped spare wheel holder and replacing all the dodgy locking wheel nuts.

Rear bumper swapped over from a donor car to his 2003 TF 160 in Le Mans Green. So with our visit there on Friday (in previous blog) that’s the list completed for this visit on his fleet!

Following another stay in Lochwinnoch we headed off bright and early on Wednesday over to Glasgow for our first call of the day. Glenn’s 2009 TF 135 85th Anniversary was due its cambelt service, full service carried out along with replacing the starter motor. Great to see Glenn as always and big thanks to him for all the tea and Tunnock’s again!

From a sunny Glasgow we headed over to a very wet Linlithgow, we saw the black clouds looming as we drove across, so the gazebo was duly deployed on our arrival.

We last saw Stephen for work on his TF 115 a couple of years ago, and this time the cambelt service was due on his MGF VVC ‘Panther’ (information pic below, it’s a bit blurry but it gives an idea of its origins). Full cambelt service carried out along with replacing the oil dipstick bracket and fitting a battery isolator. The service took a while longer as the car is fitted with roll-hoops and roll-cage. Glad to have it all sorted for Stephen who will be getting it back on the road once the MOT is done, and good to see him again too.

So for our last accommodation of this trip we stayed over in a very cold and wet Dunbar. We left bright and early this morning and took a steady drive back down to the workshop to unload all the detritus and kit, loaded up with fresh stock ready for Monday morning. We’ve got a local call tomorrow afternoon and then we have the weekend off to recover.

It’s been another successful trip to Scotland, as always we’ve been met with very warm welcomes from
everyone and Scotland never fails to provide amazing locations.

Approximately 1000 miles, 11 MGs, 6 B&Bs, hotels etc and lots of tea and biscuits! – https://ift.tt/BGCLPgV

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland Trip – May 2026 – days 1-3 of 8…

First leg of Scotland trip done commencing with a call en route on Thursday morning in Gosforth, where it was lovely as always to see Jane and Graham for work in Jane’s 2002 TF 160. Minor service carried out along with replacing both front discs and pads.

We then headed over to Kilmarnock, following an overnight stay there we arrived bright and early on Friday morning in Glengarnock for work on some of Alan’s fleet.

His 2006 TF 135 in Twilight (1 of 1) was due a minor service. Plus he wasn’t sure if a wheel bearing was on its way out again so we hauled along the big old bearing press. Fortunately, it turned out to just be a top ball joint that needing replacing and greasing of both top suspension arms.

The fairly new acquisition to the fleet, a 2001 MGF 120 had developed a blow in the exhaust, new flexi-section fitted along with a new Lambda sensor, both rear calipers replaced along with rear pads. An oil leak had been noted on the last MOT, which was found to be all four cam-seals, so these were all duly replaced and excess oil cleaned up.

His 2004 TF 160 in Aurora was also due its minor service. It also has a slight blow on the exhaust, plus the EML has been coming on. New flexi section ordered and when we return as planned next Tuesday we’ll get those fitted.

Great to see Alan and Andy as always and have fusses with beautiful Mable (aka Molly dog!)

Saturday, and following an overnight stay in Grangemouth last night we went over to Polmont this morning for work on Stuart’s 2003 TF 135. Stuart had noticed a slight loss of coolant, so asked a friend to take a look, who suspected that the thermostat housing was the culprit. We fitted a new housing only to find it was still leaking. We tried oversized o-rings to no avail, and as we then found it’s the engine bay coolant pipes that have corroded. So Stuart’s going to take a drive down to us at the workshop next month. Both of the track rod ends had come up as an advisory on his last MOT so these were replaced. It was great to see Stuart again, and thanks to him for the many warming brews on a bit of a chilly morning, and thanks also for the lovely piece of arty wood, just our sort of thing!

After bidding farewell to Stuart we’re now heading further north for the next overnight stop in Grantown-on-Spey before heading a bit further north from there to a place called Rafford for work tomorrow.

I made the most of our location this morning and got up at sunrise and took a walk along to the Kelpies, which never fail to amaze.

We did have a busy start to the week on Tuesday with a head gasket replacement on Jason’s 2004 TF 160 in Durham, glad to have this done for him to enjoy the summer months. We then went on to Darlington where it was good to meet Jon and his 2004 TF 135 for a suspected clutch-slave cylinder issue, which wasn’t the case, we found that the left to right cable was badly adjusted restricting the movement to the right, plus the gearbox had no oil in it due to the fill-plug being loose! Hopefully these have resolved the issue for him and he’ll let us know how it drives.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend despite the dismal weather. There’s still snow on the tops and there’s some very heavy sleet as we drive through the Highlands, hope it improves for the rest of this trip! 🥶 – https://ift.tt/sSWkmjL

Workshop, Mansfield, Spilsby, Gosberton, Wilberfoss…

Our first visitor at the workshop, bright and early, on Monday was Steve who had driven down from Sunderland in his 2003 TF 135. Cambelt service carried out for him while he waited. Good to have a catch-up with him while we worked. He’s not done a massive amount of mileage since we did the head gasket, so at least it had good run down and back home again.

Our next visitor of the day was Stewart, who had driven down from Glasgow over the weekend to stay with his pal Gareth in Kilburn, this was booked in while we were working on Gareth’s MG back in October so it was great to finally meet him and his 1998 MGF 120 in Nightfire Red. Full cambelt service carried out along with replacing the HT leads, rotar arm and distributor cap, pleased to have everything sorted for him to enjoy a sunny drive back up to Glasgow.

A couple of cars were dropped off with us over the weekend at the workshop. One of which was Ian’s 2002 TF 135 that we’d looked after for a number of years with the previous owner. Minor service carried out along with a pre-MOT check. All done and ready for Ian to collect to take back home to Leeds in a day or so.

We headed over to Mansfield on Tuesday morning where it was good as always to see Phil. His 2004 TF 135 was due for the cambelt service. Big thanks to Phil’s wife for making us a lemon drizzle cake, which had some grateful recipients back home.

Back over to the workshop on Wednesday morning to get cracking on Rich’s 2003 TF 135, he’s got another adventure over to France planned in a few weeks so wanted all the discs and pads replacing and a check over on a couple of niggles. We hope he has a great trip.

John had also come over from Leeds and left his 2005 TF 135 in Firefrost Red with us for the cambelt service. He’d also bought one of the Mike Satur anodised 4-way coolant connectors, so this was fitted for him. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet John when he came to collect the car, maybe next time.

Thursday morning found us over in Spilsby for the first call of the day. Denis’s TF Stepspeed was due its annual minor service. Lovely to see Denis again, he’s got a great sounding trip planned in the car over to Jersey with his wife to celebrate his 80th birthday, we wish them a wonderful time.

From there we headed on down to Gosberton where it was lovely to see Emma again. Her 1999 MGF 120 in Solar Red was due for its annual minor service, plus we replaced the underfloor coolant pipes with stainless as we’d noticed last time they weren’t looking their best, hydragas pump up carried out too and she’s all set to start using it as her daily car throughout the summer months.

A call in to Rimmer Bros to have a restock and pick up some more bits needed for next week’s trip away.

Here we are it’s Friday again and our last call of the week was over in Wilberfoss, where it was lovely as always to see Derek and Margaret. Their 2004 TF 135 was also due its annual minor service. Plus Derek had managed to source a new front wing as the existing drivers side one was showing a fair bit of rust, this was duly fitted for him.

After a chat with them we headed back over to the workshop to unload all the new stock and do some further prep for our next Scotland trip commencing in the latter half of next week.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone near and far, let’s hope this amazing weather lasts for the bank holiday, now wouldn’t that be welcome for some top down fun! – https://ift.tt/9VdEmyl

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