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Tonbridge Wells…

Day 1 of 6 – Latest Tour South.

Yesterday morning found us at the workshop to pack the van ahead of our latest tour to the south of the country.

Plus we were so pleased to meet Mik and Sarah, finally, when they came over from York to collect their MGF ‘Tess’ that had been in with us for a few things. Great to see Andrew again, who dropped off his TF with us.

This morning we headed to Tonbridge Wells, where we’re staying this evening, which proved a perfect spot to get some things looked at on ‘Pearl’, Adrian’s very well travelled TF.

The seals that Adrian had recently fitted were still leaking the drivers side window needed adjusting, it was also noticed that the cable tensioner in the soft-top had snapped, this would account for the amount of play in the soft-too edge and the inevitable and annoying ingress of rainwater!

The exhaust flexi was blowing slightly at the joint, so this was taken to pieces and resealed, being an early Mike Satur 4-2-1, it didn’t have a tubular insert, so next time at the workshop Jon will make one to fit it.

Good to see him and have a cuppa and a catch-up in the car park. Hope his journey back through the Dartford crossing isn’t as hideous as it looked when we came over the bridge, miles and miles of queues!

What fantastic weather, made the most of it with a lovely walk through the local woodland this evening. ☀️ – https://ift.tt/ir1ITX3

Cookhill, Alcester & Holbrook, Belper…

For the last day of this trip away we departed from our, not so great, digs in Evesham this morning to head along to Cookhill.

Great to see Wayne again and his ‘03 TF 135 in paint code JFV, for fitting of soft-ride-kit and gearbox oil change. With a certain degree of relief all bolts came undone easily, with only one putting up a slight fight as is the way!

Thanks for Wayne for the cuppas and the veggies, the tomatoes will come in well with Jon’s steak this evening. He’s not had one this week, all hotels are struggling for chefs, very sadly for them, a continuation of a problem following Covid, apparently, having chatted to the owners of the fantastic, ‘Vernon – Hotel & Restaurant’, that we stayed at in Hanbury, a very sorry state of affairs for the people concerned.

From Wayne’s we headed further north and went over to Holbrook, as Ruth’s ‘02 TF 135, in Spectre, was in need of a new CAT. Grinder deployed for a couple of the CAT bolts, as is common, but at least the Lambda sensor came out and was transplanted into the new CAT, saving an added expense there. So ‘Destiny’ is good to go again.

Really lovely, as always, to see Ruth, Mark and their gorgeous woofers, Sam, Percy & Ruby, lots of fusses, whilst we had a cuppa in their fab garden, so good to just sit for a while and enjoy a long overdue catch-up.

Home now and great to see Binks.

Unfortunately, our poor van is struggling again, +500,000 miles is showing again on the engine and time for a new one maybe or just a little tweak! So the next couple of days will be spent sorting it ready for the next trip on Monday morning… – https://ift.tt/ZULpVOQ

Patchway, near Bristol…

A departure from our fab digs in Chepstow this morning, which then found us in Patchway for work on this very low mileage MGF 1.8 mpi, in paint code JRJ, that hadn’t turned a wheel in almost 7 years.

Andrew thought it was about time to get her back on the road again to enjoy as it should be, so had got in touch to see if we could recommission her.

Although the head gasket hadn’t actually gone, Andrew just wanted it carrying out to offer him peace of mind, so head gasket replaced, along with cambelt, water pump, tensioner, alternator belt, brake fluid change, underfloor coolant pipes replaced and the hydragas pumped up to the correct height, along with a new pressure tested expansion tank cap. She’s now all good to go for them to enjoy many adventures.

The car is like new, with not a hint of rust, or corrosion anywhere. All of the subframe mounts were still in the original paint and we don’t think any of the bolts had ever been removed.

This one also had a lovely stable mate, another MGB Roadster, same colour as the one we came across yesterday, that Andrew has owned for many years.

Another enjoyable days work, in Andrew’s company, lovely to meet him and his gorgeous woofer Cara, who let us have lots of fusses! Many interesting conversations had while we worked, and great weather too. Big thanks for an endless supply of tea and Jon’s bacon buttie.

This evening finds us in our last digs of this trip, in Evesham, ready to head to our next destination in the morning. – https://ift.tt/ZULpVOQ

Hereford…

We left our digs in Hambury this morning and headed down to Hereford where it was lovely to meet Philip for work on his ‘02 TF 135 in paint code HFF.

Cambelt, water pump, tensioner, fuel filter and underfloor coolant pipes all replaced.

Really interesting morning chatting to Philip about his history with cars, his TFs stable mate was a fab MGB Roadster that he’d carried out a full restoration on back in 2004-06.

Thanks to Philip for the really interesting book, cuppas and an amazing lemon cake that his wife had baked. What a beautiful spot he’s in and the sun even made an appearance, making an enjoyable morning’s work.

We bid our farewells and headed on to our next destination for the evening. – https://ift.tt/rY359xv

Droitwich Spa…

Our first call of the week was for work on Matt’s 80th Anniversary TF 160 in paint code MBB. The car hadn’t run in 4 years, what with Covid and house moves etcetera, so Matt was keen to get her back on the road again.

Cambelt, water pump, tensioner, spark plugs and all filters changed for him, along with alternator belt, brake fluid change and fitting of rear discs and pads. (Matt had done the fronts). Lovely to meet him and have a chat. He’d first seen us working on a car when we had carried out the head gasket on Verity’s Steppy, quite a few years ago now, outside a hotel in Bromsgrove when the Pride of Longbridge event was cancelled due to bad weather.

Really great to see Steve Cotton too, having just recently moved around the corner, who popped over to say hello.

Diabolical weather all the way down this morning, but fortunately it stayed mainly dry while we were working.

We said our goodbyes to Matt and headed a few miles along the road to our digs for tonight. He’s looking forward to getting the car MOT’d and getting out and about on some runs, no doubt with his neighbour at some point who we’re sure will have some plans afoot! – https://ift.tt/rY359xv

Back to it, after a fantastic long weekend away at Pateley Bridge for the Harrogate MG Club show and fun with friends, Tuesday morning found Jon back at the workshop for a few things. Then we were back on the road for the rest of this week.

Wednesday found us in Lincoln, with the first call of the day at John’s, for a full cambelt service on his TF 135 (one of the post LE 500 run cars). We resorted to our Plan C as one of the engine mount bolts sheared off, fortunately we always carry a spare mount in the event of this happening to save on a return journey. Replacement mount fitted and all good to go again. Nice to see John and thanks to Lynn for the bag of snacks.

We then headed a couple of miles along the road where it was good to meet William, and have a chat while we worked, undertaking full cambelt service on his ‘01 TF 135 in paint code LEF.

From there we headed another few miles along the road to Michael’s, where it was good to meet him too, for minor service and brake fluid change on his 2011 TF 135, another post LE 500 run car in paint code 291. The car had a very nice stable mate, a Morgan Plus Four that Michael and his wife will be touring Europe in this summer. Forgot to get a pic unfortunately, though we did get to have a sit in it, what a beautiful car, I can imagine they will have an amazing trip. We also had some friendly feathered neighbours while we worked.

Thursday found us over in Barnsley for work on an ‘01 MGF Freestyle in paint code CMU, that had been parked up for a couple of years. Initially booked in for brakes all round, we found that they were all like new. One of the rear calipers needing freeing off. The alternator was shot, so we replaced this. The suspension pumped up to the correct height. We then found that the cambelt service was due so we carried this out, plus we gave the car a check over prior to it going in for the MOT. Lovely to meet Charles and Denise. Charles is looking forward to getting the car back on the road and taking his granddaughter out for a spin!

Today, Friday, found us on our first call of the day in Stockton-on-Tees, where it was good to meet David for work on his MGF 120 mpi in paint code CAQ.

Head gasket replacement and cambelt service carried out for him and the car is all sorted for him. The gasket had gone in cylinder number 3 that had been nicely steam cleaned.

Then from there we headed over to Loftus, where it was lovely to see Karl, as always, for cambelt service on his ‘04
TF 135 in paint code MBB. Where did the last 4 years go?! Good to have a chat with him before we headed home.

So good to have a welcome change in the weather, let’s hope it stays like this for a while. Have a great weekend everyone wherever you may be. ☀️ – https://ift.tt/rlWowpg

Harrogate MG Club – Annual Show 2023

Nidderdale showground, Pateley Bridge.

Always a fantastic show, the rain thankfully held off for this years event, with a decent turnout of cars from around the country.

Really great to see so many friends and have good catch-ups with everyone from far and wide.

The Dave Challis Jazz Trio were brilliant at entertaining us all as they roamed around the showground playing their instruments, including a serenade too!

Great to have Maggy as a neighbouring stall holder with her fantastic crafts ‘Burn Baby Burn’.

Some fab cars on show, I did manage to have a wander and take a few pics.

Big thanks to Maureen and Colin and the team of organisers for hosting another successful and enjoyable event. We look forward to next year. – https://ift.tt/acnGvmk

Our last job of the week was up in Hartlepool, yesterday, for work on Andrew’s ‘03 TF 160 (originally in paint code LEF).

As Andrew used to paint cars for a living he transformed the look of this car with a ‘Renault red’. We had previously seen a photo when he’d popped it on our Facebook page, but it looks absolutely amazing in the flesh, a really stunning finish to it.

He’d got in touch a few months ago as he’d noticed that it was showing signs of the head gasket having gone. The cambelt service was also due, so this was carried out for him along with replacing the head gasket.

While we were there he asked if we could fit the Toyo exhaust manifold and flexi section that he’d had sat in the garage for a while. Originally meant for an MGF the Lambda sensor fitting had to be adapted to make it fit.

On firing up we found we only got decent heat to the heaters on a few revs, and also the coolant temperature wasn’t going up or down as it should. This was all caused by a blocked oil-cooler, restricting the flow to the back of the thermostat. Bypass put in place and car running up to temperature as it should.

Andrew also asked us to fit a replacement alternator on his wife’s ‘04 MG TF 115 (in paint code CBT) as that had been out of action for a while too.

Happily, both cars back up and running again for them.

A long, but really good, day meeting and chatting to Andrew, while we worked, who provided us with a welcome flow of tea!

A good way to round off a busy week, now time to enjoy a couple of days off, I wonder where that will take us. 😄 – https://ift.tt/pkVncfT