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A nice bright morning for a visit to Skegby, Sutton-in-Ashfield…

Jo’s fab TF 160 ‘Eglantine’ needed some work, discs and pads replaced all round, plus one of the track rod ends. All done without any probs, apart from us taking the wrong box of rear discs, (no apportioning of blame anywhere 😆) but, fortunately I knew that Nigel had a small stash in his shed and saved us a nip up to the local euro car parts!

The SRS light had also been noted on the MOT. The SRS system was code read and came up with about 8 error codes for varying resistance, being either too high or too low. These were all cleared and the system reset. The only error to reoccur then was the old favourite, the drivers side pretensioner cable under the seat. After cleaning the connection the SRS light stayed off and all error codes then cleared.

Great to see them both, albeit it brief as both were busy working.

Loving the Halloween decs Jo, look forward to seeing the final results! Thanks for the cuppas in between your calls and glad we got you sorted. – https://ift.tt/rOz6jVH

We’re getting there with the cars in at the workshop, always a lot to do…

Jon had a productive couple of days getting the welding done on Tony’s fab MGF 1.8 mpi ‘Bessie’. The nearside front sill was virtually non-existent, the rain channel had gone, the supporting brackets had gone and the inner wing had sections missing from the bottom.

Engine bay temperature sensor was faulty, so this was replaced, new alternator belt and hydragas lift done.

All done and Tony and Caroline came down from Staindrop to collect her yesterday. (Sorry I couldn’t be there to see you both and make you a cuppa, but glad to hear you got home safe and had a good drive back).

Today we continued with the work on the TF 135 we have in from Filey that had sustained 2 snapped valves, which wont have been helped by the oil pump packing up, unfortunately the valve heads had damaged the cylinder head beyond repair.

Cylinder head replaced, along with new cambelt, water pump, tensioner and an oil pump. Fired up and running nicely again. Bit of a clean up done underneath, as was looking a bit flaky from living by the coast. Hoovered out inside and tidied up as it’s just something that we like to do.

We will get the car MOT’d in the next couple of days and then we deliver back to the owner.

Work continues on the MGF 143, with the next job of replacing the internal heater pipes and a replacement front windscreen, as this one will also need putting through an MOT. – https://ift.tt/rOz6jVH

Out on the road today, but only fairly local heading to Harrogate first.

The gear cable linkage had collapsed on the rear so this was replaced with a new one, plus a new gaitor, as this one had also crumbled. All gears selecting nicely, particularly reverse which was the main issue. A new key fob also programmed as Karen had only the one for some time and just wanted another one as back-up, which is always a good idea for her fab MGF in Wedgewood, that she’s owned from new. Lovely to meet Richard this morning and have a chat.

We then went back over to see John’s TF 135, that on our last visit, discovered that the coolant temperature sensor was dodgy, so this was replaced. Plus John had bought himself a remote battery isolater, and asked if we could fit it whilst there. They’re such a good idea, not just to preserve the battery, but also for security.

From there we went further north to Sowerby where it was great to meet David who had asked us to call in when next in the area to give his sons TF 135 (in PBT) a check over.

David’s son Will has done a huge amount of work on the car, that he had bought fairly cheep with the intention of doing up, good experience for him as is now away at Uni studying mechanical engineering. He had replaced the clutch, the flywheel with a lightened one, the head gasket, and so many other upgrades and mods, too many to list, absolute kudos to Will, with no expense spared! Frustratingly for him though, after all that, the car decided to lose some coolant and he couldn’t find any obvious cause. He was about to give up on it, when his Dad stepped in, having owned an F in the past and being a big fan of British cars he didn’t want to see all of his sons efforts go to waste.

This afternoon we carried out all of our usual checks and it was found to be down the head gasket not having taken properly. There are a number of reasons why, and sometimes not always obvious straight away, but it’s nothing that can’t be sorted and Will can then take his car back to Uni with him as was his intention.

We’re so pleased David got in touch, a date now to be arranged in our crazy diary to get over and sort.

So much going on at the workshop at the moment, it’s a little bit on the chocker side. Heads down and crack on as we always do!

Glad the weather improved from when we set off from a rainy start this morning. Fab rainbow though! – https://ift.tt/atCl57A

First call of today was in Middleton Tyas, near Richmond this morning for work on one of Martin’s fleet! He had treated his lovely TF 160 ‘Ruby’ (in CBT) to a new stainless steel back box and replacement heat shield.

Thank fully all bolts came out, with only the forward mounts on the shield needing to be retapped as is usual. Unfortunately, the clamps for the tail finishers weren’t in the box! Everything else fitted in as it should and then Martin can put the quads on when he receives the clamps. Sounded good though on startup and the next step is a remap that we will do for him at some stage. Nice to have a quick catch-up with Martin’s father, when Martin had to leave for the dentist, hope it went well 😦

From there went on to Darlington to see Terry and ‘The Chairman’ his fab MGF 75th Anniversary (in CDM)

Happy Birthday to Terry! 🥳

The CV boot had split on the nearside rear, making the usual mess when these go. So Jon duly replaced this while Terry and I had a chat!

Thanks so much Terry for the bag of wonderful produce from your allotment. Yes, Jon, you’re having some veggies for tea! 🌽 – https://ift.tt/yfpgxBu

Rest In Peace your majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926 – 2022.

Strong and steadfast throughout her 70 year reign. Gone but will never be forgotten.

Deepest condolences to her family at this sad time. – https://ift.tt/kCPXjA8

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland – Day 5 Kilsyth

A very short commute this morning of just under a mile!

Really good to meet Colin this morning for work on his very tidy TF 135 (in LEF). He had bought the car knowing that the cambelt service hadn’t been done for approx 10 years, so asked if we could come up and carry out the cambelt service for him and also check over the car for any other potential issues. Including whether or not the head gasket may need replacing.

Cambelt, water pump, tensioner and alternator belt all replaced. The engine mount bolts decided to be awkward so we resorted to our Plan B.

An enjoyable mornings work in Colin’s company and the lovely ‘Bell’ his gorgeous lab, plus lots of cracking cuppas and a tray full of biscuits! Thank you Colin, much appreciated.

An earlier than expected finish and the only one booked in today, as we weren’t sure what we were going to. Always a good plan!

With a heads up from Colin on a decent walk in the area I popped on the walking boots and headed off. A lovely walk, along the canal and up to Bar Hill Roman Fort, and then the heavens opened, what followed was a torrential and relentless downpour of biblical proportions, a great walk all the same with some good views from the top. 🌧 – https://ift.tt/wUdQoRS

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland – Day 4 Glengarnock, Lochwinnoch and Glasgow

Our second morning at Alan’s house for work on his TF 135 ‘Noel’. Alan had treated the car to a new stainless exhaust back box so we fitted this. Plus the car had developed an intermittent high revving when not under load. Code reading didn’t really show anything, so we narrowed it down to be the stepper motor. A replacement one fitted, and after a test drive this has resolved the problem.

We bid our farewells to Alan and the lovely Mabel and Bruce having had lots of cuddles again this morning.

We then headed up to Lochwinnoch as Alan had got chatting to his friend about his MGF that has been just sat in the garage for the past 7 years and he wasn’t sure whether the car was a keeper or he should let it go if it needed too much work, so he suggested that we pop over next time we were up. Good to meet Neil and have a chat, the car is definitely worth saving, a very tidy MGF Mk II mpi. Not too much needed to get it up to spec, so a date arranged for when we’re back up next year to get everything sorted.

We then headed over to Glasgow, David had also asked for us to take a look at his MGF Mk II mpi, that had also been sat for some time, and he wanted to get it back on the road. Full report to be done. Then this will be one for the workshop.

We’re now in our new digs for a couple more nights. Fab weather all day after another wet start. Arrived in Kilsyth in enough time for me get in a good hike up the hill, with some fab views. – https://ift.tt/wUdQoRS

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland – Day 3 Glengarnock…

Just back at our digs now, following another fab day in Alan’s lovely company, which was spent tending to a couple of his amazing fleet.

First up was the TF 160 in Aurora for cambelt service. Belts, water pump, tensioner and alternator belt all replaced.

The back window had been split for a while so Alan’s been having to use the hard top, fortunately he had a spare hood with a decent window in it, so we swapped this over riveted it back place and looks really good now, plus the zip-puller was broken, but we always keep a stock of these on the van anyway.

Next up was the TF 135 in Twilight, it was also due it’s cambelt service, so cambelt, water pump, tensioner and alternator belt all replaced. We had to go to our ‘Plan B’ as the engine mount bolts did not want to come undone. Plan B worked well we’re pleased to say.

Great run back to our digs, and we look forward to returning in the morning to get the exhaust etc sorted on ‘Noel’.

Lovely to see Andy too for a quick catch-up. Cuddles with beautiful Mabel and Bruce, will get a photo of them tomorrow

The weather certainly improved throughout the day, from a very soggy start, with lots of flooded areas on the way, it turned into shorts and t-shirt weather in the afternoon. – https://ift.tt/lU3QxwH