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Cornwall…

A long and busy day, but none the less a cracking one back in the lovely company of Geoff and Carol in Tregadillett for work on their fairly recent acquisition of a TF 160 (in HFN).

When we were last there in May working on their MGF ‘Rosie’ Geoff asked us to check over the car that he had picked up from the Isle of Wight as he was aware of of some issues, one of which was a coolant leak and the service history was sketchy at best.

Head gasket replacement and cambelt service carried out along with all other service parts, plus alternator belt, new expansion tank cap. Underfloor coolant pipes replaced with stainless, as the ones on it were looking a bit ropey.

Geoff had also treated the car to a brand new roof on a new frame, plus some new heater dials and gear gaiter and surround in chrome.

The car will be going in for some bodywork and Geoff will then be painting up the calipers and cleaning up the headlights.

It’s great that he’s invested in the car, which he was initially a little unsure of, it’s looking transformed already and sounds a very quiet VVC engine.

The rain held off until the end, thankfully. A plentiful supply of tea and biscuits all day, which was most welcome, thank you Geoff. Great to see you both again and look forward to seeing you up in Yorkshire!

Back at our beautiful digs, and Jon’s fed the ducks, who were pleased to see us return! 🦆 – https://ift.tt/2wczGvC

Somerset…

From our fantastic digs in Bradford on Avon we only had a few miles to go to our next booking in Frome.

Jim had contacted us at the end of April about his TF 115 (in CMU), that had developed a coolant leak that only occurred when the engine had been running.

Our usual checks all carried out, and found a minor leak coming from the water pump area. On discussing it with Jim and it also requiring cambelt service anyway he decided he wanted to get everything done.

A really good example and his local trusty mechanic, that services all their other cars, says it should be in a museum, can’t argue with him on that, it is immaculate, all the subframe mounts have the original paint on them, and the underneath is so clean, plus only 19k on the clock. When he bought it, a few years ago, it was in a bit of a ropey state and had been left under a tree. He’s done an amazing job polishing it all up.

An enjoyable day, having a chat with Jim whilst we worked, with the welcome bonus of no nasty bolts. The cylinder head did look like new.

We travelled from there, to just outside of Launceston, and are now in some amazing digs that we stayed in, back in May, for one night when we were last in the area. A different plot this time, which is even better, with lots of ducks for company. Lovely relaxing place with only a short commute in the morning. 🦆 – https://ift.tt/2wczGvC

Back up to the north east this morning and our first call of the day in Blyth to source a coolant leak on Tony’s TF 1.6 (in MBB) that shortly after buying it in May had developed some problems.

He’d taken it to a local garage that wanted an eye watering amount to replace the head gasket. Plus he’d had someone suggest he added the evil k-seal. So he hung on to wait for us to come. Glad he did, as on pressure test the inlet manifold was evidently the problem and coolant was pouring out everywhere along it. The coolant cap that was on it wasn’t the best make, so this was replaced too.

New gasket fitted and all cleaned up, plugs out and inevitable ingress of coolant cleared from the pistons. Correct nuts refitted along the manifold and tightened, which helps spread the load, especially important with the manifold being of the plastic type.

All up and running nicely, and good to hear from Tony this evening that he’d had a lovely run out, making the most of top-down fun in the sun.

Great to meet Tony, and we look forward to seeing him again next year for the service.

From there we went a couple of miles around the corner to see Les’s fab TF 160 as the rear window heater wasn’t working. Traced to be the rear demist relay, new one fitted and all sorted. Good as always to have a cuppa and a catch-up with him and Pam.

Then, from there, we went a bit further south to Seaton Sluice to see what was occurring with the hydragas on Terry’s MGF Trophy (in FAR). We think it’s down to one of the seals being old and degraded on the pipe. The car is getting tucked up for the winter months now, so when we return in the spring for the annual service we will replace the seals.

Mixture of weather with a sea fret that had rolled in, made the coastline look very different. Unfortunately, not enough time for a walk along it. But, as always a good trip up there, with welcoming hospitality.

Jon’s now having fun fitting a new ignition barrel to the van on the drive.

Pictures aren’t my usual posing ones, but you get the idea! The engine bay one is interesting.

Hope everyone has made the most of the weather again and had some lovely runs out and about. ☀️ – https://ift.tt/Jrkg2Cs

Back up in the north east today, with our first call over to Cramlington, where it was lovely to meet Arthur and Liz for work on Liz’s very nice, low mileage TF 135 in JFV that they bought from Blackpool a couple of years ago.

They enjoy going along to shows together with Liz in the TF, and Arthur in his Lotus Elan, that he’s owned for many years, so they were really happy to have it back up and running again after the head gasket had failed back in March.

The cambelt hadn’t been changed since 2017, so today we replaced the head gasket, and carried out the cambelt service.

Once the engine was fired up, it was found that the right-hand side exhaust control valve was stuck in the closed position. This was disconnected, then forcibly opened. Albeit we managed to get it open, we didn’t think it would manage to open and close on its own, therefore it was left in the open position. This will prevent restricted airflow, as all the gases would have gone through just one exhaust tail pipe.

From there we headed up to North Broomhill where it was great to see Kevin again for minor service on his MGF Trophy, which is painted in Trophy yellow, but with an added metaflake when Kevin had it resprayed. New front reflector fitted too. A good chat with Kevin and fusses with his gorgeous dog Monte.

Baking hot day (not complaining) with lovely company. Now on the A1 heading home with not much further to go. We’re back up there tomorrow with a few ‘squeeze ins’. Should have been prepping for the South Wales and Cornwall trip next week, but we can do that on Sunday. 😀 – https://ift.tt/015ZxDl

Straight back at the workshop on Monday afternoon, after bidding our farewells to Pateley Bridge and our lovely friends, Maggy, Phil and Peppa. What a brilliant couple of days.

We went over to Huddersfield to collect a TF 160, that was in need of some work.

Paul had dropped off his MGF with us, on Saturday, after he had driven it all the way down from Georgemas near Halkirk in Scotland.

Both cars tucked up safely for the night, and we returned the following morning to get started on Paul’s MGF.

• Both rear subframe forward mounts replaced with stainless steel.
• Both rear subframe rear mounts replaced with stainless.
• Rear spheres both replaced.
• PRT conversion carried out from the standard pipework originally fitted, complete with all the replacement hoses etc.
• Full underfloor treatment carried out.

Great to see Paul and his Dad, this evening, when they came to collect. Thanks for the ice creams, a nice touch.

Glad you had an enjoyable sunny, top down run back. 😃 ☀️

Head off on the TF 160 and replacement of stem seals and pistons rings in progress… – https://ift.tt/015ZxDl

Harrogate MG Car Club – Nidderdale show ground.

An enjoyable day out on Sunday at the Harrogate MG Clubs annual show at Pateley Bridge.

We had our display of ‘things that can go wrong’ and really enjoyed having loads of catch-ups with everyone from near and far.

Some cracking cars on show. Didn’t get many photos though. It’s a cracking show, little bit down on numbers as most seem to be, but great fun all the same. With the added bonus of good weather too. ☀️ – https://ift.tt/QSlExzw

What a beautiful spot for work this morning, right at the foot of the Brimham Rocks.

Chris had got in touch as the MGF 120 mpi he had purchased last year had unfortunately succumbed to the proverbial, shortly after he got it home. He had tried swapping out the thermostat and replacing the expansion tank cap.

As we were passing by today we were able to fit him and what a pleasure it was too, meeting him and Stacey at their beautiful spot, Brimham Rocks Farm.

Head gasket replaced, along with a new coolant temperature sensor and hydragas pump up. So she’s all good to go again to have fun with on the fantastic roads around the area. Great to meet Chris and Stacey and their lovely dogs Ziggy & Travis, hope to see them all tomorrow, if not we look forward to seeing them again at the workshop for some further work later in the year.

Making the most of the surroundings, an early finish and the fab weather I took off on a 5 mile walk along part of the Nidderdale Trail to Pateley Bridge and met Jon at the tea shop there. Such beautiful countryside and stunning views. ☀️🌳

Check out their holiday cottages on air B&B. Brimham Rocks Farm Cottages. – https://ift.tt/HWixVGK

Well we had a run over to Galgate near Lancaster today, nice run over the Pennines with a mixed bag of weather as you’d expect.

SatNav kindly directed us to our destination, only to find there wasn’t an MG to be found. After waiting for for some time and trying fruitlessly to contact said owner of MG, a kindly neighbour came over to ask why we were there, and she explained that the car wasn’t there, it normally is, but not today.

Bit strange as one of the things we had it booked in for was gear cable replacement as the one on the car had snapped, so we had ordered cables in for the job. Plus it was booked in and confirmed for a cambelt service.

A 5 o’clock start, a 260 mile round trip, 5 hours in travel and £90 in fuel for nothing.

I won’t add anything else apart from what a shame when we have a waiting list for people desperately wanting their cars sorted and a whole day wasted for us. Thanks Jack. 🙄 – https://ift.tt/HWixVGK