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Kilburn, Norton, Bishop Auckland…

A shorter week this week, as we had a couple of days booked off, post our Essex trip, to get caught up on a few things.

Thursday morning found us in Kilburn for a cambelt service on Gareth’s 2002 MGF VVC in Copperleaf – CDX. They’d bought it last year as his wife had always fancied one, but the cambelt service history was a bit sketchy, the annual services had been done on a regular basis, but the car barely did any miles each year, with the previous owner, the cars only on 34k miles and in such good condition.

Thanks to Gareth for the garage as the weather was a tad damp. Great to meet him and have a chat while we worked, plus he makes a very good brew! We didn’t meet his wife, but hope she has some fun in the car, a perfect spot to enjoy it in.

A quick nip up to see the ‘white horse’ and then we were on our way to meet Dave in Norton.

Dave had got in touch some time ago regarding issues with a query misfire etc, on his 2004 TF 135, we’d suspected it was down to a faulty Lambda sensor, long story short. On code reading, we found it to be the case, plus it had been fitted with one of the cheap eBay ones. New Lambda fitted and problem resolved. Great to meet Dave finally, and see his impressive LEGO collection, the F1 cars were amazing! I know, we’re daft, but we love that kind of thing. We look forward to seeing him next year for the cambelt service.

Jon went up to Bishop Auckland today to carry out a diagnostics check on a Lotus Elise. Adrian had asked if we could help out with an issue of non starting. He’d recently had a new engine fitted, and then after some time the battery had gone flat, it would fire up for about one second and then shut off, unfortunately even though it’s running a k-series 160 VVC the immobiliser and ECU on the Elise S2 is a Cobra immobiliser and a Lotus ECU, meaning the P-scan couldn’t connect fully, only as an ordinary OBDII reader.

After some investigation, eliminating some more possible faults, it was found that the ECU was the only thing that could be faulty. A Rover 160 ECU could have been fitted, which would have got it running, however, the speedo and the rev counter cluster would not run with the Rover one.

The owner now has three possible options to cure the issue; replace the ECU with a stand-alone ECU, such as an Emerald, run dual ECUs with the Lotus and Rover ECU, or bite the bullet with a main dealer for a Lotus one. 😯

We have a few cars being dropped off over the weekend, ready for a busy week ahead. Have a great weekend everyone, hope the weather isn’t as grotty as forecast for some. 🌧️ – https://ift.tt/giRNCm5

Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire…

An early start on Wednesday morning to head to our first call of the week in Bythorn, where it was lovely to see Paul again and his 2004 TF135 in Royal Blue – JFM. Initially booked in for the cambelt service he’d subsequently got in touch to say he noticed a few symptoms with the car after the last few runs out. As we suspected, it was the proverbial, so we carried out the cambelt service along with replacing the head gasket. Paul had wanted to watch us while we were doing the cambelt service anyway, as was curious as to what’s involved, well he ended up seeing a bit more of his car than he’d anticipated! Thanks to Paul for cuppas and biscuits.

After a nights stopover in St Ives, we headed over to Stansted on Thursday morning. We had two bookings initially for the day, but the owner in Chelmsford had got in touch a few weeks ago to say that he’d reluctantly had to sell his car. Then, unfortunately, the booking in Stansted had given us the wrong address. So, not wanting a completely wasted day we had a hunt through the enquiries book to possibly find someone in the area, that we’d recently had to turn away, and we got in touch with Bob, in Chelmsford, who was delighted that we could come over.

Bob had owned his 1999 MGF VVC in British Racing Green – HFF from new and hadn’t been using it for a couple of years, but wanted to get it back on the road and just wanted the brake-fluid and clutch-fluid changing and a quick check over. Lovely to meet him, glad we managed to get to him at such short notice.

We then had a stopover just outside of Hullbridge, with a short commute on Friday morning to Hockley, where it was great to meet David and his 1997 MGF 120 mpi in Charcoal – LVD, that he’d owned for about three years. He’d been told at a recent MOT that the head gasket had failed and had also thought that the thermostat was sticking.

We arrived really early, and just as well we did, from what we thought was a straight forward head gasket replacement, (cambelts etc all up to date) it turned into a bit of a different story. We removed the head and found that the head was completely full of oil and coolant mixed, which as some of you know turns into a sort of cake mixture, type sludge, this is fairly common. But we then discovered that the hoses weren’t just blocked with the stuff, there were some that were absolutely solid with crud! We removed every one of the coolant hoses, the engine bay pipes and cleared them all out. We replaced the thermostat as that was definitely not going to work again.

When it came to firing it up found that it was still overheating. So we then removed the hoses to the radiator and the radiator itself. These were all flushed out and refitted. What an absolute nightmare. But, us being us just cracked on with good humour and got the job done. Car eventually fired up and fans coming on and off as they should. We’re really pleased to have this one back as it should be for David. Big thanks to him for a plentiful supply of tea! And nice to meet cute Monty dog too who kept an eye on proceedings! With a much later finish than anticipated we headed on up to our digs in Stevenage.

We should’ve actually been heading further south to Gravsend, for a call this morning, but the owner had got in touch last month to say that he’d also sadly had to part with his TF. So I’d had a bit of diary juggling and brought Sundays call forward to today. So we had a short commute up to Little Wymondley, from our digs in Stevenage this morning, where it was great to meet Mark and his LE 500 (paint code 106).

A short cambelt service carried out along with alternator belt all done without any issue. After a chat with Mark we were soon on our way back home.

Not the full on week originally planned, but glad we got everyone sorted, plus we have gained a day off tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a good weekend, near and far. – https://ift.tt/bvCjgeU

It’s Sunday I never got chance to write the blog at the end of our busy week on Friday.

Martin had trailered his track day car up to us, from Cheltenham, last weekend, a 2004 TF 160, as it had an advisory on the rear subframe.

An early start on Monday morning to get cracking replacing it with a galvanized one. It managed to put up a real fight. Not to mention removing the roll-cage, an excellent bit of kit, but by heck it was blinking awkward to get it out, and replacing it was equally as awkward.

The grinder came out for a couple of bolts, including the ones on one of the trailing arms, so the arm was replaced with another we had on stock.

Martin had said the alternator belt was making a noise, it was the alternator itself that the bearings had completely packed up on, so a new alternator and alternator belt fitted. The other noise was coming from the wear indicators on the rear brake pads, when removed they would have been better in an icecream! Needless to say we replaced these too.

Minor service carried out, clutch arm freed off, system bled, gearbox oil topped up, new expansion tank cap and car all good to go ready for the next season of track days. We look forward to meeting Martin in the morning when he comes up to collect.

Steve had also left his car with us last week, he was moving from Colchester, where we’d last seen the car, and up to Cumbria, so arranged to leave it with us on the way past. A 2002 TF 160 in Trophy Blue.

Minor service carried out, exhaust blow sorted, exhaust clamp replaced, window stop repaired, air temperature sensor replaced, check over and finally car booked in for its MOT tomorrow, then it will be good to go on to its new home, where Steve will be able to enjoy using it a lot more.

As well as meeting Martin tomorrow, and taking Steve’s car for the MOT, the van will be stocked up with all the parts ready for our next away-trip, with what will be an early start on Wednesday morning.

Hope everyone has had a good weekend, and enjoyed the fabulous weather too. – https://ift.tt/tnJMwyT

After a couple of well needed days off, post the Cornwall trip, we headed over to Mexborough on Wednesday morning, to assess the damage on Paul’s 1997 MGF 1.8i.

Not good news at all, unfortunately for him, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. However, there was nothing that could be done there and then, we had a chat about the way forward and a date arranged to get it over to the workshop, for some much needed TLC! Good to meet Paul and we look forward to seeing him again in the new year.

Having the rest of the day available we headed over to the workshop to get ‘Princess’, a 2001 MGF 1.8i, sorted, mother and daughter Leona and Laura were supposed to be heading off on their well planned trip on the NC500, this coming Monday, in the car, but only a couple of days ago they discovered that the head gasket had gone. So they had her recovered to the workshop for us to get sorted when we had a gap.

Head gasket done, along with replacing the bonnet release cable as the RCA chap had been a bit too tough on opening it and a hydragas pump up. Unfortunately, more disaster was to occur with them when Laura had an accident and has badly broken her ankle! So it looks like they will be waiting now until 2026 to head off on their adventure. We wish Laura a speedy recovery.

Thursday morning found us down in Bilsthorpe, near Newark for the minor service on Ray’s 2001 MGF VVC in Tahiti Blue (JRJ). From there we went over to Desborough for the minor service on Marcus’s 2006 TF 135 in Royal Blue (JFM).

After an overnight stay in Harrington and that brings us to this morning, Friday, when we headed further south, down to Great Doddington, to carry out a short cambelt service on John’s 1998 MkI MGF VVC in Tahiti Blue. The timing appeared to be out by half a tooth, for which we found a crushed roll-pin to be the cause, on the main belt exhaust cam. It literally just fell out when we went to remove it. This had been caused by the bolt not having been tightened up enough. New roll-pin duly fitted.

A bit of a wet and windy run back home, before storm Anne really gets going! Batten down the hatches and stay safe everyone! 💨 – https://ift.tt/hA7WX8u

🗺️ 🚐 Somerset, Devon, Cornwall trip – September 2025 – days 9 to 12 of 12…

A day off was had on Tuesday to rest the aches and pains, which was great to take in the surrounding area. A walk for me in the morning from Portreath to Godrevy bay, which was recommended to us by Tim, what a beautiful spot. Jon had a big breakfast at Hell’s Kitchen and met me there. Ventured into St Ives, which was hellish, so we turned around and went to a very quiet spot in Hayle.

So on Wednesday morning, feeling slightly refreshed, we headed over to Camborne, where it was great to see Alan again for work on his 2004 TF 135 in Trophy Blue (JFV). A full cambelt service carried out, along with alternator belt. When it came to running up to temperature found that the fans were kicking in too early, even though the radiator was cold, Alan had warned us that there was some issues with the fan coming on. The readings on the ECU temperature sensor seemed to be inconsistent. Together with the coolness of the radiator, it was decided to replace the ECU temperature sensor and the stat, a PRT on this model. All running nicely now with fans coming on and off when they should.

An early start on Thursday morning saw us leaving our fab digs, in Cambrose, and heading over to Chillington, where it was lovely to meet Geoff and his 2005 TF 135 in Pearl Black (PBT).

Geoff had been noticing an issue with the clutch, so he’d changed the slave and master clutch cylinders, which had had no effect so asked if we could come and replace the clutch itself.

All went well until it came to aligning the new Borg & Beck clutch, it would not go on, so we took it off, to find the chamfer on the clutch-plate seemed a bit square-edged therefore not allowing it to allocate on to the splines, so we smoothed the chamfer with a file, and tried test fitting it, before trying again and all seemed good, but when it came to realigning, it still wouldn’t play. Fortunately, we had a spare clutch kit, a LUK branded one, and this went on virtually straight away, thankfully! The release-arm was extremely stiff, but this was freed off until it could be moved back and forth by hand. System all bled and he now has a fully functioning clutch once again we’re pleased to say.

A very hot day weather wise, but Geoff kept us hydrated with a constant supply of tea!

From there, we had a bit of a journey over to our final digs of this trip, in Glastonbury. Arriving just minutes before sunset I was able to make it up to the Tor, which was so fabulous to experience.

That brings to this Friday, our last day, and our last call, where we headed over to Westbury in Wiltshire, where it was good to meet Gareth and his 2002 TF 160 in Trophy Blue (JFV) for a short cambelt service.

After an interesting chat with Gareth we set off for home. A bit of a long schlep, but we’ve now only got an hour to go, with only one diversion en route.

It’s been a long and tiring, but nonetheless, productive and successful, trip to the south west of the country. We’ve met some great people and their fab cars and seen some old ones too, amongst some stunning locations. The weather on the whole has been so good, with a back to summer feel.

A total of 1,106 miles, 12 cars, 7 lots of digs. Looking forward to getting home and seeing our lovely puss.

Thanks to everyone for their fantastic hospitality and warm welcomes. 🥟 – https://ift.tt/NPKzZaX

🗺️ 🚐 Somerset, Devon, Cornwall trip – September 2025 – days 5-8 of 12…

We left our fab digs, just outside of Ilfracombe, on Friday morning and headed a few miles along the road to Braunton, where it was lovely to meet Roger and his 2005 TF 135 in Solar Red (CMU). Originally booked in for fitting a soft-ride kit, he’d started to have issues with the clutch, so as a priority he decided to get this sorted instead.

Full clutch replacement carried out along with replacing the clutch release-arm and a new slave-cylinder. Generally all went well, with only two bolts needing grinding off, and when it came to refitting the bell housing, the dowels were being a tad awkward to realign, but we got it all done for Roger, who can now enjoy using the car again. We look forward to seeing him next year to fit a soft-ride kit and a service.

From there we headed on to Plymouth for the next couple of nights.

Saturday morning, found us up bright and early with a very short commute along to Chris and Sue’s, for work on Sue’s 2012 TF 135. With the service history being slightly unclear Chris wanted to have a full cambelt service carried out along with new alternator belt. He also asked us to carry out a thorough check of anything that needed to be done ahead of the MOT and to prepare for future maintenance. The car is an excellent example, and on only 25k miles. We were thankful of his garage as it tipped it down all morning.

Sunday saw us on a travel day, with a stop in at a couple of touristy locations en route, which was great to make the most of it, despite some dismal weather again. Arriving at our digs, which will accommodate us for the next four nights, in Cambrose we were pleased to see an improvement. Which continued this Monday morning, when we set off to our next call in Scorrier.

Great to see Tim again and his 2003 TF 160 in Xpower Grey (LEF). Originally booked in for a minor service, he first wanted us to see if we could locate a couple of ‘rattles’, which were starting to become rather tiresome, not to mention the potential of a serious issue.

Following a process of elimination, we found two causes; the exhaust back-box strap, which didn’t have enough threads in the bolt to enable it to be tightened fully and then weirdly the other was the alternator, which was strange as the sound appeared to becoming from everywhere but this. We were thinking, exhaust heat shield, catalytic converter being damaged, cam rattle or the VVC mechs. While we carried on with the minor service, greasing the pin bushes and removing the old alternator, Tim nipped off to the local motor factors to see if he could get hold of an alternator, fortunately one of them did, so this was duly fitted. The car sounds very nice and smooth now, with no noise at all from the VVC mechs, which is always a good thing. Great to see him and meet his lovely wife this time plus their gorgeous woofer Neville, what a little star.

Having the afternoon free, we took a wander and had a cuppa at Portreath beach, what beautiful spot. I tried to persuade Jon to go surfing, but he was having none of it! – https://ift.tt/amlI3PZ

🚐 🗺️ Somerset, Devon, Cornwall trip – September 2025 – days 1-4 of 12…

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 he’d 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, who’s owned the car since it was three years old, he’d had experiences with many dodgy coolant caps recently, which had subsequently caused this issue. We’re 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 he’s 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.

It’s been a good few years since we were last there working on some of Nigel’s 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 he’s 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, he’d 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 clutch… – https://ift.tt/EyiHbBu

Markfield, near Leicester, Broomfleet, Holton Le Clay, South Elkington near Louth, Bracebridge Heath (briefly) & a couple of workshop days were our locations of occupation this week…

Our first call, with an early start, on Monday morning found us in Markfield, for some work on Lee’s Trophy. Full cambelt service carried out, along with replacement of the underfloor coolant-pipes. We did have ‘trace coolant leak’ on the list, but Lee had managed to source that, which was due to an old and tired radiator.

First call, of three, on Tuesday morning was a local one over in Broomfleet, to check over Leona and Laura’s 2001 MGF 1.8 mpi ‘Princess’, she’d not done many miles since her resto with us back in November, but mum and daughter are going on the NC 500 together in her, next month, and just wanted to make sure all was ok, plus needed the hard-top removing and fitting new clips to the soft-top, so they’re all good to go, hope they have a fantastic time, we look forward to seeing their progress.

Then we went on to Holton Le Clay, where it was lovely to have a catch-up with David and carry out the minor service on his 2005 TF 135. He’d also noticed a bit of trouble with the gears, so this was resolved by fitting new gear-cable ends and new gaitors, plus a bit of adjustment to the handbrake. It was lovely to see his beautiful TD and have a sit in it, unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to go for a spin round the block, maybe next time. Thanks to David for the welcome cuppas, cake and biscuits.

From there we went over to South Elkington to check out what was occurring with the drivers window on Francine’s 1998 MGF Mk I. The upper stop had worn, so we turned it 90 degrees so it had a fresh area to push on. They’d moved house since our last visit to the car, and no one was home this time, but pleased to have ‘Scarlet’ sorted. Fab weather all day we’re pleased to note.

Not the case on Wednesday morning! When we went over, again, to Bracebridge Heath, to do the jobs required on John’s TF 135, unfortunately, it was absolutely dreadful weather and really not conducive for the work required. So we will get back over next week, when we’re supposed to be having a break, and it’s a dry day hopefully! John can still use the car, so he’s not inconvenienced in any way, it’s just frustrating.

So, we made a detour back over to the workshop and got more work done on Keith’s TF, and also made an early start on Michael’s 2011 LE 500 (number 243).

Michael had driven up from Market Drayton to leave it with us that morning. Over the next few days; underfloor treatment carried out and fitting of a nice shiny new Mike Satur stainless Daytona back-box, complete with round tail-finishers. After a wash and brush up today, all ready for Michael to come and collect this afternoon. It was nice to see him and fortunately had better weather for his drive back home. We will see him next year for the service, which has been booked in.

Further work continued on Keith’s TF on Thursday and today, and work is complete on it for now; it’s had a new rear subframe along with the accompanying ancillaries, OS wishbone, full cambelt service, welding of both rear sills and full underfloor treatment.

We’re just waiting for the delivery of an exhaust back-box for it. Once that’s fitted we will take it for the MOT, then she’s good to go!

I forgot to mention in last weeks blog that lovely Terry ventured down from Darlington in ‘The Chairman’ his 80th Anniversary MGF, to have a run out and discuss the welding work that’s required, plus he wanted to touch base with Aaron at the paint shop next door. I didn’t see him unfortunately, but Jon had a nice chat. We look forward to seeing him again later in the year.

Really sad news about the funicular railway devastating accident in Lisbon, we were very fortunate to work there, on three occasions, over the years on a TF, and stayed in the city. The people are some of the friendliest we’ve met on our travels, and our thoughts are with all those people affected by this terrible tragedy.

We’re off next week, but it’s going to be far from relaxing, lots planned, which includes moving a couple of cars off the driveway, finally, and up to the workshop. Plus all the prep and packing for our big 10 day trip to Devon and Cornwall the week after.

Well, here we are, it’s Friday evening again, and it’s not raining! Hope everyone, near and far, is well and looking forward to the weekend, whether you be out and about in your MGs or not, have a great one where possible. – https://ift.tt/aE2KIbg