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An enjoyable day in Darlington today…

Terry’s MGF 75th Anniversary, ‘The Chairman’, needed a couple of things sorting, nearside wishbone replaced and top ball joint, unfortunately we didn’t have the correct arm for the rear with us in the van 🙄 We shall return on Sunday on our way to Scotland to fit one!

Lovely to see Terry and Craig, as always and have a bit of a natter, big thanks to Terry for his lovely hospitality, especially so for his thoughtfulness for the veggie option for the fussy veggie! 😋

We then went a couple of miles along the road where it was lovely to see Mervyn and Janice again. The minor service was due on their LE 500 (number 394 and paint code 111), plus the EML was showing and on code reading it was found to be down to a checksum error.

Mervyn will be taking this car to the Le Mans Classic in June this year. Wish we could go, that’s twice now in the last couple of weeks we’ve been asked to go! Hope you have a fab trip Mervyn and meet up with Mark & Alan et al who we mentioned to you.

Although Terry and Mervyn live only 3 miles apart and both own an MGF 75th Anniversary, in the same colour (Mulberry), they had never seen each other or their cars until they, by chance, were staying at the same B&B when they were staying over after the ‘MGF 25’ event in Gaydon last year and happened to park side by side in the car park! There’s always a story with these fab cars. 😀 – https://ift.tt/loY65Dq

An early start to get cracking on the cars that had been left at the workshop, from various parts of the country over the past few days whilst we had a couple of days off…

Ben’s 80th Anniversary TF 160 (in HQM) was due it’s annual service, Ben also wanted us to check over a couple of other bits whilst we had her in. A new key fob programmed too, as he only ever had one with the car.

Richard’s TF 135 (in LEF) had discs and pads fitted all round, plus the underfloor coolant pipes were replaced with stainless steel ones.

Stephen and Marie’s LE 500 (number 108) ‘Ellie’ was having some issues with the ABS. Some investigation was carried out today. It’s fine above 25 mph, but slowly trips in under 20 mph. None of the sensors are reporting a fault, but doesn’t mean to say that one of them is having an issue. The front stub-shafts have been changed for decent secondhand ones and we may need to change the rear ends of the drive shafts aswell… to be continued.

It was lovely to see Laura and Leona who came over this afternoon, in ‘Princess’ their MGF 1.8 mpi, as she had been squealing on start-up for quite some time. Alternator belt replaced as the one on it was a bit tired, plus an alternator shield fitted. Nice to catch-up with them and good to see them heading off for gosh and chips at the coast.

Not too much of a late finish, good to have some fab weather, plus our neighbours at Black Sheep Customs were in, so it was an enjoyable bank holiday Monday all round. Hope everyone has had an enjoyable Easter weekend, wherever you have been, it looks like there are quite a few pics to catch-up on with various events being back on again.😎 – https://ift.tt/loY65Dq

Our last call of the week in Wigan today…

It’s always great to follow cars to their new owners, so it was really nice to meet Andrew today, who had fairly recently taken ownership of this TF 160, having previously been located in Jarrow, where we had done various things over the years, under George’s ownership.

The cambelt service was due and Andrew wanted to make sure everything was sorted before his trip to Germany, which also includes a blast round the Nurburgring, with his friends next month.

Cambelts, water pump, tensioner, alternator belt all replaced, all new filters fitted and oil change done. We spotted a couple of suspect hoses so these were duly sorted.

A welcome change in the weather, a cracking cuppa and really nice to meet and have a stroke of Andrew’s gorgeous Dachshund called Steve!

Hope everyone has a lovely Easter weekend, wherever you may be and whatever you may be doing. There are a number of events on so will be a busy weekend for most. The weather forecast is looking promising too so will make for some top-down fun! 😃☀️🐰 – https://ift.tt/ZHaWuS6

– https://ift.tt/ZHaWuS6

A short hop over the Humber bridge this morning to Croxton, where it was lovely to meet Jason & Fiona, having recently purchased what they thought was going to be a get us through a gap in vehicles car, they have really fallen for it, and now want to make sure everything is sorted, with not having very much service history.

A TF 115 (in LEF) that originally lived in Wrexham. It had been fitted with MGF seats and door cards that really suit the car.

Today we replaced the cambelt, water pump, tensioner, alternator belt, alternator shied, spark plugs, all filters and an oil change.

Date to be arranged for further work at the workshop for underfloor pipes, front wishbone and full underfloor treatment.

Really nice morning, thanks for all the cuppas and cake! Not to mention fusses with gorgeous Minnie. (Didn’t get a pic sadly).

We then went over to the workshop where it was good to meet Andrew and to investigate what was occurring with his Caterham. Andrew had been experiencing a couple of issues with it, following it having been stood for a while, particularly on start up and on acceleration.

We swapped over the rotar arm, the HT leads and the spark plugs, the plugs that were in it weren’t platinum ones and were also quite loosely fitted and a bit corroded. Two of the leads weren’t fitting tightly enough on top of the plugs. Once all these were replaced the car started up without any issues and all hesitation when revving had disappeared.

What a fab car, resisted the urge to ask if we could take it for a spin!! 😃

Date to be arranged for it’s cambelt service later in the year.

Bit of a change around day, as Richard was supposed to be at the workshop with his TF, but he was away on holiday and had forgotten! We’ll get him squeezed in somewhere next week. But at least we got to get over to see Jason, with thanks to Xander for recommending us to them. At least they can have peace of mind and have some fun over the summer. 😀☀️ – https://ift.tt/ZHaWuS6

Great to meet Steve in Rugeley, Staffordshire this morning for some work on his fairly recent acquisition, a TF 135 (in CMU).

Cambelt, water pump, tensioner replaced, all filters replaced and oil change all done.

The accelerator pedal was a bit stiff so this was replaced with a secondhand one, with a marked improvement. Exhaust manifold heat shield was missing so fitted with one on stock. Rear caliper freed off.

Health check carried out, with only a couple of minor things noted to get sorted. He’s got himself a cracking car.

Pete came over for a cuppa, good to have a catch-up with him. An enjoyable mornings work, with the added bonus of Steves fab garage to work in, out of the rain and lovely hospitality, thanks Steve!

We then headed over to Coventry, where it was great to meet Martyn who had got in touch earlier in the year as when he had gone to turn the engine over on his MGF (in HAM) 1.8 mpi, during its winter storage, the alternator unfortunately seized up solid, emitting a plume of black smoke.

Martyn had got hold of a replacement alternator which we fitted for him this afternoon. Fortunately, no further damage caused other than a very shredded alternator belt. Date to be arranged later in the year for cambelt service.

Not too far away from home, should be back by 7:30, so I shall busy myself with the admin while it’s still daylight. – https://ift.tt/GXlNpPc

Back in the north east today, in Seaton Sluice, and can’t believe it’s cambelt service time again on Terry and Ian’s cars…

Cambelts, water pump and tensioner all replaced on Terry’s lovely Trophy and cambelt, water pump, tensioner, all filters and oil change on Ian’s equally lovely TF 135 (a post LE 500 production run).

Steve and his Dad, Bob came over from Houghton le Spring to have the K-maps remap done on his fab TF 135. He was very happy driving off with his subtle pops and bangs, with a trip back through the Tyne Tunnel on the way back. 😀

Lovely to see Terry and Ian and have a chat and a catch-up over a spot of lunch, very welcome, thank you to Katie for that.

While there we had a couple of messages from Malcolm Hall who had got into a spot of bother on his way up to see his Mum in Jarrow yesterday with his MGF VVC ‘Trigger’. Adrian had recommended he try us and as luck would have it we were only 20 miles away. So we called in on our way back to assess what was occurring with the car. Long story short, we think it is likely to be the oil pump, possibly further damage, but won’t know until the pump is replaced to start with. Steve’s arranging for it to go to a local MG garage as we unfortunately wouldn’t be able to see to it anytime soon. Hope he manages to get it resolved soon and look forward to hearing the update.

An enjoyable start to the week. – https://ift.tt/xaizrJW

That was a nice end to a busy week, a local one down the road in Beighton, Sheffield…

Great to meet Eric who had got in touch back in October, having owned his TF 160 for 7 years, it hadn’t had the cambelt changed since 2007! So definitely well overdue, as the car was SORN, as usual,
over winter he was ok to wait until our next slot ahead of summer fun.

A number of nuts and bolts that were incorrect and missing were all duly replaced. A couple of which, were on the fuel rail that attaches to the inlet manifold. The exhaust heat shield was missing too, so this was replaced. Both belts, water pump, tensioner and alternator belt all replaced without any issues.

Really nice example of a 160. Hope Eric has a great outing in it on the Daffodil Run on Sunday with the Yorkshire MG club. 🌼

We had planned on going, but, as we have a rare weekend off, we have a list of things that we really need to do 😕

Weather was contrary to the forecast and a very welcome bit of sun. Hope it continues for the weekend for everyone to get out and about in your MGs! ☀️😃 – https://ift.tt/Ip50BiY