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First away trip of 2024 – North East – Day 4 – Washington…

When we were last in the area, in December, John asked if we could pop over and check out a coolant loss on his ‘02 TF 135, aircon model, in paint code CMU that he’s owned for the last 6 years. On pressure testing the system, we had found a weep coming out of the front of the block. So a date was arranged to return today.

Head gasket and all other gaskets replaced, cambelt, water pump, tensioner, alternator belt, spark plugs and filters replaced too, along with a new thermostat and thermostat housing.

Only one pesky bolt on the thermostat housing to the block decided it wanted to shear off, remaining part of it removed with the brilliant Irwin screw removers, absolute genius piece of kit.

Apart from that, everything else behaved and the car all put back together and running well, with a nice smooth sounding engine.

Great to see John again, with big thanks to him for the cuppas and offers of food. An enjoyable day in his company, with the advantage of a garage to work in to keep us out of the drizzle, a garage which also houses some very nice company! Didn’t get a pic of the Stag, silly me.

One of which, was his beautiful MGA that was having a problem starting, so asked if Jon could take a look and see if he could find the cause, which subsequently was thought to be down to a weak starter-motor.

Our last night in our digs tonight ahead of our final job of this trip, in Carlton, in the morning. – https://ift.tt/q5FHuJN

First away trip of 2024 – North East – Day 3 – Acomb, Ovington & Gosforth…

A short commute along the A69 to our first call in Acomb, near Hexham this morning. We had an enquiry from Colin only a couple of weeks ago asking for our help with his ‘02 TF 1.8 mpi in paint code IAR. As we were already in the area we were able to fit him in.

He had had the head gasket replaced by a garage only to fail again only two days after he picked it up, and unfortunately they wouldn’t warranty their work. So he cut his losses and asked if we could sort it.

We were all set to do this for him this morning and get him back up and running again, very sadly, this wasn’t to be the case with what transpired.

The head that he had been told had been skimmed certainly hadn’t, the fire ring indentations were way too deep, and there was no evidence whatsoever that it had been near a skimming machine. The inner timing cover was hanging on by a wing and a prayer, multiple bolts were missing and when in place were incorrect. The head bolts had been torqued down way too tight. The inlet manifold was damaged and had been replaced previously with incorrect wiring. The cam-rack had been silicone sealed on, the cam-shaft oil seals hadn’t been seated correctly, 90% of the engine sensors either didn’t have a clip holding them on or had been silicone sealed in place. We could go on. Needless to say that we didn’t get him up and running today.

So we’ve taken the head away with us for skimming and a date made to return next month, we have given up a planned day off as we just felt so bad for Colin having so much disappointment, in the space of a couple of weeks. He’s owned the car for 10 years and it’s never put a foot wrong, enjoying trips down to the Mediterranean etc. over the years.

We look forward to returning and getting everything put back to rights for him. Plus he makes a cracking brew!

So our next call should have been to Ovington, but unfortunately this was cancelled at last minute… again!

With an earlier than expected finish we headed over to Gosforth, where it was lovely as always to see Jane and Graham for the minor service on Jane’s TF 160 in paint code MNX. Good to have a catch-up with them. Since we saved this fab car for Jane, a few years ago now, they have enjoyed some great trips abroad in her and have plans to go further afield this year.

Not as Baltic cold today, with only the odd shower and it looks set to get a bit warmer as the week goes on. – https://ift.tt/tPEzgA5

First away trip of 2024 – North East – Day 2 – Whitley Bay

Work today on this ‘98 MGF 120 mpi, in paint code CAQ, that had been owned from new and loved by Fin’s Mum who had bought from Perrys in Huddersfield.

Fin and his wife are now custodians of the car and, therefore, wanted to make sure everything was in as good repair as possible for them to continue to enjoy as it was intended.

Full cambelt service carried out, along with hydragas pump up, underfloor stainless coolant pipes, alternator belt, handbrake adjustment, new expansion tank cap along with a replacement rear window as the one on it had become opaque as expected with the age of the car.

Originally it was thought that the head gasket had gone, due to bubbling in the expansion tank, but on our inspection it was, fortunately for Fin, found to be due to a faulty cap.

Really great to meet Fin, Louise and their son Tom. Absolutely Baltic day weather wise, but Fin provided us with a non-stop supply of very welcome warming cups of tea. Plus offers of soup from Louise.

As we were so close to the coast we popped over to take a peak and glad that we did, the waves were tremendous crashing in over the promenade! Love that coastline, but too late and tired for a walk though, so back to our cosy digs to thaw out. 🥶 Cracking day though, with good chats while we worked. We look forward to seeing them again for the next service. – https://ift.tt/F5vhUKO

First away trip of 2024 – North East – Day 1 – South Cleatlam

Tony’s MGF 120 mpi ‘Bessie’ had developed a problem with rough running and then non-starting.

On investigation only one error code was detected, that didn’t have any relevance to the issue. Initially tried putting fuel directly into the throttle body, as it didn’t fire up it was obviously an electrical issue.

Checked the distributor cap and rota arm and found them to be corroded. So these were both replaced and pleased to hear Bessie fire back into life!

Great to see Tony, Caroline and Joe as always, and good to have chance for a catch-up and a cuppa.

We’re now in our fab digs in Gateshead for the next few nights. – https://ift.tt/TS0wVE8

Cars in from both ends of the U.K. this week from Brighton to Glasgow…

Saturday morning saw us on with both the cars left with us from Scotland. Aldo’s TF 115 was originally booked in for underfloor treatment, but had encountered a non-starting issue, having been stood over the winter months. So instead of the planned drive down in convoy with Glenn he had the car transported to us a couple of weeks ago and Jon has been working on diagnosing the problem in between other jobs. Whilst Jon carried on with that I got cracking on Glenn’s 85th Anniversary, that he had left with us, having driven down from Glasgow on Friday. Full rust conversion carried out and left to do its thing.

Chris popped over to see us from Wirral whilst en route to Nottingham to have his alternator belt replaced as it was squealing a tad on start up.

Work continued on Glenn’s TF on Monday morning, which included full underseal, replacement of all 4 subframe mounts with stainless ones, gearbox oil change, replacement reverse light switch, service items and replacement of the windscreen washer bottle as it had been pittling all over the floor and that’s this one all sorted and ready for collection.

It was good to meet Gary on Tuesday morning who had driven up from Brighton, the day before, to bring in his W reg MGF for its cambelt service. He was definitely living on borrowed time with the alternator belt! At first glance it looked like the wrong belt was fitted, but when we removed it only half of it was left, how it didn’t give way we’ve no idea! Yikes that could have been nasty. It will take place on our exhibit of carnage.

The inlet manifold had a snapped breather pipe, which was causing the car to have an erratic idle. So we fitted an alternative connector, which resolved this issue. All sorted for Gary to drive back down to Brighton that afternoon.

Jon very gladly solved the non-starting issue on Aldo’s TF after chasing faulty wires over a total of two and a half days and chats with Mark Stacey (Kmaps), Chris Flanagan (Retro cars) and finally getting to the route of it with the help of Paul Brown (Technozen).

Now that this was sorted we continued on with the list of things that Aldo had asked us to do whilst we had the car.

Central locking motors fitted, new door handle, window adjustment plus a few other things we came across. Full underfloor treatment carried out and that’s this one all ready to go too.

We look forward to seeing Glenn and Aldo tomorrow as they make their way down to us to pick them up and drive them back home to Glasgow. Let’s hope the sleet and snow don’t cause too many disruptions for them. – https://ift.tt/VlFzPpK

One of jobs we had in the workshop this week was this fab TF 160 that Andy had recently taken ownership of and had transported up to us at the weekend from Hertsfordshire. Already an owner of various other models of MG now and in the past he fancied owning a 160.

Having got the cambelt service done on Sunday, we cracked on with removing all the old Schultz from underneath, most of it falls off in chunks, but the rest has to be laboriously scraped off. Once this was removed, everything fully coated with rust-converter and left overnight to do its thing. Then fully coated with Upol Gravitex the following day.

Andy had treated himself to a Mike Satur ‘Daytona’ back box and quad tail finishers, plus a new CAT, so these were fitted. Both front wishbones replaced. Both front track-rod-ends replaced, the rears were on the list, but were still in good condition.

On running up to temperature found that the thermostat was stuck open and the gauge was reading low. So we replaced both the PRT and the sensor and subsequently everything behaving as it should. Car then sent round to the garage we use on site for 4-wheel alignment. Couple of other things sorted and she’s good to go.

Really great to meet Andy when he came up this afternoon to pick her up. We look forward to seeing him later in the year for some other things. Hope he enjoys a cracking weekend in the area whilst staying over with friends and the drive back home.

One of the other projects we have in is John’s ZR 160 race car. Clutch replacement carried out along with the cambelt service. Coolant flush, brake fluid change, engine oil and filter change. Then brake pads all round. A couple of other things added to the list as we went along, such as the rear calipers need replacing, so these are duly ordered. Andy’s left the car with us to get her ready for the coming season. Another one that would be brilliant to have a blast in!

Glenn drove down from Glasgow this morning to leave his 85th Anniversary TF with us for a few things. Really great to see him as always and have a quick catch-up before he headed back home. Big thanks to him for the huge bag of everything Tunnock’s! So thoughtful. We did share the love with the garage on site and our fab neighbours at Black Sheep Customs.

Another busy week with lots going on and here we are it’s Friday again! We’ll be back at it in the morning. Hope everyone has a great weekend. – https://ift.tt/ZDr8Mx2

What a windy week, glad it was spent in the workshop!

Ted and Debra had left their ‘04 TF 135 ‘Spark’ in Firefrost with us, when they drove over from West Yorkshire at the weekend, of which they had taken ownership of last year.

Head gasket replacement and cambelt service carried out along with all filters and plugs. When it came to running the car up to temperature we discovered that the heaters weren’t working properly. On inspection found that the cable to the back of the heater was faulty, it had snapped off on the control dial side, so we set about the fiddly, time consuming, but ultimately essential job of replacing it. Car ran up to temperature and all good to go.

We collected Adam’s ‘04 TF 160 from
Leconfield on Sunday, a car that we’d last seen a few years ago when owned by his parents. It was in need of a bit of TLC as hadn’t turned a wheel for some time, and Adam wanted to get it back on the road again.

Full cambelt service carried out, ball joints replaced, wheel bearing replaced, exhaust flexi section and Lambda sensor replaced, full underfloor treatment carried out, pre MoT check done and then finally the MoT and she is all good to go. I did give her a bit of wash and scrub inside and out as was looking a bit forlorn, but she’s now got a smile back on her face ready to enjoy some time back on the road in Adam’s ownership. We look forward to seeing him tomorrow morning when he comes over to pick her up.

The other car we collected on Sunday was Steve’s ‘02 TF 160 in Trophy blue, that we’ve looked after for a number of years now. On a run out he had thought that one of the gear cables had snapped.

On inspection we found that one of the central pivot points had sheared on the slick-shift. So new part duly ordered from Mr Satur, which arrived today, despite Mike sending it first class, our postal service isn’t the best at the moment, so we’ll get that fitted on Sunday.

Whilst with us the cambelt service was due, so full service completed, along with alternator belt. Steve had mentioned that there was a leak into the boot, we found that one of the gaskets on the back light surround hadn’t been seated correctly, so we sealed both sides up. Once the slick-shift is sorted she will be good to go again and ready for some trips abroad this year with Steve and Concetta, we look forward to seeing him again when he comes over to collect.

We’ll be back at the workshop in the morning for collection and drop-off, one out and three in. Busy week on the admin too, I am trying to keep up with it, might be a late night tonight.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, let’s hope it’s a little less windy than it has been! – https://ift.tt/6KtgmPJ

A couple of very productive, albeit it very cold, days at the workshop.

Stephen’s ‘00 MGF in Nightfire red (CAQ) was back with us from Selby for undersealing. We’d seen the car last summer for service and MoT.

Car all fully rust-treated and fully protected underneath now and pleased to have it ready for his son, Simon, to collect. Shame we didn’t get to see them both this time.

Chris had driven over from Wirral to leave his ‘04 TF 115 with us for some further work.

The car had failed its MoT on a couple of things and the cambelt service was also due.

Full cambelt service carried out, unfortunately the engine mount bolts both decided to put up a fight, which resulted in them both shearing off. We keep replacement mounts on stock in the event of this happening, so old one removed and replaced.

The offside wishbone had corroded so this was replaced. Initially it was thought that the handbrake cable was at fault, but turns out it was the nearside caliper, so this was replaced. Unfortunately, one of the subframe mount bolts sheared off, so this was retapped and then the car was taken round for its MoT. All now sorted and ready for Chris to collect tomorrow, when we look forward to seeing him again, it’s been a few years since we last caught up with him.

One cancellation which meant we had an easier day today, just as well as we’ve a busy weekend ahead with collections, drop-offs and a couple of small jobs over the two days.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and keeps wrapped up warm and safe during this cold snap 🥶 – https://ift.tt/gSnb5VD