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Scotland – Days 15 & 16 of 16 – Acharacle, Mull…

We enjoyed the last couple of days having a bit of well needed R&R and the weather was really good too! Went over to Tobermory, for a few hours on Friday, and which didn’t disappoint, what a beautiful place. Jon treated himself to local Gin and Chocolates, had to be done. Then I climbed a mountain yesterday!

A great trip, all in all, with totals of:

19 cars
7 hotels/lodges/B&Bs
4 ferries
1196 miles.

So now it’s day 17 and we’re on our way home and not too far from the border as I write this, 379 miles in total to home, quite fitting that’s its ‘Drive it Day’. Looking forward to seeing the cat 🐈‍⬛

Big thanks to everyone in Scotland for your warm welcomes, we’ll be back soon! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 – https://ift.tt/lWjDZKV

Scotland – Days 13 & 14 of 16 – Acharacle…

Possibly the shortest commute ever from our digs and over to Chris and Sam’s house, that we could actually see from over the Loch.

First up was their latest acquisition, a 2001 MGF 120 mpi, in paint code GUF, that came with virtually no service history. Full cambelt service carried out, replacement alternator belt and hydragas pump up. A very honest car that’s obviously been well cared for by the previous owner.

Then a full cambelt service, alternator belt replacement and gearbox oil change carried out on their MGF Trophy, as that was due this year.

Minor service, gearbox oil change carried out on Sam’s 2002 TF 160.

Minor service, gearbox oil change, alternator belt replacement plus shield fitted, which will hopefully resolve the squeal it has recently been emitting, replacement of dipstick bracket as the one on the car had a mysterious bend in it and the dipstick couldn’t be taken out.

Investigation into why the oil pressure warning light wasn’t illuminating with the ignition on and free off one of the calipers that had been sticking recently, on his Y reg MGF 1.8 mpi.

We’d planned on two days work on their fleet, with maybe a contingency of a third. As it was, everything went so smoothly with not one awkward bolt among them, and the two cambelt services didn’t throw up any surprises, plus we took a look at the weather forecast for the following day and thought it was best to complete as much as we could, as it was, we got everything done and ticked off the list.

What an enjoyable day in Chris’s company, who kept us hydrated with a constant stream of cuppas, we also had some other great company in the form of their running ducks, what fab characters they are!

After a bit of a chilly start, the sun made an appearance and stayed out all day, which was very welcome and made things a lot easier without having to dodge the showers and faff about with the gazebo.

So today we have enjoyed a bonus day off, albeit a bit of a damp one! We’ve not had a day off for quite a while and plan on having a look about the area over the next couple of days, before we head home first thing Sunday morning. – https://ift.tt/bjCn16K

Scotland – Days 11 & 12 – Dingwall and travel day…

Another really short commute this morning, from our digs in Dingwall, and up the hill to Eddie’s house for work on his ‘97 MGF VVC, in paint code KMN, that was originally exported for the Japanese market.

Eddie’s owned the car for a number of years now and we last saw it a couple of years ago when he lived near Forfar.

Today we replaced the underfloor coolant-pipes with stainless ones and changed the gearbox oil. The heater fans weren’t working on all settings so he wanted us to replace the resister-pack, an easy job usually, but not on the aircon models, a bit more work is involved, which we already knew, but thought we’d give it a try anyway to see if we could find a short-cut. So that’s on the to-do list on our next visit, when we will return next year to replace all of the spheres and carry out the cambelt service, which will be due then.

Great to see Eddie again and have a good chat. Thanks to him for the cuppas and cakes, much appreciated. Plus it was good to have fusses with their lovely woofers Chewy, Poppy and Melvin!

Another night in Dingwall last night and we then departed from our really fantastic digs this morning. The landlady couldn’t have been more friendly and welcoming. We know where we will be staying next year for sure.

As it was a travel day today, Jon nipped over to Inverness for a part for the van, the handbrake cable decided to give up on us the other day, and I enjoyed a lovely local walk up the hills, beautiful spot and some fab weather thrown in too.

Some very picturesque scenery as we headed over to our next and final destination in Acharacle, where we’re now tucked up in a pod for the next few nights, ready for our first of two days at Chris’s in the morning. – https://ift.tt/QWRfCm6

Scotland – Days 9 & 10 of 16 – Chryston and Larbert…

Yesterday morning, found us in Chryston again for work on Ross’s 2002 TF 135, in paint code JFM. The recent MOT had advised on a few things; wheel bearing, ball joint, discs and pads all round and a possible coolant leak on the radiator hose. All of these we replaced. No evidence of a coolant leak, think it was just residue left over from when it was last bled. Plus he wanted the cone air-filter removing and the original air-box and hoses refitting.

Good to see Ross and Jacqui again and have fusses with their lovely woofer Rukia.

We left our digs in Kilsyth this morning, having stayed there for the last two nights, and headed over to Larbert, where it was great to see Craig again for some work on his 2002 TF 115 1.6 originally in British Racing Green, but had been sprayed Starlite Silver.

K-maps remap done, 52 mm throttle body fitted, airbag replace, fog-lights wired in, engine oil change, dipstick bracket replaced and replacement of the cable end on the forward to back gear-cable, which still needed a bit of adjustment as it had never been right.

Pleased to have everything sorted for Craig and ‘Tiffany’ she’s all set now for many more miles to come and good to have chats and cuppas while we worked, in between the rain showers.

So we’re now on the road heading further north to our next destination… – https://ift.tt/3dEvtF5

Scotland – Days 5 & 6 of 16 – Glengarnock & back to Bathgate…

A short commute yesterday morning (Tuesday) took us over to Glengarnock, for work on some of Alan’s fab fleet.

First up was his TF 160 in Aurora (paint code MBB haha) that was having a spot of bother with the clutch on the last time Alan had the car out and had managed to limp it home.

The slave-cylinder and master-cylinder needed replacing, along with flush-through of some very black clutch-fluid. The clutch-release arm was very free anyway, so now has a very nice smooth clutch-pedal once more.

The passenger door wouldn’t open from the inside, so we went armed with new cables and handles. Cable attachments were found to be the culprits, so these were replaced, which sorted that.

Next up his latest acquisition, a 2001 MGF VVC, in Royal Blue, that had come with a set of underfloor-coolant pipes, so we fitted these, along with replacing the alternator belt that had a very annoying and prolonged screech! We originally thought it was the engine bay coolant pipes that were to be replaced, which would have taken a bit longer.

Then on to ‘Noel’ his TF 135, on which the power-steering had given up. We had taken with us a couple of EPAS units, once swapped out with one of them, this resolved the issue.

Everything done in a day, though we had a contingency of two.

Absolutely lovely to see Alan and Andy again and have a good old catch-up with them. Thanks to Alan for lunch (another traditional Lorne sarnie for Jon) and welcome cuppas. Not to mention lots of fusses with their beautiful woofers, Bruce and Mabel.

Plus the rain that had tipped it down all night miraculously cleared when we got there!

We received a message from John in Bathgate, who we’d been to on Sunday, to say the car was making a strange noise. So having the day now free we went back over to investigate, first thing this morning. When we got there we couldn’t find anything that was making any kind of significant noise that would be of a concern. Checked the tension on the cambelt and on the alternator belt. We can only possibly put the noise, John heard, down to the inner timing-cover ideally needing replacing as it wasn’t held on by all the bolts and had obviously moved slightly having been worked on. All checks carried out to make sure all is good.

What absolutely terrible weather today! We’re tucked up in our digs again, in Uplawmoor, listening to the rain and wind battering the place. We’re staying on a working farm and just feel for all those poor ewes and their newborn lambs around us, I want to bring them all in! 🐑 – https://ift.tt/vaY4oIM

Scotland – Days 3 & 4 of 16 – Bathgate, Coylton & Dalrymple…

Sunday morning found us over in Bathgate, where it was lovely to see John again and his S reg MGF VVC for the cambelt service. We had last seen him and the car in the workshop for the front subframe replacement so it was good to have a catch-up. Thanks to John, for Jon’s brekkie of the traditional Lorne sandwich.

Making the most of an early finish we went over to visit Dunure castle, what a fab spot. Incredibly windy and some stunning views, with a cuppa in the cafe on the harbour.

Monday morning and a departure from our fab digs in Ayr, when we headed over to Coylton in South Ayrshire, where it was lovely to meet Colin and his wife Hilda, for work on their MGF VVC in Wedgewood.

Cambelt service carried out, along with replacement of the heater-resister pack and hydragas lift. A very nice example, that they’ve owned for about 5 years now and enjoy using for runs out on sunny days and meeting up with some of the local groups. They were concerned about some over heating issues, but this we narrowed down to be a rather dodgy expansion-tank cap and the fact that the tank was overfilled, plus the system required bleeding properly. Hopefully this has resolved this for them and Hilda will no longer need to take her bus-pass as a precaution each time they go out!

Really great to meet them both and have a chat, over homemade soup and sandwiches, before we said our farewells and headed a short distance along the road to Dalrymple.

Great to see Michael again this afternoon and his N reg MGF 1.8 mpi. This time the car was in need of a hydragas pump up and replacement of the front discs and pads. The discs put up quite a fight and required a bit of persuasion with the lump hammer! Glad to have this done for Michael and also the provision of the neighbours barn to work in as it was a bit on the soggy side with the weather.

We’re now tucked up in our digs, this evening, where we will be for the next four nights. It’s absolutely chucking it down now, hoping it will ease by the morning.

Found out yesterday that ‘sky-hooks’ do actually exist! – https://ift.tt/DXrs2qI

On our way back home now on a very busy M62 following our annual visit to Cuddington, Northwich for work on Steve’s very well cared for 2001 Trophy (paint code FAR).

On the list this time was oil change, brake fluid change, alternator belt, trace a very slight coolant loss and replace the engine-bay coolant-pipes with stainless. Steve had supplied the coolant pipes and on removal of the old ones we discovered that they were the wrong ones for this model. On this Trophy it was a non-oil cooler version that were needed. So a call to Jason at MGTastic on the off chance he had any in, and thankfully yes he had one set in stock, thanks Jason! So Steve nipped over there to pick them up while we got cracking with the other bits.

Stainless engine-bay pipes duly fitted only to discover that the thermostat housing was leaking, so we swapped this out with a new one from our stock. Coolant filled back up again and no more leaks. So he’s all set for the summer to enjoy runs out with his club.

Thanks to Steve and Sue for their warm welcome and fab hospitality as always.

We did manage a couple of days off over the Easter weekend. Though on Saturday we went over to Spilsby for the annual visit on Denis’s also very well cared for Stepspeed (in paint code MBB) This time what was required was the minor service, replacement of the heater resister pack and repair of the heater control dial. Lovely to see Denis as always and have a chat before heading home. We did have another call initially in Grimsby to make, but the owner had cut his losses and had got rid of the car.

Jon carried out the cambelt service on the interim van, as that was due, plus it now looks like that is going to be our mode of transport for our Scotland trip, starting at the end of the week, as the engine is still in transplant stage on the trusty steed. – https://ift.tt/VPy1vTS

Our first call yesterday morning found us in Leeds, where it was great to see Graham and his Mk I ‘96 MGF 1.8 in paint code HAM.

Graham had got in touch to see if we could replace the clutch, as he was experiencing a problem with the pedal. On investigation we found that there was a lot of free-play on the pedal, which was due to the clevis pin on the master-cylinder being very worn. This we replaced and also bled the system through with fresh clutch fluid. So, a bit of a result for Graham and a slightly easier morning for us.

After a chat we headed on our way over to Pudsey, where it was good to meet Gary and his 2001 Trophy in paint code JFV, which was sitting a little low and needed a hydragas pump up. The cambelt service is due, so a date is booked in for Gary to bring the car over to us at the workshop, in a few months time, and we look forward seeing him again.

An early start this morning for a further visit to Woolston, near Coventry, where it was lovely as always to see Bill and his MGF VVC. Bill had bought a stainless steel back-box, so we fitted this for him along with a homoligated CAT, that we had taken down with us. Great to hear from him later in the day to say that it looked great and sounded fruity, what a fab description! Pleased to have got this done for him on his pride and joy.

On the way back north we called in to Harthill, where it was lovely to meet Tony and his V reg MGF 75th Anniversary, in Mulberry, that had recently been misbehaving.

The symptoms were a random misfire, on code-reading several codes came up, of which none of them were really relevant, these were cleared and didn’t reoccur. There was a bit of a rusty connection on one of the coil-pack HT leads, so we cleaned up all of the coil-pack connections, and reset the ECU to learning mode.

Tony’s going to see how it goes, the coil-pack may have an issue, in which case he’ll come for a run out to us at the workshop, as he would like to get the speedo-cable replaced too.

Hope everyone can enjoy the long weekend where possible, and Happy Easter to all. It may not be top-down weather, but hoping it’s good enough for some enjoyable runs out. – https://ift.tt/anByzqo