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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland trip – August 2025 – days 6-10 of 10…

Continuing on with our trip, we left our digs in Abington and headed over to Biggar, where it was good to see Mike, as always, for the minor service on his 2004 TF 135, in British Racing Green. From there, we headed along the road to Carluke, for a gearbox-oil and engine-oil change on Bob’s Trophy. Initially booked in for an air intake system, found when we removed the cover he already head a ITG cold air induction in situ. So need to replace that as it’s one of the better ones.

We then went on to Airdrie, where we spent the night and then set off, on Thursday morning, over to Falkirk. The first call of the day was on a 2004 TF 135, in xpower grey. Great to meet Stewart who had booked it in on behalf of his son Josh. The car had developed a few issues in his short ownership with coolant loss etc and they just wanted to it get it sorted and give him peace of mind driving.

Head gasket replaced and cambelt service carried out. The expansion tank was showing signs of stress, so this was swapped out, new alternator belt and coolant cap and the cars good to go we’re pleased to say.

From there, we went a few miles along the road, where it was great to see Craig again and ‘Tiffany’ his 2002 TF 115, that was originally green, but is now silver. He’d found that the window regulators were being a bit slow so had bought two new ones along with new side windows, so these were all replaced for him, along with new windscreen surround rubbers. After doggy fusses with the lovely Marlow we were on our way to head further north, to Aberdeen for the next couple of nights.

Our call, on Friday morning, took us over to Bieldside, where it was lovely to meet Sandy and Trish. Their very well travelled 2002 TF 135, in Platinum silver, was in need of the cambelt service. Plus we also replaced the under-floor coolant-pipes with a stainless set. They’ve owned the car now for 17 years and enjoyed many adventures in it, we wish them many more.

On Saturday morning we went a little further north to Inverurie where it was good to see Paul again and his 1998 Mk I MGF in Tahiti blue. Head gasket replacement carried out, along with replacing the over the gearbox support arm, we’d taken one with us as this had been a fail on his last MOT. All done there, we headed back south and on to our next and final stopover in Hawick.

After a short commute over to Denholm this Sunday morning it was lovely to meet Giles. He had been having some issues with an irregular tick-over on his 2004 TF 135, in Anthracite. His local garage had tried to sort it for him, but were scratching their heads. He got talking to another chap we know, Alastair, who recommended he got in touch with us.

Following our investigation and carrying out a diagnostics check it was found to be due to a number of issues; the forward Lambda sensor, which was very sooted up, heat damaged coil packs, the spark plugs were a bit aged and black, the garage had capped off the idle air control valve, so we fitted another along with a replacement maps sensor, plus the throttle position sensor had been tinkered with. All-in-all the car is now running a lot smoother. Giles can now take it for its MOT, let’s hope it gets through on emissions and he can start to enjoy the car again.

From Denholm, we had a decent run through the borders and back into England for our very last call of the trip, in Bedlington, on Paul’s LE 500 (number 488), for the minor service and a gearbox oil change. Good to see Paul again and meet his lovely wife and beautiful puss Bob.

So we’re now on our way home and back to see our own lovely puss Binx. It’s been another full on and busy trip again, north of the border, but nonetheless a successful one with such amazing hospitality and friendly welcomes from everyone that we really do appreciate. Weathers been pretty good on the whole too. 🌞

We’ve had some really good digs, with only one very noisy night, last night, our fault for staying on a busy high street on a sunny Saturday! Too old and tired to join in! 🫠

1200+ miles, 15 cars, 7 hotels/B&Bs/guest houses and lots of tea and Tunnock’s! 🫖 Thanks Scotland, we will see you again! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 – https://ift.tt/e6lvbqn

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland – August trip 2025 – days 1- 5 of 10…

Following our drive up on Friday and stopovers in Ardrossan, we headed over to Glengarnock for work on some of Alan’s fleet on Saturday and Sunday.

Head gasket replacement and cambelt service carried out on his 2001 MGF 120 mpi ‘Bugsey’ who was being a little bit of a beggar. Only ever heating when stood at traffic lights, it passed all pressure tests. We’d already replaced the thermostat and the ECU temperature sensor on our last visit. Turns out that the head gasket had gone into cylinders 3 and 4, but once replaced it was better, but still not right. The only thing left was the possibility that the impeller on the water pump was slipping. Once water pump removed the impeller was fine, but the outlet hole to the block was full of old sealant! All now running as it should with fans coming on and off.

Alternator fitted, front bumper swapped, reverse-light switch fitted and one of the hood clamps drilled out and retapped on his 2003 TF 135 Sprite.

HT leads and coil packs replaced on his newest acquisition, a 2002 Mk I MGF 120, that we had last seen in May in Acharacle.

Front brake pads replaced on his 2006 TF 135 in Twilight.

Really great to see Alan and Andy as always and have good catch-ups. Plus cuddles with Mable aka Molly, but very sad not to see the lovely Brucie dog.

Monday was another busy day, we started on Paul’s 2004 TF 135 over in Twynholm, in the morning.

Underfloor coolant pipes replaced, minor service carried out, Kmaps remap put on and a check over. He’d bought it from Trophy cars last year and it’s a really good example. Great to hear stories that he’s been enjoying some runs out with the ‘MG Fun’ group up here.

Really great to meet Paul and Karen, big thanks to them for their warm welcome and fab hospitality.

From there we went over to Tongland where it was great to meet Paul, (sorry for the early wake up!) for a cambelt service on his fairly new acquisition of a 2004 TF 135. Fab to have doggy fusses with beautiful Holly dog. We look forward to seeing Paul next year, at the workshop, for some further work.

That brings us to today and our call in Coylton, this morning, following a departure from some very nice digs in Ayr.

Really lovely to see Colin and Hilda again for work on their year 2000 MGF VVC in Wedgewood. We’d gone supplied with a set of spheres as he was unsure if they required replacing, but the car still had plenty of bounce. Just needed a hyaragas top up. Plus he’d been experiencing some problems with the radiator fan, a local garage had put an override switch in, but it was still randomly overheating, especially when stuck in traffic. Following all our usual checks it could only be one thing, and it had gone to cylinder 1.

Head gasket replaced, when they’d fitted the override switch they’d made it that it was the only way to switch the fan on or off. Jon rewired it, so that it would use the correct engine sensor and also enabled to be overridden should it be needed.

What a lovely day, with lots of chat and lots of food and some sunshine thrown in too. Thanks both.

A very picturesque run over to our next digs, where we’re in Abington for the night, before heading on to the next calls of the trip tomorrow… – https://ift.tt/ljSk16F

Matlock, Eckington, Husthwaite, workshop and now en route to Scotland…

Another busy week full of all sorts. Gary had left his TF 135 with us from Billingham, for some further work. He and his son Liam had planned on replacing the wishbones, but didn’t have the time to do it with one thing and another. They were saved from what was an absolute beast of a job! One of the subframe bolts was already snapped off and another snapped off on removal, despite a load of heat on it. So these were drilled and tapped out. Many hours later new arms fitted, along with new drop links.

We went over to Eckington for the first call on Tuesday morning, where it was good to meet Dave and fairly new acquisition of a GTM Spyder that he was giving a new lease of life to. He wanted better throttle response and the engine to be a bit sharper, so asked us to remap it. Unfortunately, the wiring on the GTM wouldn’t allow us to read the map off the car, so the only option was to go back to the workshop and remap another 160 ECU and send it out by post to him, on an exchange basis.

Before heading back we went over to Matlock to program a spare key-fob for Stephen’s TF 135, he’d thought he’d lost his keys recently so thought it would be a good idea to have a spare just in case. Nice to meet him briefly and get this done for him.

We went over to Husthwaite on Wednesday where it was lovely to see Mark again, and his low mileage 1998 MGF (in British Racing Green – HAM) this time for the minor service and replacement of the underfloor coolant pipes. We look forward to seeing them next year.

Thursday morning and back at the workshop where it was lovely to see Sarah and Mik again, and their 1997 MGF 1.8 mpi (also in British Racing Green) for the minor service and to have the MOT carried out. The sun visor was broken on the the drivers side so this was replaced with one on stock. Thanks to Sarah for bringing us back some cake!

Van all stocked and packed to the gunwales with the kit needed for our next trip over the border.

So this morning we set off for 9 days in Scotland, with a couple of calls scheduled on the way back south at the end. Quite a few hold ups so far, so a steady plod to our digs in Ardrossan for the night. This is another chocker-block trip, with many bookings being made some months ago. I did very unfortunately forget about one chap, he’d been in touch back in November and I’d completely forgotten to add him on to the current list. I held my hands up and apologised for my mistake, only to have our customer service brought into question. Let’s hope that’s my only clanger on this trip!

We did have further troubles with our trusty steed this week too, which is also a worry ahead of a big trip. Our very kindly neighbour saw Jon with his head stuck in the engine bay one evening and came over to lend a hand for a few hours and even had the right part in his workshop to fix one of the issues, what a star. Fingers crossed we will have trouble-free motoring throughout Scotland over the coming week or so. Looking forward to seeing everyone and some new people too.

Have a great weekend everyone, near and far, and may the weather be clement. 😎 – https://ift.tt/9imRUhS

Tunstall, Harrogate, Bolton & workshop…

We got cracking bright and early on Monday morning to replace the heater matrix in Steve and Marie’s LE 500. It’s a long process especially with having aircon, but we got it all done and back together, car ran up to temperature. Then we took Ellie round to have four-wheel alignment carried out at the garage on site, following the recent rear subframe replacement. (Details on previous blog). New battery fitted and she’s all ready for Steve and Marie to collect on Saturday evening.

We went over to Tunstall on Wednesday, where it was lovely, as always, to see Mick and Sammy. Their 1999 MGF 75th anniversary (in Mulberry – CDM) was due for the cambelt service. Full service carried out, plus replacement of the clutch-master cylinder along with a flush through of the old black fluid. Car all set for its next adventure to Portugal later in the year.

Thanks to Mick and Sammy for their hospitality and the delicious jars of homemade chutney. Good to catch-up with them again.

From there we headed over to Harrogate as Karen had reported having trouble selecting gears on their year 2000 MGF 120 mpi (in Wedgewood – JBH). This we found to be due to the clutch-slave cylinder seals having blown. So we replaced this and bled through the old fluid.
Lovely to see Karen again, pleased to have them up and running again.

Today, Thursday, we headed over to Bolton, where it was lovely to meet Huw. His 2003 TF 135 (in Trophy Blue – JFV) had a suspected head gasket failure. The head gasket had been replaced twice in the past, and he was told it had gone again. Fortunately, for Huw, that wasn’t the case, the problem was due to a faulty expansion tank cap. The cambelt service was a year overdue so we carried this out for him, car ran up to temperature with the fans coming on and going off as they should. This was once Huw’s daily drive, having owned it from new. Now it’s just to be enjoyed on sunny days, so he’s looking forward to getting out and about in her again. Thanks to Huw for the cuppas, we look forward to seeing him again next year for some further work that we discussed.

Well we now have a couple of days off, well Jon has some further maintenance to do on the trusty steed tomorrow morning. Hope everyone has a good weekend near and far, where possible, not sure if the weather is looking too clever, but hopefully that may change. 🌞 – https://ift.tt/x439pvD

Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire & London…

It’s now Friday evening after our first week back at it, following our week away of some well needed R&R.

Tuesday morning found us on our first call of the day in Great Billing. Lee and Sue Pudney had asked if we could take a look at Sue’s 2002 TF 135 (in HFN – Le Mans Green with a green hood) as she was unsure whether to get it back on the road having been stood a while or maybe call it a day. It’s definitely one worth saving, so we’ve made a plan to get it back on the road. Lovely to see Sue again and have a catch-up.

From there we went on to Swanbourne, where it was good to see another Sue for work on her 2003 TF 135, also in HFN with a green hood. Minor service carried out, we’d gone armed with a new alternator, as it had been squealing recently, but had rectified itself and also a couple of issues with overheating, which we have put down to having a poor quality coolant cap on it. New pressure tested cap fitted, system bled and ran up to temperature with fans going on and off as they should.

With a stopover in North Marston we headed on to Aylesbury on Wednesday morning, for our first call of the day, where it was lovely to meet Richard and his year 2000 MGF Stepspeed (in Tahiti Blue – JRJ). CVT fluid change carried out, the strainers (oil filter) remain unavailable, despite our constant search to see if anyone is manufacturing them again. He’d also managed to get the car key stuck in the boot lock, we’d advised previously to try Plus Gas (other brands are available) to see if that would help, but to no avail. So Jon disassembled the lock barrel to find that a small piece of casing had broken off inside the lock. Once removed and put back together problem solved.

Next call of the day was just south of Wendover for work on Graham’s 2001 Mk I MGF 120 mpi (in Platinum – MNX). Nearside lower ball joint replaced, that proved to be an awkward beggar. Thermostat and housing replaced, as Graham had noticed a couple of times that the car had overheated. On removal of the housing it was found to be in two halves. The over the gearbox return valve was also completely blocked, so this was cleared. Car ran up to temperature without any further issues. Minor service also carried out. We’d last seen the car about 6 years ago to replace the head gasket. Didn’t see Graham this time.

A stop over in Knowl Hill for the night, and then headed on to Tilehurst near Reading for the first call on Thursday morning, where it was great to see Bill again, whom we’d last seen 6 years ago, for work on his 2004 TF 160 (in Nightfire Red – CBT).

Full cambelt service carried out, along with a gearbox oil change. Great to meet and have fusses with his fab woofer Boris this time.

The next call of the day was over in Woolton Hill, Newbury, where it was great to see Roger again and his 2011 TF 135 (a post LE run car, paint code 288). Minor service carried out and a chat about a few things he was curious about. After a good old chat we bid our farewells and headed on to our last digs of the week in Slough.

We got up bright and early to head over to the last call of the week between Edgeware and Finchley (just over the road from the Royal Airforce Museum, would have been great to have time for a visit). Here it was lovely to meet Luigi and his wife for work on their 2002 TF 160 (in xpower grey – LEF).

Underfloor coolant pipes replaced, lambda sensor replaced, handbrake adjusted, new battery fitted and passenger side window stops and adjustment repaired.

A bit of a long and hot haul back home on a Friday afternoon up the M1. But, it was a good first week back after our hols, with some really great people and their fab MGs.

The weather is looking good for the weekend, may everyone enjoy it where possible and get out and about. 😎 – https://ift.tt/9SW6sgh

RLR has some R&R…

A bit of different week last week, we decided at the very last minute to take ourselves off for a bit of a break. So we headed over to Rhodes for some sun. It’s been absolutely amazing, stayed just outside of Lindos, what a beautiful and interesting place.

While out there I kept on top of the admin with a couple of check-ins each day. Signal not always brilliant, but I think the majority of replies got through successfully. I shall spend tomorrow doing a bit of a catch-up.

We’ve got two days at home before we head off Tuesday morning for the next work trip away. Van all stocked and made ready for it before we left.

So it’s back to good old blighty and back to reality. Hope everyone’s having a great weekend, we had hoped to bring a bit of sunshine back with us! 🌞 – https://ift.tt/OW8rdDY

Rear subframe swap on an LE 500

Steve and Marie dropped off their LE 500 with us at the weekend along with a subframe that he’d sourced complete with all ancillaries. This one is number 108 of 500, paint code 107 and affectionately known as Ellie, that they’ve owned since new and that we last saw a number of years ago.

We had a call over in Worksop on Monday morning to start our week, where it was great to meet Darran, to carry out the head gasket replacement and cambelt service on his 2006 TF 160 (in Sunspot – IAC) that he’s owned since it was 3 years old. We had to resort to our Plan B due to the engine mount bolts not wanting to come undone. All other service items replaced and car now good to enjoy many more miles. Thanks to Darran for the supply of tea!

So we got cracking, with an early start, at the workshop on Tuesday morning to start work on Ellie’s subframe removal.

Whilst in with us, we carried out a minor service, replaced the rear brake lines, fitted two new front shocks, a new Mike Satur anodised three-way pipe connector as the LE ones are prone to snapping without warning.

The SRS was permanently on, this was found to be due to a faulty rotary coupler, so we replaced this with one on stock.

The under-tray was rather rotten so we fitted one of our galvanized ones that we painted up.

The exhaust flange on the CAT was just about rotten through, Stephen had sourced some of the new ones that Mike Satur has now developed, so Jon welded one of these into place.

We’re pleased to report after two long days hard graft she’s now all back up and running. Although, there is a slight caveat to that, when it came to running up to temperature and bleeding the system, the LEs have a different heater matrix, made of a very light alloy. When undoing the bleed screw the threads came out with the actual bleed screw.

As some of you know we’ve come across this before and the only way of sorting is to replace the heater matrix itself. Which, of course, in the case of aircon models involves a full days work stripping out the interior. We have temporarily fixed it, cutting over-sized threads into the hole and sealing with a rubber washer. We will put it on test further, hopefully this has resolved this as we never like to give disappointing news.

This is a lovely looking example and has enjoyed many miles and adventures aboard and to many car meets, it’s great that they’ve invested in her to have many more. We look forward to seeing them both on collection. – https://ift.tt/PDJHYNC

Another week spent mainly at the workshop…

On Monday morning we got cracking with the list of things to do on Ed’s 2002 TF 160 (in Trophy Blue – JFV) that he’d driven up in from Aylesbury on Saturday and left with us.

Full brake upgrade all round along with braided hoses and brake fluid flush, Mike Satur slick-shift fitted, clutch slave-cylinder fitted with clutch-fluid flush, gearbox oil, engine oil, spark plugs, grease grease points, Lambda sensor replaced and then a full underfloor treatment.

Richard came down from Newton Aycliffe to leave his 2004 TF 135 (in Starlight Silver – MBB) with us for discs and pads replace and a track rod end replacement.

We popped back up to North Shields to refit the rear window panel in Dave’s TF that had arrived back from Ireland, as his is a blue roof we’d left him with a temporary black one while his was repaired.

We got on well with Ed’s car so he was able to collect on Thursday, along with Richard. Glad that they had some decent weather to drive back home. Pleased to hear from both later that they’d enjoyed their runs back. We were supposed to be down in Lincoln yesterday on a fairly big job, but that was cancelled.

Bit of a shorter week as we had today (Friday) off. So now we’re just on our way back home after a lovely family day out in Sheffield, which has made a very refreshing change to our usual manic Friday.

We’re looking forward to seeing Stephen and Marie, on Sunday morning, when they come over to leave their LE 500 ‘Ellie’ with us for a few things.

Have a fab weekend everyone, near and far, bit of a mixed bag of weather, but hopefully it won’t dampen any gatherings! ☔️ ⛅️ – https://ift.tt/m2exZO5