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Hi all, just wondered whether there anybody has some advice about some MOT pre-checks that I could perform on my Spitfire 1500 prior to taking it to be tested. I am not aware of any obvious problems with the car like electrical faults. The brakes have been recently refurbished and the car has been tuned so that emissions should not be a problem. The only areas that concern me as they have not been checked since the previous MOT are the steering and suspension and the chassis.

I have been under the car too many times to mention and have never noticed any worrying areas with rot on the chassis rails or our-riggers so I presume the best thing I can do is check for play in the steering, ball joints and the like and keep my fingers crossed!

Has anybody got a check-list of things to look into?

Many thanks for any words of wisdom.

Regards, Neil

First of all find a sympathetic MOT garage who are used to classics,no matter where it is.
I drive 15 miles to my tester 'cos he is used to all the area cars and classic wedding cars etc.
Thats the main tip !!

Regarding my MK3:-
Trunnions front and rear
Ball joints
Steering rack
Whl brgs

then the brakes
Check for cyl leaks with drums off
Taking up slack etc

then the obvious
Electrics,wipers etc

Emissions? 1968 ,never been checked,smoke free !

Then if the body is sound ,with a friendly garage man ,preferably with a wooly hat and glasses , you should be ok

Mike

Had three tests in consecutive years with nothing to do

Well I got back from NZ and took the car in and it passed with flying volours so I was very relieved. There were two advisories, exhaust leaking at joints which they have remedied and a slight brake imbalance. I am well chuffed and hope to enjoy another year of Spitfire fun. Total bill Â£71.00 including the MOT test charge! I'm going to go for a pint to celebrate!

Cheers, Neil

Firstly:

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual/contents.htm

Check anything obvious... indicators, horn etc etc - check it before you leave it with them too - mine had a huge fail sheet last time due to the top fuse coming disconnected... in fac the fail sheet was rather grim - but then I did have a total pratt doing the test... it took me an hour to sort everything on the list...

One thing to remember is that you get a free retest within 2 weeks... SO why not just let the MOT man do his job and tell you? If you have a spare two weeks then you can do all the minor bits and bobs - anything needing more attention is going to take some time anyway... and the last of your worries is going to be the cost of the test...

James

Thanks Michael and James, I am taking the car to my local classic friendly garage for the test. They have done some work on the car for me in the past with more than satisfactory results and reasonable bills. The owner has a Triumph Stag which is in the middle of what looks like a fairly extensive rebuild and they often have other Triumphs and some MGs (!!) dotted around.

I have no electrical problems currently with the car (ie) the horn, wash/wipe, lights (etc) are all functioning as they should. The tyres are road legal and I expect that the only areas of possible concern will be suspension/steering/chassis oriented or at least that is what I think!

I would expect that if the car fails I will put things right and go for a retest or get them to action the repairs if they are beyond my meagre capabilities. Suspension bushes, ball-joints, steering rack, trunnions (etc) I might well leave to them if they are areas that are listed on the fail sheet. I should not be so pessimistic though.

I do not believe that there are any rust issues with the body or sills.

I will keep you posted as the crunch time approaches. The test is not until early March but I am preparing now as I go to New Zealand for 3 1/2 weeks soon and take the car in to test the day after I return!

Thanks again for your words of wisdom.

Regards, Neil

James,
Thank you for that useful link to MOTUK. Mostly very clear; however, are you able to interpret this bit, please:

SEction 1.1 Re: Position lamps [AKA sidelights?]
"This inspection applies to: all vehicles, except those which either have no front or rear position lamps or have such lamps permanently disconnected, painted over or masked that are
. only used during daylight hours, and
. not used at times of seriously reduced visibility.

If this situation occurs, the vehicle presenter should be issued with an advisory notice recording the above and it should also be recorded on the carbon copy of the VT20."

Does this mean that if you have no front sidelights, never fitted any to a GRP bonnet, the worst the inspector can do is isssue a warning, and NOT fail the car?
John

John,

At a guess, it sounds to me that it's one of those "if you don't have, you can't fail" ones - like the spare wheel...

I know there's not much space John, but I really think you should fit a passenger seat in your car... I'd pay money to be in that car and see it terrorise boy racers and the like...

James

Correct,if you don't have ,it cant' fail.
Eg;no hazard lamps in MK3's
In the case of our Westfield ,no reverse lamps !
(ever seen reverse racing round Binbrook ?)

Mike

Section : General

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