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There is now a draft of the revised MOT standards (expected to come into force Jan 2012) available at: www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/publications/consultationsandresearch/consultationpapers/consultationpapers.htmIt mostly affects drivers of newer cars but there are some changes that could affect older stuff as well: * Battery insecure is back as a fail, as well as battery leaking electrolyte * All visible wiring to be inspected for security and damage * Balljoint dust covers damaged to be a fail * Inappropriate repair or modification to any part of vehicle that might affect roadworthiness * Chafing and damage to fuel pipes and hoses to be a fail * Brake fluid warning lamps (where fitted) either illuminated or faulty to fail * Door open warning lights (where fitted) to fail if not working * Deteriorated engine mounts to be a fail * ALL seats (including rear) to be checked for security * Driver's seat adjustment (fore / aft) must work and lock in position - stuck in a single position will fail! * All doors (inc rears) to be checked for opening and closing - rears must open from outside, fronts from inside and outside. * Speedometer clearly not working, glass or dial missing or damaged to the point reading is impaired to be a fail * Speedometer illumination not working to be a fail * Towbar electrics to be checked visually and, if a 13 pin euro socket, tested electrically
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Not putting up the original fail items isn't giving people the whole story is it? say for example your failure list included a leaking brake pipe and a poor pedal the brakes wouldn't be roller tested on the initial test, so would have to be on retest, hence the faults coming to light then. And a gaiter clip can pop at any time, especially if you're messing about in the vicinity replacing bearings and balljoint. Fair play on the fuel pump but you're implying the tester hasn't done his job properly when perhaps he has. This. For a retest they have to test the failed items and any other items that might have been affected by the repairs. So, for example, if your brakes were ok on the first test but you had to replace a road spring then they would need to retest the brakes if the spring replacement would have involved disconnecting a calliper. Without knowing what the original fails were there's no way of knowing how they might relate to the new ones. Also, the VOSA rules are quite clear that, if extra faults are found during a retest (even a partial one) then the car fails. That's not the tester's decision, it's the rules of the MOT scheme. For the fuel pump a securely tie-wrapped pump would pass without a problem - the fail is for being insecure, not for how it's secured. But have you had something in the boot that's knocked it and loosened the ties in the meantime? Finally, you really shouldn't need to "get to a rolling road" to set a carb up to MOT standards but, if it's a pre-booked appointment for work to rectify an MOT fault (ie: booked in to get the emissions sorted, not to have it race tuned) then you're allowed to drive to it without MOT. Just be aware that the inefficient handbrake and low effort from the rear brakes are very likely to classify the car as in a dangerous condition if you're pulled over or anything happens. Even if where there's an exemption from MOT (to get work done etc) it's still an offence to drive a car in a dangerous state! edited to add: Looking at your sig block, is the the Riley or the XR3i? If it's the Riley then there's no emissions apart from a visual smoke test and, if it's the XR3i then there isn't a carb to set up (clue's in the "i" )
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Ok, not very far and certainly not very fast, but she's moved under her own power for the first time since the 70s ;D She's also leaking oil, hence the several missing bits round the front end
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Just for your information, when viewing the General board, the thread title reads: "Stepdaughter kills 199..." Have to say I was a little disappointed when I actually clicked on it. You haven't seen her driving - there's still time........ Went over to have a look at all that foreign technology stuff this evening and it doesn't look all that bad as far as I can guestimate. The MIL is acting as it should (comes on with ignition, goes off after 2 seconds) and the flashy light under the carpet was only showing a front lambda sensor error (guessing that would be pretty normal if it hadn't warmed up on the last run?) which cleared without a problem. It now gives a single fast blink as the ignition's turned on and then stays off. So I guess that means the ECU is probably ok? The battery is cranking it over like a new one, all fuses are ok and there's no sign of overheating in any of the visible electric string. So hopefully the el-cheapo "emergency pack" jump leads took the bulk of the damage there. A It does have fuel, which is petrol, and at least I know now that the gauge works. But it still doesn't start because there's no spark. Seen a couple of posts elsewhere that suggest that the big black coil pack thingumy lump on distributor is a known failure on these so hopefully it's as simple as that. Think she can pay for a garage to diagnose further - at least she's unlikely to be paying for diagnosis of death
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Have you tried replacing the stepdaughter? If you remember, we did try to give her away but she was sent back under warranty Oh, and Sian says BAD Onne ;D Cheers for the suggestions so far - looks like it's a case of go and look. Anyone know if there's a way to read fault codes on these without a reader (I know the later ones can be flashed out on the MIL)?
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I guess the only thing you can do is go and check it... Take a plug lead off. Take a spare plug and see if your getting spark, Check to see if the pump is priming... Chuck some more fuel in incase shes lieing or its on a slope and cant drag it up... the usual... Oh and give her BF a slap and tell him not to touch it. Already told. In fact, this might explain some of the peculiar things that "just happened" to her Daf since they've been together - like the timing suddenly advancing itself 10 degrees while the points gap hadn't changed, but "no-one had touched it"
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Not sure on the gauge - she says it doesn't move on a tenner but hasn't "got around to" putting more in to see if it moves then. She also has a habit (that we've tried to break) of running everywhere on fumes. No problem in her old Daf but not such a good idea in newer stuff!
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They might be lucky and not have damaged anything (I'm guessing the Ka has survived), so it might just be whatever caused it to "conk out" in the first place. The KA seems to have survived, although smoke was seen from both ends. Could even have just been the jump leads smoking for all I know (they really are not good at describing anything technical - "conked out" is about as tech as it gets). But they're 20 miles down the road and I don't really want to drive over to look without some idea ahead of time what I might need to be looking at. Also, she says she put a can of fuel in "just in case" when it stopped but that didn't get it going. Does running out of fuel in one of these have the same risk as in old diesels I've owned that the injectors might need priming to get it started? To say I'd laugh if it turned out that he'd fried it just because she'd run out of petrol is a bit of an understatement
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That's a cheerful start to the replies ;D
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No, not suggestions of what to do with her - it's her car so her tough luck. But I'm probably going to get roped into looking at the thing sometime and I don't really do modern stuff on principle. So..... Got a text off her yesterday saying that it had "conked out". I strongly suspect (although she denies) that she'd run out of fuel. She'd done the same less than a week ago and a can in the tank got it going again happily. Oh, plus she's only had the car 2 weeks This time, her twunk of a bf decided that jump starting might help. I don't even know if the battery was flat by this point - neither are very good at describing technical subtleties like "it wasn't turning over" or "it was turning over but not firing". So he connected the leads up to his mum's KA. Nothing happened. So - and this is the good bit - he changed the connections round in case they were the wrong way. At this point they didn't turn the ignition on and stopped as soon as the smoke started escaping from the wires (I thought only 70s Lucas stuff did that ). They decided that probably means they haven't damaged much, and BF is insisting he didn't do anything wrong Would have loved to be a fly on the wall when she got off the phone to me ;D Like I say, I don't really do moderns but I'm happy enough with electrics generally. So, any thoughts on the likely damage? It's a Honda engine fwiw. I'm assuming alternator and check for loom damage as a minimum, but what about all that newfangled ecu / sensors rubbish? Any way to check them before starting to buy bits for a car she might not be able to afford to fix?
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Productive day today I'd had a problem with the front engine mounting bar not lining up when I went to fit the engine late yesterday, so left it overnight to see if it made more sense today. In the clear light of day the mounting bar problem was solved quickly enough - having taken it off and compared to a spare one, the problem was pretty obvious. This is the o/s ends lined up: And this is the n/s without moving them: There was a huge bend in the bar! Considering it was like that while it was on the car (there's no way I've subjected it to that sort of force in the workshop!) it's a bit of a mystery how it happened but a quick paint and fit of the other bar got it sorted easily enough, resulting in this ;D Fully connected, except for the heater cables because the end fell off one as I went to connect it so have to get a couple of bike cables as replacements. Tried cranking her over (no petrol in the tank) and the oil light goes out reassuringly after about 4 or 5 seconds at cranking speed, which must be good! Now a view of the back - can y'tell what's new yet? Yes, all that pipe I bought a few weeks back has been melted together like this: and fits nicely under her like this: It's currently missing one rubber loop from the centre mount and I have to make up a rear mount because the original clamped to the tiny original tailpipe and won't fit on this. The original tail was about 3/4 inch diameter where it came out of the rear resonator - that's one restriction that just had to go! Having got that fitted up, there was only one thing to do - steal some fuel from one of the semi-dead cars down there (with the owner's assistance so it wasn't really stealing) and see what happens. We managed to collect about 1 1/2 litres so put most in the tank and a little dribble in the carb. The battery's taken a bit of a hammering over the past week or so but, on a worryingly slow cranking speed, she fired! She then moved. In my enthusiasm I'd forgotten to check she was in neutral and she jumped backwards about 6 inches! Luckily, the engine died almost as fast as it fired cos I don't think I would have reacted fast enough to avoid driving her backwards into a wall from my perch on the floor. Which would have been awfully embarrassing to have to report..... Trying again with her in neutral, there seems to be a fairly heavy vibration which might be prop balance or exhaust or (possibly) the little nylon bushes that the primary slides on at the front end. One of these has disintegrated as I was adjusting the belts, which drops the input shaft for the transmission slightly and might cause alignment problems seeing as the prop has no UJs. Something else to add to the endless list Anyway, to sum up the day, Matilda has her engine in, her exhaust fitted and has (accidentally) moved under her own power for the first time since 1978 ;D
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Mar 28, 2011 22:12:32 GMT
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Is it me or does this look a lot like a Renault 14? No, not just you. I would love another R14 after my old Enterprise ("She cannae take much more, Captain")* finally died about 15 years ago! So, 14 looks and Daf-style 2-pot charm, I think I may have found a future project....... * that was written across her rear hatch in gold script after she passed her final MOT, beside the brass "Dexion" badge that came off the shelving I'd used to rebuild her torsion bar mounts. Then I cut a hole and fitted a sunroof
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Mar 28, 2011 21:50:52 GMT
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Mar 27, 2011 20:22:31 GMT
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Thanks Elmo Had a bit of a problem today when I found some (quite a lot) of the primer had gone over unkeyed topcoat so the flatting was a bit more aggressive and a bit longer than I'd expected. But I cheered myself up by taking one of the doors and doing this to it: It's not perfect (slight peel and a light bloom) but it'll polish up fine and I'm happy seeing as it's the first time I've driven a proper spray gun in about 19 years! Finally got to see the true colour as well - it wasn't easy to get the camera to register it right but this one (without flash) is pretty close: Which looks very close indeed to the original un-faded stuff from under the back seats, which is good
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Mar 26, 2011 23:45:17 GMT
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Nearly there (well, nearly to paint anyway). Finished off the rectification over the past couple of days and got her into primer today. The only thing is, she'd been resprayed in the past and the colour was slightly light. Cutting back through the paint it turns out that the original was sprayed over red primer but the respray was done over white. I only had white primer available but wanted closer to the original colour, so have tried a little improvisation courtesy of the guy who makes poly bushes next door. "Borrowed" some red pigment and started stirring: and sprayed that on the passenger door as a test panel last night. There was still some slight rectification to do along the bottom edge, so sanding it all off again if it didn't work wasn't a real problem: Went down today and it had hardened properly and seemed to sand well, so the car is now pretty in pink waiting for flatting tomorrow and (hopefully) topcoat on Monday. Pretty pleased with the door repair on the driver's side, just hope it looks as good when it's shiny Don't think I'll make my self-imposed deadline for completed and driving by 1st April but it shouldn't be far off......
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Mar 23, 2011 22:55:06 GMT
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Five days later and she's starting to actually look like she's moving in the right direction. Is it just me, or does that initial stage of grinding big holes in "looks good at a distance" paint always feel like you're going backwards even though you know it's a step forwards??? Anyway, she now looks like this, with all the rusty bits I could find ground back, rust treated, then ground back again after the converter had a chance to work overnight and etch primed: I'm also most of the way through repairing the driver's door, which had rusted to detachment at the bottom edge: (spare door, also rotted at the bottom): Mark out door to be saved: Spot replacement metal in place: Form bottom fold: More spots to firm it all up: and a little filler: A final skim on the door, de-rust and etch prime both doors and final check for defects, then she should be getting normal primer on Friday ready for hand flatting (hopefully) on Saturday. Oh, and the DVLA have reactivated her "void" record so she now show up on an online status check. Hopefully that means a V5 should be here soon Just for the record, we now know that her last tax ran out on 30th April 1978 so her hibernation has been all but 33 years. It's kind of nice to think that I was a 10 year-old with no when she was last road legal edited to add: Just did a quick search online, and I know this is dated '76 but I'm in there (somewhere) and it gives an idea of how long it's been ;D Edited again to add: Just for the record, this was me after crawling out from cleaning the floor-pan. Yes, it really has been that long ;D
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Mar 18, 2011 19:57:41 GMT
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Well, there's more to report from Anglesey Daf (there are now unofficial Daf centres in Derbyshire, Essex, South Wales and Anglesey - at this rate the club will have more outlets than the old dealer network ;D ) The brake plumbing got held up a bit by a problem with the bulkhead-mounted vacuum valve leaking air: This valve uses brake line pressure to divert engine vacuum to the transmission to force a down-change when the brakes are applied. It has a piston with a cup seal which was sealing fine under pressure from the brakes but leaking air back into the brake system as the pressure relaxed. It's a 10mm piston and couldn't find a seal anywhere, so a bit of rethinking was needed. Adding an O ring in a groove behind the existing seal seemed worth trying: And she now has fully working, successfully bled, brakes That let me finish assembling stuff round the engine bay to give her steering (with a rebuilt rack) and front suspension. She's also sitting back on her wheels with a nice new set of tyres: So yesterday bodywork started with a little light digging at the various bubbles on the bonnet with a flap wheel: And removing the rear side windows: Today was helped by our workshop's landlord fishing into a corner and bringing out a DA sander. I've always been just a little sniffy about these as just a lazy way to "save some effort" but I'm now 100% convinced because of the time saving! Started off by going over the bits of the bonnet I'd de-rusted in order to feather the paint edges. That took about 10 minutes: So then I spent another 10 feathering the n/s wing that I'd rust treated before Christmas. There was another side to that which I'd been looking forward to finding out - just how well had the etch primer protected the metal over 3 wet months? The answer was - very well indeed! I also found a couple of spots I'd missed so ground them back and rust treated while getting on with the next bit - grinding out any bubbles from the scuttle: Obviously, that carried on round to the o/s wing which also got ground out and a healthy dose of Kurust: At this point I decided that I couldn't really do the scuttle justice while the screen was in place, so peeled out the (solid aluminium!) seal trim: Breath was then firmly held while the screen itself came out: Which allowed me to remove the fairly sorry looking dash top. Not quite sure what the plan of attack is on this but I'm sure I'll think of something before the screen goes back ;D There was also the problem of the rear edges of the wings, which you can't really get to with the doors on. So: which allowed me to get in to do this: More door removal and DA action followed on the o/s and around the screen surround: And a skim fill was applied to the areas of the bonnet that needed it: That was all for today, with the filler hardening overnight, but I don't think it's bad progress for about 3 hours. Hopefully by tomorrow she'll be primed as far as the bulkhead - about 1/3 of her done in 2 days if I'm successful
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Ok, for whatever the opinion of a Daf owner's worth. Hate moderns (if it ain't got a carb it's modern....), especially hate Corsas and anyone who "customises" them.
BUT, absolutely love this car - custom like it was meant to be. Individual, unique (note - adding the same Halfrauds crepe as everyone else does not make your car unique!) and done well. Sod the car, seeing yoof showing real individuality like this has changed my whole Daily Mail outlook on the future ;D
Don't push it to the lakes, btw - that'd be going down the "same ole' same ole'" route with something that stands on its own!
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Paul's has got the uprated 844cc engine with sportier cam and bigger valves - but it's also heavier and driven by Paul ( ), so should be a fair match when they finally meet up
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She's on 17878 miles - so about 406 miles a year over her lifetime. Think that qualifies her for "one owner, low mileage" status ;D I'm a bit curious what will show up on the V5 when we get it. She's never been on their books so they'll have no record of previous owners - so will that make me her first registered keeper or will they put one previous (unknown)? If I show as the first then I'll have owned a car before I was born
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