Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rootes75]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/car-sos-host-fuzz-townshend-backs-decision-over-new-mot-rule-proposals/ar-BB1hQAtq?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=eba176c3200843cf8e70164f32350995&ei=21
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[bjacko]

MOT's (RWC in Aus) are a waste of money and time. Firstly there are very few accidents due to faults in cars that an MOT would have found. Most of the faults found are usually just relatively minor faults.
We do not have regular MOT tests in Victoria only for second hand cars prior to sale and there are very few if any accidents due to faults. There are some unscrupulous dealers who will not pay for defects found during an MOT and the MOT tester still passes them as OK. There are also people who get their car stickered as unroadworthy due to bald tyres by the police and they go home borrow a set of wheels with good tyres from a friend, fit them, get the car declared roadworthy, go home and refit the original bald tyres!
There are others who get a car fit for a roadworthy and after being declared roadworthy take it home and make it unraodworthy by fitting unlawful equipment!
Just money in the pocket of "mechanics".
Fortunately most of us are responsible drivers who check their cars regularly.
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1938 Morris 8 Ser II Coupe Utility (Pickup)
1985 Rover SD1 VDP

[Keith D]

We are lucky. Western Australia only requires inspections when a vehicle is first registered or when relicenced if the rego was allowed to expire. My Austin A40 was last over the pits in 1976 when I brought it into WA from Victoria. That, and all my vehicles are kept in full roadworhty condition without a public servant trying to justify his existance.
Almost all road accidents here are caused by driver error. As I suspect it is in every first world country.
I completely agree with bjacko regarding RWCs being a waste of money and time.

Keith
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1926 Chrysler 60 tourer
1932 Austin Seven RN long wheelbase box sedan
1950 Austin A40 tourer
1999 BMW Z3
Its weird being the same age as old people.
You are either part of the problem or part of the solution

[Ray White]

As a trainee mechanic I was given the job of M.O.T. tester's assistant. While it is true that most of the failures were for relatively minor faults, we got some really dangerous cars that should not have been on the road.

Not all owners know what to look for. One example I remember was a Morris Minor with badly worn trunnions. The car seemed to drive O.K. but it's front suspension could have collapsed at any moment. Having been in a Minor when this actually happened (albeit at a slow speed) I fear the consequences if it had been left unattended to.

[Keith D]

Modern motorists very rarely even lift the bonnet. Any problem whatsoever and the car is taken to the nearest professional workshop. Very few people would know what to look for with an electrical fault or even worse, computer malfunction.

Modern vehicles certainly don't lend themselves to home mechanics. A Morris Minor is similar to an old Holden in that you can actually get into the engine space to work on them. And they are so very simple to repair and to maintain.

Even changing wheels is beyond most drivers nowadays. Just get the RAC to do it for you. Summons them on your very convienient mobile phone. Why even get your hands dirty?

I'll confess that my 'modern' vehicles go into service centres for their servicing because I don't have a hoist. New cars are so low to the gound that getting underneath is a very difficult task.

We have very few vehicles on our roads that would appear to be unroadworthy. If anything is obviously wrong then our police have the authority to 'sticker' the car and it must then go over the police pits.

Keith
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1926 Chrysler 60 tourer
1932 Austin Seven RN long wheelbase box sedan
1950 Austin A40 tourer
1999 BMW Z3
Its weird being the same age as old people.
You are either part of the problem or part of the solution

[mikeC]

[alastairq]

Morris Minors also belong to the start of an age where owners of cars started to view those cars as 'white goods'.....and took just about as much interest in them!
I agree wholeheartedly with bjacko, Keith D, et al.....concerning the realities of [MoT] testing....
As such, the issue in the Uk is that the MoT is relied upon far too heavily by far too many users of motor vehicles.
I think the phrase, ''abdication of responsibility'' is appropriate here?

It is symptomatic of society here in almost every aspect.

Even a failure to possess a valid MoT test [in the UK] on a vehicle is hardly the end of the world... a fixed penalty notice, tis all, much like a parking fine.

Not having a valid MoT doesn't mean a vehicle isn't roadworthy...Far from it...!

Having a valid MoT doesn't mean a vehicle is currently roadworthy, either!

Plus, in the UK, there are lots of lawful reasons why a vehicle can be driven on the public roads whilst not having an MoT, when the law requires it to have one, normally!

Plus, there are a multitude of vehicle types using the UK's public roads,where there is no lawful requirement to have a valid MoT!

[Including, I believe, Police cars??? Or the Army!!]}

There is so much media-driven hoo-haa about 'lack of MoT testing, etc'...that folk lose sight of the realities!
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Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[alastairq]

Incidentally, on the topic of ''collapsed'' front suspension....bringing it into the present, and more reality, I have seen a number of sprungo-collapsoes by the roadside in recent years....nearly all of which were Fords, for some reason?
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Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[Ray White]

I gave the Morris Minor as just one example of the relatively few dangerous cars that I saw as an M.O.T testers assistant.

Another was a fiat van (I can't remember the model) which had been taken to a local garage to have a broken front coil sprig replaced. What had happened was the mechanic had been unable to dismantle the suspension because it had rusted sold. As a remedy, a wishbone had been cut through; the spring replaced then welded up again. The owner was non the wiser but the M.O.T tester failed it for good reason.

[alastairq]

[Rootes75]

All of our small testing stations round here have gone, a few of the owners I've got to know quite well over the years. The computer systems now involved were one of the major reasons for most of them to finally give it up.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Penman]

I had an 1100 which dropped front wheel like the Minors. I have also had coil springs fail, right down in the bottom "Cup" (no noticeable ride height effect) which weren't noticed by MoT testers.
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Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[MikeEdwards]

[Ray White]

One thing about Minis and 1100s that often got overlooked in the Test was the steering column universal joint that can work itself loose. Hidden from view under the carpet this is my first safety check. I have often found the clamp to be in need of tightening; this can lead to serious wear of the splines. The result can be a sudden loss of steering at any speed.

I have only experienced this happen once (while manoeuvring) but have no desire to repeat the experience.

[Keith D]

Members of this forum who have fully restored their car, (and I mean fully restored, not just repainted it), will be the experts on that type of vehicle. Not some eighteen year old bag of pimples with a computer.

The restoration will have hit the family budget pretty hard and the restorer will have spent many hours of his/her life working on it, probably in an unheated garage (or in our case an uncoolled workshop). There is no way in the world that he/she will risk a mishap due to lack of maintainance or general care.

I am not a motor mechanic and don't profess to be one. However I do see myself as an expert with my Austin Seven and A40. Also my Chrysler as I have fully restored all these vehicles over the years. My BMW is original and I have done very little work on it, so I keep a special eye on it and keep it regularly serviced and loved by professional BMW experts. If I deciided to eventually restore the car, then I would very soon put myself on a thorough learning curve.

Folk who have completed a full restoration of their car should have a lot more justified confidence in their own abilities and knowhow with their own particular car, rather than rely on someone not even born when their car was.
For example, we only have to look at our own Ray White. I am sure that there are very few peope in the UK that know more about T series MGs, as he has done so much research and restoration on his. IMHO, an inspiration for us all.

Keith
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1926 Chrysler 60 tourer
1932 Austin Seven RN long wheelbase box sedan
1950 Austin A40 tourer
1999 BMW Z3
Its weird being the same age as old people.
You are either part of the problem or part of the solution