Inspection before MOT

M

Mike6

Senior member
A few facts
1. I am retirement age, so no spring chicken
2. As soon as I was out of nappies I had a set of spanners in my hand so like to think I am reasonably competent- infact must be decades ago that I last let a mechanic near any car i have owned.
3.I have owned the 2.5 SE (55000 miler) for almost a year and like most of the other sports cars I have owned they are purely for weekend use.

Ok so have done the complete service stuff which was fairly straightforward ready for the MOT. Decided today it was time to check out and inspect the underside of the car, suspension etc. Also I wanted to paint the calipers red (still a bit of the boy racer in me!), spray up any corrosion spots particularly brake pipes with lithium grease (doesnt wash off), change the wheel centres and upgrade to higher efficiency headlight bulbs. For an 11 year old car must say the Zed is a very well screwed together car and apart from a slight cracking of rubber bush ends and the odd bit of surface rust on the struts I couldnt find anything which would suggest the car will have any problems at the MOT station.
All in all a good days work and feeling very pleased with my purchase one year ago. Also remembered to put a few blobs of brake grease around the hub to make it easier to remove the wheels next time.
And the red calipers, they look the business and may help the car go faster- Eastbourne here we come in the morning..
 
Car passed its MOT and my friendly but strict tester spent 90 minutes going over everything in fine detail - with me under the car. All the usual problem areas like brake pipes were in perfect condition but he did pick up on the manifold to exhaust joint which is in a vulnerable position. There was hardly anything left just a swollen lump of rust and what once would have been nuts and bolts. He said the garage would not touch it but he gave me the address of a good local bespoke exhaust fabricator who would probably be able to do something.
I have looked up the threads on this subject and it seems a common problem but pictures I have seen suggest mine is in a far worse condition. Has anyone else experience this severe problem and what did you end up doing.
Thanks
 
Hi Mike, some have been able to just replace the nuts&bolts after removing what's left of the originals, if it's beyond that I think stainless repair colletts/flanges are available on eBay.
Rob
 
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