Got an SVA date 26/8/04 - so decided to send it for an MOT before I go for the SVA. Booked it in to Western Road Garage, Shoreham, set of in the afternoon and noticed that the oil pressure was moving around a bit but got there just before it poured down. I parked up and left the car with the guys there for an MOT and quick check over. Got a call the next morning saying that there were a number of major problems with the car, namely, alternator had dropped and punctured the oil filter, the rear brake pipes were connected wrong, there was a water hose leak and a number of nuts/bolts were not tightened up. So limped home filling up the oil every couple of miles. Set about changing the alternator for a Daewoo Matiz (50A and very small), had to get work to make up a new bracket, re piped the rear brakes and went round tightening everything up. I also added a bit of edging to the lower edge of the dash, tied back as many pipes and cables as I could with tie wraps and fitted some carpet over the wiper motor.
SVA day arrived - drove over to Gillingham, speedo looked to be reading low, and had to stop a couple of times until I found that the rad fan was occasionally rattling when on (though it may be body work). Arrived and two Caterhams pulled up behind me. Following a lengthy test I had the following faults - Speedo was running low, headlamps needed adjusting, front brake flexi hoses needed moving to stop body work rub, rear brake pipes needed moving to stop rubbing on fuel tank, fuel filler needs a restrictor, now for the two big ones, failed emissions test (too rich) and I had a brake hose leak on the rear. Other than that everything else was OK. Stopped by Fishers to discuss the test and to see what I needed doing. Fuel pipes are a small job (rear joint needs re-flairing and then tightening up), Speedo needs to be sent back to ETB for re-calibration, and Mark suggested I look for either an exhaust leak or the lambda sensor is duff. I'll need to checkout the engine bits first I think.
So generally not too bad a result although it was fail.
SVA day arrived - drove over to Gillingham, speedo looked to be reading low, and had to stop a couple of times until I found that the rad fan was occasionally rattling when on (though it may be body work). Arrived and two Caterhams pulled up behind me. Following a lengthy test I had the following faults - Speedo was running low, headlamps needed adjusting, front brake flexi hoses needed moving to stop body work rub, rear brake pipes needed moving to stop rubbing on fuel tank, fuel filler needs a restrictor, now for the two big ones, failed emissions test (too rich) and I had a brake hose leak on the rear. Other than that everything else was OK. Stopped by Fishers to discuss the test and to see what I needed doing. Fuel pipes are a small job (rear joint needs re-flairing and then tightening up), Speedo needs to be sent back to ETB for re-calibration, and Mark suggested I look for either an exhaust leak or the lambda sensor is duff. I'll need to checkout the engine bits first I think.
So generally not too bad a result although it was fail.