It's MOT time again

[jimi]

MOT time, put it in last week and it failed on corrosion on the front inner sill/jacking points, both sides.

Put in into a local (recommended) welder on Monday, got it back Tuesday and put it in for a retest (day 10) today, passed no problem

While it was up on the ramps I had a look at the repairs, rot had been cut out and new metal welded in, seam sealed and undersealed, even the tester said it was a good job Cost £180 very happy with that, will definitely use him again if needed.

Have nice summer action picture

[jimi]

Got curious and did a little research on the MOT history of the car since I've owned it.

May 2024 will be the 20th anniversary of my ownership of this 1988 MR2 (I bought it on 13/5/2004) so this will be the 19th MOT I've put it through.

Out of the 19, 16 were done at the same test station by the same tester (now retired) and the rest by the current tester (still the same station)

Just checked the MOT history and this will be it's 4th failure
2006 failed on rear ball joints & handbrake - new ball joints & adjusted handbrake.
2009 failed on emissions & handbrake - replaced a porous vacuum pipe & adjusted handbrake.
2019 failed on headlight alignment - adjusted nearside headlight.
2024 failed on inner sill/jacking point corrosion (within proscribed area) - repaired.

There's also been a few advisories over the years, but I normally try and deal with them before the next MOT.

Not a bad record for a 36 year old

[mr2-man]

Nice that's very reasonable for welding work! And only 3 or 4 MOTs till its exempt?

[jimi]

I think that it's the year after the 40th anniversary of it's registration ?
Probably still get it MOT'd, another pair of eyes checking it over once a year won't go wrong

[CoolAsIce]

That's cheap for welding work I'd say! Sounds like a well looked after car by that history. Another year of enjoyment to be had

[jimi]

I was impressed with his work and the price, was expecting it to be a fair bit more wasn't slow either, dropped it off at 10.30am and picked up at 12.30 next day

[Wilkie Senior]

Good see the old girl back & fully fighting fit, im as always wanting to do loads to mine all the parts i have ive not fitted dooooh

No time & the weather urgh hate the back end & beggining of the year, find it hard to get inot "sorting it mode" ha ha

[TonyleFrog]

I think that it's the year after the 40th anniversary of it's registration ?

Vehicles that do not need an MOT
You do not need to get an MOT if:

∙ the vehicle was built or first registered more than 40 years ago
∙ no ‘substantial changes’ have been made to the vehicle in the last 30 years, for example replacing the chassis, body, axles or engine to change the way the vehicle works

https://www.gov.uk/historic-vehicles#:~ ... le%20works

The second condition means all the various common engine swaps could cause the vehicle to be non-compliant depending on when it was done.

Probably still get it MOT'd, another pair of eyes checking it over once a year won't go wrong ;

Good idea. Tin worm is the big enemy in our climate.

[jimi]

I suspect it was the VED exemption I was thinking of, it doesn't kick in until the start of the tax year after the 40 years.
Yes BRR (British Racing Rust) is the enemy. Having it up on a lift once a year is definitely worth it.
The jacking points corrosion wasn't a big surprise, they have come up as an advisory a couple of times and I was slack and did nothing
When the examiner let me look at the repairs while it was up in the air I spotted a small hole in the front boot floor, that the examiner hadn't seen, it's been caused by one of the cooling pipe brackets rusting through. Not structural so not a fail but definitely getting sorted once the weather warms up

[peteV6R5]

Nice pass in the end Jimi,
if thats all the "rot" you got the Mk1 is doing great, credit to how its been looked after.
Happy motoring and many more years

[jimi]

Cheers Pete
The car has had it's share of corrosion over the years, the P.O. had the rear arches replaced. I've replaced the sills, the bottom of the rear wings (before and after the rear arches) andcthe front bumper bar.
All well known MK1 rust traps, having said that it's still doing well for its age. AFAIK the engine is original, never been opened, will still (and does) rev to over 7000 rpm
Would be nice to get to to VED exemption status

[TonyleFrog]

Would be nice to get to to VED exemption status

Becomes eligible at some point between 1st August 2027 and 31st July 2028.

[Peter Hardy]

Glad to hear you're all sorted for another year, jimi .