Not As Cool As Expected - July 2008 (2)

The MoT looms. Due at the end of July. I always try and get the test done a couple of weeks in advance of the actual date due so that if there's anything to sort out, the car's not off the road waiting.

Back in June I did the main job needed for this year's MoT. All the washer jet piping (front and rear) was full of algae and black crud of some sort or other, plus, the washer bottle itsself was full of some sort of sludge that had grown in there. I guess it should be cleaned out every year or something - its certainly going to get cleaned out every year from now on - perhaps at the end of the season I'll drain it down for the winter. Sourcing the piping wasn't so easy - Halfords and the local car parts shops either don't stock it or only sell it in 3m lengths. So I got the local guys to order me a roll direct from the manufacturers, along with some joints, t-pieces and a couple of non-return valves to ensure and instant response. It was all in 5mm (or some say 4.8mm). It's not a hard job to replace all the piping, but it is a bit slow and laborious with all the interior trim to remove - under the dash, down the A-pillar, along the sill, the "door card" in the rear (where there isn't a door of course) and finally the wheel arch trim. Whilst I was in there I also laid the "piping" for a subwoofer power supply and signal feed to.

So this weekend was to complete the MoT prep. As usual, the exhaust was leaking around all three joints of the Y piece at the front of the system - it joins the twin pipes of the manifold onto the single pipe of the main system and seems to work loose every year. The local tyre and exhaust centre are always really happy to help out. I expect if you went into one of the big national chains they wouldn't be interested but the local independent boys are pleased to see the car, get the clamps off, sealed and re-fitted pretty quickly and don't charge a fortune.

This was not the case this year. Looks like the weekend trip to the GP was a bit of a lucky call really. As the guys took the Y piece off, the system bent under its own weight where the pipe joins the first box - largely because the rubber of the support at this point had failed. The bend caused the pipe to split from the box. Without any hassle (i.e. no "oh it needs a new system that'll be loadsadosh please"), the mounting was replaced, the welding torch was out and within 20 minutes it was all sorted. Just the job, and only £15. Next up was the tracking and the front wheels were balanced so the car drives much better now (a couple of flat spots from the track day were sorted by the balancing).

So hopefully the car will now sail through the MoT as it has for the past 3 years. Its on Wednesday so I'll try and post an update shortly afterwards. Looks like the tyres are going to see us through the Mull trip in October too.

Cheers all.