Appi new year

[John B]

Just removed my front seat and sub frame to get re-upholstered and took the opportunity to inspect the floor underneath.
The 2 centre cross members on the passenger side (LHD car) have rusted through where they were welded to the floor.
Looking underneath the car there is no sign of this because the original 1/4" thick underseal is still very much intact.......and extremely difficult to remove.
The front cross member has only rusted from the floor upwards so not a big problem. The rear one appears to have rusted
from the inside of the car spreading into and through the floor.

Not the ideal start to the new year.     

[Parisien]

Not so dissimilar to my own or indeed others, didn't look too bad until underseal taken off, at least its an unmolested example!

P

[DavidLaver]

To my mind its ALWAYS best to know the real state of it, then when fixed you'll have genuine peace of mind.

[John B]

To my mind its ALWAYS best to know the real state of it, then when fixed you'll have genuine peace of mind.

Very true......just a bit disappointed it didn't show up when I bought it, could have haggled a bit more!
Glad however that I've found it now, if the seat didn't need removing and repairing it could have gone un-noticed for years
by which time it would have been a lot worse.

[Parisien]

To my mind its ALWAYS best to know the real state of it, then when fixed you'll have genuine peace of mind.

Very true......just a bit disappointed it didn't show up when I bought it, could have haggled a bit more!
Glad however that I've found it now, if the seat didn't need removing and repairing it could have gone un-noticed for years
by which time it would have been a lot worse.

Mine came seatless so I'd a good inkling!


P

[DavidLaver]

I had this with our MG Midget last Christmas.  Put it back on the road after a five year layoff.  A few minor bits on the MOT.  Went back for a handbrake cable, out came the seats with chunks of floor.  Looked A1 from under with clean and fresh looking underseal.  Was able to punch a slot infront of the driver's seat with my fingers from above.

The news to me was that MOTs are a lot more gentle than they used to be.  If it looks fine and is firm to the touch then that's as far as the inspection goes.  It needs to look bad for them to get the probe out and have a scratch and a prod.  The tester said some place got sued for doing damage to a car and the direction now is not to prod and bang.

It then had an "old skool" inspection which showed up another couple of small areas, and those and the two floors have been on my "when I get a chance" list for all of 2014.  Will it be another five years?

[John B]

"The news to me was that MOTs are a lot more gentle than they used to be."

The Italian MOT (Revisione) is nothing more than a formality, if they fail the car they know you will just take it somewhere else and not go back to them again. It's only required every 2 years and every time I have taken my cars the ONLY check was to put it on a rolling road and test the brakes.....they don't have any facilities to raise the car and the emissions equipment and headlight alignment equipment remain unused.
A friend of mine, after her cars Revisione,  was told not to drive too fast because the back brakes were not very good and the rear shocks needed changing......but it passed anyway.

[stanley sweet]

I think I'd almost be disappointed if the Italian MOT was any other way. It's like when Ferrari became efficient under Brawn and Schumacher - didn't seem right without comedy pitstops..

[DavidLaver]

I was so relieved when they got the "next championship" after Jody Scheckter's.  1979 to 2000 was a long wait.  1975 and 1977 were the ones before with Lauda.  Was it really 1964 before that?   I was 8 in 1975 and got used to a Ferrari champion every other year.

1977 age 10 the Stratos won the championship.  I was 20 by the time it all came together again.

This was interesting.  I'd forgotten the 1983 win as a team and 1978 when Markku Alen did it in both a Stratos and 131.

http://www.rallycars.com/Cars/wrc_statistics.html

David

[nistri]

Much to the disappointment of our Appia friends, the Italian MOT will be a lot more stringent from April 2015, Happy New Year, Andrea