My Brat work

Hi all. I finally decided I was not too keen on 6 stud wheels and paint job the previous owner had applied, so work had to begin somewhere. Giles is supplying me with new front wings and standard wheels (top man ;) ), so the old wings got ripped off today. Not much of the original valance seems to remain, with some large ugly plates welded and cataloyed to the original wings to fill the void :(

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I bought the car with a full years "MOT", but have had to replace the brakes (discs, pads, shoes and cylinders), rear shocks and fuel tank. My mate who gave me a hand with the fuel tank posted a clip on youtube;
http://youtu.be/uJ73wAPfXUk

Hopefully have some progress photos soon.
Norm.

Makes you wonder about some mot stations though dont it. good luck with the build more pics soon i hope :D

Just watched the link think ive got the same tank problem where did you get another tank from mate as its on my list for this summer cheers Boggy :D

Hi Boggy. In retrospect I should have went to VOSA, or at least visited the garage and asked how much their MOT license was worth to them, but none of that would have got the work done, so I just got on with it.

I had a good browse through google and came across this site;
http://www.stantongarage.co.uk/
I phoned him up and he had a fuel tank among his spares, not new but in decent enough nick - may be worth a try.

Norm.

i went to look at this pickup when it was for sale about a year ago in kelso, is it the same one, if so i crawled under it , was pretty rough underneath, had big hole in rear passenger corner , said to lad selling it about ithe seemed to think it would be fine for mot mmmmmm dont think so

I think its a little unfair to strip your truck down and then say 'this should not pass an MOT'.
An MOT tester cannot remove any component to check it. Brake drums ,wheels,wings and bumpers cannot be stripped.
If the tester cannot see it, it cannot fail.
Not all rust will fail (even big holes) it depends were it is on the vehicle.
The tester will only test a vehicle on the condition 'when tested'.If the fuel tank is not leaking ,when tested,it cannot fail.
Brake disc's are not part of the MoT and pads need to be more than 1.5 mm thickness.If the brakes meet the required standard on the rolling road test then they should be ok for the MOT.
There are alot of good testers and testing stations and there are some bad ones as well. Your truck may have had a 'Stevie Wonder' test or it may have reached the minium required standard on the day and passed.

The MOT guidelines state that if there is a rust hole within 300mm of an area of structural importance or, if the rust has created a sharp edge capable of harming a member of the public then the vehicle is a fail...as my last one was.
Still though, should be a fun little project to keep you out of trouble ;)

[QUOTE=mr boombastic,Feb 19 2012, 09:54 PM][/QUOTE]I think its a little unfair to strip your truck down and then say 'this should not pass an MOT'.[/QUOTE]


Trust me, this would not have passed a proper MOT. Rear shocks would cycle through about 3 rebounds when tested, plus I would be amazed the brakes met the minimum standard on the rolling road with one rear cylinder seized solid (just as well in this case as one of the shoes had no lining at all).

I can forgive missing the hole in the fuel as it was not visible with the wheel on, but no excuse for the rest.

Fair enough, but you'd have a hard job proving to VOSA that the shockers and brakes were not ok on the day of test.
It would also cost you the price of a full MOT test and ,like you say, would not have got your truck fixed.

I did a quick dry run with the new wings today - 1st impression is they will fit like a latex glove. Excellent job on them Giles, I'm well chuffed. Next job is to clean up the steel wheels, source 8 original wheel studs to get the hubs/drums back to normal and then I can permanently fit the wings ;)

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Not much progress happening, just a wee issue to make a decision on. The previous owner has filled in the channel that runs along the sides of the pickup to smooth it out. Problem is the new wings obvioulsy have the channel.

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Simplest solution would obviously be to fill the channel on the new wings to match, but am not sure if I want to rip the lot out and return to original, which would require a complete respray. I may just fit new wings as they are, get it MOT'd and have some fun in it before I decide :huh:

Good work Norm !
The good news is that a GRP front valence is literally
only a few days away !! ( notice that you do indeedy need one !)
If I were you I would remove the bog that's been used to smooth out - if you don't you will always wish you had done !
:huh:

Great news about the valence Giles, and yes, I do definitely need one.

I know what you mean about removing the filler, probably is best before it falls out of it's own accord like it did around the front arches. My main fear is what horrors lie beneath :o

Valance now available ! ;)
See images in post in General Chat
Gotta dig that bog off Norm ! :blink:

Norm i've got some 4 stud front hubs & rear drums in my garage if you want them?
We could do a trade for your 6 stud hubs if you like??
Let me know ok!
Tim....