Annual Inspection Woes

[Urchin]

Like many states Maine requires an annual safety inspection of registered cars, unless they're registered as "antiques." Well, for my peace of mind, I keep the Spider registered as a conventional car [hah!] and have it inspected.

Yesterday, I spent some considerable time digging out the TR-7 and the Corvair from their snowdrifts [the two Series Land Rovers just backed out in low range]. Since the TR-7 has its inspection today, I tested everything before I took it to the local shop.

Sure enough, I just got a call from the owner/mechanic. "How do you turn on the lights?" So over the phone I gave him the instructions. They rose and worked. "How about the wipers?" When he moves the lever, the lights dim but the wipers won't move. hmm, either a blown fuse or a frozen up wiper assembly. Now I'll have to go down there and replace fuses or put a lot of PB Blaster into the assembly.

Wish me luck.

Jeff

Jeffrey Aronson
P.O. Box 90
Vinalhaven, ME 04863
USA
'80 TR-7 Spider
'66 Land Rover Series II-A [2]
'66 Corvair Monza

[grndsm]

Jeff,

That is why you need to take it to a "friendly inspector" who will return the car to you with a new sticker and a list of things that you should fix when (if?) you get to it [;)].

Otherwise, you are placing yourself at a mercy of the inspector and I have heard some real horror stories come out it. That is why I now only go to the "safe" inspection stations [:D].

Leon
'94 Eagle Talon AWD Turbo 613whp <powered by Mitsu 4G63T
'80 TR7 Spyder GS-T <undergoing Mitsu 4G63T transplant
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2472999

[Urchin]

Leon, we have not choice on the island. There is one repair garage and he is an inspection station, too .

Last year, Maine instituted a change that requires garages to actually place a "failed" sticker on any car that does not pass inspection. That way, another garage supposedly knows when you are "inspection shopping." The local guy did not put on the failed sticker. In fact, he called me for help precisely so he wouldn't have to do that.

So I drove over there in my old Land Rover. He let me bring the car back indoors [he has only 2 bays]. I remembered having a similar problem a few years ago. When I ran the car daily, even in the winter, I never had this problem but once it got less use in the winter, things would "gum up." The salt water that surrounds this place cannot be helpful and neither can the recent ice and snow.

When I brought the car in, I noticed that the ignition lamps dimmed withn I tried the wiper. That told me their was current to the motor and that the motor was trying to turn the cable. The mechanic loaned me an old hair dryer he keeps there and I set it over the motor. I loosened the 3/4" nut that connects the cable down firmly. After a short while the wipers suddenly moved straight up but would not go back down.

So I removed the plate behind the brake booster and found the spot where the cable attaches to the left wiper arm. I sprayed it up with PB Blaster and stuck the dryer in there for a moment. The wipers worked fine after that.

However, when he completed the rest of the inspection, he found a leaky rear wheel cylinder on the right side. It's been leaking for a while so I'll have to get shoes, too. Might as well do both sides as long as I'm at it. But I'm a bit surprised as I replaced the cylinders back in 2003. I would not expect one to leak now.

Still, no official failure and the mechanic will let me use a bay to do the work myself and he'll help me when I screw up, and with bleeding et. al.

Jeff

Jeffrey Aronson
P.O. Box 90
Vinalhaven, ME 04863
USA
'80 TR-7 Spider
'66 Land Rover Series II-A [2]
'66 Corvair Monza

[Urchin]

Just an update. I decided to play it safe. Since both the rear cylinders and shoe sets were replaced in 2003, I figured that if one's failing the other one might be close behind. And I don't want to rile the local garage owner by tying up 1 bay, or 50% of his capacity, for a two-bit part. I'd much rather do this job indoors than outdoors this time of year!

Victoria British has a nice package price on wheel cylinders, brake shoes, springs and assorted parts that will always hold up a job. At around $120, it's a reasonable buy and that way I'll have the parts I need for the future. Anyone looked at shipping prices recently? Wow! What ever happened to $14 UPS charges?

Jeff

Jeffrey Aronson
P.O. Box 90
Vinalhaven, ME 04863
USA
'80 TR-7 Spider
'66 Land Rover Series II-A [2]
'66 Corvair Monza

[grndsm]

Jeff,

Sounds like you have a reasonable inspector there! Which is a very good thing, as he doesn't have any competition [:D]


Leon
'94 Eagle Talon AWD Turbo 613whp <powered by Mitsu 4G63T
'80 TR7 Spyder GS-T <undergoing Mitsu 4G63T transplant
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2472999

[sst]

Two years ago I went in to get mine inspected and the jerk flung his arm in the "up" direction to try and turn on the "high" beams and totally destroyed my turn signal/high beam/horn switch.. then claimed he did nothing to it - after I witnessed him break it.. then he didn't pass me BECAUSE of the switch after HE broke it.. Then the owner fessed up and told me he'd pay for half a new one - a new one is like $120 or so with shipping.. So I oredered the switch and installed it and got it inspected elsewhere.. Never got a dime out of the guy who broke it.. Jerk..

So good luck with that..!

Son of a .... THATS gonna leave a mark!

[Urchin]

I know that things will work out well. I had left the Spider at his garage the day before, so when he called, I jumped in my Land Rover to look at the problem. After we determined what we would do, he noted that he had a dead Ford Ranger parked in a snowbank and that he needed to figure out what was wrong.

First, the back story. This island is 15 miles from the mainland, but just across a 1/2 mile channel to our north is a sister island, called North Haven. A handful of carpenters and workmen, a teacher, and some students cross that little channel every day. So you leave your car on the Vinalhaven side and cross in an open boat to North Haven. This truck had been sitting at the boat landing for quite a while. It would only "click" when you turned the key; what disturbed the mechanic the most was that the engine would barely turn when you took a wrench to the crankshaft bolt. Was it frozen up in place or had some vandalism occurred?

The front story. Because I had the Land Rover and because I owed him one, I offered to pull the car out of the snowbank. That would let him ignore his bulky flatbed and winch. So he put a short chain on the back pintle of my Rover and I yanked - I have a newer galvanized frame underneath the car. No dice. Neither of us had a tow strap and the lot was totally ice covered. When we put a longer chain on and I revved the wheels in low range,the resulting yank pulled the truck out of the drift.

So now I made his day eaeier and he'll make mine easier when the brake parts come. Can't be beat.

Jeff



Jeffrey Aronson
P.O. Box 90
Vinalhaven, ME 04863
USA
'80 TR-7 Spider
'66 Land Rover Series II-A [2]
'66 Corvair Monza

[bmcecosse]

Sounds like you have a very fair lad there! At least he didn't find any rust - wheel cylinders are easy to fix!! I wish our Ministry Of Transport inspectors would be as reasonable - some are, but many use the annual inspection as an excuse to maximise income!

[john 215]

Hi,
Over here you can ask for an appeal form if you dont agree with an testers findings or the way the test is conducted,you have the right to watch the test (MOT) and the test center has to provide a suitable safe area to do so.The ministry (VOSA) punish the tester and centre if a lodged complaint is found against them,this can lead to the right to test being removed and even imprisoment!!
Cheers John.

LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!
1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC Soon to be a 4.6 fire breather!!
Read My Blog http://www.waringstowntr7s.co.uk/blogs/ ... hp/John215

[Graham Robertson]

My car passed its MOT test yesterday first time [:D]!! The only issue was the emissions test. I had to pay an extra £11 labour for the carbs to be adjusted. I'm really chuffed as I've just had the car for under a year and this was the first time I've had it tested.


Graham
1977 TR7 FHC Flamenco Red

[john 215]

Hi Graham,
Congratulations mate,£11 pound to set up your mixture on a 4 gas can't be bad,you will save that in money saved in fuel [:D].
Goverment are considering a 4 2 2 system ie. first Mot after 4 years (at the moment 3) then a test every 2 years.
Cheers John.

LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!
1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC Soon to be a 4.6 fire breather!!
Read My Blog http://www.waringstowntr7s.co.uk/blogs/ ... hp/John215

[mikehardwick]

I too am lucky enough to have a great MOT-er! (Take a bow, Barry!) He just passed my V8 without problems - point being, if some small glitch had reared it's ugly head, he'd have fixed it and got on with the rest of the test. Last year a rear number plate light failed - when I picked the car up, he mentioned it, and said I owed him the price of a pint! He'll do for me!

Mike

[Jolyon39]

Our MOT equivalent is best done at the local garage versus a specialised station as the so called specialists do not understand old cars. Many new immigrant testers there wo do not speak English either.

Anyway the local Garage is also run by immigrants but they are there to turn things over to make money fast. I took my car in, passed then took my trailer down and all they did was ask if it was ok, I said yes and they gave me a pass forthat. Easy money for them if they speed it up.

All cars and trailers are 6 monthly here for their fitness test.

[jclay (RIP 2018)]

Here are some photos of the rear brake step-by-step.

http://web.mac.com/jclaythompson/iWeb/Site/Rear%20Brakes.html

[Urchin]

What a great rear brake presentation, J Clay. Thanks so much. I'll take my laptop with me when I do the job.

Jeff

Jeffrey Aronson
P.O. Box 90
Vinalhaven, ME 04863
USA
'80 TR-7 Spider
'66 Land Rover Series II-A [2]
'66 Corvair Monza