In article <3D1705BE.DA9C5B3D@rave.ac.uk>, James Carruthers
<j.carruthers@rave.ac.uk> writes
>I guess you're all gagging to know the result of my MOT?? Well, maybe
>not.
I must admit to a soupcon of interest.
>
>She passed with flying colours - except for 3 things; the rear brake
>lights weren't wired correctly, the CO was 8%!!!!, rather than 4% and he
>"advised me" on my rear tyres being very near the limit. So much for my
>carb tuning ability!!!
>
>They fixed the lights and carbs on the spot - charged me a coupe of
>pounds for that - so that was ok.
Excellent - congratulations!
>
>What was weird was that I helped the guy do it! Had to sit in the
>drivers seat; waiting for calls of "foot brake" "steering left, right"
>"hand brake" "lights" "indicate" whilst 6 foot in the air on the ramp -
>how odd is that! I don't mind - beats waiting around. He even
>complimented me on the car, said it was in great condition - "nice
>little motor matey" in pure east London dialect, but Im never sure about
>garages making such statements, just trying to make me feel good so I go
>back or something. Although I will certainly be returning next year.
Worked, then, didn't it? <g>
>
>Drove back to college after the MOT - and guess what, pull my interior
>handle - PPIIINNG!! - the rod must have come off inside - oh well - I
>know what to do now - at least it worked for the MOT.
I'm not sure that it is a requirement of the MOT that your door-handle
should work.
>
>So I need to get some new boots - I did think they were a bit bald - it
>doesnt seem to have much grip, especially in the wet. So Im going to
>treat it to 4 new ones - the ones on it at the moment are a really old
>and faded - so just replacing the back ones would make it look even more
>odd than it does now.
And if they are that old, a catastrophic failure cannot be far away.
>
>Anybody got any suggestions? I remember reading a car magazine where
>they tested a load of tyres at the barbers a while back, and there
>seemed to be quite a bit of difference in performance. I dont mind
>paying a bit extra for some good ones, I do drive it everyday after all.
Here comes some heresy: don't buy high-performance tyres. Buy the
cheapest new tyres you can find that are rated for the top speed of the
car. The extra performance that a performance tyre will give you is
not that noticeable, and they can be four or five times the price of a
basic tyre. That means that you can afford to replace your tyres more
often - and I'd much rather be driving on new no-name tyres than on
not-quite-worn-out Pirellis or Michelins.
ATB
--
Mike
Ellie - 1963 White Herald 1200 Convertible GA125624 CV
Carly - 1977 Inca Yellow Spitfire 1500 FM105671
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