MOT "fail"

Fair enough. I assumed that because they carried out the SVA testing that they did.

Not quite. Some items /must/ get a (single) free retest if you do the work yourself, and everything gets a free retest if the testing garage does the work within two weeks.

Ian

I think you have previously said, Conor, that you take your Capri(s) to an MOT place which understands them...

Those of us whose older cars have chassis with non-structural sills, or full power hydraulic brakes and steering, or kingpins designed to have 3mm play know that all MOT stations are not the same. First of all, they have to know the rules in the first place (it's all written down, but many don't bother to check) and they also have to have sound judgement for these items which are based on a tester's assessment of condition and not simply on a number.

I now use a village garage about 20 miles from me. They can almost always seeme that day, they are friendly and helpful, and they are genuinely interested in the rather odd cars I take them. I am confident that I get a far more reliable assessment from them than from any other nearby garage I've tried.

Ian

No, I take it to a place I know that MOTs cars strictly to the rules rather than their interpretation. For example, at the time I was working in garages, it was common to fail MK3 escorts on corroded battery trays even though they weren't a testable item. Even very recently, I've seen an MOT tester doing an emissions test on a pre-72 car with a gas analyser.

As you've said, you need an MOT tester who knows that not all sills are structural, that play in a steering box is acceptable to an extent and that trunnions weren't the most precisely engineered components ever to grace a car and had a bit of slop in them from new.

Conor gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

It's more usually a question of 30cm from body mount/seatbelt mount than "structural or not", though.

Hence battery tray issues.

"Duncan Wood" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Battery security, too.

and brake servo mounting