MOT

[Yatz]

Is there any reason why my local garage would be unsuitable for MOTing a Chimaera? I know that to have a TVR specialist do it would look better on the service history but my nearest one of those is about 50 miles away. I cannot personally think of any specialist issues that might arise apart from possibly emissions. Am I missing anything crucial?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

I always went to my local tyre place, but was the second man to help with how to open the doors (!) etc.

We always used the decelerometer rather than the rollers for brake test too. (I'd heard rollers might hurt LSD....no idea if that's true or not).

[Belle427]

Find a decent local garage and they may look after you, i used to have one that suddenly forgot how do do the emissions test properly on mine.

[Yogioes]

I use my local garage.
They used to be Saab specialists so probably have seen some older cars.
I hang around to hopefully resolve any issues with the quirks of getting in and out etc.
Mine is standard and passes the emissions test easily.

[steviegtr]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

I always went to my local tyre place, but was the second man to help with how to open the doors (!) etc.

We always used the decelerometer rather than the rollers for brake test too. (I'd heard rollers might hurt LSD....no idea if that's true or not).

Yes it is true. You can wind the diff up by stopping one wheel or putting the brake tester to either wheel seperately.
Other thing is finding a tester with super strong arms for the handbrake.
Steve.

[M_A]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

I always went to my local tyre place, but was the second man to help with how to open the doors (!) etc.

We always used the decelerometer rather than the rollers for brake test too. (I'd heard rollers might hurt LSD....no idea if that's true or not).

I don't like it when they look at me blankly and ask how they can open the doors. I once asked a tyre place to put it on the ramp so I can have a visual check of under the car.

The owner said he's the only person who drives cars on to the ramp. He looked at me and asked how to open it, struggled to get in, didn't know how to get out. That was enough for me. They had already changed the tyres I supplied and I look some pictures of the underneath.

If an MOT tester doesn't know how to get it, it doesn't fill me with confidence that they know the nature of the TVR beast. I suppose most go to specialists or testers that regularly test classic cars.

[s p a c e m a n]

Try to keep away from any shiny new MOT bays, they're all getting a lot hotter with camera recording and doing things by the book.

[Loubaruch]

As Belle said find a friendly local MOT garage and they will remember you as not many TVR's around. As said above dont let them test the brakes on the rollers as you have an LSD. if your car is standard passing emissions should be no problem as when testing my 28 year old Griffith 500 the tester remarked that the emissions are lower than 3 year old moderns, HC readings are usually zero.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

steviegtr said:

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

I always went to my local tyre place, but was the second man to help with how to open the doors (!) etc.

We always used the decelerometer rather than the rollers for brake test too. (I'd heard rollers might hurt LSD....no idea if that's true or not).

Yes it is true. You can wind the diff up by stopping one wheel or putting the brake tester to either wheel seperately.
Other thing is finding a tester with super strong arms for the handbrake.
Steve.

They have a handbrake? I have to confess to applying the footbrake when I pulled up the handbrake under decelerometer.

[Yogioes]

I don’t know the technicalities of the brake test rollers at my local garage but I’ve watched them test it using the rollers three times without any issues.

[SMB]

Yogioes said:

I don’t know the technicalities of the brake test rollers at my local garage but I’ve watched them test it using the rollers three times without any issues.

The issue is wear on the lsd, eventually you may find you no longer have the lsd function and it becomes a standard diff. The aim of the lsd is to limit slip between the wheels, the rollers actively lock and force rotate one wheel at a time. Any good tester should go get a tapley decelorometer. The testers manual says this is how they should test mechanical lsd’s.

[Yogioes]

Good to know. I’ll have a chat with him next year.
Thanks