DHC report nr. 99; MOT

An early start of the day to get the car MOT’ed (or APK as it is called here), only to find out on arrival that the garage didn’t open till 8:45-ish on Monday. But in the end the staff arrived and after making space inside, the DHC could be driven in for the first check, the brake test. I had a slightly bad feeling on the handbrake but I needn’t have worried. Brakes were OK. Same could be said for the emissions which turned out to be perfect, with a CO level of 2,7%.

Next were the lights which all worked as they should. Only one of the headlamps needed to be adjusted upward a bit. But while the mechanic was doing this the light concerned went out. Not good. All other checks didn’t turn up any faults, so they cleared a space for me in the workshop, gave me all the tools I needed and left me to get the light sorted, the joys of a friendly workshop.

Only thing that could be wrong was the connector block at the back of the headlamp unit. And after I had the unit removed from the head lamp pod this was proofed correct, the connector block nearly fell off. Turned out the connectors inside the block were all a bit loose. But from the outside they all looked quite OK. But when I removed them from the block with a special tool, it was clear that they were all to wide, which was easily sorted with a pair of pliers. And within fifteen minutes I had the now fully functional headlamp pod back together and adjusted. After which the car got its APK-certificate.

Next job was go over to a friend’s workshop to get the alternator tested. I thought it was on the way out, but it turned out that in true Lucas style it was stone dead. Luckily he had a 70 Ampere alternator lying in storage. Only needed realigning the mounting lugs (turning the front cover through 120º) and a different fan and a new pulley, after which it was ready for fitment.

And the last port of call was the tyre shop, to get the alignment of the front suspension checked and set up properly. Wasn’t that far out. Also checked the overall alignment, which showed us that the suspension (front to rear) on this car is absolutely spot on. Well pleased with that. And when I got back to the shed it was time to fit the wheels I prepared for the car. I didn’t fit them earlier because I didn’t want them to get damaged by the alignment gear that is hooked on to the rims. Car looks completely different now, very 70’s which I quite like ...

But there might be a problem with one of the wheels, as there was hardly any air left in it. Could be a sticky valve (which I hope), but might as well be much worse. Will see if said tyre keeps pressure over the next day or not.

Also fitted the new alternator and put the borrowed one back in ‘t Kreng. And last job was to realign the steering shaft. Turned out I fitted it upside down, as a result of which the indicator didn’t return after the corner. With that sorted I took a slight detour home to see how the car behaves. Must say it was a pleasant surprise, the car feels much easier to drive with the 13” wheels. The handling, although lacking the precision and road holding of ‘t Kreng’s suspension, is rather predictable and comfortable, which suits it quite well I think. Makes a very nice and quick GT car!