General M.o.T. failure welding dilemma

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General M.o.T. failure welding dilemma

Steve70

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May 23, 2011
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Ilkeston
My much-loved smart green Seicento has failed it's M.o.T on just one thing- corrosion to the inner and outer sill at the rear on the drivers side near, in close proximity to the fuel lines, dammit! Having seen it for myself up on the garage lift, it was indeed the case, sadly. I did wire-brush and Hammerite any surface rust under the car when I got it over a year ago, but could see that some corrosion had already appeared in that tricky area. The Seicento's M.o.T. expires next week (I usually M.o.T my cars with much more time to spare but circumstances were against me this time). As I need the car for work I booked it in for the repair next Tuesday.

As the car is a 'keeper', on reflection I'm wondering if it would be better to take it off the road for now and have the repair done properly by the local classic-friendly mobile welder, rather than just being patched by the garage for the M.o.T. like so many other low-value cars of this age. I'm concerned that any residual rust inside the sill will be left to fester rather than being nipped in the bud. A more leisurely approach may give more time for things like this to be addressed.

I wonder what others would do in this situation? I do have a Cinquecento on the road with a short M.o.T. which I could press into service if I retire the Seicento for the moment. I only acquired the Cinq the other week and have not had a chance to get to know it so its something of an unknown quantity.

Incidentally, I paid £54.85 for the M.o.T. test. Is it me or is that a lot?! :eek:

Steve
 

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Paid £38 in Halifax

You know the age old adage if a job is worth doing it is worth doing right, personally I would have it repaired correctly with all the rust cut out and replaced with new otherwise you will be paying to have it done twice and if you are anything like me it will niggle away until you get it sorted.?
 
You know the age old adage if a job is worth doing it is worth doing right, personally I would have it repaired correctly with all the rust cut out and replaced with new otherwise you will be paying to have it done twice and if you are anything like me it will niggle away until you get it sorted.?

That's pretty much my way of thinking too. As soon as a car starts getting ugly patches on the sills it's the start of a slippery slope that ends at the breakers yard. I guess I really should learn the art of MIG welding so that I can do the work myself.

Steve
 
Mots are expensive now. Crept up gradually after they went computerised. I paid 45 recently but plenty of independents charge 50 around here.

Not many places do free re-tests now either. Not good for diy mechanics!

If it's a good car. Spend the money. But if you could buy a lower mileage more desirable model with the money then that might be a good idea. It seems Seicentos are at rock bottom value atm and plenty about.
 
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Yep it is a good car and never misses a beat. It's regularly serviced and I've covered around 16,000 miles in it over the past year with no problem. It seems to thrive on being used. It's done just over 80k now but there are no mechanical issues. I particularly like the full electric sunroof and there don't seem to be many Seicentos around with this option. I've just been to pick up some 2.4m long pieces of timber for a DIY project and with the roof back they go in the car easily. It's a really useful feature! :)

Steve
 
It's not always about what it is worth in reality but what it is worth to you , as you have found out the roof is a great feature and very useful to you.

I know what mine is worth and how much it has cost me to get it into the condition I'm happy with but try waving a fat wad of money under my nose and you wouldn't be going home with her ?
 
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