General So I had an MOT last Saturday...

[Ucof]

It was a fail

But needs only £50 of work for a pass

One of the things it failed on was the passenger seatbelt not retracting properly

Which it actually does (sometimes)

Only needs 2x£25 welds done around the passenger seatbelt restraints where a bit of rust has gotten it

Other than that, its a pass

One of the yeloow warnings (its not a fail, per se, but a suggestion to get it looked at) was a "light misting of oil over the front shock absorbers"

But I don't care

 

[alexGS]

You should have that sorted easily How's the alternator going?

Replace passenger's front seatbelt with a spare rather than trying to repair (in case you were thinking of it... ). Some people swear they will never use such parts from a wrecked car, which is fair enough if the wrecked car had a frontal smash. But of course the seatbelt may not even have been in use at the time of a crash, and many Unos die from rust rather than frontal smashes. So there should be plenty of good seatbelts around. Check the belt webbing closely for signs of fraying or friction burns (the latter indicates actual use in a smash).

I guess you'll be unbolting the seatbelt anyway to get that welding done, so at least the timing is convenient And if I recall correctly, you have a spares Uno?

As for the shock absorbers, I reckon do a bounce test, getting the front end moving up and down (without denting the front wings ) then release, and it really should only travel about half as far as it returns to rest. Compare with other similar cars if in doubt... Hissing noises are nothing to worry about, especially if shocks are gas-charged. Then, provided shocks actually work OK and are the same damping on each side, clean the shock struts with engine degreaser before the next MOT

New shock absorbers make a very worthwhile difference to the handling of a standard Uno if the originals are stuffed (often after about 200,000km/120,000 miles).

-Alex

 

[Ucof]

Cheers for the advice Mr Alex, however, in my excitement to have a sad face followed by a happy face so often, I got carried away and missed out vital information. It is in fact the rear passenger seatbelt area that needs welding rather than the front passenger seat belt.

Im just going to give the seatbelts a liberal application of WD40 and see if that helps at all. It just annoys me that it always returns (well..90% o' teh time) to the normal position for me.

If the worst does come to the worst, I can indeed get good ol' dad to take the belt out and post it up.
I still have over a week to get it sorted though which is good.

Im also not that fussed about the shock absorbers really. It wont fail the MOT due to them.
I have 101 other things that need my money right now (beer, drugs and 99 hookers to be exact )
Car is at ~94k miles so I think still has a good lot of life in it still!

Alternator is going well. Starts first time every time, no battery warning light, however as it is getting lighter and lighter, I find that Im unable to see the flickering particularly well due to the ambient light. Will see again when Im driving at night next.

 

[Chas Uno]

Im also not that fussed about the shock absorbers really. It wont fail the MOT due to them.

If they're 'misting' then they could be starting to leak. Then it will only be a matter of time before one or both fail, and believe me, failed shocks on the front of a Uno will mess up the handling big time! And once they go they'll be an automatic MOT fail

 

[Ucof]

Let me change that to "It wont fail the MOT due to them....yet"

Will take the ones off the spares/repairs Uno the next time Im in nodnoL (1986Uno45S - just noticed your location, my dad is in Harrow Might have to drop by the next time Im in the area and say hello)

 

[Chas Uno]

Let me change that to "It wont fail the MOT due to them....yet"

Will take the ones off the spares/repairs Uno the next time Im in nodnoL (1986Uno45S - just noticed your location, my dad is in Harrow Might have to drop by the next time Im in the area and say hello)

nodnoL? You been watching Red Dwarf?!!!

Cat: "Thankski verski muchski, budski."

Jai is also just up the road from me. Welcome to the epicentre of Uno ownership

 

[Ucof]

18 seliM?
Must be Bulgaria.


I'll gladly drop by and say hi

 

[Chas Uno]

18 seliM?
Must be Bulgaria.

4 minutes and 20 seconds in




And don't forget the "Reverse Brothers". Erm, I mean the "srehtorB esreveR".

I'll gladly drop by and say hi

Drop me or Jai a line, and if we're around we can have a mini meet. Or if you can make it the 2nd Thurs of the month there's always Italian night at the Ace Cafe

 

[Ucof]

Took the car back today to the garage for the repairs. I hadn't done anything regarding the seatbelt, which I only found out today meant the rear passenger one!

I took it in this morning at 8.30, got a lift back from one of the mechanics to my house, then cycled back for 12pm. They had welded it all up, and I got them to put in a new 075 battery for me as my old one had a dead cell, and this morning after getting in the car, the windscreen wipers were going very slowly - I decided to get a better battery as I now have an extra electrical item, being a cigarette lighter kinda provided by LouieBee, and all that electrical power needs to come from somewhere.

I was wondering what they were going to say about the rear seatbelt.. however, when I got there, there was a shiny green MOT pass certificate. Luckily for me, they had either forgotten it or ignored it.

Huzzah, hooray!

 

[Louie Bee]

I was wondering what they were going to say about the rear seatbelt.. however, when I got there, there was a shiny green MOT pass certificate. Luckily for me, they had either forgotten it or ignored it.

Huzzah, hooray!

Top one!

Did you wire the cig lighter's bulb to a switched live? sure that tiny bulb will make your windscrene wipers go slow .

Hope there was enough loom attached

 

[Ucof]

Nah, I wired it up to hamster in a wheel. That way... umm.. erm..

Ok, im not actually quite sure why I did that

 

[Ucof]

In case anyone wonders, here is what m'Uno currently shows up as when you witness it from about 8 meters away

 

[Louie Bee]

That's a steep looking hill for an Uno to be parked on :devil:

 

[Ucof]

Very much so. Was probably about 30 degrees incline actually.

However, it was at a very busy event where I was working, and all the spaces had been taken. Thankfully due to the small size of the Uno, I was able to park there.

Still havent been able to get the time (or find the effort) to get those lame looking "Uno Start" stickers off. The fact that it involves getting an extension cable and laying it across a road is the biggest factor here.