It's now illegal to repair your car body?

[indy4x]

@the artfull-codger is there a difference between West and Eastern Australia ?

Friend of mine came back to the UK from Aus, main reason was he has a Healy 100/6 that he's owned since the 70's. Took it with him when he emigrated and started turning it into a 3000 works car replica. It was a labour of love but the MOT test wherever he was in Australia was a complete ball ache so he gave up and came home

 

[Trevorleach]

Recent thread on another forum about welding the steel modern car bodies are made from is a big no no, and if it is done it has to be done with very specific processes, and mig aint one of them!

Found the link, this will cheer you all up!

Boron Awareness- Why Do We Weld?

The automobiles that we see on the market today have changed significantly over the last 20 years, due to the need for stronger structures in the event of an accident whilst also reducing weight due to meet carbon emissions laws, has necessitated manufacturers looking beyond conventional, to...

www.basicwelding.co.uk

 

[CornishPete]

Who would know if it's done properly? Bit like the homemade trailer rule. How could anyone ever know when it was made?

 

[DuncanCallum]

What about crash repairs then?

 

[My Old Landy]

I find it amusing that you cannot gas braze but the accepted method for boron steel is mig braze
I take it the average inspector can tell the difference....?
Well after grinding and paint, I doubt anyone can tell

 

[mike os]

I find it amusing that you cannot gas braze but the accepted method for boron steel is mig braze
I take it the average inspector can tell the difference....?
Well after grinding and paint, I doubt anyone can tell

I think that's the whole point .., haz on boron steel needs different controls to maintain integrity.

So a bad repair well done, is no longer structurally sound regardless of how well it's welded or brazed and blended in.

 

[Gareth J]

Hmm, I can see the logic in needing more restrictions on weld repairs. Some shoddy stuff gets done and the MOT isn't the place to pick it up. Short of a post repair work engineer's appraisal, which would make repairs to all but the most valuable uneconomical anyway, what's the alternative?

As a classic owner and driver, I'll try to keep my head down, keep it stock looking and try not to be the example that gets made. Maybe rules imwill soften or workarounds evolve. As an end of life vehicle daily hack driver it's got to die of something...

 

[Nomad]

I was talking about this to a customer the other day about forcing older vehicles off the road, E10 fuel is a prime example.

I've been driving an example of BL's finest for several years - it's ultra basic but works or can easily be fixed with a 6 piece toolkit.

Recently it's been acting up, trouble starting, running very weak, cutting out (including the outside lane of a motorway last week !). I've finally traced the fault to the small bore fuel pipe at the bottom of the SU carb that is breaking down internally.
The car has been working fine for more than 50 years and I suspect the carb that's fitted now is the one that was on it when it was built.
A mate does a lot of work on older cars and he was the one who told me to check the internal SU pipes as he's seen & heard of a few that have failed since E10,

 

[Robotstar5]

I've been driving an example of BL's finest for several years - it's ultra basic but works or can easily be fixed with a 6 piece toolkit.

Recently it's been acting up, trouble starting, running very weak, cutting out (including the outside lane of a motorway last week !). I've finally traced the fault to the small bore fuel pipe at the bottom of the SU carb that is breaking down internally.
The car has been working fine for more than 50 years and I suspect the carb that's fitted now is the one that was on it when it was built.
A mate does a lot of work on older cars and he was the one who told me to check the internal SU pipes as he's seen & heard of a few that have failed since E10,

You may be able to get the parts to repair it from Burlen

 

[Morrisman]

@the artfull-codger is there a difference between West and Eastern Australia ?

Friend of mine came back to the UK from Aus, main reason was he has a Healy 100/6 that he's owned since the 70's. Took it with him when he emigrated and started turning it into a 3000 works car replica. It was a labour of love but the MOT test wherever he was in Australia was a complete ball ache so he gave up and came home

That's a hell of a move based on a car.

I've heard that some parts of Oz have really fastidious rules on cars, what you can and can't do to them, while other areas don't really care.

I once had a totally original factory race Healey 3000, when I lived in the far east, but sold it in the divorce.



I may have made up the bit about it being a factory race car. More like a locally built 'glass replica.

 

[indy4x]

@Morrisman I think they had some factory documentation that they followed so any mods were a no no

He had a set of knock on alloy wheels, they weren't allowed even though they were period, same for the triple Webbers and whole bunch of other stuff.

 

[Morris]

No, My take is that it relates to modifying vehicles, and if modified, said vehicle needs an I VA and a Q plate.
It came from the EU, we copied it, probably badly, but I don’t know that. In one fell swoop, has made the whole uk wide car mad, modifying industry redundant. Escort rally car sir, based on a 2 door 1300xl, with massive brakes, sequential gearbox, Cosworth engine, Atlas etc etc, now has to have a IVA, which it might find a tad difficult to pass... Minis - forget it, actually most from that era...
There’s forward thinking for you.

If you refer back to the OP and then look at the FBHV newsletter you will see that it is very definitely about registration. DVLA are refusing to accept what has long been used for proof of date of manufacture etc. They are also now getting arsey about body swaps even though the body is irrelevant for registration with a separate chassis/running gear.
The consequence of this is that they are trying to send cars for IVA that should not/don't require IVA.
As a side note, we did not copy IVA from the EU. EU type approval directives gave the option for individual member states to implement their own rules to accommodate self built vehicles. The UK was pretty much the only country to do so in a manner that was achievable, in fact reasonable.
I currently own one body swapped vehicle and am building a hot rod to pass BIVA.

 

[gt alex]

I'm in Australia and I bought a Opel GT in 1990 with a Road Worthy Cert (RWT) like a MOT. It also had receipts for $15000 for work done.
I Had to fix everything on the receipts and more.
It has just sat mostly and I am retired now repairing it as a labour of love.
The front body work (the way I got it) was pushed in and bog formed the shape, I have pulled the dents I could but much of the metal was so chewed up I have opted to weld in 18g steel.
I wasn't sure if I should but that's the way I can do it.
I think I'm on track last picture is where I'm up to, and welding in new metal has to be better than what it had.

 

[Bobupndown]

They can shove them silly ideas right up there ****

A well balanced and considered view point, I like it

 

[Morris]

Our Magazine

...

fbhvc.co.uk

Issue 2 2023. Page 6
I would have copied the text here but it's a pdf and I'm on my phone and I'm a technodufus on it.

 

[dobbslc]

3. Penpusher sitting at home working with one eye on the job..

One HAND on the job...

 

[Keithmac]

You can get stuff like 4 star still at a few pumps

I work on a fair few older motorcycles (1970's onwards), mainly carb jobs.

I think the fancy Shell petrol is one of the best for less ethanol.

You can strip it out at home with water but most of my customers wouldn't want the faffing around.

 

[minimutly]

If you refer back to the OP and then look at the FBHV newsletter you will see that it is very definitely about registration. DVLA are refusing to accept what has long been used for proof of date of manufacture etc. They are also now getting arsey about body swaps even though the body is irrelevant for registration with a separate chassis/running gear.
The consequence of this is that they are trying to send cars for IVA that should not/don't require IVA.
As a side note, we did not copy IVA from the EU. EU type approval directives gave the option for individual member states to implement their own rules to accommodate self built vehicles. The UK was pretty much the only country to do so in a manner that was achievable, in fact reasonable.
I currently own one body swapped vehicle and am building a hot rod to pass BIVA.

I’m not sure that IVA is the issue, is it not more to do with the classification of “modified vehicles”? And once termed as such, then the IVA kicks in?
If you glance at most historic cars, but not all I grant you, they will, over the years had various modifications to make them better in one way or another (maybe worse as well). So the need is out there, and to my knowledge it generally hasn’t been something that needed fixing - so why the change?

 

[God mode restorations]

Personally I don't see what the problem is. To fussy I think.

 

[jsf55]

There you go Paul