Landrover defender mot - door condition?

[julianf]

My defender is finally going back together. The state of play currently is that i want to get a valid mot on it asap, and then continue after.


All the doors are pretty much stuffed. The 2nd row ones especially so. I mean they stay closed, have no sharp metal on the outside, but the inside is a mess. Rusty (sharp) metal and no door cards.

Is this something that needs to be sorted for an MOT?

I believe doors are optional for an mot, but then id have nowhere for the wing mirrors!

There are no seatbelts fitted in the rear currently, but ive also got no rear seats fitted, even though its a 12 seater on the v5. I assume this is acceptable?


Basically, again, its a work in progress. What's being done is being done well, but i just don't have time to do the essentials well AND the non essentials.

Thank you.

 

[Robotstar5]

Looks like you need doors to be openable from outside and in.

Link to the current test manual here

 

[Ruffian]

Doors only need to open and shut if getting to a passenger seat. (Or in theory test the body to a structural point preferably)

Personally pull the seats out besides the drivers/front passenger as then just get advisory seat missing at time of test.

As for doors. Make them secure open and shutting. And duct tape over and bits which may be deemed sharp edges

 

[MickeyW]

One of the doors of my 110 had next to nothing left of the bottom rail, and a short distance up the front and rear verticals. The MOT tester remarked that the rust or lack of structure within a certain distance of the lower hinge was an MOT problem.
How much door frame are you missing?

 

[Trevorleach]

Bolt them shut?

 

[julianf]

One of the doors of my 110 had next to nothing left of the bottom rail, and a short distance up the front and rear verticals. The MOT tester remarked that the rust or lack of structure within a certain distance of the lower hinge was an MOT problem.
How much door frame are you missing?

Theyre not pretty. Certainly not a repair job.

They do stay shut fine though. Ill take some snaps.

 

[armalites]

I think sharp edges are an issue but you can cover them up.

 

[sako243]

make some temporary door cards that are structural to the door?

To be fair if the doors are a write off at the bottom then YRM repair section (at least used to be) cheap. I just peeled the skin back, cleaned it and then welded the repair section in. Didn't take long.

 

[Cobbler]

To be fair if the doors are a write off at the bottom then YRM repair section (at least used to be) cheap. I just peeled the skin back, cleaned it and then welded the repair section in. Didn't take long.

I did that on my son’s 110, bit of a fiddle, but easy enough. Covered the area where the steel met the alloy in the fold to stop electrolytic action with plastic tape.

 

[optima21]

I woudn't worry about the bottom of the door, one in mine has the inner and outer skin held together with duck tape to stop it flapping about and its not even mentioned on the MOT as an advisory as its not structural so it .....i'll get it welded up later this year

 

[julianf]

Lets not assume its just the strip along the bottom! -

The front are bad, but salvagable. The 2nd row are stuffed. Curiously, the mechanisms work on the 2nd row fine. One front doesnt work at all, and the other closes (and stays closed) with the lock down only.

 

[bricol]

I woudn't worry about the bottom of the door, one in mine has the inner and outer skin held together with duck tape to stop it flapping about and its not even mentioned on the MOT as an advisory as its not structural so it .....i'll get it welded up later this year

I had a length of timber wedged in my old Renault 5 between the ends to keep the hinge in vaguely the right place - meant the window wouldn't wind down much though.

As for that blue Renault 11 with a back door held in with one 6" nail through the top hinge, nothing in the bottom hinge and the door lock . . .