£1000 Challenge
It’s MoT time for the Tomcat, and it’s going to need some work…
Rover 216 Coupé
THE STORY SO FAR Miles driven 57 Total mileage 96,456 What’s gone wrong It’s failed its MoTÉ
CHRIS HOPE For the second time this year, I’ve left it until the 11th hour to book a classic car in for its MoT, and once again my reward for this has been (perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly) for it to fail its annual roadworthiness inspection. I’ve lost count, now, of the number of days that our Rover 216 coupé has been relegated from the road – suffice to say that it’s not quite as many as a certain Reliant Robin, but still far more than I’d care to mention…
The Rover 216 coupé had been providing faultless service in the week or so between this and its last £1k Challenge update, where I’d finally made it watertight (after the hiccup of breaking one of its roof panels…). With summer so far being something of a mixed bag, I’d been able to use the Tomcat for the odd day’s commute no matter the weather. I stowed the roof panels in the boot on those evenings when we were basking in sunshine, donned my aviators and enjoyed a B-road blast home, leaving everyone else to bake on the A1. Likewise, thunderstorms no longer filled me with dread because I could guarantee that I’d be staying dry despite the driving rain.
In among all of this enjoyment, I’m not quite sure what spurred me to check how imminently the Tomcat’s MoT was due. Whatever it was, I’m glad it did because the Rover only had a few days left on its ticket – indeed, it was booked into an afternoon slot with Express Autocare (01733 352352, expressautocare.co.uk) the day before it expired.
Prior to this, Express very kindly offered to put it up on one of its ramps and give it a pre-MoT inspection. Our Tomcat’s bodywork isn’t exactly the prettiest, but it’s a solid example with no corrosion to mention because it spent a number of years in dry storage before being revived for the road in 2017. That said, the mechanic did comment that the 10mm thick metal plate used to repair the corroded section where the anti-roll bar mounts to the body will almost certainly outlive the rest of the car.
Underneath, the only other thing that Express noted was that there was a rather large hole in the exhaust’s back box. The mid-section of pipework, though, appeared to be in surprisingly fresh condition.
Express also inspected the brakes, and while the pads appeared to be nearing their limit, there was more than enough material to see them through the MoT this time.
However, some issues can only be identified during the course of a proper inspection, and so it was here; the Tomcat failed its emissions and brake efficiency tests.
At time of writing, the Tomcat is still in the garage. Before delving too deeply into why the Rover hasn’t met the requisite emissions standards, Express is going to replace the offending back box in the hope that proper breathing will provide the solution. As far as the brakes go, the wheels will be removed and everything properly prodded and poked at to find out exactly what’s letting the side down.
I’ve got all my fingers crossed that our Tomcat isn’t about to follow in the footsteps of its £500 Challenge Ford Puma predecessor and deliver a big bill that calls its survival into question.
Either way, I intend to learn my lesson, having been stung twice now by cars failing hastilybooked MoTs by making sure that I’m more thorough in my own checks beforehand.
December might still be a way off yet, but the good news is that I already have next year’s New Year’s resolution in place…