22 replies to this topic

[weef]

Appendix A: Structural Integrity and Corrosion of the MOT Inspection manual states the criteria for body repairs and does not appear to mention anything about painting over/ covering repaired sections, it may be somewhere else but this seems to be the most logical section it would appear.

All repair sections must be completely seam welded but if a replaced section was originally spot welded then spot/plug welding is acceptable.

I always try to refinish any repaired section to as near as possible to the manufacturers original presentation.

[cal844]

An mot only means the car meets the absolute minimum standard of road safety, it doesn't mean the cars in particularly good overall condition.
A hole at the front end of the sill probably doesn't come within the fail criteria of being within 30 cm of a steering, suspension, subframe or seatbelt mount. It probably also won't adversely affect steering, brakes or suspension.
I would expect to see and advisory for it though.
The mot minimum pass standard is very low, it basically means the cars just above scrapyard standard.

Any hole within 30cm of a body mount is an mot failure, even a welded patch can fail an mot If there is any missed sections of weld.

The MOT criteria has also changed.... Any weld and repair metal MUST NOT be covered by paint / seam sealer etc. This has come from a very good tester (25 years clean record).

As I said, a hole at the front end of the sill is unlikely to be within 30cm of a subframe, suspension, seat belt mount etc. You can actually have a corroded hole with 30cm of a certain number of body mounts, has to be assessed on an individual basis.
Can you point out where in the mot manual it states welded repairs must not be covered paint, seam sealer.
It's a new one on me.

As I said, any hole that is within 30cm of a subframe or seat belt mount is a fail, doesn't need to be assessed individually as that's the rule, I have asked dvsa inspectors myself on the subject, whilst my mini was used for a mock inspection (so a trainee tester could get thier pass).

It has just came in last month as a Special Notice, so maybe not in the official manual yet?

Edited by cal844, 17 July 2023 - 09:14 PM.

[cal844]

Appendix A: Structural Integrity and Corrosion of the MOT Inspection manual states the criteria for body repairs and does not appear to mention anything about painting over/ covering repaired sections, it may be somewhere else but this seems to be the most logical section it would appear.
All repair sections must be completely seam welded but if a replaced section was originally spot welded then spot/plug welding is acceptable.
I always try to refinish any repaired section to as near as possible to the manufacturers original presentation.

You are indeed correct regards spot welding BUT spot welding a patch (even where the original metal would have been spot welded) wouldn't suffice as all repair sections must be seam welded

[weef]

My post was referring to replacing complete body sections as opposed patching a part of a body section. 

[sonscar]

So your three year old car has a new side fitted as an accident repair and is left unpainted as it is soon due for its first MOT?Steve..

[weef]

I have looked at all the MOT Special Notices that appear on the Mot Instruction Manual that I could find and see no reference to the non paint/cover over of repairs to bodywork, though I may be missing something. It woulc be good if a screenshot of this Special Nqtice could be posted to clear this up.

As regards repairs, the MOT tester can ask the vehicle presenter to remove any coverup of a repair if he suspects the repair to be subatandard so a full inspection can be carried out, but this has always been the case.

[sonscar]

MOT testers are not weld inspectors nor structural engineers.the criteria they are expected to work to is,in your opinion is it at least as good as it was when new?( With some small exceptions)if so then pass and advise.The MOT in the UK is not very rigorous.This could all be completely subjective,as indeed lots of aspects of the test are..Eg excessively corroded,worn to excess,worn but not likely to fail etc.Steve..

[mbolt998]

I have looked at all the MOT Special Notices that appear on the Mot Instruction Manual that I could find and see no reference to the non paint/cover over of repairs to bodywork, though I may be missing something. It woulc be good if a screenshot of this Special Nqtice could be posted to clear this up.

As regards repairs, the MOT tester can ask the vehicle presenter to remove any coverup of a repair if he suspects the repair to be subatandard so a full inspection can be carried out, but this has always been the case.

Yes of course you can paint it. But if he thinks you're trying to hide something he can ask you to clean it off. I doubt this would happen though unless you were taking the piss like covering it in MOT paint and then driving through a farmyard.

 

However now that my car is exempt I have covered some (very sound) welding repairs with fibreglass in the wheel-arches in order to prevent further rust and create a sort of wheel-arch liner. If it still needed MOTs this would be risky because he might think the repair just consisted of fibreglass and nothing else.

 

The MOT inspector will pass the typical patch on the floor if he can see welding spatter all around the edges, even if the welds are shockingly bad. They aren't assumed to know anything about welding. In practice even a half-decent "continuous seam" weld on a car will not be water-tight, so it's worth sealing it up with something. But I guess you only have to do that on one side.

 

If the weld is somewhere visible on the body you will want to do a butt weld, grind it flat, skim it with a bit of filler, and paint it. The tester has no reasonable way of checking if that is a continuous seam weld anyway.