mot failure

[leonard]

Hi Ant,

My '89 hyly has just had it's mot abandoned due to rust in the chassis. Is there any chance that this could be repaired or should I call it a day on that one? I really love it but have not got unlimited funds!

Would anyone be likely to buy it for restoration or not.

I would appreciate your view

Margaret

[ant]

Oh dear, rust and the C15 is always a bit of a battle. It sounds as if yours has it quite bad as the MOT was abandoned, although there must have been some warning signs at the last MOT, rust doesn't suddenly consume a chassis ! Is it worth repairing? what's the engine and body like? ( better the devil you know). It's unlikely to be cost effective to repair an 89 C15 and the cost would never be recouped, having said that I have been asked to keep several old C15's going well beyond the point of economical sense.
Someone will almost certainly buy it as a project if the general condition is ok. The fact that your cab floor was wet tells me the bulkhead has a rust/rot problem, this can be expensive to remedy and normally leads to annual welding to keep it going. Are you ready for that commitment? if not, now may be the time to cut your losses and move on.
Ant

[leonard]

Thanks Ant
it had an mot when I bought it but I am beginning to wonder if I was 'had'. I think you are right in that I could spend a lot of money now and face similar problems in the future. I will try to sell it to someone who can possibly restore it themselves. The engine is good and only has 60,000 miles which all the mot's I got with it bears out. The living area is immaculate and all the electrics work ok. I may put it on this site and on ebay to see if anyone is willing to take it on.

Thanks for your advice, I will be getting another one when I can afford a more up to date one.

[jayjay]

My Bedford Rascal had also had a test abandoned before I bought it. I looked up the MOT place on the DVLA (?) site and phoned the chap at the garage who eventually passed it and asked if he remembered the vehicle.

He told me the test had been abandoned the first time due to needing a large amount of welding, but that this had been put right and undersealed by the previous owner and that he was impressed by the repair. So it had an MOT when I bought it, which just had a note (when I looked on-line) to say 'excessive welding' or something - not a cautionary note, just a notation.

So even excessive rust can be fixed. If all else is ok, I'd get a few quotes for the welding, it might not be as expensive as you think, and you'll have a good little van!

Having said that, Ant's cautionary note is right - I once had a rust bucket fiesta that needed welding every year for its MOT.

Daisy is up for her MOT in July, so I guess I'm going to find out then if my 'van is going to be a weld once a year job!