c15 MOT bodgework (pics)

[dave21478]

I quite like C15's. I have owned a few and used to re-import them here from UK for cash monies.

 

A friend has a sad example that he refuses to replace. He pissed off on holiday for a couple of months and left it at the farm asking if I would CT (MOT) it and do a service - yeah, s'pose I could......

 

Its an early "facelift" one with the indicators in the headlights rather than on the bumper but has the large one-piece rear door.

Check those rear hinges! He added the top one himself but since its not aligned with the lower one the door twists as it opens which tore the lower one out of the shell. I welded it up a few years ago.

 

Interior is manky.

 

He blew the engine not long after he bought it so replaced it with one from a BX or similar. its still a four-speed box though, but on the twisties round here this is actually ideal - plenty of torque to pull it so you only need 3rd and 4th when on the move.

 

I hit Albi where my preferred CT centre is. Just as I rolled in this lovely looking 203 rolled out.

 

The dude let me have a scan underneath. The weirdo C15 rear axle has a bit of play on the right hand side but not enough to fail.

 

The patches I snotted on a couple of years ago are still holding. I hate welding upside down and since its not my car I wasnt too worried about it looking pretty.....nice and solid though.

 

It failed overall, but relatively minor stuff. I headed home. On the plus side, even after a fail here you have two months grace period to do the repairs!

 

Headlight glass flapping loose - fair enough.

missing bumper corner.....eh, its passed before with this gone, but whatevz....I did zero prep and it failed on a load of wee things like bulbs - if I had sorted these prior to the test he might have turned a blind eye to this.

 

Easy fix though, I had one in stock.

 

The handbrake gave zero effort one one side although the footbrake worked fine on both, so probably a cable fault.

 

I took a Stanley knife to the carpet (eh, its not mine....) and found this guide tube that runs under the seat runner and up to the handbrake lever had ripped off the floor where its welded to the bulkhead. This acts as the end stop for the cable outer sheath so pulling the lever just pulls the whole cable into the cabin on that side instead of just the inner part. A quick tickle with the MIG will see that right.

 

The rest was a couple of bulbs and bad headlight aim. I will start the repairs tomorrow.

 

 

[dugong]

Yo, that rear axle looks a lot like a 305 estate's. It wouldn't surprise me if the C15 and phase 2 305 are closely related under the skin given how skilful PSA was with floorpans. 

[chaseracer]

Yo, that rear axle looks a lot like a 305 estate's.

 

Wikipedia claims that this is indeed the case.  There's a 70% chance of that being true, then... 

[HMC]

Interesting re the CT and the missing end cap- how does the CT compare to the MOT in strictness and what it covers?

[dave21478]

It tests pretty much all the same stuff, with a few extras. There is a plate on the floor they drive one wheel over like a digital version of a Gunsons Trackrite to give a front wheel alignment reading ( dunno how strict this is, I have never seen anything fail it), they have the normal roller brake tester but integrated in the same machine is a pair of vibrating plates that bounce the wheels up and down to get a reading for shock absorbers. They are only interested in a big imbalance left to right though rather than actual readings. Emissions equipment looks the same. Modern toss gets some kind of gizmo plugged into the OBD port to check for fault codes....i think to do with airbag and ABS systems. Shaker-plates are used on the ramp to check for play in suspension/steering....its all much the same.

The big difference is corrosion - gaping holes in sills and floors isnt a fail, just an advisory. I was talking to the dude about it today regarding the welding for my Mazda and the only real fail for corrosion is if there is massively gaping rot right next to suspension mounts.

My Escort passed with two crunchy sills without raising an eyebrow and it has some cracks and crispyness near a rear spring mount that would definitely have failed a UK mot, but no bother here so it must have to be literally coming apart to merit a fail.

A previous ladyfriend_21478 had a Renault 21 with the sill and bottom of the A-post so rotted they were no longer attached and the door dropped about 6 inches when you opened it - pass with an advisory year after year.

[strangeangel]

Ah, yes, I remember the headlight glasses coming loose on my one. The n/s one actually fell off, fortunately while it was parked on the grass. Araldite and a bit of gaffa tape (to hold them while the glue set) fixed that.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

My old 504 pick up got an advisory 'unable to check condition of sills' because the sills had patches welded on

[Lord Sterling]

Sweet man. I love these C15s. Old Fatha_Sterling had a Royal Blue C15 with a one-piece opening rear door and small windows at the rear as your friends has. It was the first mode of transport Fatha bought when we first went to live in Brussels way back when.

[Jim Bell]

Yo, that rear axle looks a lot like a 305 estate's. It wouldn't surprise me if the C15 and phase 2 305 are closely related under the skin given how skilful PSA was with floorpans.

The whole rear axle assembly is transferable if the internet goblins are to be believed.

[dave21478]

My old 504 pick up got an advisory 'unable to check condition of sills' because the sills had patches welded on

 

 

Yeah, when talking about my Mazda yesterday the dude was saying that if there is welding you get the advisory that they cant check condition because they cant tell how well the welding has been done, or you could leave it and get an advisory for "corrosion, cracks or holes". Either is still a pass.

 

Personally I would prefer to weld it up rather than have the chassis fold in half when I put something heavy in the back.

[taxi paul]

My lad dragged me from liverpool down to some place by Gatwick airport the other week for one of these. He " won" it on ebay, by offering the guy £100.00 . We drove down and arrived. It had a wheel in each corner and a spare. A pair of mole grips for winding window down. It was obviously a GLX model.It had an aftermarket steering wheel , about the size of a ten pence piece. No power steering , so the tiny steering wheel added to the full Bullworker effect. He drove it home , I refused..he had plans to turn it into a campervan. How at 6feet tall he was going to "camp" in it I don't know. Anyway he gave up and sold it on gumtree a month later for £250.00. How I don't know , but he did.

[dave21478]

Exhibit A -

 

 

This dude rolls in this every day. Notice the completely absent meter-long section of sill. The other side is even worse.

 

 

 

[strangeangel]

 How at 6feet tall he was going to "camp" in it I don't know.

 

I'm 5' 10" and I slept comfortably on one of those sprung army-type camp beds in the back of mine, so he'd have had no bother The trick is to slide the passenger seat as far forwards as it'll go on its runners.

 

Great vans, I miss mine.