track car mot

[mccarthy]

saw thread about having no rear seats and mot.. is there anything else to take into consideration when mot'ing a stripped out track car?? i.e loose wiring, possible sharp edges that should be covered etc.
thanks
mark

[moggy]

saw thread about having no rear seats and mot..

?

I haven't seen this thread, but are you saying you need a rear seat to pass an MOT? Not sure that is true. We had a chat with a guy who had stripped out an Escort, put in a roll cage, removed rear seats etc. His passed an MOT with no rear seats.

TBH if there are sharp edges anywhere then you shouldn't be tracking the car.

[mccarthy]

sorry no, i should have provided a link!

i didn't mean you need rear seats but i think if you leave parts in such as the rear seat belts it may not pass. i don't want to get tripped up by small things like this!

there shouldn't be any sharp bit's. but for example, can you take the car to it's mot without door cards etc. showing the inside of the door [exposed metal/glass?]

sorry if this is basic stuff but it's the first time i've had to mot the car and also getting it through as a road legal track day car!

[maxfield]

My dad's passed with cables everywhere, no door cards and no rear seats.

[1an]

if you have removed the rear seats you need to remove the seat belts aswell,

[zaust]

If it's not there they can't test it, There for it's legal. Except in the case of main light's.

[mccarthy]

so you can't have the headlight removed as an air intake?

[march109]

so you can't have the headlight removed as an air intake?

Nope but most people choose the high beam light for a air intake these also need to be presant for MOT too, but its a two minute job to take it back out again, small price to pay for an MOT?

[Joeey]

Mine passed its last Mot with no rear seats, door cards etc, bucket seats, 5 point harnesses, fuel and brake lines through the cabin. Though I did forget to put the high beam light back in so had to go back lol

[mccarthy]

fuel and brake lines through the cabin? howdo you do that? benefits? and any pics? thanks!

[JimmyC]

My racer passed no probs, MOT classed car as single seater

[cragles]

We have classed our race car as a 2 seater, even changed it on the V5 to a 2 seater, there are no rear seats or belts and it passed the MOT with no issues!

[mccarthy]

cool, seat thing def cleared up now! is there anything else to think of?

[big_jof]

Just watch out for the harnesses if you've got them.

VOSA have changed the advice on this recently and keeping the BM inertia belts for the test doesnt cut it any more. All fitted belts (or harnesses) have to be compliant to BS or E mark standards and a lot of the FIA stuff isnt.

Mine failed for this, got round it by removing the strap with the buckle on it and they were happy (provided you keep the original belt in).

[mccarthy]

sorry lost you a bit there, if you have harnesses all the bmw belts need removing?

was thinking of fitting harnesses to rear seatbelt points on under parcel shelf is this legal??

[big_jof]

Sorry, what i mean is if you have non BS approved harnesses like a lot of the FIA stamped stuff then you'll need to keep the standard belts for any seats you leave in.

When you take it for test you have to remove the harnesses or they will fail it because a fitted item doesnt comply. Despite the fact that you still have the perfectly legal standard belts in. Its the old story of if its fitted it has to work/be compliant.

If you have BS approved harnesses then you can take the standard belts out (although coppers have been known to pull people for wearing a harness on the road to make sure its the right one).

You can just about get way with using the rear belt points for the harness shoulder straps but if you run at an MSA scrutineered event then they might pull you because the angle is a little steep. Better to come of the roll cage horizontally if you have one in. From a legal point of view I imagine its fine but I'd get it checked by a tester.

Hope thats a bit clearer.

[mccarthy]

yea thats great. thanks for the info! to avoid the steep angle to the rear seat belt points can you not take them to the upper parcel shelf point so they're more horizontal? don't have cage yet but hoping to so just need some thing that will make do for now....

[big_jof]

Depends. You might get away with it on a three point but on a four point i might be wrong but I think they have to be seperate points so you cant double up onto the same one. (assuming by top point you mean where the inertia reel is as standard).

Also the it would mean one strap is pulling at an angle ie the right belt would go straight back on to the mount but the left would have to curve round once it came through the seat mean it could be nasty in a smash when it tries to straighten itself.

I had mine to the lower points for 12 months before I got the cage and it was always fine apart form the small warning over angle but that was a MSA race reg not a road thing. If your not 6'4" then you'll be sat further foward then I am and the angle will be about right anyhow.

Again best thing to do is leave all the standard bits in, add the belts and take it to a friendly MOT place, its rare to find a small garage that doesnt offer a bit of free pre test advice on things they wont make any money on if it fails.

[mccarthy]

great, thanks again.