Hi, My 1997 SI just passed MOT with no problem. I was a little concerned about the steel braided brake flexibles, but the tester said as long as they were routed correctly they would pass, indeed some cars are coming through with them fitted as standard.
The car failed last year because of a weak handbrake, but a good clean up of the rear calipers sorted that.

Congratulations :)

Good news..

good news :D

Thanks, folks. Here in N .Ireland the government run MOT centres are very searching when testing. They have a special ramp which shakes the vehicle from side to side in order to detect any wear in the suspension or wheel bearings. This is the most scary part, and it is said that it can break the road springs of some vehicles.

I heard the testing is pretty strict over there and includes some testing that isn't included as you mentioned in a mainland UK test, so much so that some people get the ferry to the mainland to get an MoT as its valid in NI.

Congrats on pass, your 600 must be solid to survive that. ;)

Thanks, folks. Here in N .Ireland the government run MOT centres are very searching when testing. They have a special ramp which shakes the vehicle from side to side in order to detect any wear in the suspension or wheel bearings. This is the most scary part, and it is said that it can break the road springs of some vehicles.
my local MOT station uses it too. Its a square plate the front right wheel parks on and it moves from side to side and back to front an inch or so and a computer somehow detects play. The whole car shakes but hasn't failed any yet :)

Mines old school as they lift the front and rear ends on the ramp to test for play by shaking each corner manually.

Anyway looking at a NI test centre I feel that most mainland UK cars would fail miserably over there.

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Thanks for the video, Ray. My vehicle recently passed through that centre. I understand that the government intends to roll out this system across the whole of UK.
After the shaking test the next operation will surely jangle your nerves.
While the vehicle is still on the shaking ramp it is hoisted aloft using the vehicle jacking points with a peice of wood interposed between the jacking point and the hydraulic ram, so as not to cause damage.
With the whole car supported by the four jacking points any corrosion or weakness in the sills will be ruthlessly exposed. While aloft the four wheels are checked for brake binding, front wheeels moved from lock to lock to check brake flexible pipes for any cracks .
The chassis/ loadbearing points are checked by the tester using a high powered led lamp, and anything more than light corrosion will result in failure. My son in law had to have his car removed from the test centre by trailer because of rear subframe rust, as the MOT centre declared it unfit to be on the road.

My MOT ramp has the "shaker plate and steering plate" fitted but us testers still have to jack both ends of the car up. Every 3-4months we have to re-torque the ramp down because they are that violant, to be honest they are not as good as the old 2 man method of testing, the human calibratred visual device (our eyes) and calibrated play detection tools (our hand and arm muscles) plus the aid of some metal pry bars are an awful lot better then a machine.

Thanks for the video, Ray. My vehicle recently passed through that centre. I understand that the government intends to roll out this system across the whole of UK.
After the shaking test the next operation will surely jangle your nerves.
While the vehicle is still on the shaking ramp it is hoisted aloft using the vehicle jacking points with a peice of wood interposed between the jacking point and the hydraulic ram, so as not to cause damage.
With the whole car supported by the four jacking points any corrosion or weakness in the sills will be ruthlessly exposed. While aloft the four wheels are checked for brake binding, front wheeels moved from lock to lock to check brake flexible pipes for any cracks .
The chassis/ loadbearing points are checked by the tester using a high powered led lamp, and anything more than light corrosion will result in failure. My son in law had to have his car removed from the test centre by trailer because of rear subframe rust, as the MOT centre declared it unfit to be on the road.

The mainland UK test is changing next year though I am not sure it will be anywhere as thorough as a NI test.

Would you say that cars that passed an NI test are worth more than those that are mainland tested in the secondhand market over there or doesn't it matter as long as it has a valid MoT?