Tag Archives: Altrincham Tyre & Exhaust

MOT miracles & mirror misery

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First of all, another MOT pass from the splendid chaps at Altrincham Tyre and Exhaust.

Yes I know, I know… The hood is up! It was raining & I had to leave the car to make an early start with work. 﫣

Still legal but I am going to have to start thinking about replacing the rear tyres this year. I think I will probably stick with the Goodyear Eagle F1s despite lots of chatter from other owners about Yokohamas. The good news is that the front tyres have got miles of… er miles left in them.

The less good news is that the turret broke on the offside mirror. This Citroen part is an absolute pig to source so have started looking this evening. There’s a good article on it on the Marcos Forum here: https://www.marcosforum.org/mirror-and-or-mounting-problem-solutions-mantis-an-t5465.html

Alas! I cannot find anyone selling the original part & people selling copies such as Marcos Heritage don’t have any stock. Fortunately the same mirror was fitted to several models of TVR which is a considerably larger customer base than Marcos Mantis & LM owners, and an ‘upgrade’ made out of ABS & steel is available from Motaclan. It means replacing the whole mount not just the internal turret so let’s see how that goes…

Past the MOT hurdle

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… or should that be Passed the MOT hurdle?! See what I did there? See what I did?…

Yes indeed, like the ‘difficult’ second album, this was the second MOT following the fitting of the new engine. I was slightly apprehensive as Jay did the first one when he put the LS3 (so obviously it passed – Duh!). Having invested in some CATs, how would it do on Emissions? I was also stuck as to where to take it to for the test itself, Cross Street Garage being persona non grata after the 2016 MOT test resulted in no engine(!). As luck would have it, a couple of chums at work recommended Altrincham Tyre & Exhaust, which I drive past on my way to & from work but had never realised did MOTs. Next day the appointment was made & as of this evening I have a shiny new MOT Certificate! Huzzah! (A couple of advisories on offside steering gaiter & handbrake but both very fixable). Very friendly staff – have I found a new local garage to fix things I wonder.