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Folks I've recently taken ownership of a 1988 998cc Mayfair and I have a number of questions which you might be help me out with, they are mainly concerned with the NCT and what the car does/doesn't need for it.
1. Would my car have had rear seatbelts? It doesn't currently, they may have been removed by the previous owner.
2. The drivers seat when locked into it's normal position can actually be tipped forward about half an inch, is this normal? I'm concerned that the fact the seat isn't firmly fixed would be an NCT fail.
Your Mini should have seat belts (I'm not sure if they should be prober seat belts or lap belts) but something should be there anyway. And as for the seat tilting forward, my Mini does it. If you look under the seat you can see the hook under the seat that holds the seat down, it's easily bend.
The fronts are 3 point but there's nothing in the rear. The plan is to eventually convert the car for retros and multi venue autotests so in the long term I'll be putting in a cage, fitting harnesses and removing the rear seat but until then I want to get the car through the NCT so I'd rather not have to buy seatbelts for the rear if I can get away without them.
I was tempted to bend the securing hook but I wasn't sure it was normal for the seat to move - if it ain't broke don't fix it
Again the seats will be replaced in the future but the funds aren't available at the moment.
Front seatbelts became compulsory in 1977 but rear belts didn't come into force until 1992 so if they weren't fitted new by the manufacturer, you are not obliged by law to have them. I had older cars through the NCT many times and the matter of rear belts was never an issue.
From the Citizens Advice website:
"Rear seats have to be equipped with safety belts on all cars first registered since 1992. If seatbelts are not provided in the back of your pre-1992 car, then passengers are exempted from the law requiring them to use a safety belt (or child restraint)"
I actually have to fit the passenger side seat belt too (also missing), if I need to buy a replacement I'm considering biting the bullet and purchasing a pair of 3 point harnesses instead, has anyone had any issue with harnesses and the NCT?
Good question, I wish I knew I'm planning on doing little to the car this year, just get it road legal and enter a few events to get a flavour of what the events are like, next year once I've decided what events appeal to me most I'll start to modify it properly.
I'm hoping for this year just to fit a Brantz, wheel spinner and sump guard and see how it goes. Anything else you think I should do?
I've seen your autotesting Mini, it's a serious machine, do you have another one for multi venues and retros?
thanks! i got a car there a few weeks ago. A 1995 spi. I plan to have it ready for declan hendricks autotest in august. Its in the projects and my mini section in the topic my 3 minis. I know the brantz sensor is a must for retros. Stripping out any excess weight such as the back seats and sound deadening helps too a drivers bucket seat will be a big help because u will get thrown about alot in the autotests otherwise. since its a retro car and it can be very rough ive been advised not to lighten any subframes etc. 10 inch wheels are a help too because of the yokahama a008 tyre. They are a very good tyre and cheap too. After that it gets expensive with bigger engines and limited slip diffs and such. Oh one thing you definitly need is an engine steady or else the engine wont last long.
My brantz sensor arrived today so I'll see about fitting it at the weekend as part of my general check of the rear brakes.
Thanks for the heads up on the engine steady, I'll be ordering a bunch of parts during the week to get the car through the NCT (Steering rack gaiters, passenger side wing mirror etc.) so I'll add it to the list.
I'm hoping to have it ready to use on the ALMC Multi Venue. If things go really well and I can rope my mate in I'd like to go to the Wexford Classic event in a couple of weeks beforehand but the ALMC event is the main one I want to try out
The 10 inch wheels are in the long term plans but I'll start to accumulate the bits in the meantime as they become available.
