KwS Marina Coupe

[cletus]

https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/virms/in-service-wof-and-cof/general/vehicle-structure/structure-incl2.-frontal-impact

 

 

I guess it depends how far you want to push back 

But I think asking you to strip the underseal is outside of what a wof inspector can require you to do

Is it worth going back to him and saying you've read the VIRM and there's nothing in there about requiring underseal to be removed for inspection, you could offer to remove the carpet so he can see the top side if he's worried about rust? 

Alternatively you could get a panel beaters report and see if he'd accept that , as that's the most a wof inspector can do in this situation 

[kws]

15 minutes ago, cletus said:

https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/virms/in-service-wof-and-cof/general/vehicle-structure/structure-incl2.-frontal-impact

 

 

I guess it depends how far you want to push back 

But I think asking you to strip the underseal is outside of what a wof inspector can require you to do

Is it worth going back to him and saying you've read the VIRM and there's nothing in there about requiring underseal to be removed for inspection, you could offer to remove the carpet so he can see the top side if he's worried about rust? 

Alternatively you could get a panel beaters report and see if he'd accept that , as that's the most a wof inspector can do in this situation 

He pretty much shut me down for anything I offered, and just stuck to his guns with "the underseal needs to be removed otherwise I can't go further". I think throwing the VIRM in his face would just piss him off and he'd just push back requiring a panelbeater sign off so its not his problem.

The more I think about it, the more it feels like he just wanted it/me gone. He didn't even back it off the hoist, he told me to drive it off myself and go.

[cletus]

Probably easier to just take it somewhere else. 

If he's asking for something that's not in the virm, you could make a complaint . But for the sake of $60 or whatever a wof is now , not worth the headache IMO 

 

I got marked down on a performance review for failing a car on a bad rear main leak (like a drip every second sort of bad) 

The guy said he understood my reasoning, I said it would be dangerous for other road users like motorcyclists, but it wasn't a fail reason in the virm so I couldn't knock it back on that 

[kws]

2 minutes ago, cletus said:

Probably easier to just take it somewhere else. 

If he's asking for something that's not in the virm, you could make a complaint . But for the sake of $60 or whatever a wof is now , not worth the headache IMO 

 

I got marked down on a performance review for failing a car on a bad rear main leak (like a drip every second sort of bad) 

The guy said he understood my reasoning, I said it would be dangerous for other road users like motorcyclists, but it wasn't a fail reason in the virm so I couldn't knock it back on that 

Yeah I won't be taking it back there and question if the rest of my fleet should go there now too. It's just convenient to home and until now hadn't done me wrong.

I'll see what the blasters say, but I suspect it'll be a "no thanks" from them. If thats the case, I think I'm going to tidy up the surface rust I missed, clean out the rails, and take it to another workshop for a pre-wof check and see what they say.

[JustHarry]

Sounds pretty rough . If you can pull carpet and seats to show the floor is in good condition and sills are too etc take pics for future reference.  As has been said. There is no reason for a wof inspector to order old underseal to be removed. If there is obviously poor repairs and corrosion that's a different story but it sounds like it's just goopy old underseal. 

I'd be finding a new wof station

He's probably looking at the scruffy paint and just finding a reason to not put a wof on it 

 

Also surface rust isn't a fail. He's just finding more reasons to turn you away 

 

[JustHarry]

Also the play in the rack will be the rack end bush they just fall apart. I had to pull the rack out of my wagon and do both ends for a wof quite ealry on in my ownership 

[JustHarry]

Asking for the underseal to be removed because it might be hiding something is like asking to remove undertrays because they might be hiding something 

Totally unreasonable 

[kws]

5 minutes ago, JustHarry said:

Also the play in the rack will be the rack end bush they just fall apart. I had to pull the rack out of my wagon and do both ends for a wof quite ealry on in my ownership 

I thought that too, I'll need to check again, but last time I looked there was no play in that end of the rack and no knocking over bumps. I have a nolathane replacement in my spares if I do need it.

[RUNAMUCK]

4 hours ago, cletus said:

I think that thick lumpy underseal stuff was something that you could get done as an optional upgrade in the 60s/70s to protect the undersides? Common in NZ new old cars, but not seen often on anything imported 

My VG has it 

It's pretty horrible, I have seen some old cars where the floor has rusted on the inside but the underseal has been holding it together

The way cars like this were built, they probably blew it on straight over the top of flash rust on the panel steel too. 

[shrike]

8 hours ago, cletus said:

Probably easier to just take it somewhere else. 

If he's asking for something that's not in the virm, you could make a complaint . But for the sake of $60 or whatever a wof is now , not worth the headache IMO 

 

I got marked down on a performance review for failing a car on a bad rear main leak (like a drip every second sort of bad) 

The guy said he understood my reasoning, I said it would be dangerous for other road users like motorcyclists, but it wasn't a fail reason in the virm so I couldn't knock it back on that 

If you failed me for something like that with that reasoning, I would be like fair play and just fix it. if it was s low leak and you gave me the heads up id sort it out but less urgently

Maybe im more reasonable but I wouldn't look up the Virm and complain about something like that. But fixing a seal when its noticed as leaking early might save me replacing something more expensive

The way this person has approached it, just grates me the wrong way (and I have no skin in this) he could have said straight up, hey im not super comfortable with this car. Happy to do you a pre inspection check but I am not the person to take it through a wof and not waste his time.

Sorry for over investing

[BiTurbo228]

For the sake of your sanity, as someone who has grubbed a load of this stuff of the underside of a Spitfire for paint, don't touch the underseal if you don't have to. If this place is a known stickler, give it a try somewhere else first. Or at least go and have a conversation with someone else first. If you've got some pictures of what the other side of the metal looks like I'm sure that would go down well during that conversation.

Though I didn't know about the dry ice thing at the time. That sounds like it would make it much easier.

[Pehr]

Dry ice blasting if available works wonders to get rid of under seal.

We use it at work and it’s like magic.

https://www.cryotechnic.co.nz/

[kws]

Spoke to a very helpful chap at the local blaster, and the general consensus is that if it's stuck there and not flaking off, leave it, it's doing its job (and it'll be a bastard to try and sandblast off).

So I'll roll under the car, clean up the surface rust, remove and clean up and any flaking underseal, reapply new underseal where needed and then I'll call it good enough.

A new wheel bearing is on the way to fix the noisy one he picked up, and the slave cylinder which chose to shit itself on the hoist is going to get redone (again).

Then it'll be off to a different workshop for a pre-WOF check.

A huge thank you to everyone for your support and suggestions, it's really helped to formulate a plan to move forward. 

[JustHarry]

2 hours ago, kws said:

, and the slave cylinder which chose to shit itself on the hoist is going to get redone (again)

Pays to take new cylinders apart and lube the seals with red rubber grease as often new ones are put together pretty dry and can pick up the seals and leak quite quickly. 

The rubber grease just keeps things moving better and helps prevent moisture ingress 

[kws]

58 minutes ago, JustHarry said:

Pays to take new cylinders apart and lube the seals with red rubber grease as often new ones are put together pretty dry and can pick up the seals and leak quite quickly. 

The rubber grease just keeps things moving better and helps prevent moisture ingress 

This is the original one I had CBC sleeve and then I fitted a kit from the UK to it. It's going to head down to CBC for them to chuck a seal kit into, hopefully it'll last longer this time.

I lubricated the seals with either brake fluid or rubber grease (or both) when I fitted them. Probably just cheap shite rubber.

[kws]

I've got some work to do in the next couple of weeks, the Marina is booked for a WOF at a different workshop in three weeks.

[Dell'orto]

Late to the party, but I now run my own little after hours workshop in Upper Hutt, do WOF's and am less aggressive toward old cars...

Also interesting you had issues there - I've known the owner for ages, he's usually pretty chill

[Bearded Baldy]

Definately dont try take that underseal off. No requirement to do that at all. Has been there forever.

Have a customer with a marina ute that looks worse underneath lol.

Butttttttt!! When you clean up the other areas underneath where it has chipped away, only rust treat it do NOT paint or underseal it. New underseal generally means hiding something in my experience so could put next wof guy on edge. Once wof is done then underseal all you like.

 

[kws]

6 hours ago, Dell'orto said:

Late to the party, but I now run my own little after hours workshop in Upper Hutt, do WOF's and am less aggressive toward old cars...

Also interesting you had issues there - I've known the owner for ages, he's usually pretty chill

That's handy to know, if I survive this WOF check I might be in touch for the next one (if I remember)

I've had nothing but good dealings with those guys before, but my friend with an SD1 was also failed by them in the past (after I suggested he goes there...) for weird things they kinda pulled out of nowhere like they just wanted to get rid of him. I thought he failed an attitude test, but clearly they just have days where they cant be bothered with certain/old cars.

[kws]

Did a solid 10 hours on the Marina yesterday and I'm bloody broken today.

The WOF guy was way out of bounds, having now actually looked at what's under the car. The rust at the front was surface rust on the underside of the battery tray, and the underseal was a real non-issue. There were a few areas where it had flaked or scraped off to bare metal and had some surface rust, but otherwise its stuck on there better than my wire wheel could do. The big nasty horrible rust in the boot came off to nice bare metal with just my cheap soda blaster...