Shaved Doors and the MOT

[thepuddlejumper]

I was down at my MOT station with my daily driver and got talking to the mechanic, he is restoring an old Morris.  He said things are getting worse with the continuous updates to the MOT requirements it looks like the Government want all the old cars off the road.  Anyway we started talking about my 126 and the mods carried out.  He confirmed it would not pass an MOT as you need to be able to open all doors from the outside as well as the inside, so shaved doors don't comply.  I said tongue in cheek you can open it with the fob from the outside, he laughed.  So it's back to the drawing board, has anyone come across this and been able to resolve it?

Ralph 

[Hazey-n-Marc]

I've had Passats, Polos and Sciroccos without door handles, I just left a hole so you could push the lever in the door that the handle had operated. I was planning to use an old central locking unit (the air pressure type units) in each door, with a button, or just have a long bar coming out of the top or bottom of the door to release the latch.

[pietschokkenbroek]

Shaved door handles are (high) on my list of mods I would like to carry out. I came across this site (It's in german, I don't know if that's a problem)

http://www.larrys.de/modern_style_turgriff.html

[stuey]

mine was always fine with the mot with a remote popper-I did have to make them both pop at the same time for the test then disconnected the passenger one when the test was over, I have a new 4 channel remote now though so I can pop them independantly (and honk the horn and flash the lights hope fully)

[Pete126]

They look really cool with shaved door handles but i can see why this is an MOT failure, If anyone had an accident in a 126 or any other car that needed a special popper to open the doors fromthe outside, in my mind that would be dangerous, The ones that Piet put up are a proper mechanical door handle and should not pose a problem,  I personally want to be able to get out as quickly as possible or if i was injured the emergency services should be able to unlatch the door from the outside to get me and passengers out quickly

[thepuddlejumper]

Thanks for the quick replies.  I quite like the flush door handles but that's not really shaved.  I'm sure I have seen cars with this type of handle but can't remember which.  The guidance in the manual stated the doors must be able to be opened from inside and out, it didn't mention a handle was required.  May be open to interpretation.

Ralph

[Kent126]

This legislation is currently being discussed in Brussells. Thats correct, this is coming from the EU just as most of the other crazy legislation does!

It is only being discussed at the moment, but as with most crazy EU laws we could see it implemented in the UK.

Essentially, ANY modification to a vehicle would render it illegal, and would fail an MOT. This means this legislation would kill the classic car, and modified boy racer car scenes.

ANY modification from changing your wheel to alloy wheels, changing the engine, or even adding some mirrors to your lambretta. Your vehicle MUST be kept as it left the factory, or it will fail the MOT.

This will cause some severe issues among non purists, but also in MOT test centres. How is a test centre supposed to know everything about every car ever made in the world, and where would such a database be held?

Crazy or what!?

The department for transport already have their concerns , and are discussing it as we speak, but yet another reason to vote for UKIP! Get us out of Europe!

More information here;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/9526693/Motorists-face-EU-ban-for-modifying-cars.html

Good news though, classic cars in the UK built before 1960 soon may not need an MOT test at all under new UK proposals.   

Tom