MOT in Gib

This is an easy one.

£20 for the test. Valid for two years. Only catch? This is for Gib residents and people with Gib businesses, ie registered in Gibraltar, only.

So no, you can't bring your GB reg coche for an updated MOT when you have been living in Spain or anywhere else and out of the UK for longer than your MOT lasts. Nor can you buy some cheap Brit vehicle that has been kicking around on the Iberian peninsula for years and suddenly think you will get an MOT in Gib. Let me repeat, this is a non-starter.

So back to the beginning. If you have a Gib registered vehicle that you are legally entitled to drive - this is how to get your MOT roadworthy certificate renewed.

Go to the MOT station in Eastern Beach at the far end of Devil's Tower Road.

Take your log book, last MOT cert, and ID to be on the safe side.

Pay your money in advance and you will then get an appointment.

Note, you can not do this over the telephone. You have to turn up in person to make an appointment, with the papers.

If you already have a certificate you will probably get a helpful reminder that your MOT is due to run out, we did.

On the due date of the test, you turn up and you are allocated to Lane 1 or Lane 2 depending on your vehicle.

Sadly we failed, but not on anything mechanical.

We had a broken window that had been shattered one Friday night, some time ago, by someone.

After a while we sourced the glass and put it in. All ready to go again in a few weeks, and it went straight through the test. Good to go for another two years.

Total time to replace glass - three and a half hours.

1) take out the complete frame with the existing good piece of glass

2) split frame

3) insert new glass

4) replace grub screws that hold frame together

5) Haynes would say - complete in reverse order - in other words, lift the frame with complete glass and insert into panel. Note two pairs of hands are helpful at this point.

6) Pop rivet the frame into the panel. On the Santana, some of this also needed two pairs of hands because it was very fiddly.

7) Refit rubber seal.

And - off to the MOT station for new certificate.

Sunday afternoon out

Thanks to Sean for the ride out, Tuggy and Erica for their hospitality, and everyone else for making Sunday such an enjoyable afternoon.

A few photos ......












And good footage of the afternoon thanks to toyotaphil ...

Compressor attachment for tyres

Slashed tyres are not good. Ever.

So, off we went back to Spain to pick up some spares, and en route, a stop at Leroy Merlin for a nice attachment for the compressor to inflate tyres.

22€ for the full kit. Better than legs falling off using the bicycle pump.

Toll roads - Costa del Sol

And the good news is, the toll prices have gone down with the end of the summer holidays.

Mountains on the way up at the rest area between Estepona and Marbella.


It wasn't all cloud though - blue sky looking towards the coast.


Dog.



So new prices:
Fuengirola - Marbella: €3.75
Marbella - Estepona: €2.55

(although I could have sworn on the way up it was €4.15 between Marbella and Fuengirola).

Finally we decided to try some tapas at Los Altos de Marbella service station/rest area/restaurant, narrowly beating a coachload of customers to the counter. Phew.

1 racion of pimientos asados
1 racion of ensalada de patatas (incl egg and olives)
1 portion of pizza
bread included
1 coke
1 18.75cl bottle of Rioja

Total: €14.60


Pizza.


Pimientos.


Potato salad.


And yes, the helpings were bigger originally. They were well demolished by the time photos were taken...

Compressor - Clarke Hunter 50

Acquired from Freecycle.

It wasn't working. It seemed like an electrical fault. First thing was to check the plug and the fuse.

Someone had put a Spanish plug on it, so I disconnected that and put a three-pin plug on it. As the compressor is designed for live, neutral and earth it wouldn't work without the earth wire.

Still didn't work, but at least it had current - it didn't before the plug was changed.

Removed the cover of the interruptor switch, put on a test screwdriver, and it fired into life. The noise frightened the life out of me and I nearly went through the store backwards. I hadn't expected the motor to work.

The next step was to look for the parts to put it right. As I was busy working, I decided to let the shop fit the parts as well and left the compressor with them. They gave it an overhaul, changed the oil, fitted the new switch and I bought a new flexi air-line.

Total cost - approx £120 for a machine worth around £600 - or more in Gibraltar. Half of the cost was labour, and the parts costs were for an air filter element, switch, back entry gauge, nipples, a plastic cover and a gland.

Oh and if anyone is wondering what on earth this has to do with Land Rovers... respray?

Random Landy photos

Seen in Gib over the last month or so.

Sunday morning starter?

Nigel mentioned he had a problem with his Discovery (1). It's a V8. Sounded like the starter motor to Adrian, so off he went to take it out for him.



It took some time when he first took ours out from the Series III many years ago, he didn't realise that it wasn't just two threaded bolts, but that they are allen head studs, so an allen key/socket is needed to remove them.



But with that at the back of his mind, he went over there this morning fully equipped.

'It shouldn't take long,' he said. A famous Land Rover quote. With that in mind I printed off some geocaching info, although realised that was unlikely to happen.

And some three hours later, he had finally got it out. No geocaching but a successful starter motor day. When Nigel gets it fixed, he will put it back in for him.



A couple of comments. Adrian was working on the street under the Disco which is much lower down than our Series and our Santana. The three hours includes driving there, and loading and unloading tools.



It's not a difficult job, it is awkward, it can be frustrating, and you have to clean out any crud ie oil, gunge, dirt, before you can get the allen key to fit. If anyone doesn't know where it is, it's under the manifold on the driver's side.



One of the difficult things was to remove the electrical connections to the solenoid, he had to take out the starter motor before he could remove the nuts.



There was also a stud that he couldn't see. There was one that came out of the top, one wasn't there in the bottom (but should have been) but the starter motor still wouldn't come out. So then he had to feel around to eventually find the third one.



Finally, the starter motor is the original factory fitted one from 1991 - even had the original cable tie holding it together. Eighteen years - not bad value for money there.

Nigel - didn't lose patience and was great at passing the tools.