Our Cars: 1988 Lancia Delta Integrale 8V
20 March 2013: It's MoT time!
I don't know why, but I wasn't confident about the MoT. So wasn't really expecing much when I handed the car over to City Call garage in Burton Latimer, and asked for them to perform a pre-MoT, and send me a list of all the things that would need fixing. After all, the 'Grale had been immobile since last September...
The reason for that immobilisation had been down to a rather nasty failure - which was both unlucky, and very, very fortunate. My long-suffering mate Mike Humble had come up to my place to sort out the brakes with me, when the brake line split, showering the drive with fluid. Imagine that on the A14 on a Friday evening. Actually, don't.
But that was now about to be sorted months later. There was nothing for it - ramps would be needed, and that's beyond my home workshop. So, I chatted to the guys at City Call, which I'd coincidentally found out in an earlier conversation that they had experience in my Italian beast, as former Lancia specialists. Who knew? So I arranged to drive down - literally a half a mile - using nothing but the handbrake, so they could fit an entirely new run of brake lines. And once done, if they wanted to do that pre-MoT, that would be nice.
A day after dropping the car off, I received a call. Oh no, I thought - here we go. But I needn't have worried. They'd done the brake lines, bled the system, and run it though a test. And aside from cleaning a few dirty earths (a common Lancia Integrale failing), it flew through the test without problem. My elation actually outdid my relief for once.
Yes, it has faults - not least that the interior heater fan doesn't blow, and the tyres, which might have tread, are old and wooden, and despite passing its MoT, the lights stopped working on the drive home, around the admittedly long and twisty back lanes. And as I pulled the car into the garage, it was clear that the engine cooling fans weren't cutting in. When it gets a little warmer, I might actually open the bonnet and take a look - but for now, I'm going to wait for the rain to stop falling before letting it venture out again...
« Earlier: Disaster at the first service... Later: Lancia Delta heads for Perfection »
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