Edd China’s Basic Classic Car Health Checks: Inspecting Your Classic’s Interior

Welcome to my Classic Car Health Check. This time, we're inside the car for a series of checks. First thing you wanna do, if your car is fitted with a steering lock , is to activate that and make sure then releases when you put on the ignition. Now with the ignition on, you can then check your lights on your dashboard to make sure they're actually lighting up. Also, when you're looking at the speeder, you can turn the headlights on to make sure that it is illuminated, and also the glass is actually intact.

It's not cracked in any way. Then while the ignition is still on, check for the horn, which is wonderful. All right, so then we start the car. First thing to do, that you check your power steering if is actually fitted. It should be a marked difference.

Obviously no steering, cause if it is fitted and doesn't work, then that will be a failure. Next thing, pump the brake a couple of times and really give it a good squeeze. You want to make sure there's no sponginess in your brakes which doesn't just fade away. You know, having a really long travel is actually, okay. It's not an MOT failure, but it is an indicative of something not being adjusted correctly.

So want to make sure of that. Now it's worth noting that an MOT test is often the time when your brake lines if they're actually going to fail, just burst under the kind of extreme pressure they'll try to use on the rollers. So you might have to do it in your own workshop rather than at somebody else's workshop. Now we're all still on the brakes. Have a look at the handbrake.

Now there's no longer a prerequisite number of clicks you have to get, but it it does have to have form trouble and obviously work at the end of that trouble. And the latching does need to be present. Now 10% of all MOT failures are down to the driver's view of the road. Now the first thing you wanted to have a look at is any kind of rally of familiar stickers from car sales, all that kind of stuff. Make sure they're all clear and out of the way.

Next thing to do is actually ignition on make sure your windscreen wipers working. In fact, before that, try your washers. I'm giving it a really good push. And this is a mechanical version. It is just about working.

And in fact, at some point during the other checks you really should have a look at the washer screen bottle, and make sure you're not growing some kind of new random life form in there. Now pop your windscreen wipers on to make sure they also are working nicely. And you can also check that the rubber isn't perished and is doing its job. It's actually wiping the glass. Now, another thing to check is actually the visibility through the glass.

So there were no chips or big scratches in the glass. Particularly you want to focus on zone A, as the MOT book calls it. And that's defined by a little center line going all the way up from the center of the steering wheel. And there's a 290 millimeter wide ban in the swept area. So you have a chip in there and either you have to get it fixed or replace your windscreen.

Another thing to have a look at while you're here is make sure that you have your interior mirror. It is fitted and more to the point, you can actually see clearly in it or through it. It is giving a nice reflection. Now, the next thing to check is that you can actually get out of the car from inside on the driver's side. And of course, check the passenger side too.

Now the next check you can do, whether you're on the inside or the outside of the car, and that is the seatbelt. You want to make sure that the webbing is in good order and hasn't got any frays and it's not tangled up in the clasp, but also more importantly you need to make sure the clasp actually locates in the receiving end properly. And you want to make sure that the tongue clips into the buckle easily, secure, and then also is removable on both sides of the vehicle. And as I said, you do it in the rear as well. Should they be fitted.

Now the next thing to think about is actually the structural integrity of the seat. You want to make sure that the seat back is actually secured and is okay. Anything adjustable actually works and properly holds the seat secure. And then the other thing you wanna make sure is that it's actually bolted down to the structure of the car properly as well. So it is very, very secure there as well.

And the last thing you can do while you're in this area is actually check the rubber on all of your pedals to make sure that is also present and secure is actually going to do its job when your feet are wet. So that pretty much concludes all of the checks on the inside of the car. In the next few videos, we're going to be covering checks covering checks while the engine is running, checks on the road and also more detailed later checks underneath the car.