old car new inspection

[bgd73]

some of us hang onto the factual machines ..simply because they aren;t there today. a carbed geo, an old beetle, an 80s subaru...
I forget sometimes, and wonder. Why doesn;t everybody have a mig welder? visegrips, piles of sheet steel for the special stubborn new england pulverized spots..of course not OE, that would be too feminine.
I figured it out today: it is the car inspectors. They kill the will of owners.

if it is older than 6 months you may have a grumpy grandpa with an inspection license tearing apart your hypermiled masterpiece. I took a 1987 in today, it wasn't bad, excpet for one disagreement. The law allows this, you can even negate all the way to the state police inspection station. I do have a local guy who targets my machine. Very old school, like chevy ford battle, how dare I bring an original 23 year scoob beaten to life ... it outlasted his life.

Anybody else have this strange problem? what about hho/alternative fuel people and state inspectors? or oh no, the custom turbo on a little engine.. I bet there is some uneasy stories...as if you had to defend your car from a nutcase. Knowing it is not only text book, it exceeds oe 90% of the vehicle, the last 10% meeting it or fixing original non-repairables. Sometimes it just looks like the model it started off as
I am lucky to find a garage that understood welding. It is these other ridiculous things that need to stop. Targetted for a tire on an awd with cups on the inside. No way. never seen that before. I ponder being an inspector, staying dynamical with many years of knowledge is the only way. rock heads need not apply with state law books only. they aren't dynamical enough.

[wagonman76]

My friend in NC has to deal with inspections, and he says it's all in where you go. Some places are so narrowminded and have hassled him for stuff that wasn't even wrong. Like the parking brake in his Regal where the GM manual says "pump to set" and they failed him because it didn't engage with one press. Not his fault that GM designed it that way. Eventually he found a reasonable one, it is also the mechanic he regularly uses.

That's one thing I am thankful for in Michigan. At least for right now, we don't have to deal with inspections.

[jcp123]

Yeah, inspections suck. When we moved here to Texas, we were surprised and disheartened to discover vehicle inspections - I had always thought Texas to be more heavy on personal freedoms and the like. Anyhow, my current DD, the Mustang, sat for two years because my Dad and I were afraid to find out what the car would need to pass inspection here. As it turns out, I just needed some new wiper blades (a good idea anyway) and a horn button to be wired in. Still, some places are going to be more lax than others, particularly if you know the folks. It's the old case of who you know being of almighty importance

[McTimson]

It's all in who you know. This year was the first time I had ever had an inspection place lift up my car and open the hood. I always went to places that would basically pass you as long as your brake lights worked, and your exhaust sounded mostly complete.

[bgd73]

It is really like that I guess. Who ya know. I am not one to cheat on things unless it is stonger than norm, I beleive I should be able to go anywhere, it is not the case , especially maine. It is bizarre. the same street could have an impreza bouncing strutless and exhaustless like a clown mobile..and somehow legal... being a former crew chief of a strained kind (we really worked asirplanes old school), there is a life long motivation I am not letting go of. I do believe any machine is possible. It could even be bent in half to recover..

A silly epiphany for me is noticing right next door, a small garage with the state inspectors sign..I mean like less than 50 feet from my window. I have been in the same spot for almost 3 years. I ignore it apparently. I confronted a mechanic yesterday, and I can reschedule, and pay again for another inspection. I even mentioned getting a hard time, for no realistic reason. He seemed to understand right away, as if "no big surprise, it happens all the time." This should not be happening like this..if I had real errors, they have computers and networked and stuff when you finally get a sticker for the year to come.it goes to show the inspection I had recently has nothing written, a true case of getting a hard time with a safe machine... I am going to the towns local police to ask some questions about a true formal complaint this year. I have drawn the line. It is the third year in a row from a brewer maine inspection station... My machine is no joke, dont try to joke about it to the head mechanic. And ya know, there is real laws defending real mechanics.

[bgd73]

this post should get interesting. I just called the state police, I found they jacked the car up by a rocker panel on the left side, it is now dented hopelessly. It is a good thing it is over doubled. An original sube would have crushed there, doing what they did. This not only explains

• lack of receipt (I paid for inspection),
  lack of repairs written that were needed (there are none),
  and left with half a sticker..
  and no ID by anybody...

I get a call back tomorrow, the sube drama continues....

I believed in chances, this is the secind year for this garage and a bad inspector. Last year, I ended up with a realist at the same garage. (Obviously a welder). I hope to get a state police version, and this car on the real "network" that keeps track of state inspection stickers.

[bgd73]

the date of this thread reminds me I am going on 3 weeks getting railroaded.

today I go back to the first garage, I did what they wanted with the ebrake, the two other complaints were not correct. This makes inspection #4 by mentally challenged individuals.

since the first inspection, the car suffered a hit and run in the rear bumper, some sledge hammer, chain around a tree, Another 10 hours of overdone welding to add to the sube. I have extended the roof rack, and rotated a tire front to back. the previous weld proved to be mythical in what it survived in the accident. An oem version would be done...possibly for good.

lets see if I am going for a fifth station, the state police keeping myself from frothing in rage, or a little yellow sticker claiming a pro looked it over keeping the mad max mini-tractor trailer subaru good until 2010...stay tuned...

[bgd73]

Old thunderhorse lives to ride again. This time the ginat inspection sticker is in the middle of the little windshield. I forgot how much I wasn;t seeing with it in the corner. Just another peeve of inspections on the odl buggy...you canlt ask to put sticker where you want. The garage I went to the first did indeed follow through, this is even after the mash up in the back end, requiring a hella more weld and custom. It is good to have the welders local, with licenses. I have gone through to bonehead inspections already (for real, legitimate enough to complain to state police , as previous posts have storied).
alot of ecomoddables are getting older, fear not the inspector if you know integrity is good, find a like mechanic in the familiar realm of your work and it should go well. (that is advice from state police).