This is how you pass mot on a 100 dollar beater. (Graphic, not for minors.)

22 Mar 2018

First! Assess the damage. Is it worth fixing? Do you really need it that bad?
Can you fix it? If it’s worth your time, do it.

Find a cheap piece of metal. Something you can find that would fit. Trim it in place and make sure it covers the hole and overlaps a bit. Make sure you can attach it..

For my case, the other side was covered with oil. Welding it would have caused a fire.
And welding costs more money than pop riveting so….

Rivet it in place. Make sure the drillbit is not too long or you’ll risk damaging something in the other side.
Keep peeking at the other side where the rivets are going.
Make sure you’re using the correct length and width rivets that they’ll be strong enough to hold.

Bash the piece of metal with a ball peen hammer so the metal stretches and molds itself into place.

Cover it up with bondo after generously splashing it with a coat of zinc primer.
Remember to cover up the rivets so the MOT guy doesn’t see it.
Remember, this is a 100 dollar beater car. It’ll probably run for a year or two max. It is not worth your effort.

Add a thick coat of underbody coating.. It has to be slathered on very thick so it’ll only look like it has been properly patched and it’s just dirty.

Remember to drive the car before going to MOT so the patch gets nice and unnoticeably dirty.

This car i used as an example is an 1990’s nissan sunny. It has nearly half a million km’s on the clock.
The hydraulic lifters are completely gone. The engine is not worth repairing. If the car holds together for a year or two, i might engineswap it if i don’t get bored with it.
This is a car with flaking paint, surface rust, electronics failing here and there. It’s not worth the money to restore.

I will only keep driving this beater until it’s too mush to repair or the repair becomes too expensive.
I’m already investing too much money on this car because the piece of metal and the poprivets already cost more than the car is really worth.. It’s just a piece of scrap metal honestly.

If you found this funny, please like and comment for a barrel of laughs. This whole tutorial was made as a joke.

I’m personally still driving this for a year. I’ll update this if the repair fails.

Comments

That’s pretty cool

to be honest when i was an apprentice mechanic i saw worse bodged jobs than that. had a guy who couldnt believe he was failing his mot with his steering rack cable tied to the car. He had a crash and it bent some of the sub frame which he had hammered back straight but in doing so had snapped the steering rack mounts off so he cable tied the steering rack to the sub frame.

I mean.. Suspension and brake stuff is something that can end up fatally.. But a rust hole in the floor will not kill you, only make your feet cold in the winter..
This car mechanically is okay.. Not good, but not bad either. It works, it drives.
Inner steering rack ball joints are starting to get a little bit loose. they’re still operable, but next year might need replacing.

As an apprentice mechanic, what is your opinion on about attaching the inner wheel well to the frame using pop rivets? It’s only a keyboards length.
It was holding up with a massive hole earlier, this pop rivet fix, even if it only holds up 10% structural integrity, that’s still better than 0%.