DIY Campers and MOT tests.

[fooby]

I'm planning on making a cheap conversion for my Honda Civic whilst I save for a Transit to convert into a camper. I've never thought about MOT's in the past with campers as I've always assumed in a commercial vehicle it would just be classed as goods being stored in the rear, but with the Civic I will be removing the rear seats. Will I need to re-install them for MOT, or are the rear seatbelts simply not tested if there are no seats fitted? Anything else I need to worry about being a car and not a commercial vehicle?

[Red Devil]

fooby said:

Will I need to re-install them for MOT, or are the rear seatbelts simply not tested if there are no seats fitted?

If you're removing the rear seats why do you need the rear belts? Remove both. Not there: not tested.
If that were not the case, any rally car more than 3 years old would fail. They still have to be driven on the road between stages.

[strain]

Yup as above.

i used my old fiesta as a van for a few months, rear seats completely out, along with belt buckles etc.

MOT passed no problem

[TooMany2cvs]

If the seats are out, it matters not one bit about whether the belts are there or not - they're ignored for the test. If the mounts would fail because of rot simply because of the belts, they'll pass - but any suspension proximity might still fail 'em.

[ghe13rte]

fooby said:

I'm planning on making a cheap conversion for my Honda Civic whilst I save for a Transit to convert into a camper. I've never thought about MOT's in the past with campers as I've always assumed in a commercial vehicle it would just be classed as goods being stored in the rear, but with the Civic I will be removing the rear seats. Will I need to re-install them for MOT, or are the rear seatbelts simply not tested if there are no seats fitted? Anything else I need to worry about being a car and not a commercial vehicle?

If you did that you may as well simply MOT a different vehicle.

[fooby]

Thanks for the help! I won't worry about that then. While we're here, the law about tinted windows only applies to the front and side windows am I right? I could make velcro blinds for the rear windows, but it would be much easier and more effective to just permanently black them out and remove the rear view mirror.

[lbc]

fooby said:

Thanks for the help! I won't worry about that then. While we're here, the law about tinted windows only applies to the front and side windows am I right? I could make velcro blinds for the rear windows, but it would be much easier and more effective to just permanently black them out and remove the rear view mirror.

It may not be illegal, but your insurance company may refuse cover.

Many insurers don't like aftermarket changes to window tints, and probably blinds also, as it will reduce vision.