Neville opens pre-test station at Mansfield
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• When the pre-MoT test department of G. and E. Neville, Mansfield-based Bedford main dealer, is opened next Monday, it will be one of the first of 60 such centres which will be operating pre-inspection services under the Bedford seven-point transport specialist plan announced last November.
At a recent preview of the Neville test lane it was evident that the firm intends to eliminate, so far as possible, labour time wasted through bad diagnosis. The test lane is equipped with a dynamometer for checking the efficiency of running units and the power output of engines. It has a roller brake tester that will record braking efficiencies. And, in addition to the testing bay, Neville has built a 1 in 6.5 gradient of sufficient length to accommodate the longest attics. So, if the efficiency of a handbrake is in doubt when checked on the roller tester, a physical test can be performed on the gradient.
The test lane is 105ft long and 1711 wide and is high enough to accommodate the tallest pantechnicon.
A Grundfoss high-pressure wash is installed away from the test area to permit vehicles to be cleaned prior to inspection and at a point before the brake rollers are reached a pair of Hands Checkweights are let into the floor to permit accurate axle weights to be ascertained before the brakes are tested.
After passing through the chassis, dynamometer and brake tests vehicles run over a pit where thorough visual inspection is possible. At this same location a headlamp beam-setting device is installed.
Altogether the equipment checks all the points covered in the MoT test and the picture gained from information produced during the inspection enables the company to record the outstanding faults shown up and at the same time produce an estimate of the cost involved in putting them right before the vehicle is submitted for the official test.
The Neville organization has already laid plans to bring its repair shops on to shift work to cope with the increased amount of work that will undoubtedly stem from the introduction of the tests. Further plans are in hand for the erection of more repair shop buildings and for an increase in staff to man them.
The address of the company is The Neville Organisation, Commercial Vehicle Service Department, Robin Down Lane, Nottingham Road, Mansfield, Notts. Mr. Len Shaw is the service manager and his phone number is Mansfield 26101.