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These details are eventually not important for readers from the UK or the USA, but for dealers in Sweden it may help to prepare themselves and their customers.
If you import a vehicle to Germany from overseas or there has never been a homologation for that type than you have to do a complete technical approval following §21 of the german StVZO - the regulation for allowance of vehicles to the public traffic. Depending on the federal state in Germany you have to go to the TuV or to the DEKRA, only one can do that in each federal state, and in every station only some of the engineers are authorized. Reservation and communicaton in advance and a preview to the car are often neccessary and helpfull, because in that situation are many more things to check as in the normal approval every two years.
If you don't want an approval for just a normal car, but an approval as an real oldtimer you will have to do a check following §21c, and than you need real specialists. For an oldtimer you can start liberal discussions about original parts or not, therefore you may have other requirements to fullfill, where the car can be changed or not. In every case you should check in advance in which place a real expert for checks by §21c is working and than go there.
In every case you should collect data about the car as much as possible. If you did read that before you will be able to answer questions with the right page from the service manual or from the technical specifications at once. May be you will have to translate some passages. Very usefull is a copy from an actual title for a car of the same type, which is registered in Germany. There you can find the right keynumbers for the Volvo C303: 910 is the producer = Volvo(s) and for me the style 1003 means truck with hardtop. The unknown type C03 4X4 1V gets no own number.
The nerarest inspection authority is in Colgne-Bildertöckchen. The check by §21 is possible on mondays to tuesdays from 8 to 15, on fridays until 12 o clock. Reservation is not neccessary. I just drove in. Unfortunately just before me a travel bus entered the yard, I had to wait a little bit. After the bus the engineer visited me.
The sceptizism in the beginning shrinked relative quickly, I could answer to all questions promtly and competent. But the list of failings grew and grew. Mostly peanuts, but in the mass its a lot of work. The single points I will list below and on other pages I will show the problems detailled. On the brake test stand and the shuffle plates for the steering my Volvo C303 was tortured - but he survived. Very nice was the sentence out of the undercut: "It is looking nicer from below than from the outside!"
The list of all weak points and failures is horrible to read. Her you can see all single entrys with interpretation. The TuV at cologne may work very precisely, other inspection authoritys may be less pedantic. Often it depends on the engineer itself. Fortunately you can go were you like...
Manufacturer's plate incomplet - some entrys on the Volvo-plate in the cabin are missing. That was corrected on the last visit. (No glue, why that should be a critical failure)
Brakes uneven on the front axle - more than 25% difference in the brake power between the left and right wheel. The car really drivted to one side while braking, but without power-steeriner I allways gripped the steering wheel so hard that I did not recognize that. Bleed and adjust the brakes.
Brake pedal moves to far without reaction - bleed and adjust the brakes.
Irregular windscreen on the right - no certification stamp. A formal problem with intense effect, have a look at to add.
Dangerous parts in the front and back - the carriers for the brigade identification plates have sharp edges and have to be removed, also the protectors for the backlights have to be rounded off. A problem for an oldtimer approval.
Coverage above the front wheels incomplete - The fat tyres protrude from the body of the car for 2 cm. The running surface is covered, but that was not enough. I must add a cover on the edge of the mudguards. A problem for an oldtimer approval. And I saw some sportscars in the neighbourhood which looked the same...
No step to climb in - OK, the entry is at 76 cm, that is 6 cm to high, following even the old EU-standards. On both sides I must add an step - Ingrid will be pleased. Eventually a problem for an oldtimer approval, but I saw pictuers from old Volvo C303 from the fire brigade which had such steps, that means such an alteration is possible.
No handle on the drivers side - there never was one. The steering wheel is not enough to hold on? OK, I will screw a handle to the A-column. Eventually a problem for an oldtimer approval.
Exaust pipe too long - by uneven production the pipe protruded on the side of the body. Ok, 10 cm will be cut off, no problem.
Fuel line in bad condition - the metall pieces of the fuel line near the petrol tank and near the frame was rusty. Ok, it will be derusted, no problem.
The strange plated catseyes on the bumpers all had certification stamps. In the back is a conflict with the license plates. I need a very small plate not to hide the catseye on the left. On the frame the beginning corrosion is remarked, no surprise. The vacuum hose to the differential switch on the back axle was noticed porous. No more failings.
On the way to the ferry in Gothenburg I was surprised the first time: a sudden braking was follwoed by a curve to the right. But that did not last long. On the test stand it became obviously: The brakes worked uneven on the front axle. This important part had to be reparired for security reasons at once.
At Volovotrucks in cologne Rodenkirchen the crew was very surprised by the car. Normally on trucks they work with air pressure for years. But they did find a pressured bucket for hydraulic oil and the correct adapter to fit it to the little storages for brake oil in the cabin. Naturally I had the service manual at hand to give help to the repairman Hassan.
Very carefully he opened and closed the nipples for the brake lines with the intention not to destroy the old threads. With 2 Bar pressure the oil was extruded, only on one wheel cylinder on the left (sic!) I had to help with the pedal and produce more pressure. On the test stand from Volvotrucks afterwards the left wheel braked stronger than the right one. Confusing.
When going to normal operation with the brake here is an important tip: between the two circuits is a secrutity valve behind the steering axle below of the main brake cylinder. This valve snaps in if the pressure between the two brake circuits is too different. While we worked on the brake lines we had tha effect when using the pedal. After starting the car the brake controll light was on all the time. To set the valve back you have to screw out the contact switch from the valve an screw it in again to make the switch inside snap to zero agein.
For the following work I had dismounted every wheel one time. With the wheel off you can reach the inner side of the hub easily to adjust the brakes. There is a screw for every brake plate to adjust the space between brake plate and drum. I could do it with a offset wrench 13. Just tie on until the wheel is blocked, then turn a little to let it turn again - ready.
Then I adjusted the brake pedal. The pedals are hanging in a littel frame near the steering axle. On the frame is a big screw with locking nut for every pedal to stop the move. With a wrench 13 I opened the nut, adjusted the screw and fixed the nut again. Now the slackness of the brake pedal is reduced, for the clutch it works in the same way. Attention: the contact for the brake lights carries 24 Volts all the time, don't touch (flash!).
The result is a brake that reakts fast and direct and I can leave the steering wheel alone while braking. Problem solved.
At the second presentation 4 weeks later nearly all failings were corrected. But there still was the problem with the windscreen, I had to com a third time. On the third visit everything was ok and I received the certificate of conformity to get a new title.
My expert opinion for a Volvo C303 is adapted from an existing german title for a car or the same type. I show it here to explain, which values should be inserted in which field of the standard EU-forms for a Volvo C303. The layout of the expert opinion is like the layout of the EU-documents.
In discrepance to the former swedish title there are some differences. That may be intreresting for an expected real oltimer registration.
To get a registration as a tax prefered truck without any dispute all seats in the back are removed, therefore I have only 2 seats left instead of 7 seats in the original car. (Field S.1 und S.2)
The type of the vehicle is not complete in my expert opinion, it should be not only "C03 4X4" but correctly "C03 4X4 1V" like on the factory plate. (Field D.2, Zeile 1)
The trailer hitch in the form of a hook with some safety mechanisms did not find acceptance in the eyes of the engineers. May be that instead of a hitch in form of a ball or a with a stud this hook could not produce a form-locking connection, because there will be a free space of 1 to 2 cm. Therefore it is registered only for emergency towing, not for a trailer on the road, but with the original towing capacity of 750/1500 kg. (Field O.1 and O.2 and 22)
I showed the technical specifications from Michelin und Simtex to get the 255/100-R16 all terrain tyre inserted as an alternative to ghe original tyres. (Field 15, Field 22) The remarked adaption of the speedometer may not be neccessary factoring in how old my car is ( before 1994 ). If you get the clearance from Michelin for the wheels of 16 x 7,5' is a second question.
The maximum speed of 95 km/h in field T is in my case an averaging value following the instruction for the drivers of 80 km/h near the speedometer, the original specification of 125 km/h, the reduced engine power following the adaption to unleaded petrol and my statement to have reached a speedometer value of 95 km/h. Depending on the engineer you may discuss about a value between 80 and 110 km/h, depending on your needs and experiance.
The original printout of the expert opinion you deposit at the registration office together with the swedisch registration documents, where you ask for a german title for your car. A copy of that will go to the counter, where following to these values a new set of registration papers will be produced. I mad a foto as an example for the net and anonymized it a little bit.
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