Another year, another MOT

So, the pickup had the MOT last week and in spite of the fact that the mechanic I regularly use to look it over and put it through being reluctant to do it this year - it passed.
He intimated that it wouldn't get by on emissions, and it was idling high last time he put it in (nice of him to tell me now, almost a year later.)
I solved half the problem long ago when I replaced the 3rd coil pack since acquiring the truck in 2016, making a massive difference to the throttle response and misfiring under load (especially on gas, when the whole truck would seem to shunt.) I think this explains the trouble he was expecting on the emissions front, even on gas which should barely register any. I'd also managed to procure a brand new propshaft from MondoPorter of Sicily, despite not having an Italian tax code?! Awesome service and the price I paid for it was nearly half that of the next cheapest I could find. I'd had two fail me since having the truck. One I got from a breaker nearby. The UJ & yoke on the original had worn so much it had nearly fallen out, and the second, both ends had nearly fallen out!! Hence the crazy vibrations at 20-30mph. Hopefully a brand new one will outlive the truck. I also had no joy pursuing the hope of a free replacement under the recall.
The other niggling problem left is the issue of the high idle (1600rpm.) I suspect it is a vacuum leak. I did a bit of investigation and found the air intake hose has split where it connects to the air filter box and although I tried to remedy it by getting the spring clip positioned as best I could, it's at best a temporary fix. Also, when we had to reconnect the gas line to the throttle body it was quite fiddly cutting out the hose and fixing it I would be surprised it was entirely airtight. I had to get a new stepper motor imported from Germany and the connector on one side had a different diameter to the original one (12mm to 16mm) so had to wedge the lpg hose on as best I could, not wanting to have to amend the crudely joined existing hose.
All the above probably makes no sense to anyone but it's nice to give a little update and small contribution

Happy motoring for another year at least