Genghis,
I can honestly say that I haven't ever been pressured to sign.Maybe I am very lucky.I have certainly backed down and changed my mind having consulted with colleages but I've never had a manager tell me to sign off a defect that is clearly outside the MEL and dangerous. Maybe that is a significant difference between the standards of general aviation compared to commercial operations?
fruitloop,
In that situation I would certainly have refused to release the aircraft with an MEL over-run especially if the spares were available.They would have to have got me a concession in order for me to do that but once again,I have never been unfortunate enough to work for a company that has tried it on like that.