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Birmingham SVA First time pass

24 Apr 2009, 12:35pm
Just in case anyone on her doesnt frequent piston heads or locost builders

Well we did it. Drove all the way there, 61 miles, mix of country roads and Motorway and she behaved perfectly.

Got to test station with big silly grin to start with.:D There was even nearly an accident involving a guy on a motorbike who nearly fell off turning road to look

Met dave my tester really nice guy and he had a look round and appeared impressed with the standard of build and trim I think the fact I told him Id driven it 61 miles impressed him with my confidence in the car.

One silly, I'd forgotten 2 nuts on the handbrake linkage :der: which he let me put on while it was on the lift.

5 or 6 minor points one of which was missing anti vibration clip on front caliper (wife ran down to nearby ford dealer to buy one) a brake pipe running too close to the steering column not actually rubbing but was too close in his opinion.

1/2 hour ish later in the carpark at the end of the test where we gathered a crowd of MOT testers who were on their lunch during their refresher training course again admiring looks, dave came over looked at what we had done. pronounced he was happy and would just go off and fill in the certificate.

Even bigger silly Grin. :bounce: :whoo: :party:

Paul had a robin hood that had been dormant for a while and when he saw ours wandered over to dave and asked if he wanted to swap tests to which dave politely declined.

Thats the good part now for the bad part. Driving home with a silly if slightly disgruntled grin ( DVLA birmingham wouldnt register me as no appointment available) all was well back along the M6 and th M69 and the M1 just accelerating off the roundabout on the A46 went to grab 5th gear and the gearstick went loose. Managed to get off the main drag had a quick look underneath and it looks like part of the gearstick extension arrangement has fallen off :mad2:

Oh well at least I have until the reg docs come through to get it sorted. Wife ended up towing me home as it was stuck in 4th gear. Good job we took a support vehicle
24 Apr 2009, 2:09pm
Hi Sorry to hear the bad news, but great news you went through first time, I remeber that feeling or euphoria when they say you have passed, it makes all those hours seem worth while.

Well done
24 Apr 2009, 2:22pm
congratuations :D

One step closer!
24 Apr 2009, 2:31pm
Well done :D

Same thing happened to me on the way back from the SVA, the clips that holds the bar the gear stick sits in pinged off leaving to coast into somebody's car park to fix it :)
24 Apr 2009, 3:39pm
Well done!

Out of interest - how thorough were they with the radius test? The guys that did mine on Tuesday really went to town... (And I failed as a result)

Robin
25 Apr 2009, 8:29am
Well done Andy. Sorry about the break down.

Mine failed this week.
11 May 2009, 12:20pm
Sorry fo the late repply but just managed to get back here.

Regarding the radius he didnt appear too thorough however he has a practiced eye and could tell from a glance i suppose.

He did check the radius on the square tube I used for my mirror supports but as far as I remember that was all.

Update on progress.

I have now had the DVLA inspection and after a little frustration and a load of questions and some photos showing me taking the engine etc out of the car I have been told I will be getting an age related plate.

Just got to wait for the certificate so I can go and get my plates and still need the bit to fix the gear selector. problem was it didnt just part company with the shaft it came off the selector arm too and is somewhere on the A46