MadaboutKitcars

After 3 weeks of the IVA application form languishing (completed) on the lounge floor I finally plucked up the courage to send it off.

I am now committed all £400's of it to the 17th June, they offered me next week but I chickened out to complete last minute titivations.

Today I am having it mock MoT'ed at my local friendly garage a motor-sport enthusiast and kit build supporter, basic lights, brakes and emissions test a skilled eye over the engineering and a spanner check.

So I have the build history, the invoices for the new components, additional forms and declarations completed and a second man in the cab arranged.

All I need now is a fair assessor/tester and the luck of the gods to assist me.


It's like taking an exam on a subject you have not revised for, its nerve racking, and I have done it before so I know is not that bad.....

Progress and feedback to follow................

Been there, done that. IVA & being bloody nervous.

It's not that bad - It's actually a very interesting day, seeing how they check the car out.

Good Luck!

Good Luck!

I took a camera and photographed the fail items, so when the re-inspection came I could demonstrate that I had done something. The majority of my failures were on Radii and exposed nuts and bolts.

I must say it was a bit like being sent to stand outside the headmasters study, but my tester was a reasonable chap.

Good luck John. Hope all goes well.

Good luck.

Im not too far off the same myself. Fingers crossed

Steve

I expect I should own up the failure...

The IVA was expected to be a failure, the magnitude of the failure was the question.

In the end it was a nose dive!

The early part of the testing is the emissions test this is high revs for extended periods to heat the CAT and clear the engine before testing.

However, one of the last jobs I did the night before was to top up the water and I failed to screw down the cap properly. The engine boiled after 10 minutes of high revs and pushed out a quantity of water. Yes I had driven it round the test ctr twice and it was up to temperature but the pressure cap was not tight enough so the pressure was low so the boiling point was 100 deg C, not enough for extended running. Self inflicted injury.

The inspector became nervous of continuing and causing an engine issue as a result.

The options I was offered then was they stop/cancel the test and I have to apply for the test again at £450 or I agree to fail all the non completed tests and I get a retest at £90.

He did complete the static tests and edges check so I have some feedback and most of it is good.

Bits I missed... and should have known
Fog light was too close to the stop light
You must have a interior mirror even if you cannot see anything through it
The old style Marlin 'stamped' plate with the two end characters of the 19 as the year identifier is an complete no no (The VIN is 17)
Should have installed a manufacturers plate

I am collecting the new bits I need and will then strip and rebuild with the modifications required. The worst bit which is so un-necessary is I will need to take out the petrol tank to remove the original stamped plate and weld on a new compliant plate. He was unhappy about the chisel removed last two char actors even though I did it in front on him and he suggested the DVLA would see it at a tampered with VIN plate.

Marlin have informed me that are developing proper stamped and manufacturers plates but they may not be in my time-scale.

Note to builders
If you have an earlier 5Exi chassis (I assume it was only the earlier ones) change the stamped plate now and save one point of grief. In passing I had to scrape off the powder coat for the number to be clear, one of the few areas of the powder coat that had stuck fast and filled the gaps, $%^&*....

Must do better... I am on the trail of the re-test....

Be Careful!

Hi,

Be careful with the VIN plate. Mine too is an earlier chassis with 19 numbers (Marlin really should have known better)..the last 2 digits representing the year (05 in my case)

I offered to strike out the extra 2 digits at the Shrewsbury test centre and the tester (who was extremely thorough) said under no circumstances alter the vin plate as it will cause no end of problem for registration inspection and MOT every year when the number is checked.

I explained that the last 2 digits were the year and he agreed and took the first 17 only.

5 years on my VIN still has 19 digits and has passed 4 mots OK. The V5 states the first 17 digits only and no problems.

Rich

To be fair Terry has stated that 'at the time of issue the VIN plate on my chassis was compliant'.

My tester allowed the change only to allow the test to proceed to the failure.

The required Manufacturers plate was the surprise to me I expected the fitted one to do the job.

All down to experience and as I stated, current builders check your plates and fit a manufacturers plate or its re-work your could do without.

Marlin have been well aware of the issue over the vin plate, they just chose to ignore it probably thinking they are above the legal requiements set down by DVLA and other intersted parties.

4 years ago the DVLA were not happy about the plate or the fact that it was caked in powdercoat, I passed the responce onto Terry, hope the later chasis have the correct plate!!

Sorry to hear things did not go to well.

Pal of mine broke down on the way to IVA and they cancelled the test rather than allowing him to reshedule costing him a further £450, nice way to make easy money.

Re-Test booked

.



After careful study of the reasons for failure and remembering the words of the tester and with the need to improve the rear brakes that were not tested I think I am ready for the re-test showdown, bring it on!

I have completed all the identified items in the spirit, if not actually in the way the tester suggested and I have replaced the rear callipers with 280mm disks to give the extra bite needed to be sure.

Another 8 o'clock start and the need for a full tank of petrol it will be a sleepless night next Tuesday as I think about the test and how many more million points it will fail on this time. out:






.

Good luck with the re-test.

Good luck John. Hope all goes well.

Fingers crossed for you.

IVA Success!

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After a couple of re-tests I have the IVA certificate, [COLOR="Blue"]yipppeee[/COLOR].[/SIZE]

Now I can start the final stage of finishing and registering the car. I intend to present that application to the DVLA on 1st April 2012 as taxing it now will be a waste of cash as it will not get driven.

Applying my reserved plate 'GR10 ONE' will be the final hurdle.

One thing is clear based on the small amount of driving I have done is that I need a shed load of extra traction. I have the body space for extra wide tyres and I think I will need all of that with the 'VVC engine spinning' and the 'brakes locking' the wheels at frequent opportunities.

I will add some test detail to the handbrake (rear disks upgrade) thread as the brake test details are interesting and the detail may make a difference to some builders/owners.


I am well pleased tonight.... thank you for your support guys and to the still building there is light there, ** press on **, the end result is worth the work....


JohnC

HI John.

Congratulations!! Well done.

What I tyres and pads are you running? What I found is, the brakes locking got better as they bedded in a bit. I'm using green stuff at the front with Toyos all round. Also, what PSI are your tyres?

Well done once again.

This was only the IVA all parts are std Rover 200 down to the rubber, I don't spend money on super sporty bits until its ready for use or you can run away with the budget. Make it work get it legal then change it is the lesson I learned some time ago.

I can spend the money now where it will do most good, based on the use I put it too. I have a set of Lotus OEM wheels (S2 fronts, 16's with 175/55) and I can fit Lotus 17's with 225/45 into the rear arches now I have the extensions fitted, in fact I fitted them for the body shop to mould the rear arches too when they were installed. The issue is the tyre catching on the inside of the headlight so as the dia of the running rubber is increased the ride hight has to go up as well.

The fact of the matter is that I intend to move the car on in the next 9 months so I can concentrate on the Lotus I have re built.

Once its all together and smart and the sun is shining ....

When you going to spill the beans about the changes you have done and the track day if you made it there.... I have my spies....



JohnC

All in good time. Need to sort our a couple of niggles at the minute. My wheel alignment knowledge is also on a steep curve!

I did indeed go to Castle Combe on the 4/11/11. More of a shake down as the weather was very wet. Though you would not have thought so by this:
http://www.javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackday/index.php?view=detail&id=3271&option=com_joomgallery&Itemid=13
Hopefully be at Brands on Sunday as well.

Well done John C.

Surprised by the traction comment, as I don't have an issue - run 195/50/15 tyres on all 4 corners on the road. The track slicks I run are 200 mm wide Dunlops, and they are a larger diameter / width, and don't rub.

What did you find with the brakes? My belief is that the stock bias is totally wrong for the weight distribution of the car.

I can confirm the weather at Castle Combe last Friday was cold and wet.

John I - there are some good books out there that are well worth a read.

The car has done 6 miles so judgement on the bias is yet to be achieved, most of that driving was on gritty back roads and the rest on rollers.

I may have the ride height set too low is one possibility for the front interference, could be a trip to TrackDevelopments now John has cleared the space!!

I need to fit a different steering wheel so getting in and out is easier, fit the window-screen, I also will need the weatherproofing gear and need to mount the rear spoiler so I have things to do over the cold months.

I see there are some 'early booking discounts' on Ed's track days so may set myself a target for the early spring.