skov
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| posted on 25/6/13 at 02:50 PM |
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IVA Fail @ Leighton Buzzard
It was the big day for me today.
Luckly I made it to the test centre in one piece, and with plenty of time to spare (I had my doubts about driving there, but she didn't miss a
beat!).
Sadly a first time pass wasn't to be though 
The car was tested by the main tester (Doug), his trainee, and a sort of supervisor that goes from centre to centre checking tests are done to the
same standard. So it got quite a thorough looking over!
They are all good blokes, very friendly, and generally very positive about the car. The supervisor was a bit of an MX5 enthusiast so we had a good
old natter on all things MX5.
First test was emissions, which passed without trouble (they were quite happy with the letter from Mazda for proof of engine age).
Next was interior/exterior projections, and a good look around the car.
They liked the fact I'd stuck lots of bits of rubber on there and couldn't find any nasty edges (unusual for Leighton Buzzard
apparently!).
Next they stuck it on the ramps to check underneath. This is where it started going wrong...
They spotted one of the rear brake lines and both handbrake cables were rubbing on the chassis. They weren't last time I checked, so they must
have settled/bedded-in during the drive there.
They also spotted there was a bit of play between the UJ and steering rack which they didn't like. I tried tightening it up, but there's
still too much play.
The ramps came down and they checked all the lights. Head light aim was way off (and still is), but everything else was fine.
Interestingly they didn't seem to measure any heights or distances of the lights.
After that they weighed it then did the brake and speedo test.
The speedo over-read by quite a bit, but was still within IVA spec.
I'll come on to the brakes later...
Next test was exhaust noise, passed with a comfortable 95dB, followed by rear vision, which passed easily.
They liked my Furore e-marked IVA wing mirrors and the position of them saying a lot of people fail by putting them too low and getting too much rear
wing in the way.
Next the trainee tester had a blat round the car park to do some more brake testing and to check self centering. Both were fine.
Finally they took a few measurements with a tape measure before dissapering into the office to enter all the figures into their spreadsheet.
Sometime later they emerged with my fail sheet...
This had the fails I knew about above, along with a fail for brake efficiency, and a fail for a big mismatch between each side on the handbrake.
Not too bad a fail really.
Not quite sure what to do about the brakes yet, but the rest should be easy enough to fix.
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daveb666
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| posted on 25/6/13 at 03:04 PM |
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Genuinely gutted for you mate I'll probably be writing a similiar post next week!
I can't quite make out the brake efficiency figures from your images. The handbrake one should be an easy fix.
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Slimy38
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| posted on 25/6/13 at 03:12 PM |
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I will apologise in advance for the multitude of questions, but I've been following your car with great interest mainly because of the MX5
donor. First off, congratulations on what I would call a very near pass, I can only hope mine is similarly well received when I get to the IVA
stage.
First question, you mentioned that self centering was fine, and I know other builders have had trouble with it. Did you do anything special up front,
apart from the Saturn wishbones and the MX5 uprights?
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skov
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| posted on 25/6/13 at 03:12 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by daveb666
Genuinely gutted for you mate I'll probably be writing a similiar post next week!
I can't quite make out the brake efficiency figures from your images. The handbrake one should be an easy fix.
Cheers Pal, hopefully you'll have better luck than me!
Try this link, then click on the zoom and you might be
able to see the brake figures better.
I've already replaced the dodgy rear caliper twice, so have a little head scratching to do there!
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pewe
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| posted on 25/6/13 at 03:13 PM |
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Skov, well done and it looks very tidy.
I reckon that's a pretty decent fail and by the sound of it fixes shouldn't be too difficult.
Just look at it this way - 98 or 99% of what you did passed intense scrutiny.
Deep breath and off you go with the fixes.
Lights and brake balance were the two things mine failed on for SVA, mainly because we amateurs don't have the necessary equipment to test
them.
Maybe an idea to find a friendly local MOT station if you can get the car there and ask them to sort it?
Keep us posted.
Cheers, Pewe10 
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daveb666
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| posted on 25/6/13 at 03:16 PM |
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Are the calipers new? Fitted the right way up?
Eurocarparts have 25% off at the moment - I found them to be cheapest when replacing calipers on my 172 cup. I know it's cost you probably
don't want but at least it's the easiest way to eliminate things.
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skov
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| posted on 25/6/13 at 03:18 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
I will apologise in advance for the multitude of questions, but I've been following your car with great interest mainly because of the MX5
donor. First off, congratulations on what I would call a very near pass, I can only hope mine is similarly well received when I get to the IVA
stage.
First question, you mentioned that self centering was fine, and I know other builders have had trouble with it. Did you do anything special up front,
apart from the Saturn wishbones and the MX5 uprights?
No apologies needed, I'm happy to help if I can!
I'm using the standard saturn wishbones and mx5 uprights.
When I first checked the self centering I didn't have any at all, it just carried on going where I'd pointed it if I let go of the
wheel.
All I did was adjust it from a couple of degrees of toe-in to a couple of degrees of toe-out and I suddenly had a massive amount of self centering,
probably more than my tin top!
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skov
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| posted on 25/6/13 at 04:08 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by pewe
Skov, well done and it looks very tidy.
Maybe an idea to find a friendly local MOT station if you can get the car there and ask them to sort it?
Keep us posted.
Cheers, Pewe10
Cheers mate.
That was my thinking too. I've got a friendly garage accross the road from work I might book it into once I've had a fiddle with the
brakes.
quote:
Originally posted by daveb666
Are the calipers new? Fitted the right way up?
Eurocarparts have 25% off at the moment - I found them to be cheapest when replacing calipers on my 172 cup. I know it's cost you probably
don't want but at least it's the easiest way to eliminate things.
I'm pretty sure the calipers are the right way up. I may have to check though!
I've already replaced the 'bad' caliper with a brand new one, so I'm hoping just a bit of adjustment is needed there.
Not sure what to do about the overall efficiency though. The discs and pads were all brand new, so perhaps they just need a bit of bedding in?
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andy188
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| posted on 25/6/13 at 08:27 PM |
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hi,
not 2 bad realy, you did well on the sharp edges, they where quite hard on that with my sva,
brake balance was an issiue for me too, replaced all cylinders and shoes etc, frendly garage for a balance test before next test, good idea,
well done, looks a realy nice car.
all the best for retest.
andy
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daveb666
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| posted on 26/6/13 at 03:50 PM |
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Made any progress skov? If you managed to bleed the calipers OK then they probably are on the right way up. I'd probably start with replacing
the 'used' one for a new one so the sides match at least.
As for bedding the brakes in, only some abuse and mileage will sort that...
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skov
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| posted on 26/6/13 at 04:14 PM |
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I haven't got very far yet.
I started by ordering a new UJ to go to the steering rack as the one I have appears to be a bit poo...
I had a look at my 'bad' calliper. I think (hope!) the issue is that the slide pins are shagged. The calliper 'wobbles' on
them and I think this means it has to take up a fair bit of slack before it starts clamping the disc. The 'good' side doesn't have
this problem which I think might explain the difference between the two sides on the handbrake test.
I've ordered new slide pins to see if it helps. Looking at the pads they're not even close to being bedded in yet.
To stop my handbrake cables fouling on the chassis I've decided to shorten the brackets that hold the end of the cables to bring them away from
the chassis.
I've chopped and re-welded one side and it seems to have the desired affect! Hopefully get the other one done tonight.
Finally, I popped into the garage across the road from work and asked how much he'd charge to stick it on his MOT brake rollers. His answer was
free of charge for you 
I'll get it booked in one day next week and do plenty of hard braking on the way!
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