I am sure I am not the first or last to ask this- can anyone guide me?- I plan to use the plastic ties to attach some of my engine wiring loom along chassis members rather than use riveted supports as its difficult to drill and I may want to change routing. Whats the guidance on this for SVA?

Secondly I am about to taker the plunge and cut the holes through my S Steel side panels this weekend- I have measured twice and tried an angle grinder with steel cutting wheel which does the job but makes the steel v hot and turns my garage into Dante's Inferno. I will get a polished SS surround made up to fit to hide any errors. Any comments welcomed....

Cable ties are fine for the SVA. Most cars are stuffed with them.

If you mess up with the exhaust hole you can always make a surround.

cable ties are fne as long as thye are not flurescent pink. SVA tester will grab the loom and if it is not secure, i.e. moves, you fail.

Stainless will blue i.e. changes colour when hot so you may get this.

Avoid by making hole smaller and then opening out by hand - yes, stainless is quite hard to file - or be gently with the grinder.

Allow some space for to/fro engine movement as well and a bit more for up/down movement.

If you are not confident with your measurements, then make hole smaller - it is easier to enlarge a hole then to smallify it.

If you mess up with the exhaust hole you can always make a surround.

If you mess with the exhaust surround, then the locoster living closest to you should come rouund a slap you in the face with a string of Asad 2p sausages.

Do the holes the long way, small drill nice and slow to make a daisy chain around about 1mm inside the hole you want. Then use a stout pair of side cutters to snip between the holes to get the main piece out and then go slowly with a drill rasp to make a luverly clean tidy hole with no blueing - Not quick but nothing on the telly now that reality TV hell has arrived...

Alternatively, and i have done this before, cover the panel in masking tape on the external surface, and mark your hole/cutout. several small holes just big enough to get a jigsaw blade in, then jigsaw out, and finish with a file. if you get the correct blade, you'll get a good clean cut and no blueing, as it doen't get that hot. Just my 2p. Oh and good luck too!!

Well, I worked out the best way was to use an electic jig saw- made the cut with little heat and no blueing just needed ear protectors coz the noise was so bad and I had to raid B and Q for lots of blades. And of course the exhaust holes didnt line up so I needed to open theses out a little - hence the whole weekend gone. and i thought I would be finished for next weekend (Le mans)..... six months ago. Thanks once again for help.