Hi all, this is my first post on the forum so be nice,
Firstly, i'm planning to build a road going vehicle, similar to the Haynes Locost roadster, ie, a scratch built car with parts from older donor vehicles. Basically I'm confused as to what is needed to make the car legal and how to go about getting this information, going on the direct gov website is confusing and doesn't give a very good starting block as to where I should begin. I'd rather have a firm plan of action set for once the cars finished rather than finish the car and then have it sat in the garage and never see the road for red tape. Would anyone just give me some simple, ish, steps to follow, ie, build requirements and then what to do legally to get the car registered. Even a few contacts would be very handy, Thanks. I can imagine its the legal side of things that put people off builds in the first place :/

Its not the legal side that puts people off, for many its the cost of the build then added to that a further £500 for the IVA test.

Ifyour going to build your own all the dimensions are in the haynes book, there is also another site for builders of the roadster. To start with you need a sturdy and flat table to build onto and the confidence that your welding ability is up to scratch if not buy a ready built chasis from a reputable manafacture and build a kit rather than make your own. The chasis build for many has put them off the project as it is quite involved.

It also helps if you put your location on your info there may be people local to you who can support you in the build

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ie, a scratch built car with parts from older donor vehicles.

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First thing I would suggest is download and read the IVA manual so you undestand what is going to be tested at the end of the day and you can make sure you build to that standard throughout. There are some gray areas and this site is great to search for answers or post questions to help you on the way.

Unless you have the space, tools and SKILL to manufacture your own chassis to a high standard with geometry aligned to ensure for example, self centering steering, buying a professionally made chassis that has been fabricated on a jig is possibly worth the additional cost when compared to self made - it will also save you a chunk of time.

If you know what kind of doner you want to start with to get the right power plant for you ambitions, try and use as much as you can from a single doner which you ideally need to buy with - 1) V5, 2) a VIN plate and 3) engine number that matches the V5 (or V5c). Make sure you declare the doner car SORN.

That means you would know from the outset 1) the age of the engine which will be used to determine the emmision test, 2) it will also give you an approximate top speed so you can evidence the tyre speed rating 3) use enough of the bits from the doner and you will get and age related plate from the same year as the doner rather then a Q plate.

Next stage is the joy of building your own car and all the pitfalls and opportunities for pain suffering and domestic strife that it can offer BTW it will probably take twice as long as you think and cost double what you plan . Keep every reciept and take lots of picture during the build as some items get hidden and the IVA tester may want photographic evidence of the area e.g. seatbelt mountings.

Once it is "finished", if you can get a local MOT tester to give it the equivelent of an MOT to make sure brakes, emissions, headlamp alignment etc are in the right ball park to then book it to go for the IVA test.

Pass the IVA and complete forms for DVLA to get registered, you need an insurance certificate or cover note issed for the chassis number to get a tax disk.

My advice would be to build the car with as little modification to the doner running gear as you can as it will make getting through the IVA as simple as possible as (emmisions and noise being the biggies) - once you have it all finished and registered, you can start to "develop" it.

as Austin Man says, share your location with us as there may be folk locally able to give support.

All the best

If you possibly can, arrange a home visit for the DVLA inspection *before* your IVA.

This saves a load of time waiting to get it on the road after IVA. It's what I did (in 2006) and meant I was on the road the day of my SVA. Though
Be-warned however, not all DVLA will allow either a home visit or a pre-IVA inspection!

Cheers,
James



[Edited on 27/11/12 by James]

James, DVLA no longer inspect the car, they now "trust" Vosa's inspection.

So you can now get the registration almost instantly.

I got my brand new registration the day after I applied

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Originally posted by -matt
James, DVLA no longer inspect the car, they now "trust" Vosa's inspection.

So you can now get the registration almost instantly.

I got my brand new registration the day after I applied

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Not mentioned above and relevant I think - issuing of a chassis number (also called a VIN).

I am building a Haynes Roadster, with a chassis made (I believe - bought it as a rolling chassis from another builder so no proof) by Talon Motorsport down here in Essex. What it doesn't have, and no 'scratch built' car would have, is a VIN. So you need to write off to the DVLA for one. Simple enough process, I used a proforma letter someone has kindly posted on the Haynes forum. The local DVLA office have recently sent back a slightly confusing letter (it says I need to get the VIN applied to my vehicle by a dealership then get the dealer to authenticate it and return the letter they sent me with their stamp on it...) but it does have a VIN on it.

Obviously you need to get the VIN fairly early on, so you can make it an indelible part of the chassis. No good applying for it months down the line and discovering you've got to weld another bit of metal in...

I believe that checking the VIN is applied is something either the IVA inspector or the DVLA inspector will do - but others may be able to confirm this....

in response to loggyboy - I got an age related plate without a DVLA inspection as I had used a single doner AND had a reciept for new manufactured chassis - nice lady at DVLA said the new chassis was the reason no DVLA inspection was required.

In relation to the VIN - this was supplied by the chassis manufacturer and conformed to the legal requirement of 17 characters witout using the letter "I", in my case the chassis number was effectivly the manufacturers name, year of manufacture and their invoice number. neither VOSA or DVLA made any comment.

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Originally posted by Jimfin
in response to loggyboy - I got an age related plate without a DVLA inspection as I had used a single doner AND had a reciept for new manufactured chassis - nice lady at DVLA said the new chassis was the reason no DVLA inspection was required.

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I suspect the issue is as always in the exactitude of the wording - picking out what I think is the relevant bit -

"the Agency has already concluded that new kit built vehicles, which have been through an Individual Vehicle Approval inspection by VOSA, no longer require a further inspection by DVLA."

Now I think that the DVLA interpretation of "new" kit built vehicle is one where there is a "new" chassis supported by evidence of a manufacturers receipt etc. I suspect this is what the girl at DVLA I dealt with was meaning.

As stated "The main objective of the DVLA Local Office inspection of these vehicles is to establish whether the vehicle, or parts of it, have been registered before." Now it becomes clear that if you have a new chassis (which is the key component in this case) with supporting receipt there is no way the vehicle could have been registered before so no need to have a DVLA inspection.

I think ........... cos it worked for me.