Soon be fixed, retested and on the road!
Here is my IVA Story.
The fellow who I was borrowing the trailer off (a friend of a friend) said that I could pick the trailer up at 5pm on Sunday. His phone was
mysteriously unavailable at 5pm, then 6pm, then 6.30pm, then 7pm. At 8pm I phone my friend and he sorted this other fellow out. I went to pick the
trailer up at 8.30pm and the bloke turned up in his Overfinch Rangerover. Got back to my house at nine and finished loading and strapping the car
down about 10.30pm. As I drove the car round to load it on the trailer I noticed the speedo had stopped working. Great! Tried everything to fix it
but I was losing the the light. Somehow it was just not getting signal. No choice but to give up. Great, a fail before I start.
My Dad (my designated trailer driver because I have the wrong license) woke me up a 1am, slamming the toilet door. He also woke me at 2am and 4am. I
am not sure how one man can generate so much noise. At 4 I got up.
Had to stop once to replace the ratchet strap I had put across the bonnet of the car. I didn't want the bonnet flipping off so I had put a
ratchet over it. When going down a dip the cars own suspension had dipped and loosened the ratchet.
Filled the car up on the trailer for the first time and realised petrol comes out of the breather before it clicks at the pump. Annoying.
Gets to the test centre about 7.45am and sets about making a small wiring loom for the speedo. My plan is to tell the examiner and then fit the new
loom running it through the passenger compartment if it passes on everything bar the speedo.
Backing the car off the trailer and driving it to the IVA lane I heard a massive COUGH and then a clank, clank, clank. Bloody hell! With relief I
realised the car had spat out one of its IVA Decibel Killers and sent it scudding across the test centre car park. Rubber mallet later and it was
hammered back in.
My tester at Nottingham was Martin. Couldn't meet a nicer bloke. Friendly and approachable. He inspected the car, had a good walk around and
started the test. He measured it and weighed it. Checked the engine numbers and VIN. My manufacturers plate passed no problem so if you want to
copy it then see my archive for a photo. Grinding the vin into the chassis is okay. Checked the fuel lines and my certificates, checked the filler.
Told me my clutch reservoir pipe was not really suitable for clutch fluid. I had just used a spare length of marine fuel hose I had used throughout
the car. He said it needs specific brake fluid pipe or it will go 'papy' quite quickly. Not a fail though.
Interior projections. All fine except two pieces of trim I had overlooked. When you move the seat forward it exposes some edges. Easy fix.
He checked all the interior lighting tell tales etc. Fine.
He went and weighed it. a lardy 768KG. Could be worse for a big lump like the Viento. He checked the self centring. Fine. I asked him about it
and he explained it. I shall put this info in another post though.
Exterior Projections: Headlights and a radius on them thats not good enough. Boo.
He checked the lights and was worried that the sides are obscured by the wheel arches at a angle of 45 degrees and 300mm of the floor. Confirmed
later as a fail. I didn't point out that few people are 300mm tall. Another fail. Boo. He said my headlight aim was spot on. I simply drove
the car very close to the garage wall, literally 10mm. Marked the highest point and then backed the car up and made sure the headlights shined at the
same height.
He then measured my headlight and found my dipped beam lights were to far from the outer edges of the car. Told me I need to switch the dip and main
main beam lights around to main is on the inside. Another fail though.
Mud Guards, Front nearside doesn't cover the wheel correctly by 3mm. Fail! 3 bloody mm
Up on the ramp to inspect underneath. He found movement in one master cylinder due to a bolt I had not done up correctly. Fail. He also stated I
had bolted the pedal box down using m10 bolts with M12 washers. No good, fail. He also found a brake pipe that right under the scuttle that was
p-clipped to the chassis at 320mm apart. Fail. He must have been eagled eyed to spot it. He checked the steering and I asked him about the small
amount of lash in the steering rack and he said it will just be the system taking up a bit of slack. Easy MOT pass and totally safe. He didn't
comment on my large turning circle due to the restraining clamps I put in the rack.
No comment on my leaky sump.
Emissions: Bit worried about this being as I built the engine myself from parts. Refurbished and built the heads myself and lapped them all. Flew
through the tests with flying colours. Easy pass with 1995 regulations. Not bad for a Rover V8. Similar results for both sides so it's does
point to any errors just on one side. Smiles from me.
Brakes: Easy pass. His eyebrows did raise slightly when applying my stupidly strong handbrake. And my Dad got put in his place by the examiner. My
Dad commented that surely they have to take into consideration that everything is new and needs bedding in. The examiner said 'nope, we have to
test for worse case scenario. A car builder will be cautious and repair any issues. He won't jump in it and do 100mph on the M1 with new
brakes. But what it he sells it to a random person. This person gets new discs and pads fitted and then goes out in the rain and rags the car. We
need to test for that scenario and make sure the car stops'. That told you Dad, get your coat!
Noise: Went outside to test it. Really worried about this! The car registered 95db on my phone but I was worried it would be wildly out. 91Dbs.
91. I spent £30 on the DB killers and I don't think I needed them. Easy Pass.
So afterwards he explained every fail in detail and his recommendations to rectify them to get a pass. They consist of.
09B. Brake master cylinder bolt loose & Washers to large on pedal box. Easy fixes
09D. Addition P-Clip needed. Access to this is awkward but not to bad if I lift the car up
12. Interior fittings. A bit of trim needed on the chassis.
16. Exterior Projections. NSF and OSF headlight have a radius on the bezel that needs covering. CBS number plate IVA OK is not IVA OK. Grrrr
reasonable easy fixes
17. Speedo failed to work.
22. Positional Lamps (side) do not meet angle requirements. Move or have additional side lamps on the front wings using LED Strip.
25. Dipped beam not close enough to the outside of the car. Need to swap them around so the mains are on the inside and the dips on the outside.
31. Seatbelt mounts, he wants nylons on the inner seatbelt mounts
37. Wheel Guards. Doesn't cover the tyre by about 4mm.
All in all and very very tiring weekend but the examiner couldn't have been better. Very fair and patient. He explain how to get a pass and
went through each item in detail.
A good fail I think.
Nothing too horrible in there - sounds like he was thorough but fair.
Soon be fixed, retested and on the road!
Not that bad, easy fixes.
Martin at Nottingham is a star, he will do everything he can to get a pass. Mine would have failed for edges on the silencer, he told me to let the
silencer cool down and fit rubber edging strip. Pass
Description
[Edited on 11-8-15 by 40inches]
Classed as a good fail - so well done that man.
One of life's memorable moments when you get to drive it for the first time on the open road.
BTW sounds as if your dad needs his prostrate examining - seriously if he's up that many times it needs attention sooner rather than later....
Cheers, Pewe10 
quote:
One of life's memorable moments when you get to drive it for the first time on the open road.
quote:
Originally posted by SJ
quote:
One of life's memorable moments when you get to drive it for the first time on the open road.
That's true. Mine was driving to the SVA test!
Very scary.
Stu
Unlucky on the headlamp radius...mine passed with photons and I'm sure plenty of others have too. Just a pointless hoop to jump through
really.
Overall though, not bad at all I'd say 