Just got back from Chelmsford and my SVA. Sadly it failed. However, I didnt expect it to pass.

Failed on:

Incorrect field of view on the mirrors. - They need raising about 1-2".
This was NOT expected.

Front Indicators not 400mm from side of the vehicle.
MEASURE width at THE REAR WHEELS (widest part on mine).. NOT the Front.
Stupid mistake, but easily done.

Brake ballance bar not pinned properly.
I knew this. I had it split pinned, and nyloc nuts to lock the plain nuts.
I wasnt convinced on my back to front brake ballance, and their machine bore this out. Its easier to fail on a couple of split pins than to have to drive out roll pins to move the bar.

So a right good result in my mind.
I can pin the bars knowing that they will be right this time. Got a good explanation of the brake testing procedures. Worth a fail just to get this bit right, as brakes are mission critical parts.

Bloke was very very good. Very firm, and fair with it. I cant say enough about his professionalism. He did his job to the rule book, and it was a very pleasant experience overall.

Wont fail next time.

Had a 114 mile blast, 30 miles motorway, and did cross country on the way back.
Even with me limiting the revs to 3k5, (running in) it goes well indeed.

My front indicators were measured from the front wheels. It just shows that each SVA inspector is different.

Otherwise, a good result. well done.

Bad luck - but glad you took the positives from the event!

Good point about the indicators - I might have just done that!!!!

Any advice on the braking system things the tester mentioned to you?

Good luck with the re-test!

Whens the 3.5k limit being dropped

Good news - shouldn't take long to fix those little things - when you going for a retest?

cheers,
David

Good luck with the re-test... easyish points to fix. SVA never even measured our front indicator lengths. The consistancy between different SVA Centres is flawless isn't it?

Steve

did he let you mess

surely they could have been fixed in half hour ????

Ive noticed a lot of people going to SVA's even when I was there one bloke failed on a really simple thing

no messing though he failed simple as

werent even letting people mess with emissions

I think this is ridiculous as they know our cars need a bit of give and take to get through the test

It would be hard to fix those things in a few minutes.

When my car was done at Chelmsford the tester let me put a few trivial things right, but they only took 10 minutes or so. You have to remember that there are only 1 or 2 testers, and at least one more car lined up in the queue - at least, that was the situation for me.

BTW: was it the lanky tester with a face like a smacked bum who did your car? Good bloke, he was... must be - he passed my car!

David

quote:

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Originally posted by muzchap

Whens the 3.5k limit being dropped

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Its a really strange feeling being happy that you got a fail. I was too. Its a great feeling to know that youre 90% there, youve got a list of things to remedy and that once theyre done its all systems go being let loose on the world.

congrats - sounds like you might be taking a test drive to cornwall soon

How low were your wing mirrors? 1-2" higher than what height?

Thats great news, your pics have helped with my build on many occasions .

Go and check my indicators tonight.


She will go like a cat out of hell when you lift the rev limit

i'm a bit worried about the hight of my mirrors now

How were the brakes Geoff ? Did you have too much bias to the rear? Rest of the fail list shouldn't be too difficult. Convoy to Newark? See you when I get back from holiday

Well done - never thought of measuring the rear width for the indicators was only going to go by the front!

From memory.... the Discovery programme " A Car is Born " (available on DVD) on a Cobra build had a whole episode on SVA with explanations of radius of projections, pipe clipping, mirror field of view etc.

Could be useful information.

Best wishes for next time

ill just confirm as there seems to be some confusion early on in this thread . the indicator measurement is from the widest part of the car ( i also failed as the rear track is wider than the front on my avon too) . glad to hear you had a good run out . hope to see you on the road soon mate. cheers scott

There is NO fiddle time allowed. No remedial work or fixing on site is allowed.

However, he after the brake test he announced he was going for a cup of tea. I asked about the brake bias bar, and his answer was "I'm going for a cup of tea"
Again, no remedial work is allowed. That was made quite clear. However, my cutters and spanners slipped and fell into the footwell, and I got them tangled in the bias bar trying to get them out of the footwell. My problem was front to back bias, and too much on the rear.
This is what my brakes failed on, and when he returned I had not managed to get any pins back into the bar so it failed.
Again, He wouldnt allow any work to be done at the centre. but No big deal, as I had expected a fail, but with more items than I had.

Now, as for the Mirrors. The angles were OK, but The two lines have to be fully in view in the mirror. I could see the width ie the left to right field of view, but the Rear Wings got in the way, ie I would need to be 8ft tall to see the lines sitting in the car. ie they were in view left / right wise but were below the hight of the rear wing, and couldnt be seen.
This is easy to test, just chalk out the lines, or put a brick or two in place of the line.

I will have to raise my mirrors to be able to see the line. No real problem, except hiding up the old holes. Probably make a stainless plate up and fix the mirrors on it and also cover the old holes.

The indicators, all OK, just got to figure out a way of mounting them a bit further out.

Shouldnt be a problem. Overall a good result with noting too difficult to fix.
Brake bias bar already fixed and pinned with Roll pins.. no Split pins allowed its written in the SVA manual.

that's quite a good result really, not too much to sort out, and you got a decent blast out of it.

Regards

Duh!!
What are roll pins pls ?

Roll Pins are a hardened (I think possibly spring steel) steel pin with a "C" cross section. Drill a hole through the Nut and bar and back out the other side of the nut and tap one of these pins right the way through. The "C" section is squeezed and holds tight in the hole. A bit more permanant than a split pin.
Linky thing

Thanks for the nice diagram of the Markings for the mirror test. The lines (Floor marking A and C were just hidden from view just below the top of the rear wings. Humbug!!!


[Edited on 10/5/2006 by wilkingj]

Geoff,
As you may know I've got my SVA on Friday at Chelmsford.
Could you answer a couple of questions for me?

1. When did he do the emissions check. First/last/ middle

2. how much attention did he pay to seatbelt mounting height? Did he actually measure using a block on seat base?

3. What time did you finish? I'm hoping to get to work after!!!

4. Can you book a re-test there and then?

Thanks
Brian

Thanks Geoff

All now clear.

at my SVA in Derby the inspector gave me about an hour and a half to try to sort issues out, the first hour was lunch, the last half hour he even got the spanners out and started helping me and my mate - there are some good uns out there!

All OK, the rules say no repairs remedial work etc.. But sometimes rules get bent a little. Just dont shout about it too much and get them in the cart and then an edict issued so its then strictly observed etc etc.

Their "tea break" seems a good way round the issues if the problem is not too serious or long to fix, but they cant allow / condone repairs in front of them, so I suppose the "Tea Break" is their way of dealing with it.


Revs for Emissions is as per the SVA book.

I had to hold my engine revs at 3600. I think its 2/3 or 3/4 of the revs at which Max POWER is achieved, not MAX REVS. I think I put 4250 or 4500 on the form for the revs. Mind you RV8's are a 5k5 rev motor anyway.


Checked seatbelt height to check itd didnt strain onto the seat hole, or the seat would need a certificate / letter to say it was built to take that strain ie like sealt belts that are actually anchored to the seat not the chassis. He did get the block out and had bits of string on it for the levels etc.. very high tech!.. Plumb line was used as well.


Started at 08:15 Finished at 12:00 ish.. didnt notice the time, was too interested in the test.

Retest is booked thru the local site.

They were decent chaps.. I think they dont like "know it alls". I didnt argue any points, was polite, and asked lots of questions as to why, what for, how etc.. It was an interesting visit regardless of the test result.
I got on very well with the chap. Always best to be nice and polite.. otherwie it just gets their back up.
It was a good day.


He did say that they never know whats coming with a kit car. One took all day and had 4 pages of problems!!.
So build it well, dont bodge things, and make it neat and tidy.

Well done geoff

Thats what i call a nice fail,your as good as there.

Nice one Geoff, rectifying the problems should be a doddle.

Shall we see you at Newark?

All the best

Dave.

Regarding the mirror test - I only scraped through because the tester was 4" taller than me! I think that he gave me the benefit...

However, I realised afterwards that I could (a) swivel the stalks upwards, and (b) rotate the mirrors to give a better view. Option (a) is perfectly within the rules, but option (b) may fall foul of the 'minimum width and height' rule - but my mirrors are quite large.

David

quote:

---

Originally posted by BKLOCO
Geoff,
As you may know I've got my SVA on Friday at Chelmsford.
Could you answer a couple of questions for me?

1. When did he do the emissions check. First/last/ middle

2. how much attention did he pay to seatbelt mounting height? Did he actually measure using a block on seat base?

3. What time did you finish? I'm hoping to get to work after!!!

4. Can you book a re-test there and then?

Thanks
Brian

---

Brian

Ok... Fixed it all now. Ready for a re-test

Indicators:
Solved with some 55mm Extensions courtesy of a mate with a lathe.
SVA Fail - 55mm Extension

Mirrors Raised a little
Need to fill the holes in

SVA Fail - Raised Mirrors

No piccy of the roll pins in the brake bias bar.

Looking good Geoff.

All the best with the retest

Cheers,

Dave.