I'm planning to turn a small hatch into a track day car, as some of you will have noticed. I want to make the car an impeccable handler, so I'll need to stiffen it up. What I want to avoid is doing anything that will require an IVA. So what can I do and what can't I do?

To give you an idea of what I'm thinking of...

I want to make bolt on bars to hold together the suspension mounting points. This I'm sure is OK.

I want to fit a roll cage. Is it OK to weld it in or is this altering the chassis? Is drilling holes for a bolt in cage better?

Depending on which engine I fit, I may have to cut a section out of the inner wing and weld in a dished piece of steel to make room for the alternator pulley. While I've seen this done and others say "it's just like doing a repair" I'm not so sure.

The other think I'd like to do is weld in some folded sheet steel to stiffen up the shell. Perhaps increasing the height of the transmission tunnel to make a backbone and cross bracing under the boot floor between the box sections that hold the rear axle/subframe.

What mods are OK as far as the DVLA and VOSA are concerned and what things must I avoid?

Bit of a grey area. DVLA published guidence a few years ago but it wasn't definitive. Basically you can add bits but you can't remove bits. So on the face of it bolt on bars & roll cage should be ok. Cutting inner wing and welding none standard repair panel isn't. Neither is any alteration to transmission tunnel, but bracing under boot floor is probably fine. Most people don't inform dvla. However should they find out registration and tax are suspended until IVA is passed. Additionally in the event of an accident insurance could well decide you aren't covered.

It's actually far more simple than that. Turn it into a track day car, doesn't need IVA...

(Unless you're planning to drive it to and from the track!)

quote:

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Originally posted by Slimy38
It's actually far more simple than that. Turn it into a track day car, doesn't need IVA...

(Unless you're planning to drive it to and from the track!)

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Realistically speaking (not 'legally' people do all sorts of restoration projects - and never think about IVA. I'm not saying it's right - but it's the state of things. I know someone who is restoring a classic mini. Fully stripped (back to bare shell) - floorpans and boot floor all replaced/whole front end of the car chopped off (inner and outer wings) - and not necessarily with 'repair panels' - sometimes with fabrication from sheet steel if repair panels aren't available, etc). I don't think he has even heard of IVA (certainly I never had before I started to look into kitcars - and i'd had a fairly indepth interest in cars before then...)

The same must surely apply to hundreds of car restoration projects across the country...?

I've seen plenty of rally cars with many more mods than you want to do!
Whether they were strictly legal is another matter, but they were all inspected by the RACMSA and issued competition log books.