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GRP monocoque bodyshells
DarrenW - 14/9/09 at 11:01 PM

Just been having a chat with some people on the mini forum. Ive directed them here for more info. Just thought id check what i was saying is correct (im 99% certain it is).

You have a mini. Its rotten. 2 nice ioptions are new steel shell or one of those FRA mini shells (fibreglass). Opting for GRP is a radical chassis mod and IVA is required.

There was also an article in this months mini mags covering that VOSA might be getting stricter on other cars needing IVA (eg limo's, mini sorties etc).

Wasnt there something about a company making GRP shells for VX Nova's a couple of years back? Didnt they have to go on a Q plate? Do you reckon DVLA would do the same for GRP mini shells? Or could they be classified as a kit car, get a cert of newness and be registered on a current plate?

blakep82 - 15/9/09 at 12:11 AM

if you're reshelling a car, ie taking the bits out a rotten shell, and putting the bits in a new one, identical to the original, then it won't need IVA.

fibreglass minis would be classed as kit cars i reckon. the same as taking a sierra, and re-shelling it into, er, a 7

Mr Whippy - 15/9/09 at 06:16 AM

tbh I thought full GRP monocoque bodyshells needed type approval (i.e. crash tested) to be used on the road

iank - 15/9/09 at 06:39 AM

You are correct Darren, a GRP chassis isn't OEM spec therefore IVA required.

Mr Whippy - incorrect no type approval is required, but if it's a new, unproven, design the IVA man will need to be satisfied it's strong enough. Lots of GRP monocoque mini kits over the years (GTM rossa and the new ones, the Dominos, Mini Marcos/Gem/Kingfisher, Midas Gold/Bronze etc etc etc).

Mr Whippy - 15/9/09 at 06:58 AM

quote:
Originally posted by iank
You are correct Darren, a GRP chassis isn't OEM spec therefore IVA required.

Mr Whippy - incorrect no type approval is required, but if it's a new, unproven, design the IVA man will need to be satisfied it's strong enough. Lots of GRP monocoque mini kits over the years (GTM rossa and the new ones, the Dominos, Mini Marcos/Gem/Kingfisher, Midas Gold/Bronze etc etc etc).


How do you satisfy the IVA man then? tbh as far as I'm aware they did have to crash test those kit cars (not something you'd volunteer to do as its so expensive) -

alistairolsen - 15/9/09 at 07:07 AM

grp mini shells - where from and how much?

fov - 15/9/09 at 07:30 AM

There was a mini made with a fiberglass shell wasnt there? It was slighly lower than a normal one too.

Mini minus seems to ring a bell but not sure.

Agriv8 - 15/9/09 at 08:00 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
quote:
Originally posted by iank
You are correct Darren, a GRP chassis isn't OEM spec therefore IVA required.

Mr Whippy - incorrect no type approval is required, but if it's a new, unproven, design the IVA man will need to be satisfied it's strong enough. Lots of GRP monocoque mini kits over the years (GTM rossa and the new ones, the Dominos, Mini Marcos/Gem/Kingfisher, Midas Gold/Bronze etc etc etc).


How do you satisfy the IVA man then? tbh as far as I'm aware they did have to crash test those kit cars (not something you'd volunteer to do as its so expensive) -



I am with wippy on this i belive 3 of the GTM had to be supplied for Mira to destroy but unsure if this was to satisy UK or EU Regs.

regards

Agriv8

DarrenW - 15/9/09 at 08:29 AM

quote:
Originally posted by alistairolsen
grp mini shells - where from and how much?


I cant remember the name of the company that took them over but if you google for FRA Mini you should find it quickly. About £2500 ish iirc. When FRA were making them i lived over the road from their workshop and popped in for a look. I was convinced they were a good shell, they were strengthened in key areas (like seat belt mounts etc).

TBH IVA for such cars is a good thing and will hopefully stop nonces doubling the performance of their cars with no knowledge how to do it safely. A FRA Mini correctly built and tested would be a very potent car as there is nothing to stop you building it to whatever spec you like and then going through the IVA afterwards. Hopefully they will be treated like a kit and allow current / age related or Q plates. And the more Q plates that get issued would completely remove the stigma (as it is now only in the eyes of std tin top drivers) and make such a prefix mean you have something special.

blakep82 - 15/9/09 at 09:08 AM

Meant to say in my post, a re shelled car would need to be the same as the original (ie welded steel) not just look the same. Same as the whole issue with 'duttons' being re-chassied with a mnr or stuart taylor chassis that we see on ebay a lot

The mini minus was a grp mini kit. Mini pimlico was another i think. I'm sure there was another that started with a D. I'll check later

Marcus - 15/9/09 at 11:39 AM

Hi Blake, the 'D' would be the Domino, same company as the Pimlico ISTR. The GTMs were crash tested because they wanted to sell turnkey cars, there was no other reason to spend loads of money to have it done.

blakep82 - 15/9/09 at 11:56 AM

yes ^ domino thats the one

iank - 15/9/09 at 03:45 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
How do you satisfy the IVA man then? tbh as far as I'm aware they did have to crash test those kit cars (not something you'd volunteer to do as its so expensive)


As said by Marcus they were going for type approval for the cars so they could sell them abroad.

As for how you convince the IVA man, the same as for any new spaceframe chassis design that turns up. If he turns up his nose and thinks it's a bit dodgy you will need an engineers report based on the thickness of the grp and constuction methods/materials to convince him.

Ferg - 15/9/09 at 04:04 PM

GTM never crash tested the Libra or Spyder (or Rossa as far as I can remember).

minipete - 15/9/09 at 04:38 PM

I put a grp mini minus through sva earlier this year and had no issues regarding the strength of the body. Might be because it had a full rollcage in it to hold the gsxr1000 engine in the back. Even got it on an '09' plate thanks to Northampton dvla.

The full build is on the mini forum but if it wasn't for the info on this site I would have really struggled to finish it. Unfortunately it seems that most of the mini community feel that iva's are something that doesn't affect them no matter what they do to their car.