Well the bottom line was we failed but the upside was not on anything too dramatic.
Alan (hmalan) turned up around 10:45 with his steering wheel & collapsible boss, this was put on only to find the SVA pad sent by Simon (esdebe) wouldn't fit, bizarrely it fitted my steering wheel which wouldn't fit on the boss. So we cut a piece of rubber matting, pushed some bubble wrap down the back & tie wrapped it on (more on this later). We had a coffee, a chat & then loaded Mary onto the dolly to set off for SVA, it was bitter up here today so there was no way I was driving down. After a stop to fill up the tank we arrived in good time 13:15, I went to let them know we were here & was told to park in front of the SVA lane. Started Mary up & got her off the dolly & drove over to the lane, thought I would leave her idling to warm up for the emission test. About 5 minutes later she died, tried to start her again to no joy, if this wasn't a family forum I would type a few of the words that were going through my head.
Just as this happened Martin the tester came out of the shed, i explained what had happened & he didn't seem too concerned & said we could do the other tests. So we pushed her inside & the inspection started. The first thing he wanted to test was the brake failure light, I showed him the rocker switch from the donor that I had put in & pressing it the light came on, he removed the top off the reservoir & the light came on again. Unfortunately the symbol on the brake switch is a brake pedal & a foot which is not acceptable it needs to be the recognisable one of (O) so we had failed within the first 5 minutes. We found out later that Andy actually phoned Swansea to get confirmation on this.
He then started looking around the front & what was contactable surfaces, at this point it seems the double front bumper was causing some concern as to what to apply the floor line to. He went off & brought Andy back & a discussion ensued, the upshot was extra trim was required on the upright stanchions of the mudguard arms, the plate round the bottom where the headlights mount & the chassis near where the top arm is mounted. There was talk that trim was required round the tube where the shock absorber mounted & the clip for the headlight, but once the nose cone was put back on then these area disappeared.
Under the cone, although the wiring was tie-wrapped up, they felt some chaffing could occur & it needed further protection.
Wing mirrors needed 2.5mm radius's on inside edge.
In the passenger compartment, the steering rack needed some protection as it was feasible to trap a passengers foot between the body & the rack on right lock. Brake pipes running along the nearside floor needs some protection from people entering or leaving the vehicle. This next one is interesting, I have 3 switches in a pod, lights, fog, & brake from the donor Mini, the pod is located within the 127mm exemption zone around the steering wheel, but this is only for the driver, they still count as contactable surfaces for the passenger & as such need 2.5mm radius. The pod needs trim on the back edge to give it the 2.5mm. The steering wheel was next, the rubber mat was pulled aside & bubble wrap removed, after talking there are two options, either a fixed boss with a pad fitted (this could be bubble wrap under mat but not tie rapped) or a collapsible boss, with a normal centre. The markings on the brake reservoir to master cylinder pipe was not marked as suitable & no specification sheet was available
At the rear of the Mary, the shock brackets needed trim on upper edge, my lovely engine cover is made of 5/8" box which means the edges don't have 2.5mm radius, if I had made it out of 1" box it would have been fine. Rear light mounting brackets not 2.5mm, it was also pointed out that there was no locking tabs on the top of the hub to track control arm at the rear. There was also some unclipped wiring around the engine compartment.
We then moved on to the ramp, where the handbrake to shock/hub brackets were flexing along with the subframe for the front mountings. I had used standard nuts not nylocks on the tie bars & ball joints. Fuel hose was not marked as suitable for petrol & no specification sheet was available.
We then rolled forward to check the headlight aim, they weren't too far out & with a little brute force by Martin they came in line. Onwards to the brake test which was quite uneventful with clear passes all the way through. As we were passing down the lane we had been trying to get Mary started, we were unable to get out of the lane as somebody had blocked the exit, so as Martin went to see who's car it was I whipped the distributor cap off & turned the engine over whilst Alan confirmed the points weren't opening. We pushed Mary outside to the area for checking mirrors & lights from correct angles, whilst this was being carried out I went & got a screwdriver & then adjusted the points. Way-hey she started, Martin jumped in & took her to be weighed & checking self centring whilst on the way, amazingly she passed. There was a discrepancy on the weights, I had put down the weights from a post a little while ago, front 210kg's rear 330kg's & gross 540kg's she weighed front 235kg's rear 405kg's with only one passenger & he looked 12 stone wet through. His suggestion is when I bring her back we revise these to 270, 450 & 720Kg's respectively. The speedometer couldn't be tested as it is driven off the front wheel & they have no way to test it other than drive it around the yard & then say 'seems okay it's a pass'. Db test was next, came out at 92 & that was the end, we loaded her back on the dolly whilst Martin wrote out war & peace.
It was around 6 hours from setting off to getting back home, I can't say it was the best time of my life but it certainly wasn't as harrowing as it could have been. All in all it was a result, there was nothing major wrong with my build other than a few nuts and quite a few pieces of trim the biggest problem is the flexing on both ends of the handbrake & getting the specification of the pipes for brake & fuel.
Sorry it's such a long post but I thought it best to try to put all the details in for those who have to follow. What I will try to do it take pictures of all the bits that need doing in a before & after status.
My last comment is for Alan, just a note of thanks for the moral support & the offer of half a chicken sandwich today would have been a far worse experience if I would have had to do it on my own.
Alan...
Alan (hmalan) turned up around 10:45 with his steering wheel & collapsible boss, this was put on only to find the SVA pad sent by Simon (esdebe) wouldn't fit, bizarrely it fitted my steering wheel which wouldn't fit on the boss. So we cut a piece of rubber matting, pushed some bubble wrap down the back & tie wrapped it on (more on this later). We had a coffee, a chat & then loaded Mary onto the dolly to set off for SVA, it was bitter up here today so there was no way I was driving down. After a stop to fill up the tank we arrived in good time 13:15, I went to let them know we were here & was told to park in front of the SVA lane. Started Mary up & got her off the dolly & drove over to the lane, thought I would leave her idling to warm up for the emission test. About 5 minutes later she died, tried to start her again to no joy, if this wasn't a family forum I would type a few of the words that were going through my head.
Just as this happened Martin the tester came out of the shed, i explained what had happened & he didn't seem too concerned & said we could do the other tests. So we pushed her inside & the inspection started. The first thing he wanted to test was the brake failure light, I showed him the rocker switch from the donor that I had put in & pressing it the light came on, he removed the top off the reservoir & the light came on again. Unfortunately the symbol on the brake switch is a brake pedal & a foot which is not acceptable it needs to be the recognisable one of (O) so we had failed within the first 5 minutes. We found out later that Andy actually phoned Swansea to get confirmation on this.
He then started looking around the front & what was contactable surfaces, at this point it seems the double front bumper was causing some concern as to what to apply the floor line to. He went off & brought Andy back & a discussion ensued, the upshot was extra trim was required on the upright stanchions of the mudguard arms, the plate round the bottom where the headlights mount & the chassis near where the top arm is mounted. There was talk that trim was required round the tube where the shock absorber mounted & the clip for the headlight, but once the nose cone was put back on then these area disappeared.
Under the cone, although the wiring was tie-wrapped up, they felt some chaffing could occur & it needed further protection.
Wing mirrors needed 2.5mm radius's on inside edge.
In the passenger compartment, the steering rack needed some protection as it was feasible to trap a passengers foot between the body & the rack on right lock. Brake pipes running along the nearside floor needs some protection from people entering or leaving the vehicle. This next one is interesting, I have 3 switches in a pod, lights, fog, & brake from the donor Mini, the pod is located within the 127mm exemption zone around the steering wheel, but this is only for the driver, they still count as contactable surfaces for the passenger & as such need 2.5mm radius. The pod needs trim on the back edge to give it the 2.5mm. The steering wheel was next, the rubber mat was pulled aside & bubble wrap removed, after talking there are two options, either a fixed boss with a pad fitted (this could be bubble wrap under mat but not tie rapped) or a collapsible boss, with a normal centre. The markings on the brake reservoir to master cylinder pipe was not marked as suitable & no specification sheet was available
At the rear of the Mary, the shock brackets needed trim on upper edge, my lovely engine cover is made of 5/8" box which means the edges don't have 2.5mm radius, if I had made it out of 1" box it would have been fine. Rear light mounting brackets not 2.5mm, it was also pointed out that there was no locking tabs on the top of the hub to track control arm at the rear. There was also some unclipped wiring around the engine compartment.
We then moved on to the ramp, where the handbrake to shock/hub brackets were flexing along with the subframe for the front mountings. I had used standard nuts not nylocks on the tie bars & ball joints. Fuel hose was not marked as suitable for petrol & no specification sheet was available.
We then rolled forward to check the headlight aim, they weren't too far out & with a little brute force by Martin they came in line. Onwards to the brake test which was quite uneventful with clear passes all the way through. As we were passing down the lane we had been trying to get Mary started, we were unable to get out of the lane as somebody had blocked the exit, so as Martin went to see who's car it was I whipped the distributor cap off & turned the engine over whilst Alan confirmed the points weren't opening. We pushed Mary outside to the area for checking mirrors & lights from correct angles, whilst this was being carried out I went & got a screwdriver & then adjusted the points. Way-hey she started, Martin jumped in & took her to be weighed & checking self centring whilst on the way, amazingly she passed. There was a discrepancy on the weights, I had put down the weights from a post a little while ago, front 210kg's rear 330kg's & gross 540kg's she weighed front 235kg's rear 405kg's with only one passenger & he looked 12 stone wet through. His suggestion is when I bring her back we revise these to 270, 450 & 720Kg's respectively. The speedometer couldn't be tested as it is driven off the front wheel & they have no way to test it other than drive it around the yard & then say 'seems okay it's a pass'. Db test was next, came out at 92 & that was the end, we loaded her back on the dolly whilst Martin wrote out war & peace.
It was around 6 hours from setting off to getting back home, I can't say it was the best time of my life but it certainly wasn't as harrowing as it could have been. All in all it was a result, there was nothing major wrong with my build other than a few nuts and quite a few pieces of trim the biggest problem is the flexing on both ends of the handbrake & getting the specification of the pipes for brake & fuel.
Sorry it's such a long post but I thought it best to try to put all the details in for those who have to follow. What I will try to do it take pictures of all the bits that need doing in a before & after status.
My last comment is for Alan, just a note of thanks for the moral support & the offer of half a chicken sandwich today would have been a far worse experience if I would have had to do it on my own.
Alan...
