Hi All - So I thought I'd post some pics from the IVA Test the buggy recently went through, these pics are from Carlisle Test Center, the final few pics are the bits I had to fix prior to the resit which was last Friday, so far I've done over 360 miles and I don't have a registration yet!!
This first pic is in the IVA test building (separate from the main VOSA station, as you can see its a tight fit on the ramps! - The chap stood next to me in the yellow overalls is Andrew who runs all the IVA tests, the other guy was there as an observer really. so the first hiccup was that the buggy would not fit on the speed rollers which are built into the floor behind the ramps, so due to this the buggy would have to be driven and a GPS speed reading used to gauge if the vehicle speedo was off and needed adjusting (it was ok )
It was also at this point on he ramps that ANdrew wanted to know if the fuel tank had been correctly earthed, if you dont have photographic evidence to show the earthing point then you need to show him by removing panels, luckily as this is documented in the IVA manual i took multiple photos of the tank be re-fitted after paint showing the earth point and the route of the earth cable - so all was good and we got through that bit!
Bonnet was also removed here to allow access for Andrew to visually inspect the brake cylinders, battery box, standard of wiring etc
Still up on the ramps (Note look on my face "Is this good or bad or what??") and the buggy is being very closely inspected, checking joints, suspension mounts position of components and verifying nothing fouls - also checked that I had the "do not adjust the bias bar" text as per the manual, printed and stuck near the master cylinders, along with the correct identification sticker for the brake fluid near the reservoir, this was also the point that the VIN number was checked to ensure its in the correct place (Drivers side - Front) and was correctly marked into the frame (I had originally stamped this into the frame but I was concerned that it was not as clear as it could be due to the fact it was stamped into round tube - so i had a local jeweler engrave a bit of 5mm flat bar and then welded that into the frame - with a continuous weld seam all the way around.
Almost done on the ramps now, rear suspension was checked, all cable locations and mounting checked, filler to fuel tank etc, then the buggy went up into the air with me in it and all the brake pipes were inspected, how they were mounted and then i depressed the brake pedal several times to make sure there were no leaks, hand brake was also operated here to verify a mechanical operation at the hub end, general build quality was inspected underneath the vehicle to ensure nothing was loose etc.
Seat mounts were also inspected from under the vehicle whilst it was up in the air - all was good so we continued on!!
At this point I must point out I had no idea if I was failing everything, both Andrew and the Observer were not saying much! (That was soon to change)
With the buggy back on the ground the odd plywood cone thing came out to work out where the floor line was so that the external projections could be done, this took a really long time and every area was covered including above the roofline (so the air intake was tested) - this is where we hit an issue with the rear edge of the air filter which did not have a 2.5mm radius, and the clips holding it and the upper silicone tube in place also failed - not a major issue the clips just needed rotating and some rubber edging needed applying to the rear edge of the air filter, by the time we got to the rear of the buggy there were acouple of points that needed edging applying mostly the rear hub adapters and also the adjusters for the rear shocks
with the external projections completed and only a couple of minor fixes needed it was time to check the wheel arches, this involved the massive clear plastic guide shown here, checking the arches stop and start at the correct positions and that they dont terminate more than 100mm above the wheel center, all passed so on we went to the next stage