November
Single Vehicle Approval (SVA)
A bit of background, Single Vehicle Approval or SVA as it's known, is a test that, in my case an amateur built car, has to go through. The test is carried out by the Vehicle and Operators Service Agency on behalf of the Ministry of Transport (or whatever they are called now). The test is to ensure that the vehicle has been built to an acceptable standard as laid down on the SVA manual.
I couldn't put it off any longer I heard that my local Vehicle and Operators Service Agency (VOSA) were closing at the end of the year for refurbishment until July next year and as I wanted to SVA the car myself I booked an appointment, November 16th. Come the day it was raining, typical, but as luck would have it, we got the car loaded and unloaded between showers. The test started at 0800 hours with a quick engine inspection and documentation check to prove that the block was of 1973 vintage which meant that my emissions test was just a visual test, if it's not smoking then it passes! Well at this time it wasn't smoking (more of that later)
The tester moved on to the interior, checking for sharp protrusions, seat belts, seat fixings, handbrake, footbrake, taking measurements (never did quite understand his explanation), but there is a 178 page manual to go through on checking that the vehicle conforms to the various regulations.
Failure no.1, he found a knob that was sticking out more than 9.5mm (my fault I forgot to check this).
Failure no.2 the brake bias bar wasn't drilled and roll pinned, so that it couldn't adjusted once set, I explained that the factory sent me a locking kit and that they said this was sufficient, but he didn't accept this.
He then asked me to move the car up to the next station for further inspection, where he went around the exterior of the car for any sharp edges etc………..All OK
Then I had to move the car onto the ramps for and inspection of the underbody, to check that the handbrake is operable and that there are no leaks from the brake callipers, brake lines, fuel/oil lines. He did notice that one of the handbrake cables was not moving as much as the other and commented that might be a problem on the brake test. The head lights were next on the list, and as I expected these were out of alignment, but he did give me the opportunity to adjust them, after about 15mins and a bit of an embarrassing moment (the dipped bulb wasn't seated correctly!!) all was correctly aligned. I then had to move the car onto the rollers for the brake test, by this time the car was starting to smoke as I had the car on idle whist I adjusted the lights, otherwise I might not have a battery and will all the stop/starting the plugs started to oil up, plus it's still running very rich!!!! For the brake test though the rollers were powered so the engine was switched off. Just as he started to get into the test the rear nearside 'brake' started to bind and bind and ……well you get the picture, so he had to abandon the test.
Failure no3 excessive brake bind.
The test carried on though, next I had to drive the car to another lane to get it weighed on each axle. If the brake test were completed the computer would then work out the braking forces for each axle to ensure that the balance front to rear brake was correct, but this would have to be determined on the retest.
The tester then drove the car outside to test the mirrors, they (VOSA) have a special set up with poles for testing that the mirrors have a good rearward field of vision. The tester then surprised me by saying that the next test was emissions!!!!!! By this time the engine was smoking like it never had any oil rings in it!!! But after a chat with the tester explaining that apart from bedding in the cam the engine just has not been run, so things like mixture and oil ring bedding in just has not happened, he seemed to accept this and passed it. Next up was the noise test, dreading this, but he told me to take it up to 3000 revs and hold it there, well after my erratic foot calmed down, I was all over the place 2500, 3200, 3250, 3000, 3100, 2500, he told me to cut it (I think he was slowing succumbing to CO2 poisoning!!) it passed with a reading of 95db's (result!) the ceiling is 101db's so well within the limit.
That about completed the test, I wasn't that depressed that it didn't pass and the three faults were minor really. Once home, I had to dismantle the underside of the dash and remove said offending switch and replace with a blanking plug (job no1 completed). Went out and bought some roll pins, drilled the nuts and tapped them in (job 2 completed)
The hand brake calliper was a different matter though, I have the old callipers from Ultima and I just could not adjust them to so that they are just off the disc's not to bind but close enough for the hand brake to work efficiently. I spent all weekend adjusting, shimming, readjusting but could not get these to work as they should, maybe it's me, but in the end I turned to the good 'ld interweb and found some one selling the latest Brembo callipers, so I'm in the process of stripping out the old cables and callipers waiting for the Brembo's to arrive.
Just got to get a retest before December 15th.
Well, I eventually received the callipers only to find that there were some parts missing from one of them and time wasn't on my side, so I bit the bullet and phoned Ultima, they had all the parts ready to send to me the next day, that just leaves the weekend to fit them and get everything working as it should.