rf118 fails sva

[Huw Peplow]

Got there with a completed car and started the sva test which was prety informative. the car failed on several points but non too serious!!!!

1. I made a guard for the light switches which now needs a little rounding off with some rubber then will pass

2 the laminated bulk head glass was not marked so will be removed for next test so wont apply

3front indicators too low by 1 inch and not fully visible, will now fit them on rounded projections from the grill with cable ties(these are considered permenant fixtures)

4 Rear fog lights (e11 marked with 21 watt bulb and wired in parallel ) were deemed not to be bright enough. The statement was must be twice as bright as the brake lights!!! (this is also a 21 watt bulb) I have bought a brand new light but must say its little different. any ideas as I think this might need contesting

5 Dip beam out of adjustment, Think I should have removed the perspex light covers ,probably silly error

6 In side the upper edge of the nostrils not radiused enough ,so will cover with rubber edging

7under side ,one altenator lead slightly fouling the sump and air con hose just touching the pump .Good call and easily sorted

8need documented evidence that goodrich teflon hosing is suitable for petrol !! Live in totnes the origin of goodrich(although spelt it wrong) so should be easy to get

9 Although the hand brake passed its holding test it didnt have enough free travel (ie enough to cope with a cooling brake disc dont think the comment of leaving it in gear helped just got a wry smile from the examiner.

10 had an electrician fit an alarm last week and strangely a fuel lifter pump and the brake fluid warnig swith no longer work. on stripping the fuse box out it had been incorrectly replaced so a general rule if youve built it dont let some insurance company make you get some one quallified to fit it do it yourself you,ll probably do it better(just going to re wire mine now!!)

11the balance bar needs roll pinning through both bolts. This could not be done till the brake balance was sorted at the test which it passed straight away

12My ignorance made me place the speedo directly infront of the driver as I thought it had to be there but now have to move it to the proper position on the left.The examiner allowed speedo adjustment at the time of test and mine needed a setting of 6850 (this is a caerbunt 200 mph speedo running on the audi hal sensor)

13 the first failiure point was the chasis no. not visible enough so have got to repunch it into the chasis at several points. (strange thing is I managed to read it to make the vin plate!)


So overall not to disapointed with the test as most things are minor alterations and will be accomplished this weekend. Little cheesed off with alarm fitting as he also managed to chip the paint.
My only quandry is the rear fog lights as they are stated as sva approved andthere appears nothing wrong with wiring. In my understanding 21 watt bulbs illuminate brake and fog lights so how can the intensity differ?

The drive there was slow and cautious the road home was a riot as I now knew the car was generally sound

[Ron Earp]

Originally Posted by HUW PEPLOW

12My ignorance made me place the speedo directly infront of the driver as I thought it had to be there but now have to move it to the proper position on the left.T

How in the hell can this make any difference? Where is "proper" position defined?

Sorry, but that SVA stuff seems a load of crap. I know some scoff at US regs, but with all the variations in cars out there in the world it matters not of you are running a 21 W bulb here, a non-marked glass there, and so on. Plus, you pass the test once and then take all the stuff off or change it back, so what good is it on a one time basis?

[Steve]

I think well done,

The issues are all very minor, and readily sorted.
I have SVA'd a cople of cars now, and found what one centre accepts, another will decline, so there is some interpretation by the local offices, with some, such as Southampton, having a reputation as being very pedantic.

I recall an examiner spending 10 mins measuring the radius of horn button, which he informed me was a fail, until i pointed out it was in the "SVA Free" area behind the wheel radius.

You sometimes have to remind them of the interpretation, especially on minor points, but on the whole I think SVA is a good move as it ensures that ameteur built cars are functionally solid, welds are correct etc.

A few years ago there were some awful kits put on the road, with no inspection at all required. I quite like the idea of a trained mechanic crawling over my 500hp car, before take it out in anger, just to check that I have used correct locknuts, lockwire, seat belt aanchors etc

SVA in the UK has made manufacturers up their game.

[andy loveday]

Hi Hue, well done, not to bad of a list, to put right, did you sva at exeter, Andy

[Huw Peplow]

The speedo issue really relates to visability ,Icant really see it between 20 and 80 mph ,and, 120 and 180 , so really its probably visible in the useable range,!!!!!!I happily accept for uk road use I do need that 20-80 mph visability and would prefer it on the left anyway.

My main issue is with an sva compliable item ,sold as such ,failing the test when propperly applied !

[Ian Anderson]

Huw

I'll have a read of SVA Manual this evening and see exactly what it says on the bulbs

The only other thing I could suggest is fitting some ultrabright LED type bulbs in the fiting to make it brighter

One last thing did you drive to and from the test?

The rest is not too bad and easily do-able when is the retest booked?

Ian

[Simon]

Hey Huw,
That's pretty good news, all points easily fixable! Hope to see the car when I'm down in Exeter sometime (I get down to Devon usually 4-5 times a year)

Simon

[Huw Peplow]

Yes the good news was driving the car to and from the test .My attitude was that if it couldnt be driven it shouldnt be doing the test.On the way there very cautious and then knowing the majority of the car was ok(the good side of testing) I flexed its muscles on the way home the acceleration was phenominal 0-70 etc.The worst part was no side windows yetand the wetest windiest day for a week!

[Brett James-McCall]

Originally Posted by spg

I think well done,

I have SVA'd a cople of cars now, and found what one centre accepts, another will decline, so there is some interpretation by the local offices, with some, such as Southampton, having a reputation as being very pedantic.

I have heard that VOSA have recognised this now and are implementing a stricter regime and all centres will be brought to Southampton test standards...

At least that is good news for SouthernGT, as Mick took his to Soton to get it SVA'd.

Brett

[Doc Watson]

Huw,

Cant you reduce the wattage on the brake bulbs rather than increase the fog light bulb?

Otherwise sounds like all went well... has anybody passed first time????

Regards

Andy

[Tony Hunt]

Hi Huw,
Well done - doesn't sound a serious fail, and should get through on retest if you take note of the comments, which you obviously are.
For a source of all sorts of things lighting - high intensity headlamp bulbs (important once SVA is out of the way), LED brake, side and indicator lights etc, have a look at Paul Goff's Lighting Site. He has everything you need, including P45t/P43t adapters to fit modern bulbs into our headlamp shells.
Geoff Gear's car passed SVA first time at Mitcham just before Christmas.
Tony

[Steve]

Passed first time in a cob, second cob failed on some parts that were used to pass sva on the first cob!!

The cob forum seems to be around 30% pass first time


There really is some crazyness in SVA however. Common for cobs is front indicators too low, but if you black out the lower half of the lens with paint internally (thereby reducing efficacy), it'll pass!

[Chris Simpson]

Apparently Huw has been told by the SVA tester that his car will have to go through the MOT test before getting an SVA pass. Does anyone know if this is true - I don't think it is?

Chris

[Ian Anderson]

My car went through SVA about 18 months ago and after SVA it is just a case of emptying your wallet at DVLA to get the plates and tax disc - yes they inspect chassis stamping and need the paperwork to prove it is a new build etc but no MOT was needed

Also why would they want an MOT when they have just covered the full MOT and a lot more at SVA?

Ian

[Huw Peplow]

The sva tester stated that although he checked the tyre rating the tyres condition is a matter for mot only so an mot would be required .I intend to try with out first!!

[Jerry]

Hi Huw,

If you are registering the 40 as a new car, then it wont need an MOT for three years, even though its a kit. Hope you get the fail pionts sorted ok. Things that yours has failed on probably would have passed in Taunton. Height of indicators, glass markings, speedo visability etc not checked on mine luckilly at Taunton. Its been said that the test centers can only pass a maximum number of cars a month, so even if your car is perfect, it will fail if the maximum number has been reached already. I helped build a Freestyle Buggy kit a while ago and the SVA tester kept checking it over and over till he could find a fail point, which was a blade fuse at the top of the passenger foot well not being to the radius criteria, and his recomendation was "tape a plastic ice-cream tub over it".

Hope it's on the road soon, Jerry

[Huw Peplow]

Really struggling with indicators any one any ideas They need to be 35cm off the deck(14in).
The car is already painted so I wish to achieve this without drilling the body. Have a stainless mesh grill to which a suitably rounded item could be attached. Tester was keen that all should be permenantly attached(a cable tie is the limit and duck or double sided tape isnt)The height of the grill is only 14 ins

HELP

[The New Roaring Forties]

Hi Huw,

most of the cars here are registered with indicators mounted in the top of the brake ducts, either side of the center air intake - this gets them 350mm off the deck and achieves 45 degrees directional visibility. I have sent a pic to your email.

Regards Paul

Originally Posted by HUW PEPLOW

Really struggling with indicators any one any ideas They need to be 35cm off the deck(14in).
The car is already painted so I wish to achieve this without drilling the body. Have a stainless mesh grill to which a suitably rounded item could be attached. Tester was keen that all should be permenantly attached(a cable tie is the limit and duck or double sided tape isnt)The height of the grill is only 14 ins

HELP

[Ian Anderson]

Huw

A couple of Ideas re the indicators
Get a motorcysle aftermarket set they are really small both length and height they are E marked (I picked up a set at a local Triumph dealer for about £20 for the pair) so will pass on that point and then fit thim inside the 2 open Naca ducts on either side (unless you have ducts inside) Fix on the inside of the clip using body filler or similar that is removable after the test. Last thing is do not forget to disable the existing ones as you are only allowed 1 indicator on the front at each side.


I also read up on the light re fog lights
Section 9.1 Page 2, note 3
Quote "The brightness of lamps bearing an appropriate approval mark as given in Annex 1 defines the acceptable standard. Lamps not bearig such a mark should emit light of a similar brightness.

The Maximum permitted intensity of an 'e' or 'E' marked high level stop lamp, being 80 candelas is insufficient to meet the requirements as a rear fog lamp which requires a minimum intensity of 150 candelas. End Quote

The Annex states Stop lamps must be matked S1, S2 or S3
Fog Lamps must have the approval B or F

If your Fog lamp does not have a B or F marking then the tester is correct and it needs to be twice as bright hrough a lens marked S, Easiest way would be a new fitting for a few quid from SVC or Car Builder Solutions with the correct marks.

Ian