Post by tojeiro on Feb 26, 2019 19:58:47 GMT
IVA day did not get off to the best start as my transporter called at 6:45 to say he was going to be 45mins late and test station is 40miles away.
Decided immediately just to drive to the test as the car was already warmed up on the driveway. Very fortunately we probably had the warmest and sunniest Feb day on record.
6 traffic jams later I rolled up to test station at about 8:05 (twice the normal driving time), met by friendly tester David Graham (no relation), explained the morning issues and the fact I had now burned 40miles of fuel and didn’t stop to top up as didn’t want to be any later.
I did have 1/2 can fuel on the boot but David was great and said better just pop round to the local petrol station to top up.
Fully fuelled hot back to the test centre to start the 4 hrs of nerve racking torture.
by -Tojeiro 74-
To be honest tester was great, friendly and explained each test and points he was looking for along with some nice casual chat about other topics through the test.
First was a detailed inspection fuel tank, filler, cap and upper seat belt mounting points, suppose he wanted to check he wasn’t going to get in and test a bomb.
Emissions next and I was confident after my MOT pass last week, however, it took 3 attempts to get the CO down to limit. Exact same issue as MOT, seems engine need to be scorching hot before the CO drops. Final result was 0.14 so we’ll within 0.2 limit
I would say that they are definitely looking to pass you rather than looking for some reason to fail but still sticking to the manual. I can imagine a difficult tester refusing to run the test 3 times.
Car pretty much sailed through the rest of the test. The one point that he did clearly highlight was the strength of upper portion of my modified Cobra seats (I had chopped off the shoulder bolsters), however, I had been careful to ensure that the harnesses did not rest on the seat so it was not an anchor point which was one reason he could allow them to pass without further checking. He was aware also that they will be changed for something nicer after test.
I would say that they are definitely looking to pass you rather than looking for some reason to fail but still sticking to the manual. I can imagine a difficult tester refusing to run the test 3 times and seat strength is a bit of an open interpretation on their side without any formal documentation.
by -Tojeiro 74-
Points I fixed in last couple of days befor test
- Reflectors have a top marked (never noticed first shot), made some curved mounts out of black plastic discs from eBay, stuck on with 3m double sided discs same size
by -Tojeiro 74-
- Seat base to upper mount is tight (503mm) despite no rails I still had to remove some seat cushioning
- wheel spacers mean no problem with clearance on braided lines and wheels now look better in arches
by -Tojeiro 74-
- To get extra light height I inverted my top mounts, wouldn’t want to drive like that forever but safe enough and easy way for lots of extra height.
by -Tojeiro 74-
Fill in my DVLA forms tomorrow.
Decided immediately just to drive to the test as the car was already warmed up on the driveway. Very fortunately we probably had the warmest and sunniest Feb day on record.
6 traffic jams later I rolled up to test station at about 8:05 (twice the normal driving time), met by friendly tester David Graham (no relation), explained the morning issues and the fact I had now burned 40miles of fuel and didn’t stop to top up as didn’t want to be any later.
I did have 1/2 can fuel on the boot but David was great and said better just pop round to the local petrol station to top up.
Fully fuelled hot back to the test centre to start the 4 hrs of nerve racking torture.
by -Tojeiro 74-
To be honest tester was great, friendly and explained each test and points he was looking for along with some nice casual chat about other topics through the test.
First was a detailed inspection fuel tank, filler, cap and upper seat belt mounting points, suppose he wanted to check he wasn’t going to get in and test a bomb.
Emissions next and I was confident after my MOT pass last week, however, it took 3 attempts to get the CO down to limit. Exact same issue as MOT, seems engine need to be scorching hot before the CO drops. Final result was 0.14 so we’ll within 0.2 limit
I would say that they are definitely looking to pass you rather than looking for some reason to fail but still sticking to the manual. I can imagine a difficult tester refusing to run the test 3 times.
Car pretty much sailed through the rest of the test. The one point that he did clearly highlight was the strength of upper portion of my modified Cobra seats (I had chopped off the shoulder bolsters), however, I had been careful to ensure that the harnesses did not rest on the seat so it was not an anchor point which was one reason he could allow them to pass without further checking. He was aware also that they will be changed for something nicer after test.
I would say that they are definitely looking to pass you rather than looking for some reason to fail but still sticking to the manual. I can imagine a difficult tester refusing to run the test 3 times and seat strength is a bit of an open interpretation on their side without any formal documentation.
by -Tojeiro 74-
Points I fixed in last couple of days befor test
- Reflectors have a top marked (never noticed first shot), made some curved mounts out of black plastic discs from eBay, stuck on with 3m double sided discs same size
by -Tojeiro 74-
- Seat base to upper mount is tight (503mm) despite no rails I still had to remove some seat cushioning
- wheel spacers mean no problem with clearance on braided lines and wheels now look better in arches
by -Tojeiro 74-
- To get extra light height I inverted my top mounts, wouldn’t want to drive like that forever but safe enough and easy way for lots of extra height.
by -Tojeiro 74-
Fill in my DVLA forms tomorrow.