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Cosmetics and SVA!
jonbeedle - 2/1/06 at 06:55 PM

I may not have time to paint my grp bits before the SVA. Do you think the tester will look past this and appreciate my efforts and the care that I've taken even if the paintwork isn't done? I plan to take the car to Norwich. I want it on the road in time for Stonleigh.
I'm kind of putting off applying because I'm afraid of failing...stupid really!
Anyone fancy coming over and giving my efforts the once over before I take the plunge?
Beer and mince pies offered in return!
Cheers
Jon


Ferg - 2/1/06 at 07:14 PM

I'd come over, but my expertise of SVA doesn't extend to the (shall we say) Locost-type car!!....yet.

However, do try to make the car look as nice and well finished as you can, I know a couple of kit builders who were failed for minor items which others had corrected on their car during the test. Both those cars were 'untidy'.

Book the test, it'll make you get on...


Bob C - 2/1/06 at 07:21 PM

Do they not have to note what colour the car is? I'd have thought a very thin blow over with a halfords aerosol shouldn't do any harm & would be the work of seconds & cost £2 ?????
Bob


jonbeedle - 2/1/06 at 07:25 PM

Thanks for the replies chaps. The car is tidy it's just that the grp needs painting.
Cheers
Jon


piddy - 2/1/06 at 07:26 PM

I could come over and take a look for you if you like.

I would have thought that you would be better getting it sprayed before The SVA.
First impresion and all that.


jonbeedle - 2/1/06 at 07:28 PM

Here it is! Rescued attachment DSCF0027.JPG
Rescued attachment DSCF0027.JPG


jonbeedle - 2/1/06 at 07:30 PM

quote:
Originally posted by piddy
I could come over and take a look for you if you like.

I would have thought that you would be better getting it sprayed before The SVA.
First impresion and all that.


Cheers Piddy,
I'd appreciate that. When are you free?
Cheers
Jon


zetec - 2/1/06 at 07:33 PM

I would say get it finished first, but it does look very good as it is. Are you taking the flyscreens off? If not get the old radius guage out and check them over...SVA bloke will.


jonbeedle - 2/1/06 at 07:45 PM

Fly screens definitely off for the test!


rusty nuts - 2/1/06 at 07:58 PM

Looks good Jon , couple of points 1 front indicators look as if the may not be extended enough 2 Bonnet catch? are they SVA compatable? When mine was tested the tester walked all round car looking before he started to test anything I suspect 1st impressions do count. When is SVA booked for?


jacko - 2/1/06 at 07:58 PM

Hi looking at the photo it looks like the front indicators will fail also the front wings [ mud gaurds] look to far back at the front ? Graham


jonbeedle - 2/1/06 at 08:21 PM

Front indicators have been extended, I don't know what the distance is supposed to be, I just copied someone elses from Stonleigh last year.
Mudguards have been repositioned with new brackets since the photo was taken and I fitted rubber bonnet catches today.
Hope I've covered everything.
Pre SVA pics will follow over the coming weeks!
SVA not booked yet Rusty!
Cheers
Jon


piddy - 2/1/06 at 08:29 PM

front indicators need to be no more than 400 mm from the outsde edge of the vechicle. Centre line of the headlights.

I'm sorry to say that the mirros don't look SVA friendly.

I'll sort out when I've got some spare time and get back to you.

[Edited on 2/1/06 by piddy]

[Edited on 2/1/06 by piddy]


Humbug - 2/1/06 at 11:16 PM

In answer to the original question: the GRP finish looks OK to me, so my advice would be to get it painted if you have time before the SVA, but concentrate on the "real" potential fails.

Good luck!


caber - 2/1/06 at 11:45 PM

Pretty certain the mirrors will fail as they do not swing away and return also a bit pointy and I doubt if you will get an adequate field of view from those locations. Rest of it looks pretty good apart from the other issues already mentioned.

Caber

PS also check mounting height for seatbelts they have to be a fixed height from seat base I think it is 450mm plus 56mm block.


PPS thye air filter looks a bit sticky uppy I think you need to check radii and edges on this as well!
[Edited on 1/2/2006 by caber]

[Edited on 1/2/2006 by caber]


jonbeedle - 3/1/06 at 01:40 AM

Forgot to mention, since the pic was taken I've changed the mirrors to CBR ones and the air filter has a foam ring around the edge and the seat belts have been fitted to the roll bar.
And by the way the grp looks better in the photo than it actually is...in fact the whole car looks much better in the photo!
Cheers
Jon


NS Dev - 3/1/06 at 11:06 AM

quote:
Originally posted by jonbeedle
Forgot to mention, since the pic was taken I've changed the mirrors to CBR ones and the air filter has a foam ring around the edge and the seat belts have been fitted to the roll bar.
And by the way the grp looks better in the photo than it actually is...in fact the whole car looks much better in the photo!
Cheers
Jon


The whole car looks pretty damn chuffing good to me in the photos!!

Stop worrying, go for the test and see what it fails on.

I will approach it that way. Make the car very tidily built (which yours certainly is) and see what fails, then sort the fail points and retest.

I am not going to the test with foam attached to every piece of my car because I think that is 1) taking the pee out of the test and examiner and 2) looks awful.

I have made the effort to radius edges as I have gone along like on the cortina uprights where I have radius ground edges etc, but small points I expect to fail on, these will then be corrected for the retest.


DarrenW - 4/1/06 at 04:04 PM

car looks great the way it is. like the Old English White!. I would say definitely get it SVA right first. You may have some grp fettling to do which could mark the finished paintwork if you paint first. First impressions do count but yours looks smart now so dont think you will have any adverse problems by not painting it first.

I fannied on for ages before SVA trying to get first time pass. Wish i hadnt bothered now and took it up earlier. Im convinced my tester looked even deeper when he was struggling to find many things. I ended up with a picky list but now a great car.

Apply today. It will take 1 or 2 weeks to get appointment. You can always choose a date a few weeks off. I gave myself a fortnight. You will be surprised how motivated you get after getting the date!


jonbeedle - 4/1/06 at 06:10 PM

Thanks for the encouraging remarks chaps. I'll post the pre SVA pics soon. Next step is to find a big enough space to test the car and get my speedo sorted. Then I'll make the application!
Cheers
Jon


jonbeedle - 4/1/06 at 06:10 PM

Thanks for the encouraging remarks chaps. I'll post the pre SVA pics soon. Next step is to find a big enough space to test the car and get my speedo sorted. Then I'll make the application!
Cheers
Jon


stevebubs - 4/1/06 at 07:11 PM

IF you're worried, buy a couple of cans of filler primer and put a thin coat or two on...will neaten marks etc up. When you get it back, you can then sand it down and see what needs building up...

HTH

Stephen


02GF74 - 5/1/06 at 11:11 AM

you know about the indicators. are the front wheel arches in the right position? it look like the front does not cover the wheel - there is a thred ongoing atthe moment about the proper psotion.

It seems you have 5 bits to paint, all curves that can be easily removed; shouldn't take you more than one day to do? If you don't have the timeto do a neat job, then use white primer perhaps? At least it will be the same colour.


Marcus - 5/1/06 at 08:17 PM

My mirrors didn't fold on impact and SVA was ok with it. They're only supposed to fold if they extend beyond the line of bodywork. As they are inside the width of the body, ie. outside edge of rear wing, they were deemed fine.
I asked him to define outside of bodywork when he was testing the indicators, and quoted this back to him when he looked at the mirrors. (probably thought i was a t*at, but had to agree!)

Marcus


Schrodinger - 7/1/06 at 12:38 PM

It looks quite a good build. You said you were taking the car to Norwich, I have had a couple of SVAs there and they were quite reasonable, on the first I failed on a couple of loose wires under the rear tub which he allowed me to fix while he went for a coffee and the second car failed because of a problem with the pedal box mounting not being rigid enough (my fault) but passed the second test with no problems.
I did not get a comment on either test about no cars pass first time, which I have heard of from other centres, so I think they are fair.

good luck

Keith
Suffolk