IVA Day
The first thing to say is that the Westfield failed the IVA, however, the fail points were small and I don’t expect too much trouble getting it sorted.
We arrived at the VOSA centre just after 7:00am for an 8:00am test. The gates were open so we parked up and waited. Our tester spotted us in the car park and came over for a chat. He suggested we move the car and trailer to a less busy part of the car park which we did.
At 8:00am we were checked in and parked in the IVA lane but just inside the building, our tester had opened the roller door for us as it was spitting with rain.
For the test we had David with Gary assisting, both seemed friendly and talked us through all of the test points, what they were testing and the purpose of the test.
We started on the ramps for a check of the underside, feedback was good and the tester complimented me on the fuel system plumbing. The ramp was lowered and the Westy refused to start. After a couple minutes of panic on my part it fired back up. A detailed check in the engine bay and an issue with the steering column rubbing on the chassis.
On to the scales for the axle weight, then back off and then on again. There was some debate about the sump of the car resting on the centre of the scales, a little more checking and it was decided that it wasn’t but there was probably only a millimetre clearance.
My axle weights were:
Axle 1 with driver 290kg
Axle 2 with driver 358kg
After the axle weight it was on to the brake test. This went on for quite a while with Gary having a pressure pad under his foot so they could measure the amount of force being applied. The result of this was obtained by feeding the numbers into a spreadsheet but David said the numbers looked pretty good. On to the speedo calibration. We had to wait outside the testing bay for this one, we heard it revving up and shortly after the car came outside. Gary shouted that it looked good on the speedo and he would meet us across the car park for mirror and noise levels. The actual readings were:
Speedo Actual
35 33
40 38
50 48
60 58
70 67
By the time David had got the sound meter and we had made our way across the car park Gary told us he had done the mirrors and it was all ok. Now the one I was worried about, noise levels. The limit is 99db at 75% rpm, for my engine that meant 5250rpm. As the revs climbed so did the meter reading, when Gary indicated he had 5250 on the dial we had 99.0db on the meter, a pass by the skin of our teeth.
Gary spun it around a few times for the self centering which was fine and we met up by the emissions equipment. I had tested the emissions at the mock MOT and as expected no issues here.
Next the wheelbase was measured and the seat and harness mounting points. All ok.
Now the dreaded spheres, much prodding inside and out of the car and a couple of issues which I will list later. They also checked the cycle wing angles and the rear wheel position, and another issue.
By lunch time we were done, the testers said that the cars from the bigger kit companies are much easier to test and although we had failed they liked the car and we would only need a few minutes on the retest to get the car cleared.
So here are my fail points:
Interior fittings – Power socket on dash does not have correct radius.
To correct I have removed the cap
Instrument panel lower edge does not have correct radius
The testers came up with some solutions to remedy, CBS deliver today
Offside rear tyre protrudes
Bit trickier but we have changed to rear tyres for some without the kerbing bead and ordered some edging strip for the wheel arches, I might try to shift the tub across a little as well.
Front upper wishbone nut insecure
Quickly sorted
Steering column top upper UJ locking ineffective
Simply used a longer bolt to give clear thread after the nyloc.
Lower steering column fouls chassis
This didn’t when we assembled so caught us out, have now adjusted the steering rack and stopped the fouling.
I will see how I get on fixing the protruding wheel before I rebook as this is the biggest job but will be booked for the retest in the next few days.
I generally enjoyed the IVA experience and found the testers very friendly and willing to explain the test as they went along. The fail points were fair and the retest will only require a visual inspection in most cases.
Should be at the DVLA stage in no time.
We arrived at the VOSA centre just after 7:00am for an 8:00am test. The gates were open so we parked up and waited. Our tester spotted us in the car park and came over for a chat. He suggested we move the car and trailer to a less busy part of the car park which we did.
At 8:00am we were checked in and parked in the IVA lane but just inside the building, our tester had opened the roller door for us as it was spitting with rain.
For the test we had David with Gary assisting, both seemed friendly and talked us through all of the test points, what they were testing and the purpose of the test.
We started on the ramps for a check of the underside, feedback was good and the tester complimented me on the fuel system plumbing. The ramp was lowered and the Westy refused to start. After a couple minutes of panic on my part it fired back up. A detailed check in the engine bay and an issue with the steering column rubbing on the chassis.
On to the scales for the axle weight, then back off and then on again. There was some debate about the sump of the car resting on the centre of the scales, a little more checking and it was decided that it wasn’t but there was probably only a millimetre clearance.
My axle weights were:
Axle 1 with driver 290kg
Axle 2 with driver 358kg
After the axle weight it was on to the brake test. This went on for quite a while with Gary having a pressure pad under his foot so they could measure the amount of force being applied. The result of this was obtained by feeding the numbers into a spreadsheet but David said the numbers looked pretty good. On to the speedo calibration. We had to wait outside the testing bay for this one, we heard it revving up and shortly after the car came outside. Gary shouted that it looked good on the speedo and he would meet us across the car park for mirror and noise levels. The actual readings were:
Speedo Actual
35 33
40 38
50 48
60 58
70 67
By the time David had got the sound meter and we had made our way across the car park Gary told us he had done the mirrors and it was all ok. Now the one I was worried about, noise levels. The limit is 99db at 75% rpm, for my engine that meant 5250rpm. As the revs climbed so did the meter reading, when Gary indicated he had 5250 on the dial we had 99.0db on the meter, a pass by the skin of our teeth.
Gary spun it around a few times for the self centering which was fine and we met up by the emissions equipment. I had tested the emissions at the mock MOT and as expected no issues here.
Next the wheelbase was measured and the seat and harness mounting points. All ok.
Now the dreaded spheres, much prodding inside and out of the car and a couple of issues which I will list later. They also checked the cycle wing angles and the rear wheel position, and another issue.
By lunch time we were done, the testers said that the cars from the bigger kit companies are much easier to test and although we had failed they liked the car and we would only need a few minutes on the retest to get the car cleared.
So here are my fail points:
Interior fittings – Power socket on dash does not have correct radius.
To correct I have removed the cap
Instrument panel lower edge does not have correct radius
The testers came up with some solutions to remedy, CBS deliver today
Offside rear tyre protrudes
Bit trickier but we have changed to rear tyres for some without the kerbing bead and ordered some edging strip for the wheel arches, I might try to shift the tub across a little as well.
Front upper wishbone nut insecure
Quickly sorted
Steering column top upper UJ locking ineffective
Simply used a longer bolt to give clear thread after the nyloc.
Lower steering column fouls chassis
This didn’t when we assembled so caught us out, have now adjusted the steering rack and stopped the fouling.
I will see how I get on fixing the protruding wheel before I rebook as this is the biggest job but will be booked for the retest in the next few days.
I generally enjoyed the IVA experience and found the testers very friendly and willing to explain the test as they went along. The fail points were fair and the retest will only require a visual inspection in most cases.
Should be at the DVLA stage in no time.