If i go ahead and fit a bike engine to my project how do i go about MOT'ing it? Do i take it to a bike garage or a car garage for the emissions? do the check bike emissions? Just something i never thought about.

As it will be a car, unless it is a Q plate, then it will have to pass emmissions relevent to the engine age.
If it is 1995 or newer, it will have to have A cat fitted.
If your engine is carbed, then the emmissions may have to be controlled by some sort of air bleed into the inlet manifold to weaken the fuel mixture.
If it is injection, then a power commander with an "MOT" friendly fuel map.

so if its on a Q plate it wont have to have the emission test?

Yep - if your on a Q, no emision test - regardless of engine age.

Pat...

cool because more than likely my car will be on a Q plate as i dont intend on using just 1 doner will be a mix of car/bike and new parts.

Q plates rule The DVLA seems rather reluctant to hand them out recently though, prefering to go age-related....

BTW- bit of advise- keep any invoices for bits you've bought, the DVLA like to take a butchers at them at the time of registration (helps them decide whether to go age related or not)... I'd lost all mine (one of the reasons I got a Q)...

Do you not get the option then??

About the only things on my car that are not new are the engine, (busa '03), the diff, (sierra '89, although I may yet rebuild this with a an ATB) and the steering column. Have all the receipts except for a few things that I paid cash for.

However I dont really want to fit a cat so was thinking of a Q plate...........

With an '03 busa engine you will certainly need a cat to get through SVA...

dont confuse your SVA and after youve passed your SVA/been given a reg there two different things

quote:

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Originally posted by iiyama
Do you not get the option then??


However I dont really want to fit a cat so was thinking of a Q plate...........

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SO do SVA decide on the plate then?

No, SVA is to check it's roadworthy - VOSA do this. You need to pass SVA before you can register it. DVLA give you the plate when you register it. But whether it's given a 'Q' plate or not by DVLA, you will need to pass the emissions test at SVA first. And it's a swine!! Took me 3 times

OK, so how do VOSA come to the conclusion as to what plate is used?

VOSA don't care about the plate (other than the chassis number), they will test your emissions according to the year of engine manufacture. All Vosa do is test the car for safety - bit like a super MOT - and then issue you with a Minister's Approval Certificate (MAC) which you need to produce at the DVLA office when registering the car later. The DVLA then determine what number plate you get. This in turn will determine your emissions test requirements for future MOT's i.e. 'Q' plate or not.

Hope that made sense...?

All except the last bit!

Thought if you had a Q then they didnt bother with emissions come the MOT, just a smoke test?

It's still an emissions test. Only difference being you pass as long as you don't fill the MOT bay with smoke! The SVA tests the car as is, and as such can only test to the standards the engine was supposed to pass at the time of manufacture. Once you pass, then DVLA decide upon the plate type, which then determines what you have to pass for the rest of the cars life. IE you could have the strictest cat test for the sva, then only ever have a visual smoke at MOT time. All up to the mood of the DVLA employee at the time of registration, or so it appears.

So can the owner influence the plate decision in any way at all??

Yup. Easiest way is to lose all your receipts! That ay they have no proof of anything at all and have to issue a Q plate. If you have the donor V5 for example, they may give you an age related, as they don't like handing out Q plates, for purely paperwork related reasons! My Indy's on an age related even though it has a bird engine in it! Still, I only have to pass the 1982 emission tests so no real hassle.

I have the donor V5 which is on an F. However the only things used from it are the diff and the steering column.

So if I produce the V5, then I get an F plate, (or earlier), and even though its a busa and not a sierra engine the car gets tested as an F plate at MOT time? At SVA its tested as an '03 busa though?

Have I got it straight now?

Sorry for all the questions but I really need to get my head around this!

Seems about right. It may take a little more than just the V5, but not much.
Also, you have now understood the foolish-ness of the emissions system.