simonk
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 posted on 16/9/08 at 06:22 PM |
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SVA Fail - Leighton Buzzard
Evening all
Well, that didn't go as well as expected. From the car actually touching the door sealing strip on both sides of my borrowed race shuttle at the
same time (these Vientos are LARGE) I should have known that today wasn't going to be easy.
I went expecting a fail, but to come away with a fixed list of jobs to do to guarantee a result at the re-test. However, the car had other plans.....
Having started on the button now for ages, during the emissions testing the engine just died and refused point blank to restart. Mr Tester (who was
very polite and helpful) suggested that he carry on and get as much tested as he could without the engine running whilst I tried sorting it out. To
cut a long and frustrating story short we found a blown fuse for the fuel pump which was replaced (with one from my towcar at the tester's
suggestion) and promptly blew again. Understandably the tester was unwilling to let me substitute a bigger fuse (good suggestion as we will see later,
and I may not have gotten the towcar home if I had carried on) and as the car wouldn't run we had to abandon the test. The tester was good
enough to give me a photocopy of the points that he had already recorded and to make some suggestions about stuff that he had spotted but hadn't
formally tested yet so as to make the re-test easier. Good line in hot tea and sympathy too. Was also very complementary about the build quality,
which was nice. Quite a few minor radius issues, including the interior mirror, the gear lever surround and the reflectors. He made an interesting
comment about these parts 'why do the kit car shops keep on selling you this stuff when they know it will fail the SVA radius tests ?'
Only big fail so far was the front wings not being wide enough to cover the wheel and tyre directly from above. I had expected this to be fair but was
hoping to get away with it as I won't be able to match a new bigger pair to the existing glass and the only other option that I fancy is carbon
fibre and I was rather hoping not to have to stump up for that (though I have now "How much... for mudguards ?" was my wife's
comment .
Have since found on getting home and fitting (and blowing) a bigger fuse that following replacing my steering downlink I had disturbed the wiring to
the rad fan relay and that when I had reconnected (very late last night in my defence) what looked like a single un-plugged wire it was in fact one
half of two unplugged wires and I had inadvertantly connected the relay output direct to earth. So as soon as the fan circuit kicked in the fuse blew
and stopped the fuel pump. Still, better that than the fans not running and boiling the engine.
Re-test booked for October 14th, major lesson learned - give myself more time for the little stuff and ideally don't end up still fixing and
fettling late the night before. Stuff like making up handbrake and gear gaiters and making up expansion bottles takes more time than you imagine.
Roll on October !
Cheers
Simon
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imp paul
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| posted on 16/9/08 at 06:27 PM |
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you will sort it in your own good time you have done well to get as far as you have so give your self a pat on the back and battle on mate all will
come good just takes time chin up all the very best paul
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simonk
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| posted on 16/9/08 at 06:32 PM |
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Thank you for the sentiment - I wasn't surprised or upset by the fail, I was upset by making the error that led to the test being abandoned -
still, as you say I will sort it out.
Just had a good peer in the boot of your Imp on the Avatar - you should probably be sectioned ?? 
Cheers !
Simon
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dan__wright
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| posted on 16/9/08 at 06:49 PM |
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who did you have? i had doug almost 2 weeks ago, a few poins sound familiar (reflectors)
testing before i went saved me braking down (snapped throttle cable due to no stop)
good luck for the retest!
[Edited on 16/9/08 by dan__wright]
FREE THE ROADSTER ONE…!!
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imp paul
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| posted on 16/9/08 at 06:53 PM |
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cheers si
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wilkingj
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| posted on 17/9/08 at 08:39 AM |
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Well thats not ALL bad then. Annoying but not bad.
Mine failed twice.
Failed on mirror heights, Front indicators being to close in, and worth thing was brake ballance bar (failed twice due to wrong ballance).
Still now you know what needs to be done, and should all be OK for the re-test.
Still... its fun to be able to drive legally with no number plates or road tax!!
Good luck with the re-test, and hopefully you should get in a few miles before the winter sets in.
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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