Altering a kit car chassis and the DVLA
Mr Whippy - 4/12/08 at 10:35 AM
Bit of an odd one this
Say you have a chassis for a kit car, it’s already correctly registered as that kit model and its been on the road for many years before.
Then you decide to alter some of the chassis frame to fit different suspension…
Would you bother informing the DVLA with this change to see if you could keep the orginal reg (not Q)
coozer - 4/12/08 at 10:50 AM
No, say you have a rusty wreck of MK1 Escort and you have to replace every panel with new then add the type 9 strengthing bits and convert it to group
4. DVLA? No - else we would be seeing tons of classic cars with Q plates......
phelpsa - 4/12/08 at 10:59 AM
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
No, say you have a rusty wreck of MK1 Escort and you have to replace every panel with new then add the type 9 strengthing bits and convert it to group
4. DVLA? No - else we would be seeing tons of classic cars with Q plates......
See DVLA points system.
A lot of these cars SHOULD be on Q-plates, and the DVLA is starting to crack down on it via MOT centres.
Mr Whippy - 4/12/08 at 10:59 AM
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
No, say you have a rusty wreck of MK1 Escort and you have to replace every panel with new then add the type 9 strengthing bits and convert it to group
4. DVLA? No - else we would be seeing tons of classic cars with Q plates......
hmm you have a point
cool looks like I have a base for my new project then 
ta
maartenromijn - 4/12/08 at 11:24 AM
Since I expect ot have problems registering my locost, I am thing of buying a registered kitcar (say Dutton) for next to nothing (<1k), use my own
Book chassis and the Dutton registration.
Besides it is illegal to change the vehicle identity, does anyone see a problem? I think mr. MOT cannot see the difference between a Dutton kitcar
chassis and a Locost chassis? If I don't tell DVLA (the Dutch equivalent of), I should get away with this. Or am I missing something here?
Anyone experience?
Mr Whippy - 4/12/08 at 11:38 AM
quote:
Originally posted by maartenromijn
Since I expect ot have problems registering my locost, I am thing of buying a registered kitcar (say Dutton) for next to nothing (<1k), use my own
Book chassis and the Dutton registration.
Besides it is illegal to change the vehicle identity, does anyone see a problem? I think mr. MOT cannot see the difference between a Dutton kitcar
chassis and a Locost chassis? If I don't tell DVLA (the Dutch equivalent of), I should get away with this. Or am I missing something here?
Anyone experience?
I'm sure this happens all the time and as you say most MOT inspectors will almost certainly have no idea what a kit car chassis should look like
unless it was say something very obvious like a Lambo with a Dutton jeep reg...
I think folk tend to panic and be over honest with the DVLA who seem to be nothing more than no knowledge desk jockeys ticking off boxes. Same goes
for the insurance as so long as you have described the engine, wheels etc they will have no standard guide for some obscure kit car model to compare
your car against, baring in mind many kit cars on the road are no longer made and the manufactures having been gone years ago. That’s probably why
they often ask you to send in a photo so they can see what the hell it is
iank - 4/12/08 at 12:09 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
quote:
Originally posted by maartenromijn
Since I expect ot have problems registering my locost, I am thing of buying a registered kitcar (say Dutton) for next to nothing (<1k), use my own
Book chassis and the Dutton registration.
Besides it is illegal to change the vehicle identity, does anyone see a problem? I think mr. MOT cannot see the difference between a Dutton kitcar
chassis and a Locost chassis? If I don't tell DVLA (the Dutch equivalent of), I should get away with this. Or am I missing something here?
Anyone experience?
I'm sure this happens all the time and as you say most MOT inspectors will almost certainly have no idea what a kit car chassis should look like
unless it was say something very obvious like a Lambo with a Dutton jeep reg...
I think folk tend to panic and be over honest with the DVLA who seem to be nothing more than no knowledge desk jockeys ticking off boxes. Same goes
for the insurance as so long as you have described the engine, wheels etc they will have no standard guide for some obscure kit car model to compare
your car against, baring in mind many kit cars on the road are no longer made and the manufactures having been gone years ago. That’s probably why
they often ask you to send in a photo so they can see what the hell it is
There are risks with that world view. While you may get away with it for both DVLA and insurance for years the potential penalties for getting caught
are very high.
A crushed car, a big fine and a criminal record in the case of the DVLA.
or a lifetime of debt and a criminal record if you have a bad prang and the insurance catch you out.
The photo is there to catch you out BTW. When they inspect it after an accident they can tell if you've changed anything they can technically
invalidate on. The biggest one being its miss described. Doubt they even look at it until they're asked to pay out.
maartenromijn - 4/12/08 at 12:18 PM
quote:
The photo is there to catch you out BTW. When they inspect it after an accident they can tell if you've changed anything they can technically
invalidate on.
Of course the bu**ers will try to find something if they expect your fault. But then with proper resistered locosts/kitcars also repairs and
modifications are made. I guess this is the grey area?
Mr Whippy - 4/12/08 at 12:22 PM
already got a record so not too bothered bth
Point I was trying to make is that it would be imposable in most cases to prove that a possibly one off chassis has been modified from original. For
example I have looked at build sites for my JBA Falcon a car that tends to look much the same from the outside yet I have lost count of the variations
of chassis JBA actually supplied, some not even close to mine. Then take MK, their chassis has also changed a great deal over years. The photo is
there to show the insurance company things like the engine is what you say it is or what wheels are on it, rather just a confirmation on what you have
described on paper. Sure like I mentioned if you say it’s a 7 style car and it looks rather more like a Ferrari then that’s going to be very obvious.
But Dutton 7 style for a locost, close enough.
maartenromijn - 4/12/08 at 12:36 PM
quote:
But Dutton 7 style for a locost, close enough.
My thoughts exacly. And Dutch government is making the DIY carbuilders' life so hard, so we have to be a little bit creative with the rules...
Mr Whippy - 4/12/08 at 12:48 PM
I get the impression it is going to get very hard here too as the EU appears to be really trying to push for all cars to meet very high safety
standards and the fact that 7’s and many other kit cars don’t have good side impact protection, airbags, seatbelt tensioners, ABS etc etc will be
frowned upon my politicians only interested in reducing statistics. So I would not be too surprised if like other EU countries they are simply not
allowed anymore.