MadaboutKitcars

Several of you have said , maybe tongue in cheek, "when is IVA?"



The answer at this stage has to be - I don't know.
What advice do you IVA veterans have to offer on final preparation and programme run-in?

Essentially I have to complete the wiring, install the dash and centre console which are both made, fit the rear tub, make a boot floor, and rear firewall, and then fit carpets.
Then spend months worrying about what they might fail me for on IVA?

What do you IVA veterans recommend programme wise?
Does it take longer than you think to finish of all those little jobs you know you ought to do before submitting for IVA?

Mike

Mike,

I'm certainly no veteran and I am a lot further away from IVA than you.

But.................

My wife came across a really interesting publication in WHSmiths around December time. (I know it was December because FC dropped it down the chimney on Xmas eve!!)

It's called the Complete Kit Car Survival Pack (published by CKC) and it's got a really good top level guide to the essentials of IVA (and registration) in an article called 'CKC's Rough Guide to IVA' along with lots of other little gems. It describes both the theory (basically what the IVA man will look for) and the test itself. It says its exclusive to WHSmiths and it's worth a look if you can still get your hand on one.

Nigel

Well there is an old saying that says you can do 90% of the work in 10% of the time, and then it takes 90% of the time to do the last 10%

It took about 6 weeks from applying for IVA to getting the appointment, so what I would recommend is when you think you are about finished put the car through an MOT. If you have got it insured it is legal to drive it to the MOT provided you have booked it in advance. You can use the chassis number to identify the car.

The MOT may pick up a few points that need looking at that will cause an IVA fail. Not only that it is a good excuse to try the car out!

Once you have got the MOT then apply for IVA.

Points to watch out for are:
1 .Radius failures on mudguards. Fix this by bonding on rubber trim.
2. More radius issues, any exposed bolt heads, and the locking nuts on the tie-rods need to be covered or sleeved.
3. Seat belts. Make sure they comply with the positioning creteria. I had Cobra 7s in mine with slots for full harnesses and they only just passed the height requirement.
4. Bottom of dashboard radius. I covered some pipe lagging foam in leather cloth and put it along the bottom edge.
5. The Sierra heater (if you are using one) has a square bit sticking out on the passanger side. It needs removing or radiusing or protecting in some way.

I had to position my indicators at the front further outboard for IVA

And basically read the IVA manual and check as far as possible you are compliant.

Done the SVA not IVA. But one thing I can recommend. Once you have done the above and done the MOT, check car over a couple of times. Go overboard an rubber trim if need be. Even take some with you on the day. Together with some cable ties.

You can keep going over and over the car trying to find things. When you get to this stage, your ready for IVA. You should have really have had it booked by then. Because now you need to just go and see what happens.

If you come back with a failure list, it's a list to work to.

Only you can tell the amount of time you have spare on the car etc. But booking that IVA will make you work harder as you have a target. Just make sure it's jobs doable in those time scales.

All the best.

I would hope that it is cold and wet on IVA day and you don't have a hood and its taken 2 hours to drive to the IVA centre and the IVA man takes pity on you - well it worked for me
Seriously though, doing an MOT is good advice and a reasonable practice run, although there are a lot of things in IVA not covered by the MOT eg is the speedo accurate?
Once you have the MOT I would apply for the IVA - the time lag should give you enough time to 'finish off'.
I guess a useful thread on this forum would be for all the IVAers to collate their fail points (on MOT or IVA), if any, so as to provide a check list for future IVAers??
Good luck, you're nearly on the home straight now.
Tim

Good thinking about the speedo and a great idea to have a FAQ for the IVA.

Good way to test the speedo is borrow a tomtom or something. Measure your speed perhaps on the way to the MOT.

I got my wife to drive her car at 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and... no! not putting that in print, and wave at me each time while I checked what my speedo was reading....

Get someone to go win ou in a support car. That way you can go overboard and take all sorts of edging and rubber nosing, cable ties and tools with you. He IVA man will allow yo to do small fixes there and then, but only if you have your own tools.

http://www.greatoldone.co.uk/blog/2010/3/6/how-the-iva-was-won.html

Also, check this article out:

http://www.completekitcar.co.uk/svatoiva.html

And there's some sportster specific advice here - some of it will be applicable to you as well

http://www.greatoldone.co.uk/iva-advice/

All good stuff GOO, thanks.

Thanks to all who have responded, and any others who feel they have any small detail to offer. Any advice will all be welcome.

Timbo, I thought July would be best for the warmth - but your approach was just the opposite! Whatever works............?

Its a bit scary starting to think I could go for IVA this year, after having it around for the past 5 years without a hope of going for it!!!.

Mike

Hi Mike,
I did collect together a list of failure points from 4 failed Sportster SVA's which I can email you but I didn't keep it up to date.(pre 2008)
Common failure posts at that time were...
Axle design weights too low, height or position of indicators/lights, seatbelt fixing, general fixing (inappropriate use of tie wraps or lack of nylocs with two threads showing), 'sharp' edges (I nearly failed on a fog light switch), exhaust sound level, speedo accuracy (they allowed me to rest mine during the test!) and lack of self centering steering!
I think my best advice is....
"Pretend to be the inspector"...
By that I mean, print a copy of the IVA manual and just work through each section, clause by clause. It sounds daunting but its good preparation and a confidence builder before the test. When you hit an issue just add it to your 'to do' list.
When there is nothing left on your 'to do list' ; then you are ready

I also had my wife in the 'back up car' loaded with all my tools and boxes of trim, nut covers, tie wraps, etc etc just in case!! They really are quite happy for you fix things during or just after the test and contarary to most things I had read, my inspector did seem to want me to pass!

I hope that helps and doesn't frighten you!

...peter

Not sure how much help this will be, but these are all the fail points from the initial test I had to deal with to pass:

http://www.msportster.co.uk/sva-day

(template on the site is a tad borked need to fix the CSS at some point...)