Thread: IVA Application
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Old 2nd July 2015, 17:00
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morris morris is offline
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Went for IVA today and failed On a positive note the tester did say it was a very good build standard compared with most of the cars presented. The list of fail points looks long but there's not too much really taxing. Just need to pick it all off and it shouldn't take too long. It was a very strict test and I know that for some of the items, others have not had a problem with, but when they came up, I just queried the solution rather than arguing about it.

1. Ball joints catching on wheels on full lock
2. NS mirror angle of view
3. Front brake hoses slightly touching suspension parts on lock
4. Rear brake performance @55% - needs to be 60%
5. Secondary brake performance
6. Interior projections - switches & protectors on dash
7. Interior projections - dash radius under right side
8. Exterior projections - front and rear bumper radius on back edges
9. Exterior projections - Rear trailing arm radius under front of rear arches
10. Exterior projections - Bonnet catches
11. Exterior projections - A panel louvres
12. Exterior projections - top flat part of front wing braces
13. Too many side repeaters - should only be single pair
14. Side repeaters position must be within 2600mm of front of vehicle (rear set)
15. clutch pedal fouling slightly on steering column base mount
16. Cap needed on starter motor positive terminal

I also technically failed the check for rear wheel arch coverage at the back (150mm above the hub). It passed on one side but not the other. We checked and double checked measurements and couldn't work it out as there was about 10mm difference on the one side. He wasn't too convinced by the little reflector plates (which only just scrapped though on viewing angles). The rear seat belt mounts were also a sticking point as he was a bit worried about the lack of triangulation to the main chassis. Luckily I had my laptop to hand with some clearer photos of the bare chassis so he was able to take a copy of it to check this and the rear arch issue with his boss (via email). They talked it over for quite bit and decided both were ok so I scraped through there.

The effective upper seat belt mount using the rollover bar cross brace nearly caused an issue (though I'd checked and thought it was well within the limits). The special measuring tool with the bits of string was showing the height off the seat base to be marginal but he was having trouble getting it to sit still. Seeing my opportunity I offered to hold it steady, which of course requires a certain degree of downward pressure and it passed by millimetre or two.

The speedo, which I was worried about through lack of testing was bang on. It read 30 at 30 and 67 at 70 so I don't think I could have got much closer just on a calculated pulses per mile.

In terms of fixing stuff

1. The main issue with my ball joints would be solved most simply by sticking some 17" wheels on though it would only be a temp solution as I have no intention of wasting the money spent on refurb-ing and tyre-ing my donor wheels. I can also go for markIII steering limiters and grind back some unnecessary material on the rod ends themselves.

2. Mirror angle can be sorted with a packing piece

3. Front brake hoses. I had done the piece of fuel hose and a cable tie trick but the tester reckoned you can put a twist in the cable tie the will make the hose move away from the suspension when turning. I'll give it a try.

4. Of the list of failures, the one I was surprised about are the rear brakes but this is because they passed the MOT test @ 40%. I hadn't realised IVA had a 60% higher standard but I still think this is just a case of bedding them in.

5. secondary brake performance. 3 series handbrakes are crap. not much to say there. I'll get some cables made up that allow a higher degree of tweaking compared with my current setup.

6. The dash switches is an odd on. The tester said I was the first person he'd had who'd bothered to use the little loops and they did the trick apart from the end ones which then were becoming an issue themselves. Some sort of thick covered buttresses either side should sort this out rather than a radical redesign of the dash

7. I'd covered but not radiused the dash underside in the area near the ignition key as I though it was in the exempt zone behind the wheel. Turns out that's for projections and the dash bottom still has to meet the general requirement

8. I though this was a bit fussy but apparently it's become something their focusing on now. The forward face of the bumpers were fine but the rear face at the top and bottom wasn't. He said to just slap some edging on to get through.

9. The E36 rear trailing arm is a bit of a rough casting and protrudes down in front of the rear arches. When checked with the cone to test the body line it can be touched and there falls foul of the radius test. I should be able to make some simple cover to go in front of it.

10. bonnet catches will either be heat shrinked or replaced with more friendly items

11. A panel louvres though blunted still failed. He just said to stick some rubber over them. Personally I'd rather just remake them in plain ali as they don't do much in the way of venting.

12. This is the part of the wing brace where it transitions from a rod to flat bar. It may be the way I mounted my wings leaving it more exposed but I've not heard anyone else have a problem with this. A file or some rubber will sort it out

13&14. The side repeater thing is a bit annoying as the rules are ambiguous to begin with. He's suggested I place them on the front wing as although it's right next to the main front indicator, it will meet the requirement. I may also look at moving my little LED ones to a point on the tub within the distance from the front required but also within the viewing angles

15. Clutch pedal occasional fouling. knew about that but thought that as it was the clutch and not the brake it wouldn't be a big deal

16. Positive terminal uncovered on starter. BMW made it that way! It will take all of 2 seconds to fix though.

Last edited by morris; 2nd July 2015 at 17:02..
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