Lightweight Sva

[Guest ReadingTrev]

Hi People,

 

 

It failed at Southampton today - but I can't believe what happened.

 

To cut a *very* long story short, the tester failed the Lightweight on not having box sections along the inside of the car for added strength, and the way the suspension box sections are secured onto the rest of the car, and using pop rivets *NEAR* the side seatbelt mountings - yes, those seatbelt mountings were Ok, but not what’s around them......

 

Also......

 

Using the flat roll bar bottom panel as a top seatbelt mounting with no extra strength, and the rear struts of the roll bar may *rip out*, despite having four 10mm 8.8 grade bolts through each of them! He failed me filling the side repeater edges with silicone as its "not permanent* and also wants edge trim on every slat in the bonnet.

 

You may find this unusual as my car is a copy of the factories one, none of this was an issue on theirs or anyone else’s.

 

He kept saying "its like a 2B but without the chassis" - he said he could not see one ever passing SVA! When I told him that mine is IDENTICAL to the factory one and another that has gone through very recently too, he said its HIS judgment on the day.

 

The factory have said they will provide any documentary proof needed that this is the way the car is built, and the inspector said he is entering into discussions with Swansea about how to progress my case.

 

 

All this leaves me in a very, very awkward situation. VOSA have a monopoly, I can't just not do it, or side step him, its left me feeling very sour and wondering quite what to do / where to go next.

All in all the day was a disaster.

 

He even failed my seatbelt mounting bolts because they were not marked 8.8, but are marked using the old fashioned 3 I's facing inwards (8.8 grade!)

 

 

I hope you all understand that until this reaches a conclusion, I can't really speak my mind...........

 

 

The really ironic thing? It passed on most of the points I was worried about, brake lines, fuel lines, noise test etc etc.......

 

 

Lightweight Trev.

[enforcer]

Blimey. Sorry to hear about this Trev; sounds like you have a real battle on your hands now. Take comfort from the fact that Lightweights HAVE passed the SVA and I would urge you to consult RHSC straight away with this outcome. Having sold a great deal of these cars and continue to push their sales the company cannot tolerate a situation such as yours where VOSA appears to reject the current design as structually unsound.

 

I wish you lots of luck, but with the support of this forum, RHSC and the lightweights already through I am sure you will overcome this and the 'subjective opinion' of one examiner.

 

You'll get there.

[Guest john]

Hi Trev.

So sorry to hear it was so bad. Take heart that you were probably the first lightweight at Soton,and they are not familiar with these cars yet . There is at least a bit of a chance because he has told you he is consulting Swansea, so take a deep breath before turning this into a battle. Its not your build effort that was at fault, he is questioning the design, and he has doubts in his judgement otherwise he would not refer to Swansea .

If yours is a refusal, then so is every other lightweight, and RHSC won't let that go.

 

By the way, yours isn't the first horror story in the Thames Valley about Soton test centre, so we know how you feel.

 

Let me know what we can do to help, and if a beer will numb the pain a bit !

[will]

As other test centres have passed the lightweight would it be worth getting in contact with them to see if they can advise Soton on the lightweights structure???

[Guest ReadingTrev]

Hi Will,

 

Good idea about getting other VOSA centers onto Southampton to explain the Lightweight chassis idea.

 

I thought it might fail on certain things, but never thought of the chassis design as one!

 

I will do all I can to move things along, but I feel it is for RHSC to take the lead on this one - it could impact on their Lightweight sales dramatically

.

VOSA may yet surprise me by doing a U turn, I really hope they do, but only time will tell now.

 

Rest assured, as soon as I have any updates, I will post them here first.

 

 

Lightweight Trev.

[Guest salty_monk]

Bad luck mate... there's always these differences between centres, it's a pain!!

 

Dan

[Guest DGAV]

try to keep your chin up mate.lets hope RHSC Can help if others have passed yours will

edge trim on every slat on bonnet ,i had to do that on my 2B/4 at Derby SVA , I had called them before SVA .and was addvised to put the trim on just in case?

Duncan

[Jon Bradbury]

Hmmm. Southampton are tough - but fair IMHO. Don't lose your rag, just ask what you can do to pass. Those bolts with the three I markings are not exact equivalents to 8.8. I had the same problem, and I went to a bolt shop on the same estate, borrowed a spec book and showed it to the tester. He still failed it because the book stated that the 3 I marked bolts were "roughly equivalent" (I quote from this bolt book here) to 8.8. Not good enough, sadly - still, a really easy fix. The edge trim on the vents is a bit of a pain and many people get away with it, but not at Southampton.

 

The main concern is the chassis, of course. I would like to see details of what strength testing RHSC have performed on the design (and so would VOSA I suspect).

 

Good luck with it and remember - the best cars pass second time round!

[Guest zoomzoom]

Hi, very sorry to hear of this and wish you all the luck in the world on getting the correct result on this.

Anything i can do to help, just ask

 

Marcus

[Guest stu205]

Bloody Hell Trev!!!!!

 

like others have said I find it hard to believe that one SVA center has an issue with the structure of the car where others have passed them! although they have a monopoly a certain amount of consistance must be maintained, I would certainly make RHSC your next port of call, even to the top brass as like other posts hav said they wont want a car failing an SVA on the basic design or the car!

it looks a cracking car from your site and you should be pleased with the outcome and see this little Hitler a minor stumbling point on the way to what should be an easy retest.

Ive got some spare edging trim for the flamin bonnet vents so if you want it its yours I mean what ever next!!!!

[Guest zoomzoom]

Side indicators silicone not permanent??? Hells bells!!!!

Ifs thats not permanent what is i wonder? The nut/bolt covers we use could be considered not permanent by this guy as all it takes to remove them is a little push, the edge trim can be pulled off with little effort, i mean you could go on and on picking little things like this.

 

The more i think about this the more angry i get

 

One unhappy bear!!

[Guest elwe]

Getting the silicon out of screw heads etc. is usually a right pain whereas 16% of the nut covers I used have fallen off of their own accord. The examiner is loopy.

 

The bonnet vents are a cooling device and are sufiicantly small that they only need to be blunt. When I was going through SVA the examiner told the inspector who was checking him this. At first the inspector said the vents needed trim.

[Guest stevec]

Can someone confirm the exact number of lightwieghts that have actually passed SVA?

 

Steve.

[Guest ReadingTrev]

WEDNESDAY EVENING UPDATE

 

 

 

Southampton have been on the phone to me and VOSA head office at Swansea are backing up the tester in question. I need box section or a steel chassis running around the car to pass.

 

Once again I reiterated the fact that elsewhere they have passed - it fell on deaf ears sadly.

 

When I asked what my options were he said I need to "talk to factory for selling a car that isn't up to SVA standard", my only option with him was to apply for an appeal, but I got the impression this would be a complete waste of my time and money.

 

Later in the day I rang back to ask about having my case transferred across to a new SVA test centre for a "new test" This would not be possible the chap said, VOSA track the cars on their chassis numbers, so it would show up as having failed at Southampton, and the notes would be passed from one centre to another.

 

He did say that after 6 months the first test would expire, then I could apply anywhere for a "new test"

 

 

All this has left me feeling at an all time low.

 

I breaks my heart to say it, but my options are to leave it the garage for 6 months, then apply to a different centre, sell it to someone in the racing fraternity, or sell it on to someone who could "rebuild it" then give it a new chassis number and apply at their local centre for a "new test"

 

I have spoken to RHSC at length today about my issues, Technical Richard even phoned the tester to argue the point and offer evidence, but again, to no avail.

 

I am now stuck in a cul de sac.

 

I'm not sure how much more energy I can pour into this - where does it all end? I could appeal but that is no guaranteed passport to heaven.

 

 

Tomorrow I will get on to the new owner of RHSC to discuss this - the ramifications of my failure could be huge for them.

 

 

 

Trev.

[chris n]

what utter utter utter utter bollards! i've never heard such a load of horse poop in all my life!

does this muppet get a bonus for failures?

keep your chin up Trev, try and see what RHSC has to say, and if you want a hand with anything or a session of putting the world to rights over a beer, let me know.

 

Chris N