Iva Derby

[Shaft]

Aye, best of luck etc from me as well Rich. What time are you leaving tomorrow then mate? Better to sit in their carpark with a brew for an 1/2 hour by being early than risk catastrophe again.

[richyb66]

Right, I’ll get straight to the point following my IVA this morning at Derby. I got there bright and early at 7-15 for an 8-00 start and no delays due to fuel leaks this time. However it

 

Failed.

 

I didn’t have high expectations of a pass so I suppose I didn’t come away disappointed. The tester was Mick, who was training Keith (didn’t realise that the Stones were finding gigs that hard to come by!) Keith will actually be the tester at Kidderminster if they ever actually open for business so as he was training, I knew I would be in for a kicking. The testers were both pretty fair and had some useful comments to make.

 

Obviously some of the fail points are (I think) open to a degree of interpretation so rather than offer my opinion, I’ll list them here and you can make your own mind up.

 

1. OSF brake flexi hose just catching lower wishbone of full right lock (easy fix, rotate hose slightly).

 

2. Edge trim to be added to panel behind the seats (rad not big enough). In the picture below I need to add edge trim to the forward edge of the horizontal vinyl covered panel in the area between the inboard harness mounts. (easy fix)

 

 

3. Steering wheel centre – sharp edges apparently on the countersunk screws that hole the wheel on. (Fairly easy fix – just need to make a centre pad for my nice Momo wheel).

 

 

4. Sharp edges on the following: Upper seatbelt mounts, 2 corners of the Boot panel at the side of the car and underside of the headlamp mounts (easy fix with some edge trim). The tester did siggest making some stitched pouches to cover the seatbelt mounts and attach then with Velcro!! Is that classed as a permanent fix?

 

5. Sharp edges on Spare wheel – the edges of the tread blocks themselves. (Fixed with a complete cover over the tyre, although the centre of the spare wheel currently houses my numberplate and high stop lamp) see below.

 

 

6. Sharp edges on screen supports arount ‘7’ logo. This was in the wide cut out part at the 9 o’clock position on the logo. (Fairly easy fix – remove screen supports and fettle all edges around the laser cut profile)

 

 

7. Front direction indicators – too far inboard. My extension wasn’t big enough (none of the girls ever complained!) Basically either the tester or I can’t measure properly. I was pretty sure I’d got them ok but apparently they need to be another 50mm wide each side. See bottom photo.

 

8. Rear fog lamp switch – wrong icon on switch. My switch had the front icon not the rear one. (Fix by replacing switch with one with the correct icon or remove icon and attach permanent label or (most likely) get handy with the white paint and small brush.

 

 

 

 

 

9. Rear fog lamp not vertical enough – (fix by cutting down the plastic wedge behind the lamp)

 

 

10. Front wipers – the slow speed sweeps too slow (needs to be 45 cycles / min and it was about 38 and the fast speed should be at least 15 cycles more than the slow speed, mine was around 45 cycles) (Not sure of the fix for this one yet). The motor is a Mini one which is brand new and the linkage, although old, isn’t kinked and is well greased. Firstly I’ll try it with no arms or blades to see what the speed is like and I’ll take it from there. If anyone knows if you can gear the motor up a bit I’d like to hear about it.

 

So about 10 fail points (though some cover several areas). Nothing too tricky other than the wiper motor and the (frankly laughable) spare wheel cover (anyone I reverse over will no doubt be eternally grateful).

 

The test started at 8-15 and was done around 11-30 so three and a quarter hours then about another 30 minutes for the paperwork at the end, although it was no doubt slower than normal due to the training element involved which shows that they could probably have done 90% of the test on my first visit despite my being 40 minutes late or at the very least they could have maybe picked up on some of the more minor points by having a 15 minute walk round the car. Ah well, live and learn.

 

On the whole the tester said it was a good build as he’s seen a few horrors and as soon as he sees Robin Hood booked in for a test, he fears the worst. My biggest worries generally passed easily – mirrors, Exhaust noise (93.7dB), screen marking (which I hardly recall him checking). Due to time constraints I didn’t do any fettling on the day other that adjusting the speedo calibration while it was on the rollers as it was under-reading – a 3 minutes job with a small screwdriver.

 

No re-test planned yet. It will need to be a Friday afternoon to avoid more costly unpaid time off work (2 IVA test fees and on unpaid day off so far plus a re-test fee). Very nearly there but not quite there yet.

 

[Thrashed]

Nice result really..

 

Easy fixes and no major issue. Hope mine is this good!!

 

Any tips for me?

[MarkBzero]

Not a bad result nothing major, possibly over egged because of the training element.....

Best of luck for the retest.

[richyb66]

Nice result really..

 

Easy fixes and no major issue. Hope mine is this good!!

 

Any tips for me?

All easy except the wiper speed that I don't have a solution for currently.

 

Tips? Just check that you're OK on anything that I failed on but with no screen, wipers or spare wheel you've got a bit less to worry about. I got no comments for cable clipping, brake pipes or any general build issues just loads of sharp edges so maybe they've got a thing about sharp edges in Derby. Maybe I need to drop in one evening after work for a chat - drop me a pm.

[Joel]

Well done Rich, nice result. Sounds like they easily could have squeezed a full test in when you were "late" though.

 

Don't mean to add to your frustration but my Dad's wedding car passed with a Mini wiper motor just a few months ago. I don't recall them even checking the speed!

 

I have a Mountey steering wheel pad if it's of any use?

[fry61]

Richard, is rear track wider than front? If so that's why indicators failed -- the cars footprint/retangle is max width x max length. to save hanging any more weight/leverage on 'glass nose is my solution a way foward?

 

 

The ally brackets are fixed to the front lower wishbone mount with a longer bolt.

You very smart "7" screen supports would be earier to cover up with a 0.7mm triangle of stainless smaller than outer edge of existing;this projection will only need to be blunted edge. HTH

[Guest mower man]

Well I suppose it wasn't to bad ,but what utter bullcrap about tyre tread sharp edges !!! do you need covers for the other 4 ? .Yes we need standards but that is ridiculas ---mowerman

[richyb66]

You very smart "7" screen supports would be earier to cover up with a 0.7mm triangle of stainless smaller than outer edge of existing;this projection will only need to be blunted edge. HTH

 

 

Good thought - I could cover the logo with a thin plate for the test and then remove it later.

 

I also had a read up on the wipers and it seems that it's not quite how I understand it -

 

the wipers need to be 2 speed.

 

one speed needs to be at least 45 cycles / minute.

 

Additional speeds need to be between 10 and 55 cycles / minute.

 

The difference between the highest and the lower frequency needs to be at least 15 cycles / minute.

 

So with 38 and 45 cycles / minute, my slow speed is too fast and my fast speed is only just fast enough (not sure this makes things easier or not).

 

I also forgot another fail point - no jack and wheelbrace in the car. there needs to me a means of checking the service brake linings from outside or underneath the car. Front pads are easy to see through the wheels but the rear drums mean that the shoes aren't visible so the presence of a jack and wheelbrace means the wheel could be removed and the drum taken off to check the shoes.

 

I did remember after the test though that the Sierra backplate has a window in it to allow inspection of the shoes. For the re-test I'll drop a jack and brace in the car but I'll point out that there's an inspection window so the tester is aware of it.

[Guest big kev]

This really get my back up!!!!

 

If you managed to get those sharps that were mentionto hurt some one u'd have to be going some in which case scratching someone would be the least of your worries. Take the steering wheel for instant to get those bolt heads to hurt you means an impact has forced/pushed the wheel into your face and let's face it if that happens your legs would be mashed and you'd be lucky to survive, and as for the tread on the spare jobs and worth comes to mind