build K-Series Gbs Zero

[Bob Tucker]

When I had my SVA done they insisted on the fuel tank being full, presumably to check for leaks?

. Is IVA the same?

[brumster]

Yes, it needs to be full, but it's actually for weight calculations I believe...

 

edit: Rich beat me to it

Edited November 16, 2017 by brumster

[magh]

Roll of electrical/loom tape and p clips just incase maybe

[nelmo]

Yes, it needs to be full, but it's actually for weight calculations I believe...

 

edit: Rich beat me to it

No mention of that at my test (in August) and they couldn't go by my gauge which changes depending on the phase of the moon, I think :-)

 

I needed to use the hex head to remove the diff panel and adjust the handbrake.

 

Also had to use a couple of spanners to release the nut on the accelerator pedal which, 2 miles from the test centre, in 32 degC and after a 2 hour journey through the London rush hour, had expanded and stuck at half-throttle!

 

They weren't interested in any paperwork or photos but then I do seem to have found the laziest test centre ever - highly recommended! :-)

[marlin]

A wad of large unmarked money notes (quid) may go a long way?

[richyb66]

Tyre foam and a foot pump if you don't carry a spare.

[brumster]

Tyre foam and a foot pump if you don't carry a spare.

 

Since your inspection, I have invested in a can of the tyre foam to go behind the seat so all sorted! Was a point well raised!

[fry61]

Tyre foam may help your piece of mind but its useless when push comes to shove --- two cans used on one trailer tent tyre & it was still flat.

[richyb66]

Useless or not it's a potential fail if you don't have foam or a spare wheel.

[nelmo]

Useless or not it's a potential fail if you don't have foam or a spare wheel.

Really? Jesus, I had neither - my testers (and there were 2 because I failed once and had a retest) were useless... :-)

[brumster]

Back from the test centre with the (obligatory ?) failure sheet, but nothing too bad. Pretty long list, actually, but most of them items on it are 2 minute jobs.

 

Minor Tweaking You Could Have Done on the Day Category

Loads of little things that were marked as "likely to foul", just cable tie this cable or that pipe, separate two brake pipes a little further apart as they were touching, a locknut loose on the alternator adjuster, some edge trim on hidden edges along the side of the interior (the return edges of the sill trims, basically), stuff like that. Stuff of no consequence really. A water coolant pipe that's loose in open space under the inlet manifold, not actually contacting anything, but has the "potential" to so needs some sort of fixing.

 

Slightly Annoying Category

Fog light angled down... so by purposely avoiding angling the fog light upwards with my 3D printed spacers, I'd erred on the side of caution and pointed them slightly down from the vertical. Fail - they need to be vertical. So just need to adjust the spacer design and re-print, no big deal.

 

The front nosecone floorline also failed for pedestrian contact and needs edge trim on it. This bemuses me a little, it's not something I've heard of as a common problem on the Zero, and the lower line of the nosecone is quite sharp-edged. But, meh, fine, edge trim it is.

 

Also the battery cable down to the starter has a run from the body to the start longer than 300mm, during which there is no fixing, and the rules require fixing every 300mm. I'd kind of assumed that it being the loose run between moving engine and body was not a bad thing; I don't really like short runs of cables between moving parts as it might introduce fatigue, but hey ho. Rules is rules.

 

The emmissions failed first time too, which annoys me since I'd purposely paid Steve Walford to get the emmissions down, but it was running way too rich. Thankfully we had some spare time so I cracked out the laptop and tweaked it down to acceptable limits, did a 2nd run, and it passed on all but the hydrocarbons... but we then ran out of time. So I need to do a little more work on the high speed idle test but it was moving in the right direction so I'm not too worried about this.

 

Duuuuuh <slaps head> Category

The most annoying one was the speedo test failed because... there was no reading! On inspection, it seems at some point driving it around the magnet on the propshaft has popped off. Nothing could be done about this on the day, so I'll just fix a new one and it's retest, but I know it works because, well, it did . Annoying, but since I'm going back anyway for all of the above it's no big deal.

 

Overall Josh is a nice chap, very thorough (chatting to another member of the public outside he's building up a reputation of being very picky over other test centres... make of that what you will). I've got no issues with the test, maybe things like the fog light were a smidgen "picky". If it was the only thing it was failing on I'd maybe have gotten into a discussion but when it's such a minor fix and you know you're going back for a re-test anyway, it's not worth arguing over. Quick re-print, 15 minutes of work and it's sorted.

 

So should be all fixed this weekend and then book a re-test.

[brumster]

Oh, and wet weight but without driver... 560Kg.... PMSL X-D. Oh lord what have I created!

[brumster]

Yeah, it's not all that bad. I fully went there with the mindset of expecting a fail. What can you say; *bleep* happens!

[theduck]

Frustrating list, but should all be fairly simple fixes.

[richyb66]

Like you say most of those could have been fixed on the day but if you need a retest for the emissions its a moot point. Clipping distances and likely to foul is largely a matter of opinion and when we looked at the car I think we covered all the obvious issues so any others probably fall in to the 'better safe than sorry' category.

 

This is still probably one of the best built cars I've seen with great attention to detail and a lot of thought gone in to it. The retest will be a formality.

 

(At least you didn't fail on sharp edges on your spare wheel or insufficient difference between slow and fast wiper speeds.)