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K-Series Gbs Zero


brumster

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Docs posted. I'll do the usual and summarise details for those going through the process....

 

The process with DVLA is covered by two forms - the main one is the V55/5 for me, although builders of brand new kits would I assume use a V55/4, as per guidance here. By brand new, I'm referring to a kit car made entirely of new parts. For me, while my "kit car" is new in the sense it's built in 2017, it's treated more like a rebuilt or radicaly altered vehicle as far as the DVLA are concerned. You have to request the V55/4 form because it's a carbon-copy style backed form.

 

The other form is a V627/1 built-up vehicle inspection report, which just details where I've used bits from the donor car versus what was brand new. In my case, the only new component is the body/chassis from GBS. I've re-used the donor car steering column, suspension uprights, engine, gearbox and diff.

 

Most of the form filling is straightforward if you can read and follow instructions. There is a guidance sheet on the V55/4 which walks you through it step by step. Most of the details come from the IVA form or else details off the car itself (chassis number, previous registration, etc).

 

I rang up DVLA and checked a few points that were unclear.

 

Things to send along with the forms are :

- road tax (£245 for me) + registration fee (£55) as cheque

- a photocopy of your driving license

- the IVA pass form (original, not a copy)

- the original V5C registration document of the donor car

- photographs of the vehicle, including build-up photos (also provided on CD in the package as I have tonnes of the things)

- original receipts for any parts provided new

- cover letter

- return postage (paid for), in this case I put a signed-for envelope with the postage paid, in the envelope, with return address on it ready to go

 

On the tax class, since my engine is old, they advised me to put PLG despite guidance of kit cars registered post-April-2017. I guess this makes sense because I have no emmissions data for my car as a modern vehicle, just a pass certificate from the IVA. I guess I could put the details of the donor car engine but strictly speaking, my donor car is a Robin Hood Exmo, which carries across the class of PLG. Technically there was probably a chance to get my car registered under an emmissions-based class if I could somehow prove all of this, but the difference in price would probably be negligible. PLG tax is a fixed fee of £245.

 

For receipts, the main one to cover for me was the chassis, since this is the only major component that has been replaced. However I threw in all of them, from every single nut, bolt, brake line, piece of wiring, handbrake cable kit, renewed brake caliper, bearing, bush, dashboard gauges, button, switch, exhaust pipe, silencer, damper, spring, carpet, wing mirror, windscreen, coolant hose and starter motor :)

 

Cover-note wise I just clarified the supply of receipts, documented how I'd provided evidence of the previous donor chassis in digital form (videos of it running, video of it stripped, pictures/receipts of it's disposal) and reminded them I wanted it all back via the envelope included.

 

To clarify the MOT certificate situation, I rang them up and checked. I explained fully my situation, did not leave details out or lie whatsoever - clarified that I had a kit I'd completed from a donor car, constructed and finished in 2017, just IVA'd, ready to tax... asked if I needed an MOT... the chap discussed with his supervisor/technical department, came back to me that no, it wasn't needed since the car had been through an IVA. I *could* get one if I wanted, it wouldn't hurt, but they didn't need one. This would make sense to me given the stringent checks of the IVA, but the website guidance is a little vague, suggesting you either need to provide an MOT cert for cars over 3 years old (here you can argue once again what is meant by "new"), or a declaration of newness. This doesn't seem to be the case.

 

So... there we go... now I sits and waits :)

Edited by brumster
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  • 2 weeks later...

https://youtu.be/L7RRLC5slLo?t=33s

 

Didn't get the old registration, interestingly... but that's it, we're done! Time to get some plates made up and tell the insurance company...

 

Typically it came through today while I've got the steering rack in pieces for the quick-rack upgrade which doesn't fit :D guess I'm putting it back in unchanged for now, in time for the weekend!

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Cheers all - this forum and club has always been a great, supportive source of inspiration and your input over the last 4 years (oh my gawd, has it really been that long) has been really helpful.

 

I started off with the intention of a short project - don't we all - but other opportunities arose that I had to take advantage of. The good news is that that 'venture' has been worthwhile, and I can now return to the itch that I have not scratched for 4 years... back to stage rallying... so no sooner is one car finished than it's time to get the other car out and get it back ready for action!

 

The Zero has a few enhancements lined up which I will do in a separate thread when I decide to do them - a 6-speed Caterham box (probably will do that fairly soon actually, since I could do with selling the BGH box that's in the car to get some funds back), a plate diff, a nice flywheel, a roof and I might treat it to some new seats (unsure on that one as yet).... but, as you say, time to use it for a little bit!

 

First drive report to follow... maybe I'll do a Duck-style youtube vlog :D

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Hold on one cotton-picking minute!! You're telling me that it took you 10 days from sending your paperwork to getting a V5!? :-o

 

It took me 5 (five) weeks to get mine! 5 weeks! 5 weeks of watching for the postman, stroking my car as it sat in the garage, looking longingly at the open road....

 

But I'm not bitter... congratu-fecking-lations...

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Hold on one cotton-picking minute!! You're telling me that it took you 10 days from sending your paperwork to getting a V5!? :-o

 

It took me 5 (five) weeks to get mine! 5 weeks! 5 weeks of watching for the postman, stroking my car as it sat in the garage, looking longingly at the open road....

 

But I'm not bitter... congratu-fecking-lations...

<laughs>

 

It was the £20 note I slipped in that probably did it....

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  • 3 weeks later...

Haven't had a chance to really do any serious driving yet, two short journeys under the car's belt. First impression is that it rides just wonderfully - one of my main reasons for doing this whole process over the old Exmo was to get something that drove nice, and thankfully it seems it is a complete success in that regard. Geometry is not properly set up yet but the car rides nice and supple - glad I went with my own gut in terms of the springs and dampers.

 

One thing I am going to move on fairly soon though is the gearbox, just because this engine really needs the Caterham box in it. By general Robin Hood standards it's perfectly quick on the 5-speed BGH box but given the rev range and character of the car and engine, it really needs much shorter gearing, so I'm going to do the gearbox swap sooner rather than later. Running some figures through a spreadsheet I made up for previous gearbox calculations on another car, I've come up with the following as an indicator of just what a difference it will make....

 

ixuC1VRdtOkmhnzvjggxn6exRP_RllmuoKjR5_ik

Dashed black line is an example of a standard 5 speed on the common 3.6 final drive, and you can see how bad this setup is, with a very short first and a largely pointless 5th, with a theoretical gearing well into the 160's :D

The dashed red line is an example of my BGH gearset that's in my current box, but on a 3.6 final drive (mainly for sales purposes when I come to get rid of it!)

So the solid black line is my current setup in the car - a BGH long 1st V6 box with the short 5th, on my 3.9 final drive. A pretty good result for a 5 speed but it mirrors exactly what I found in the couple of drives out - you run it through the first 3 gears and the rev drops between the gears don't make the most of it, and by the time you're snicking into 4th you're already well into illegal speeds.

So the solid red line is what it will become... you can see there's a nice tall first gear well into the 40's, then the rev drops between gears are around 1000rpm on average (1st->2nd more like 1800). By the time my previous box is hooking 5th at a theoretical 135mph, the new box will be flat in 6th... and 4->5th in the new box will be happening before the old box has even made it into 3rd.

 

I think it will really change the character of the car for the better (plus I can get some decent cash back for the current BGH 5-speed as it's done less than 500 miles since I built it!)...

Edited by brumster
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