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I've decided to post this up now because I thinks it's useful information for people looking to buy a kit but who don't understand what they might be letting themselves in for. I'm surprised at the number of cars that come up for sale and are clearly not what they claim to be so I thinks it's worth running through a few details and people can then decide whether they want to risk buying a particular car. This isn't meant to be a definitive guide so if anyone has something relevant to add, let me know. Thinking of buying a kit car? If you’re starting to look at buying a kit car then it’s essential that no matter how nice a car looks or how much of a bargain it seems, it need to be correctly registered. Cars appear for sale, often on auction sites, that aren’t what they claim to be and there are a number of reasons for this. Some background on registering kit cars. Prior to 1998 and the introduction of the SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) Test, getting a kit car on the road was somewhat simpler than it is today. You could build a kit using new and / or donor parts and the basic roadworthiness was checked by a normal MOT. With your MOT certificate in hand, the car was taken to a DVLA office for an inspection. This would determine how the car would be registered: Registered retaining the donor vehicle registration - which used a points based system with points allocated for the major components of the donor vehicle that had been re-used plus a NEW body and a NEW chassis. Cars not complying with this system would automatically receive a Q plate. The V5 would be amended to show the make and manufacturer of the kit (but see later information for “specials”) and the appropriate body style change. Cars registered by this method would then be due an MOT after 12 months. However, there will be some older kits around that don’t have the V5 amended but still show something like Ford Escort or Ford Sierra on them. This may be due to an error on the part of the DVLA when they were inspected when the rules weren’t correctly implemented or they may be cars that were only MOT’d, but not presented for the DVLA inspection. This may have been due to the possibility of them getting a Q plate and the apparent stigma attached to it, with people simply just MOTing the car and driving it on the donor car identity. In either case, such cars are incorrectly registered because the description on the V5 doesn’t match the actual car. SVA TEST In 1998 the SVA test was introduced in an attempt to give cars a more thorough mechanical inspection prior to registration and to weed out dangerous, badly built cars. The test fee was £190 (£38 for a re-test) and on successful completion of the test, a MAC (Ministry Approval Certificate) was issued. The registration inspection that followed was similar to before but now with 3 possible outcomes: Age related plate – still using the point based system for major components from the donor vehicle plus a NEW body and NEW Chassis. The registration letter would be the same as the donor vehicle e.g. F prefix for a 1989 donor and again the V5 is amended to show the make and manufacturer of the kit and the body style changed to suit. The VIN number will be unique (not the donor VIN). The V5 may have notes added to Section 3 Special Notes to the effect that the vehicle is a kit built from parts, all of which may not be new. The “Date of first registration” should be the date the donor car was registered e.g 01/04/1989 and the “Date of first registration in the UK” will be the date the kit was registered and the V5 was issued. New registration – cars build from all new parts (with receipts to prove) with the exception that one major reconditioned component can be used (generally the rear axle). Registration would be the current one at the time of the inspection and the V5 is updated as above and the VIN is again unique. Q plate – applied to everything else not covered by the previous 2 cases e.g. cars build using second hand parts from a number of different vehicles. V5 updated as above and a unique VIN number. In all of these 3 cases the V5 should describe the actual car, it shouldn’t say FORD, JAGUAR or any other obvious trademarked manufacturers name. The VIN and engine numbers on the V5 should exactly match those on the actual car. New registration cars would be due an MOT after 3 years, the others might be after a year or possible 3 years depending on how the DVLA processed the paperwork. In any case, any car that has passed an SVA test would now require an MOT. IVA TEST In 2009 the IVA (Individual Vehicle Approval) test was introduced. It was only slightly changed from the SVA test but there was a big increase in the test fee – up to £450 and £90 for re-tests. Registration wise nothing much changed with the same 3 possible outcomes. However, the increased test fee seems to have prompted more people to find ways of avoiding the IVA test and circumventing the correct registration process. This might involve using the identity (V5) of a different vehicle and in particular, using a Dutton V5. Lots of Dutton kit cars made it onto the road prior to the SVA test, these were largely Ford based and poor examples can be bought for not much money (less than the IVA fee). The actual car is either scrapped or broken for parts and the Dutton VIN number, engine number etc is transferred to another kit. The identity on the V5 doesn’t correctly represent the actual car and it hasn’t had an SVA or IVA inspection and so is potentially not safe to use on the road. No inspection but still correctly registered! In addition to the pre-SVA, SVA and IVA cases explained above, there is another route for getting certain kits on the road and apply only to a RE-BODY. This refers to a NEW body fitted to an existing chassis and examples would include fibreglass bodies fitted to VW Beetle floorpans , other new bodies fitted to Triumph Herald or other separate chassis cars or sets of fibreglass panels fitted onto a monocoque car (Ferrari replica panel onto an Toyota MR2 or a Peugeot). If the floorpan, chassis or monocoque of the car is UNMODIFIED and the majority of the main mechanical components are re-used, these cars can essentially still be registered without and IVA or SVA test. They retain the registration, VIN and engine number of the base vehicle but are assigned with a new model and manufacturer on the V5. In addition to this, if the base vehicle is tax exempt (pre 1981), the tax exempt status still applies. In general, cars to be wary of would include the following: Anything where the VIN, Registration, engine number or body style shown on the V5 don’t match the actual car. You probably wouldn’t want this on your daily driver, so why would you want it on your kit? Cars with V5’s that say Ford, Jaguar, Triumph that clearly aren’t those vehicles. Possible exceptions to this could include makes or models that include the word SPECIAL in them. These should exclusively be kits registered pre SVA (1998) and the DVLA at that time decided to use the description to signify that the kit was based on say a Ford Cortina and so was described as “FORD SPECIAL” or FORD CORTINA SPECIAL” Anything that claims to be a Dutton that isn’t. A few of these are still around and the DVLA have been quite active in seeking these cars out and looking at them in some detail. For more information on identifying Dutton models, refer to the Dutton Owners Club http://www.duttonownersclub.co.uk/id.html Cars that claim to be MOT and /or Tax exempt which are using V5’s of much older vehicles (currently 40 years old), unless they are a re-body on a chassis or floorpan that can be proven to be the age it says it is. So what are the possible consequences of buying or owning a car that is incorrectly registered? The vehicle isn’t what it claims to be (an offence in itself) which could lead to it being seized by the DVLA and them potentially destroying it or requiring it to be IVA tested and re-registered. This might be triggered a roadside check, an insurance claim or even taking the car for an MOT. The burden of proof would fall on the owner to show that the vehicle is registered correctly, which might be very difficult for anyone who didn’t build the kit and doesn’t have the history and documentation to support this. A person selling an incorrectly registered car, even in good faith, would have misrepresented it if they advertised it as something that is wasn’t and a subsequent purchaser of the car might be entitled in law to a refund if the problem came to light. Summary. In summary, if you’re considering buying a kit car, check that the identity shown on the V5 matches the actual vehicle. If there are any discrepancies, then the safest course of action is to assume the worst and look in more detail to try and disprove this. The information shown above should allow the registration status of most kits to be fully understood but there will still be some exceptions. If doubt still exists, seek additional advice via the club or the forum.

To be one of the first to post on the new forum

Here are the 3 options. Just the deflectors, doors added and then with the roof. All in all, not too bad. Certainly, longer winded than I was expecting, mostly due to the deflectors. I haven’t kept exact track of the hours, but I reckon at least 60 over the last few weeks so not a job I’d have managed easily if I’d been working and probably more like a winter project.

To Dean ( Membership Secretary) and Danielle (Events Secretary) who got married today. Wishing them all the best for a happy life together. Richy and Jackie.

Our usual venue The Malt Shovel is now open so we can try having our meeting next Wednesday 26th May from 7PM. I'm at the venue now checking out the format and am drinking inside. Basically we can meet inside which is set out for tables of 4 to 6 people up to around 40 people. You must wear a mask when you enter and sign in with Track and Track app or give your details at the front desk. Once seated, masks can come off while you remain seated. It's table service only (we ordered drinks at the desk then sat down). After this you probably need to mask up and attract the barman's attention and he come to take your order then bring it to the table. If the weather is decent, we can meet outside and order from there somehow. That's about it, we can give it a go and see how it works.

Andi is a first aider, generally when people see him, they walk injuries off.

Having sorted out the exhaust finishers, I thought I'd have a go at my bonnet scoop. I've never been that happy with the black edge trim I used around the holes so I removed it and stripped off the vinyl wrap which got scuffed when I removed the bonnet at the MOT and the wind blew it over. Then I gave the fibreglass a quick sand over and filled a few small areas. Finally I re-wrapped it with gloss black vinyl and I made a new finisher for the holes from 1mm aluminium and attached it with stainless button head screws.

She started up tonight, what a feeling

Can I hide a few presents in the garage? said Swmbo.

Good morning Northwest kit car owners. Just to confirm I can’t change what has happened in the past but we can change the fortunes of the Northwest group in the future. As the Area Secretary, I am more than happy to put our cars in a position to attend local shows, I am more than happy to organise monthly meetings and run out, over the region but I also need your support to come together. The first test of our intent is to resolve to restart our group as from January 1st 2022 with this in mind I would like to propose due to cost of the bridge and travelling, that we set up 2 location 1 in Liverpool and 1 on the Wirral and each month alternate them with that proposition in mind I will await your feedback. Now is the time to act. Steve P

Then mastering 10 years of practice put into 2 days I went for the body work

Finished car.

EOSB 2020 will take place on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th September at the Market Harborough Showground, Gallow Field Road, Market Harborough. Leics LE16 7QB and the planning is already underway. Early bookings will make the Event team’s life easier, as the sooner we get an idea of the numbers planning to attend, the more things can be organised. Camping will be available on both the Friday afternoon / evening and Saturday night and there will be entertainment planned for the evenings. Already booked in is the Tipsy Mare Mobile Bar and Saturday night will see the welcomed return of the fantastic live band Checkered Kicks The event will be open to both members and non-members. People who attended this year will already know what to expect but for those that haven't been before, there will be plenty to keep both yourselves and any children occupied. Here are some pictures from the 2019 Event. Click the Follow button near the top right of the page to get automatic notification of the latest updates as we add them. Tickets are on sale in the store HERE To give a bit of incentive for people to book early, you will be entered into a prize draw as follows: Adult weekend or day bookings made in 2019 get 5 ticket entries into the draw, January and February 2020 bookings get 4 entries, March and April 2020 bookings get 3 entries, May 2020 bookings get 2 entries, June 2020 bookings get 1 entry. Bookings after 30th June won’t go into the prize draw so the earlier you book, the better your chance of winning. The prize will be a Halfords voucher for £30 for the winner and £10 for the runner up.

I would like to thank everyone who attended the EOSB this weekend. It was a strange one on the run up and we were uncertain what would happen. Despite the challenging times the committee and other members really worked hard and helped this be a success. I would like to thank the band and stalls, and everyone who helped set up and take things down. We had a smashing time and we look forward to this event next year. Keep safe x

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment,. The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days." The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations." The older lady said that she was right our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day. The older lady went on toexplain: Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day. Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then. We walked up stairs because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the "green thing" in our day. Back then we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts. Wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day. Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the "green thing" back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blade in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the "green thing" back then. Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing." We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint. But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the "green thing" back then? Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart ass young person. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off... Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much. Just saying!

Just bought this. Apparently a Dutton according to the log book. Needs a bit of work though Andi

Photos from the weekend https://photos.app.goo.gl/jS4rdXC1SguZ5XWf9

Roll up, roll up for the new and exciting adventure that is the RhoCar treasure hunt! What’s it all about? You will get sent a list of 90+ landmarks dotted round the country (between 1 and 3 per. county). Starting in March and running until the end of October, you need to find as many of the landmarks as you can and take a picture of it and your kit (or tin top if you’re a non-kit owner) in view. Landmarks are worth a differing amount of points depending on how difficult they are to find or get to. In November, you send all the pictures (preferably in a link to Dropbox/Google photos etc) to us, we tot up the scores and a winner is announced. An example landmark: County / Region Landmark Location Points 44 Worcestershire Earl Beauchamp's Fountain Cowleigh 20 Why? To get you out in your kits. The landmarks are designed to be in scenic parts of the country (not motorway services etc) which are worth a drive anyway. Go on a long weekend, plan a route via. a few landmarks on the list and you’ll have a great time. What’s it cost? Free to members, £10 to non-members (entry is per car). Where do I sign up? Follow this link to purchase your entry through our club store - Rules? 1. Please do not give the list to other people – the club relies on these sort of events to keep running and it’s not an excessive amount of money for non-members to pay. 2. This is a non-competitve, fun event on public roads, so all normal laws of speeding, insurance, roadworthiness etc, etc apply – the club is not be responsible for any accidents/incidents/divorces caused by your involvement (legal waffle out the way). 3. Use of sat-navs is fine. 4. Event starts on March 1st and ends on October 31st. Lists will be emailed to entrants in late February. 5. …er, I think that’s it! Acknowledgement: I have shamelessly stolen this idea from Dave Hancock who runs the Round Britain Rally for bikers. I have done his event a couple of times on my bike and it’s really good fun, hence why I want to do it in my kit as well. I’d like to thank Dave for letting us use last year’s landmark list (which he has spent many, many hours compiling) and I urge you to visit his website and consider joining in the full event (if you’re a biker). Any questions, please ask away – hopefully, we can have a great driving season getting lost looking for little bits of stone!

Started off this year and battery seemed a bit weak, started car okay but not spinning as fast as i remember. Anyhow was okay for stoneleigh but decided to have look, found most cells were low so topped up and charged and it perked up a bit.. Did curborough lots of stop starts and santa pod, but on getting home from club meet Wednesday it wouldnt start and barely turned over, luckily parked in front of garage so pushed in. I did by a cheap battery tester, one that does the CCA and amp hour, which showed the old battery was low. I didnt have a good battery to try so didnt completely trust the tester. I was bit reluctant to bin the old battery it came with the donor car in 2004 dated 2003 so has done a good 16 years.The battery is a Ford square post 085, which seem to be getting rare. One company I found selling them is Tayna batteries, they sell direct and on ebay. On ebay they sell a powerline version guaranteed for 4years at £44, and it had a discount code worth £8.80 so a bargain £35 and free next day delivery. Fitted it today works great and the battery tester showed 359CCA and its a 360CCA battery, so tester looks good as well. Cant vouch for longevity yet but price and delivery will be hard to beat if your looking for an old school Ford battery.

Statistically your very unlikely to break you car on a rolling road but just in case you do, can you make sure you video it?

Great day at Curborough even though i didn't have my car ready. Link to some pictures of the day. Its all raw and unedited! https://drive.google.com/open?id=1J9Bamuyr1NSpQvrshkTKf1SWOb4hGvVi Definitely got my mojo back to get mine finished now!

Very happy, car passed second time round. Had a right faff on getting speedo to register correctly, it was the gap between sensor and bolt. luckily the examiner had allocated plenty of time for this part as we knew it would be difficult and he has the gear to safely test. Result! Very happy

For the main side panel, we started at the bottom, attaching the PVC skirt to the lower panel with the pegging toggles between the 2 parts. Two identical window panels were then marked out and had the adhesive tape put around the edges so we could fold the double thickness edges. The window panels were then laid out on the materials so we could mark out the side panels. We keep checking, measuring and overlaying the panels to make sure they’re the right size before cutting to save material wastage. The biggest confusion as adding a allowance for the folded over edges. For a 1.5cm folded edge we mark 2 lines 3cm apart, cut along one and fold the cut edge to the second line. This means our finished size is actually a line in between the 2 marked lines. The cut out side panels and a centre strip were sewn to the 2 windows. The lower and upper panels still need to be added, together with the zip and these will be in the next installment.

FINALLY, we've done some proper tuning on the turbo pinto! There is more to come, but this isn't a bad start

Knowing real V8 class when they saw it, they made a rapid exit. https://youtu.be/pPEoUOcnl1k

Here’s a link to the archived copy of Colin Usher’s website https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/en/archive/20141103114552/http://www.colinusher.info/Robin Hood/index.html

A big warm welcome to Apgodden (Tony) who has taken on the role as area secretary for Wiltshire Hampshire and Dorset. Thanks Andi

Yes Dan. You've had to wait at every petrol station in Wales for me and thrashed.

Firstly thanks to Richy for advice and photos. Left Salisbury At 07:00 yesterday morning and drove 2 hours to my brothers workshop in Honiton. It was a little chilly. Ripped the front wheel arch and suspension off. Installed the upgrade kit and could not get my 17” wheels on as the wheel arch brackets were sitting too low. With long bars and bits of wood managed to manipulate the arch tubes to the correct position. Happy days. Installed the new orange arches with the adhesive supplied. I did not want bolts on the top of the arch. So adhesive was used to get the position and then used fibreglass under the arch to secure the arch against the arch support tube. very pleased with it and over the winter my oxford blue 2b will be orange.

Sold to the man with the cold garage.

Finish 2017's winter mods

The main roof panels were taken down and we used them as templates to mark out the new ones. The material we used was 3mm sign board which is a light, solid material that comes with a clear protective film on one side (the side that sign makers normally laser print on) and it can be cut with a sharp knife and also drilled. Being plastic, it’s impervious to water so if it does get condensation on the back, it won’t fall to bits like hardboard would. As well as the horizontal panels, we also replaced the vertical ones with the roof window openings. We had to remove this panel one side to re-seal the leaky window and when we did, we had to remove that plastic angle moldind we’d used on the corners. Unfortunately, the double-sided tape we used was a bit aggressive and it pulled the decorative trim of the caravan trim panels to the parts were scrap anyway. The new ones were easy to cut out as we had a template and the clear window panels on them were unscrewed and swapped over.The new panels were a simple swap and in place of the 15x15x1 plastic angle on the external corners, we used 15x3x1 with the log leg horizontal and the short leg vertical. The mean that the trim would easily conform to the curved part of the ceiling without needed to be heated up and formed. Once again the corner moldings were held in place with double sided tape – but a slightly weaker version. This is the finished ceiling, nice and bright and lighter and more durable than the hardboard.

Winter mod. Wash it