thespannerman

Hi Nigel, Joined the club last week but only showed up one member in the area. Met Ian & Carole and got a couple of contacts from them. Read your profile and if anyone can get a light weight on the road sounds like you have the know how. Work partime now and run round after the kids. Use to work in the bike trade on the spanners for ten years. Worked for a time at Rusty's in Scunny when Clive owned it (before it changed hands, went bust, got flatened). Work on one bit of the car at a time till your list of jobs are all ticked off, and it ends up being a car. The Spanner Man

Help needed, Just got car registered with a full rebuild on engine, so don't want to go anywhere near a rolling road yet (still running in at nearly 300 miles). 2 litre pinto (0.5 rebore) efi head (standard, recut seats) standard cam shaft (new) robin hood 4 into 1 and silencer foam airfilter 6 degrees advance recon bosch inductive dizzy on donor engine loom mixture screw 2.5 turns 2 turns at sva gave 0.7 co 184 ppm Carb dates as an early 70's cortina item (have to check jet sizes). Engine runs well but doesn't clear initial flat spot till 3000 rpm, then another big hole when second butterfly opens. Still got original cold start gubbins on vac advance connections (needs binning) which doesn't let engine pull till temp needle lifts. Coolant overflow bottle working well, stat control leccy fan working well in traffic. Need some initial mixture settings and jet sizes to get me going before rolling road setup. Thanks The Spanner Man

Stuck some thin white foam over louvres with duck tape. The testers first instruction was to remove the bonnet, didn't even look at it. Pulled the foam off before I left the sva station (a frosty start had turned to a lovely sunny day with a MAC in my hand).

Fitting a motorcycle number plate to the rear of my car. Officially they are too small, the correct square size looks like a barn door for a tractor. Has anyone been stopped for a motorcycle plate ie. 7 * 9 inches?

To Phil, Good luck with the SVA on Tuesday. Had my 3a pass 1st time at Beverley on 02/03/09, got my number plates yesterday. Weathers good for weekend. The Spanner Man

Got my plates on Thursday too. Lincoln DVLA had me wait 20mins before they said i had got age related. Well done!! The Spanner Man

9:15 on Thursday, hope to meet up. Driving red/stainless 3a - Carbon cycle wings/stone gaurds - no windscreen - silver weller racing steel wheels. Keeping my eye on weather forcast, getting better as week goes on. Raining at 6:00 gone by 9:00 so hoping to miss it, Taking tarp and duck tape just in case!! The Spanner Man

Hi to everyone, Just passed SVA on series 3a at the first attempt, Beverley 02/03/09. Driving to lincoln for DVLA inspsction on Thursday so keeping my fingers crossed to get some plates on way home. Love to hear from any RHOCAR members in the Grimsby/Lincs area. The Spanner Man

Passed SVA Monday (3a monocoque with adjustable tie bars). 0.5 degree camber 3.0 degree castor 2mm toe in (on wheel rims) Steering stiff to begin with (all new ball joints and steering rack). Freed up nicely after about 30 miles, tester didn't comment on steering. Stuck like **** to a blanket on way home, gonna get it set proffesionally when registered. Hope this helps The Spanner Man

My 3a passed first time at beverley on Monday. As for self centreing I set the castor to three degrees with home made gauge and plumb line (monocoque chassis with adjustable tie bars). Original Ron Champion book gives 5.30 degrees of castor. Hope this helps The Spanner Man

As long as they test your car u have nothing to worry about, cos u have 6 months to pass retest under sva rules. Mine passed SVA with a rivetted on vin number. didn't realise untill the evening before test that punches bounce off a stainless monocoque!!

Used one of them halfords kidney shape blind spot mirrors (£14.99). Sticks to scuttle with m3 disc. Complete Kitcar used one on riot build. TUV approval markings with convex plastic lens, tester said it was millimetre perfect for height size and very pleased with field of view.

Passed SVA on Monday (Beverley). Took full tool kit, foam sheet, tape, cable ties, coolant. Only needed 2 cable ties to secure hand brake adjusters (plus pliers to fix). At least it put some weight in car for brake test and peace of mind for first drive with fully rebuilt engine. Didn't take eye off temp gage all the way there.

Just passed SVA on Monday at 1st attempt (Beverley). Series 3a- 519 front and rear- 1038 combined. These are the weights in the original Richard Stewart SVA booklet which I included a copy of in my SVA application. Tester ran rear brake test 4 times to let the drums warm up till it just past, said I should have left a spare wheel in the boot (left it at home thinking it would pass easier with less weight -WRONG). Ran a single brake pipe to rear with mini brake limiter in line (blank of spare connector with bleed nipple). No servo fitted. Tester said front to rear bias was spot on.

Past my SVA on Monday (3a) at the first attempt. Lovely sunny day, took the long way home. DVLA inspection next week.