[robinj66]

My Pilgrim was tested at Gillingham (Sittingbourne) and as previously mentioned in another thread, the guys there are all extremely helpful and seem to ry and pass the vehicle if they can.
My fail sheet showed the following items :-

loose wiring in the n/s footwell - it seems that new guidance for the testers is that wires, taped or not, need to be fixed to the chassis (even under carpet). The rationale seems to be that loose wires could chaff and eventually cause a fire. Not sure I entirely agree but i was allowed to rectify this at the time.

Loose wiring in the boot - again I had put the wires into conduits but they themslves needed to be secured to the car. Rectified at site (duck tape)

Rear brake pipes not protected in location - was rather surprised at this. Related to the metal pipes as they ran along the (Granada) suspension arms. I hadn't touched them and assumed the metal clips holding them were Ford's original fittings. SVA man said danger of corrosion as these were replacement copper pipes and not steel as Ford fitted - therefore a danger of electrolytic corrosion. I was allowed to rectify at site with duck tape although I have now used split rubber hosing.

I had aproblem with emmissions (which had only been sorted out two days before) caused by a stuck idle screw. Able to apply enough pressure to the throttle linkage (and to adjust a mixture screw) to get the revs down and hydrocarbons within limits. Much assistance from SVA man!

Speedo (ETB electronic) would not give a steady reading above 65mph - several attempts at adjusting the mounting bracket and gap at the test centre but to no avail. My fault for attempting too fancy a design of bracket (to allow for adjustment of the sensor gap). That job was the only thing subject to a retest and a proper bracket sorted out the problem.

I was worried about all sorts of things when I went for the test - radius edges on lights. no cowling on steering column, would wipers be good enough and would they query the figures on my form re max speed etc. The reality appears to be that the tester forms aview as to whether the car has been built with attention to potential hazards - he will look at whether wiring and pipes etc are neatly and properly secured (Eg, engine bay and underneath). We are all aware of the need to secure brake pipes at 300mm intervals but I thought I'd gone OTT with my cable ties holding down heater pipes and sensor wires but it seemed to create the impression that I'd identified and addressed risks. That must have affected the tester's approach to the car.

One other thing is that they never got out any radius gauges or cones at all - thatwas all done by feel.

At the test centre yesterday, another mate was putting his Viper through. Lovely quality build but a few last minute problems had cropped up so he hadn't finished until 2 am. The minor fails for him were a poorly performing handbrake on one wheel, a mounting nut for his rear bumper which did not have 2 threads poking through, indictors not working and temperamental brake test light (both of which decided to play up on the way to the SVA).

I think the best way to approach the test is to treat it as a two part test and expect to fail on something, usually the things you least expect

PS for what it's worth there wa no comment about my steering wheel bracket at all. However it does highlight yet another issue in that Pilgrim seem to be aware of potential defects but do nothing to either warn us builders or to change their stock. Rather stupid in my opinion as it just causes bad feeling.