Beverley SVA test centre.

[brian twigg]

I took the GTM spyder I have built for my daughter to Beverley SVA test centre this Wednesday 11th July 2007.

It got a first time pass, but what I wanted to pass onto anyone wanting a helpfull SVA centre, was the help given me by the testers at Beverley.

I can't praise The Beverley centre enough.

I have written an article which I have posted on the TeamGTM site about the test, but when I have tried to post it on here, it is too long and will not let me post it, sorry.

Brian.

[tonym]

Brian, why not post a link to your article on the other site?

[kayjayd]

That's great news Brian, I'm booking my cobra in there in the next few weeks hopefully and at least one other member here is too. Any chance you could post your SVA report here please as the GTM forum is members only?

[brian twigg]

Hello you two.

I;m 68 and not particularly computer literate so links are beyond my capability, but I suppose I could split the article into two and post both halves to get around the over length cut off imposed by this site's moderator's.

I'll give it a try and see what happens.

First half, approximately.

After a three and a half year build, Spyder 20 was booked in for it's SVA.

I chose Beverley testing centre as I had used this test centre for a previous build of my son Nigel's Quantum 2 plus 2 in 1999. Nigel said he would accompany me in his car as backup and carry all the bits and pieces I had deemed necessary on a "just in case" scenario.

The date was set for the 11th of July 2007, and luckily for us, it dawned bright and sunny. The test time was set at 8am and with a 65 mile journey in front of us, we set off from home at 6am.

I had arranged signals with Nigel to test the speedo accuracy once we got onto the M18 and it soon became obvious that the speedometer dip switches were set wrong as the speedometer was reading about 20 miles per hour too fast, first fail point and we had not gone more than five miles.

I had previously done a dummy run to Beverley to check on distance, location and time required etc. because I had forgotten the exact route through Beverley from our last visit, this was just as well, because the instructions for the route from the M62 to the test centre had been changed to avoid the town centre and now took us around the town on a new bypass that was not there on our last visit.

All went well apart from the worry now fermenting in my head re the speedo, until that is, I got to the new bypass, I entered it from the wrong side of the bridge and I knew as soon as the road started taking a left hand sweep, but it was too late, we were heading for York, dickhead.

I stopped at the bottom of the slip road and told Nigel I had got it wrong and we would have to use his Sat Nav to get us out of the cockup I had got us into, no problem says Nigel, except your brake lights are not working. Failure number two, and we are still not there. Also when I stopped I noticed the engine was revving at 3000 RPM and would not drop, bloody 'ell, failure number three, luckily for me, i remembered a post on here about some one else having the same problem and something about ignition on, press accellerator to the floor a number of times solves the problem, so I give it a try, now down to 2000 RPM, try again 1500 RPM last try, 1000 RPM, phew, relief.

Nigel types the Beverley test station address into his Sat Nav and away we go, this time I'm following him. We arrive at the testing centre at 7.40am and find the car park occupied by a "Vortex" lotus seven lookalike on a trailer also waiting to be tested. I was surprised by this because there is only one testing lane at Beverley. Panic, have I got the wrong date, a quick look at the paperwork confirms I am here on the right day/time.

I again do the throttle reset procedure and the tickover settles at it's usual 900RPM. I find the brake light switch pull on spring has become detached from the pedal and as Nigel is a lot slimmer than I am, I asked him to replace it while I go to the reception office and announce my presence. Upon my return, the spring is fixed and the brake lights are working.

Then I notice a drip of oil from the bottom of the rear clamm, oh sugar, what now. Opening the rear clam confirms the new fancy gearbox vent I have fitted has spilled oil into the engine bay and the drive shaft rotation has spread it all around the gearbox side of the clam, oh joy. The "just in case" pack includes a roll of kitchen paper, and copious quantities are used wiping the engine bay clean.

The vortex is being unloaded from it's traler and I decide to claim my place in the SVA test lane. The Vortex pulls in a few metres behind me a few minutes later. It looks very well and we swop notes, as you do. The quallity of the build equalls mine from what I could see.

At 8pm, the huge roller shutter doors rise majestically out of the way and our tester Mac, introduces himself and asks Nigel and I to don the high visibilty jackets he has provided for the duration of the test. Behind us, the two Vortex lads are meeting there tester who like wise presents them with high vis jackets.

With the curtesy's over, the test began.

The first part was a walk around the car with hands rubbing around the various edges and protrusions. A look at all the lghts, and measurements of light centres from ground and outer edges of the car. Satisfied, the tester sat in the car and did a similar examination of the car interior, switch functions, warning lights, and questions of some of the switch functions where he was unsure of what they were for. He asked for the heater/demist function to be demonstrated, checked the windscreen wipers worked and the washers, as I have fitted spray pipes to the arms rather than two jets, he made no attempt to do the blockage test.

He asked me for proof of engine age and I showed him the donor car's log book which he said was satisfactory. I had printed him out the engine number and stuck it to the GTM VIN plate on the spare line below the actual VIN number, he asked me where the actual number was on the engine and I pointed out to him that it was on the exhaust side of the engine and difficult to see. When he had written down the number I had printed out, he went back to the office, could this be to check my number against a list of missing engines from the Rover group when it folded?

I had lifted the front and rear clams for him at the start and now he went and had a look under the front clam, checking the brake servo, spare wheel, radiator and fan.

He then checked the pedal box security, and checked for sharp edges under the dash, all done with his hands. He waddled the seat about to check it's security and then moved onto the rear of the tub interior, checking the seat belts and mounts. He then asked if I had proof of the strength of the seat belt mounting points and the engine cradle mounting points. I asked him what type of proof was required, and his reply was some assurance in writing from the manufacturers, could I contact the manufacturers and get them to fax a statement through, and supplied me with the site's fax number.

I contacted GTM and spoke to Lloyd, explaining the requirements, Lloyd agreed to cobble sommething together, type it onto headed note paper and fax it through to Mac at the test station. I told Mac of the outcome of my conversation and he said that would do fine.

The Vortex test was going on a pace and as there car was a simpler model to check, there tester had completed all this type of tests, and asked my tester if they could now move into the test area proper to carry out the next phase of testing which was emmissions. This was agreed and they drove round me into the building and carried on with the emmission tests, meanwhile, Mac continued with my tests, checking the brake master cylender had a warning system to indicate brake fluid loss. He then checked the window glass for authentification marks, and asked me to remove one of the door cards as he could not see the glass marks as they are below door card top height even with the windows wound up.

He then moved onto wheels and tyres and asked me to remove all four wheel nut covers and one of the wheel nuts themself. I asked why he wanted to check the wheel nut and he said it was to check that the type of nut was correct for the wheel, ie. had the correct cone cut and was not flat faced. Satisfied that all the nuts were present and of the correct type, I was asked to replace all the nut covers.

He then moved onto the engine bay, and commented about the smell of oil, I explained about the spillage from the gearbox vent and he was happy, he said it smelt like gear oil, but he just wanted to make sure it was not brake fluid as some had gone onto mark the nearside rear tyre, which I had wiped off, but was clearly visibe as a shiny tyre. He commiserated with me about the leak and was satisfied with my explanation.

The Vortex had moved on from the emmisions bay and I was invited to move my car into its place. The exhaust fan pipe was lined up with my rear end as I have twin outlets, the sampler was clipped into one exhaust outlet and I was told to rev the engine at 3000RPM until he requested me to stop. This seemed to go on for some time, and I think he sensed my anxiety that something might be amiss because he came to me and explained that at the moment, he was getting fail readings, but was sure that was because we had been stood for a long time, and invited me to keep the revs high until the temperature was at running temp or until he started to get satisfactory readings, whichever came first, at which time, he would commence the emmissions test. This resulted in a pass, and I was growing more confident that the omens were looking good, so far every test was a pass.

The Vortex was up on the lift and appeared to be in trouble again, it had failed on the emmisions test of it's motobike engine, and now, there was a problem with part of the suspension as one of the presenters had been and asked me if I had brought a 22mm spanner with me, unfortuanately, this was one size I had not brought along.

It was a shame because the Vortex was very well finnished and was a credit to the builders.





Brian

[brian twigg]

Second half of Beverley SVA article from the TeamGTm forum.

The Vortex was up on the lift and appeared to be in trouble again, it had failed on the emmisions test of it's motobike engine, and now, there was a problem with part of the suspension as one of the presenters had been and asked me if I had brought a 22mm spanner with me, unfortuanately, this was one size I had not brought along.

It was a shame because the Vortex was very well finnished and was a credit to the builders.

Any way, they were now in our way, so Mac, my tester asked me to reverse out of the testing bay and go round to the wing mirror and sound testing area while we waited for the Vortex to clear the area. This was straight forward, I was aligned upto a line which was marked out at Metre intervals along it's length, Mac got in, adjusted the interior mirror for his size, had a quick look in the wing mirrors and got out, another pass.

He then positioned the sound test microphone and asked me to take it upto 4000 RPM, another pass at 91Db.

The Vortex had moved on from the vehicle lift to the brake and speedo test rollers, so the Spyder was positioned on the vehicle lift and Nigel sat in it and went up leaving me to be able to stay with Mac in case I was required to adjust anything.

Mac had a good look undernieth, got Nigel to move the steering from lock to lock and checked all the brake hoses, asking Nigel to apply the footbrake hard while he did so. Then the hand brake was pulled on and again both sides at the rear were looked at closely. Mac motioned me to come and have a look at something, pointing out that the near side handbrake cable's clevis pin had no retaining "R" pin, and had I got one in my box of tricks? I hadn't, but I asked if a piece of wire would suffice, and Mac agreed that that would be sufficient. I cut a pice of steel wire that I had taken along in the "in case" box, in case anything dropped off on the way there, and threaded it through the clevis pin, a "that'll do" from Mac was all that was required to reinstate my equilibrium. Then, it was onto the speedo and brake test rollers, the Vortex having now dissappeared.

I knew with the speedo over reading, this was a sure fire failure coming up.

The first test was the brakes and this went on for some time with no comment from Mac during the procedure. I was then asked to move the car onto the speed test rollers.

Mac got in the car with a test meter in his hand and engageing 4th gear, started the rollers and ran through the five test speeds of 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 MPH. As expected, the overspeed of 20MPH meant a fail.

He asked about the speedo setting and I explaned about the calculations and the set of figures that are given in the 9 pages of A4, three columns to a page, that are supplied by Cearbont instruments for setting the speedo.

He asked how long it would take to dismantle the instrument cluster and reconfigure the dip swith settings as he was going for his 15 minute tea break, could I do it in that time.

Fifteen minutes later he returned, saying a satisfactory confirmation of the tub strength had been faxed through from Lloyd at GTM, and "now lets have another look at the speedo settings".

I had dialled in a new set of settings from the list supplied and again, he took it through the five tests, still unsatisfactory.

Then he said how long does it take to alter the settings, I had anticipated the settings being wrong and had left all the dash top and instrument binnacle unfixed, I asked him if this was all right when he came back from his tea break and he had agreed, so I said only a minute to dial in new settings.

He said well, the car failed on the brake test, but I suppose every thing is new and you will not have done much braking on your way here. If you think you can get the speedo accurate, I am prepared to drive the car round a bit and try and improve the braking to be able to pass it.

To say I was relieved is an under statement of enormouse proportions, so I got into the car and did another reset of the dip switch settings, he could see I was struggling to enter and exit the car, so when he got into the car to do another test he said, if this one fails, (which it duly did) just show me how to pull out the instrument binnacle and where the dip switches are, this I did. Right then, give some more settings and make it a much bigger jump this time, I gave him a new set of settings, which he set, replaced the binnacle, and again ran through the five speed settings again, better, but still not accurate enough. He did this five more times before we found a setting that he was satisfied was a pass.

He then said, right, fingers crossed, I am going for a drive around the testing station a few times, then we will put it back on the brake test rollers and take another set of readings. I presume he tested the steering's self centreing while he was out in the car, and I had increased the front tyre pressure's befor setting off from home in anticipation of this.

I thought to myself as he dissappeared out through the front of the test bay, you can take it to Scarborough and back if you are going to give me a pass at the end of it.

A couple of laps later, he returned to the test bay, reversed over the rollers and commenced the brake test again, as each part of the test was completed, he gave me a thumbs up, until, after the last test, he got out of the car saying he was satisfied.

Subject to all the figures being put into the computer programme that makes the final calculations about the brakes, taking into account the vehicles weight, which he had noted during the brake test, (I presume the weight tests are built into the rollers), he was pretty confident that I had a pass.

I could have kissed him.

Ten minutes or so later, he returned carrying the precious MAC certificate and wearing a big grin, not half as big as mine, but nevertheless, a welcome sign.

His colleague who had had to fail the Vortex on the emmissions was also with him. I thanked Mac proffusely for his curtesy, his patience and above all his help. He replied that it had been a pleasure to test such a well built car, and his colleague concured, saying that they had both tested a Libra each in the past, but they had been very poorly built compared to the Spyder.

***I said it was probably because the Libra had the wrong front which tended to make the builders sloppy, they didn't understand the joke.

No I didn't, I just added that bit to upset the wrong fronters, but I was pleased about the praise for Alison's Spyder.****

(For the benefit of the Cobra builders, the above two lines refer to a standing joke between the GTM Libra builders and the Spyder builders. When the Spyder was commisioned from Richard Oakes, he altered the front clam shape slightly from the one he designed for the Libra, and this became a very popular option for future kit builders of GTM's to specify for the Libra as well, but the original front builders insist that the original front design is the best one.) Hope that helps, Brian.

So there you are, test completed, with more than a little help from the test centre staff. I know we hear some horror stories of the various test centres, but in my case, both this time, and the time we took Nigel's Quantum, the staff did there best to give the car a pass.

And I can only tell it as it was.

Thank you Mac and Beverley test centre, one to be recomended.

Well I seem to have done it, sorry it is so long, but I hope it is of some use to all you Yorkshire builders out there.

Brian

[kayjayd]

An excellent write-up, thanks very much Brian. Puts my mind at rest.

Well done by the way

[brian twigg]

Thank you Kevin.

Hope your vist to Beverley is as successful as mine was, why not ask for Mac, he's a very nice bloke.

I passed through Thirsk yesterday on the way home from Pickering, my wife and I went out for the day on a little drive around. I was only in my tintop Volvo though, the spyder has to have all it's fancy bits fitted now and get a registration, then I hand it over to my daughter.

Brian.