Haynes Forums  

Go Back   Haynes Forums > Haynes Roadster Forums > General discussion
FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #611  
Old 23rd June 2013, 11:14 PM
alga's Avatar
alga alga is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania
Posts: 1,249
Default

Zip ties then!
__________________
Albert
Haynes Roadster FAQ | Haynes Builder Locations
Gallery, build thread in Lithuanian / via Google Translate.
Reply With Quote
  #612  
Old 25th June 2013, 01:27 AM
CTWV50's Avatar
CTWV50 CTWV50 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,297
Default

What time is your test?
Reply With Quote
  #613  
Old 25th June 2013, 06:07 AM
skov's Avatar
skov skov is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,085
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by CTWV50 View Post
What time is your test?
8.00am
Reply With Quote
  #614  
Old 25th June 2013, 03:55 PM
CTWV50's Avatar
CTWV50 CTWV50 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,297
Default

You must be done by now!
Reply With Quote
  #615  
Old 25th June 2013, 04:15 PM
Nismo1982 Nismo1982 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Midlothian
Posts: 19
Default

Must be taking the long route home from the test station
Reply With Quote
  #616  
Old 25th June 2013, 04:35 PM
skov's Avatar
skov skov is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,085
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nismo1982 View Post
Must be taking the long route home from the test station
Only because I got lost
Reply With Quote
  #617  
Old 25th June 2013, 04:36 PM
skov's Avatar
skov skov is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,085
Default

Luckly I made it to the test centre in one piece, and with plenty of time to spare (I had my doubts!).



Sadly a first time pass wasn't to be though

The car was tested by the main tester (Doug), his trainee, and a sort of supervisor that goes from centre to centre checking tests are done to the same standard. So it got quite a thorough looking over!

They are all good blokes, very friendly, and generally very positive about the car. The supervisor was a bit of an MX5 enthusiast so we had a good old natter on all things MX5.

First test was emissions, which passed without trouble (they were quite happy with the letter from Mazda for proof of angine age).

Next was interior/exterior projections, and a good look around the car.
They liked the fact I'd stuck lots of bits of rubber on there and couldn't find any nasty edges (unusual for Leighton Buzzard apparently!).

Next they stuck it on the ramps to check underneath. This is where it started going wrong...
They spotted one of the rear brake lines and both handbrake cables were rubbing on the chassis. They weren't last time I checked, so they must have settled/bedded-in during the drive there.
They also spotted there was a bit of play between the UJ and steering rack which they didn't like. I tried tightening it up, but there's still too much play.

The ramps came down and they checked all the lights. Head light aim was way off (and still is), but everything else was fine.
Interestingly they didn't seem to measure any heights or distances of the lights.

After that they weighed it then did the brake and speedo test.
The speedo over-read by quite a bit, but was still within IVA spec.
I'll come on to the brakes later...

Next test was exhaust noise, passed with a comfortable 95dB, followed by rear vision, which passed easily.
They liked my Furore e-marked IVA wing mirrors and the position of them saying a lot of people fail by putting them too low and getting too much rear wing in the way.

Next the trainee tester had a blat round the car park to do some more brake testing and to check self centering. Both were fine.

Finally they took a few measurements with a tape measure before dissapering into the office to enter all the figures into their spreadsheet.

Sometime later they emerged with my fail sheet...
This had the fails I knew about above, along with a fail for brake efficiency, and a fail for a big mismatch between each side on the handbrake.





Not too bad a fail really.
Not quite sure what to do about the brakes yet, but the rest should be easy enough to fix.

Last edited by skov : 25th June 2013 at 04:45 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #618  
Old 25th June 2013, 05:14 PM
Davidbolam Davidbolam is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gosforth, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Posts: 856
Default

thats not too bad John. I am now worrying about my handbrake cables!! The handrake balance can be adjusted easily with a allen key so that shouldn't be a problem.

Let me know if you think of a way to make the cable not hit the back of the car!!

How much does the universal joint wobble by? Is it from Rally design?

Was the balance between the from and rear braking well within limits as I haven't installed the reducer valve yet.
Was it a fun drive there and back?

David
__________________
Click to see my build photos on Flikr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67112582@N03/

Saturn MX5 Based Chassis, Limited Slip Diff & 2.4 Quick Rack.

Build cost.... seems to be spending more on tools than car bits at the moment! (they will be handy in the future though).
Car iva'd and passed 15/08/2014. Finished weight 572kg.

Last edited by Davidbolam : 25th June 2013 at 05:28 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #619  
Old 25th June 2013, 05:33 PM
K4KEV's Avatar
K4KEV K4KEV is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: WINGATE CO DURHAM
Posts: 1,511
Default

Al relatively easy to sort out John, so yes it is a "good" fail ...were you able to chase up a retest from them there and then?
Reply With Quote
  #620  
Old 25th June 2013, 05:43 PM
skov's Avatar
skov skov is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,085
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Davidbolam View Post
thats not too bad John. I am now worrying about my handbrake cables!! The balance can be adjusted easily with a allen key so that shouldn't be a problem.

Let me know if you think of a way to make the cable not hit the back of the car!!

Was it a fund drive there and back?

David
I'll let you know what I do David; I'm currently thinking I might attack the cables supports at the caliper end with an angle grinder and re-weld them at a slightly different angle. I tried bending them at the test centre, but they're pretty tough and wouldn't budge!

The drive there was terrifying. I pootled along at 40mph with lorries overtaking me scared it was going to fall apart or blow up

I was rather more confident on the way home though, and took a slightly more scenic route. Still terrifying, but in a good way!
It feels a bit dull and flat below 4000 rpm, but I found if I kept the revs above that I couldn't stop grinning! Flooring it in second then third had me squealing like a girl
The most striking thing is the way it corners though, the steering's nice and direct, and the lack of body roll feels awsome. It's almost like driving a go kart

The only things really I want to change at the moment are the accelerator pedal which has far too much travel, and the clutch pedal which doesn't have nearly enough.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:06 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.