Not my lucky day I'm afraid :(
Test today at Bristol, Howard the tester was a decent bloke and gave me opportunities to 'tweak' a couple of bits.
Fail points were:
1. Gear lever not radiused to 3.2mm on all surfaces - I'll fit the original Sierra knob
2. Fuel filler pipe not recognised or marked as suitable for fuel, so need new one and paperwork
3. Stick on cable clips on some parts of the loom - will rivet 'P'-clips instead
4. Terminals on ignition coil not covered/protected - boots to be fitted
5. The big one - when service brake is applied the vehicle should not deviate to the left or right, and all wheels of the rear axle must not lock prior to both wheels of the front axle.
So all-in-all I'm not devasted but P'd none the less :(
I asked his advice on the brake issue and he suggested fitting one of the limiting valves to restrict the amount of braking on the rear with respect to the front. He also said to be careful not to reduce the rear so much that it fails the % efficiency test on the rear brakes.
The only problem I now have is once I've fitted a valve, how do I prove it is within limits?
I guess it could have been a lot worse? The best thing was at least I got to drive it in a more 'spirited' fashion so he could see which wheels were locking up first :D
Any comments or suggestions welcome guys ;)
ARSE thats a bit of a pain. :-[
but at least you have a not to long to do list...
sound like the rear tracking is out.. and just an adjustment on the bias..
Yzfmini
Yup! When he asked me to drive it and lock up the wheels for him to check, he said that the rear was defo locking up before the fronts, and from about 35mph I felt the rear step out, bad enough at 35mph, but at 60+ or in the wet that is not going to be nice :o
I do not have a bias valve fitted yet and if I get one that is adjustable, I need to make sure it is 'not adjustable' for the re-test.
BTW, front is standard Cortina with new discs/pads, rear is 9"drums off a Ford with new shoes.
JB
Aww what shame at least it wasnt too bad a fail bet there has been worse
Sorry to hear this mate. hope you get a better result next time.
Shame to hear you didn't make it first time, with what you've down already I'll bet the fixes are nothing beyond your skill level so it'll all work out soon enough!
Unlucky mate. How long before you can try again?
I coundn't take all that hassle.......good luck for the retest! ;)
Just a thought
might be something to do with weight over the rear axle (or lack of it ) - where is your battery, front or rear, might be worth loading up with some lead in the boot, thats if you can ( got some lead if your stuck) and have a full tank of fuel, give that a try, get some one to watch you again - dont think there is anything in the rule books against this, if it works you could put the bias valve on after the test . I would give it a try before anything else
Well your through the first hurdle with a list of jobs and hopefully just a retest to go. Hope you can get the braking problem sorted easily,
Quite sure I'll have a bigger list on mine once I finally get mine over there.
8)
Thanks guys :)
Pete, I had a full tank of fuel (they will fail you if you haven't apparently :o ) That was the first question he asked me! - Brian, be warned!
As for the weight, he didn't give me a printout of the weights, but I seem to remember about 335 on the front axle and 365 or more on the rear. So maybe she is a little too evenly balanced. Not sure how the lead thing would work though as they will probably do the weights again at the re-test?
I'm waiting on a phone call from the tester to ask about the fule pipe to see if he needs marking and/or paperwork. Also want to know about the bias options, I think that bias valves now are a no-no even if they are disabled.
All other jobs done last night so just fuel hose to get and sort the brakes. Just need to know what the waiting list is for the re-test now.......
John, What you need is a bias valve from a Sierra ( scrap yard? , Fleabay)
fitted with mounting bolts vertical and just to test try your local friendly garage, they can put it on their rolling road MOT style and check the front/ rear bias. That's what I have on mine and it went through no probs
Thanks pete. I have a feeling that I may have the old one from years ago when I got all the bits but not sure. If I can get one, I know it goes in the rear feed to the brakes nbut how is it connected (i.e. which way round) and at what angle?
Thanks mate.
JB
This IVA test thingy sounds like a pain in the butt..... Thats what puts me off from building my own, plus I'm lazy ;D
Hope you get it sorted mate.