Need help and advise. I am not from UK but I build a locost-like too

[Lust]

Hello,
My name is Deyan Ivanov. I build a Lada (VAZ 2103) based locost-like car. I am having tremendous trouble with making it legal, here in Bulgaria. There is a strong lack of SVA - like procedures. There are procedures for vehicle typizations, which are heavy and unpassable. I should perform welds defectoscopy on my own bill, and there is nowhere to perform torsional stiffness measurement, which is quite, quite bad. I am interested in how much does the legalization procedures in the UK cost. Also do they pass easy. Here all is about money, lots of them, and finally I will not be certain that what I have created will be strong enough to be driven on public roads.
Is there a country near Bulgaria, where you know such SVAs are performed in a sensible manner? thnx to all that answer me since I have almost reached the PNR with the project (money and work invested) and I sincerely do not want to drive it only in front of my village house. 

[PhilW]

Welcome to the club, you may be better off asking on here http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/front.php

[Richard]

Hi Deyan,

SVA's have become IVA in UK now and are more thorough than they were in the past.

Many of the countries in EU do not permit home builds.

Germany does have strict type approval and does do one-off builds.
Sweden has different regulations on size of metal tubing among other things.

I really don't know much about your neighbouring countries although have visited most of them over the years but not on a car building approach.

IVA test in UK is under £500 and each re-test is £90.
The link to the current regulations they test is on this site somewhere, let us know if you've not found it yet.

Best of luck with your build, hope you've enjoyed doing it so far.

Excellent English - my Bulgarian is limited - Nazdrave is as close as it gets 

[Lust]

Oh, thanks for your fast replies, I was imagining myself sitting here alone forever I have only heard of Romania having such services. Well, tests here (whatever they consist of) at the ONLY approved organization TechnoTest cost about 300 pounds, and I do not know about them more than nothing. They talked to me with their backs against my face, as rude as possible (the chief engineer that is) and  told me so many insults that I felt like shooting and firing!
http://www.technotest.bg/  is what I confronted these days...
Anyway, I am a 3D software developer and have some instinct of spacial matters I have facebook albums with public pictures, and I will post them in the forum category that considers builds.
I will ask the locostbuilders.co.uk the same thing I asked here.

And an anecdote:
The engineer Georgi Peshev leads his UK friend to Bulgaria for the first time.
All evening they drink, and the englishman says: "Cheers!", the bulgarian (not speaking english too well thinks: "Well, that should be his family name!") and says: "Peshev!". And all evening: "Cheers! Peshev! Cheers! Peshev! ...".
Well, some time passed, and Georgi was invited in the UK for a friendly visit. Again, evening came, so came drinking. Meanwhile, he had learned what "Cheers!" means, and said first: "Cheers!". The englishman said: "Peshev!"

So, I am glad you know it correctly!

[gingerpaul]

One of my friends is married to a Bulgarian girl and from what I gather it might be a case of giving the right guy a few quid to get the paperwork sorted. She reckoned that most of the bureaucracy is purely about making money.

The problem is that now you are in the EU I expect your country is having to conform to EU requirements for getting cars on the road. The UK had the SVA, and now the IVA, to allow a us, a nation known for men working in sheds, to get our cars on the road. We have the least strict requirements of any EU nation. As you say, some countries simply don't allow it. Germany do allow it but everything has to be approved to very high standards (TUV I think?).

I remember reading about a guy trying to get his car registered in France after it had been registered and used in the UK. That ended up with him just paying the right guy in the right office to sort the paperwork out for him.

Sorry I can't really help. 

[Lust]

Well, if the costs are nearly sensible, I may transport it to the UK, pass IVA (hopefully, and with failure not an option) and take it back here. Afterwards, with the car having UK license plate (it is already with the steering wheel on the left, so no further testing is necessary), I can simply register it here, as if i have bought it somewhere from the EU. Seems simple enough. An auto-transport  from germany costs about 400 euros. I consider taking the complete car to the UK, since I have read the IVA .pdf from May this year. The requirements sound pretty comprehensive and I believe to be able to fulfill them. 

[Bulldog Bri]

Hiya and welcome to our growing club.

Must admit it will be different with doors! have you got any drawings of how you hope them to look?

Good luck with your build, if these lads in saudi can get one done so can you  http://bristolkitcarclub.co.uk/smf2/index.php?topic=233.0

[Lust]

heheh really, the first look at the Saudi-guys' post looks quite strange in their typical desert outfit They are a charming tripple Well, i like their build, but I have strong lack of trust in arc-welding since it is so prone to fatigue, cracking and rust. But, obviously, they have more money than I have I chose LADA since I have found one cheap - for 200 pounds. I have bought it as a present for my birthday on 2nd of April this year. Oh, their welder is definitely old-school looking with this giant amperage-setter rotating wheel ahahahah 

I have drawings of the doors, but they are crappy and not to show in public. Something like DOVE wing as you name it or Lambo style. I have posted some links to facebook albums in the Builds Category here in the forum, and I plan to sort out some pics and post them directly in the thread.

If I have time, I may draw some more specific pics of the doors. I have reinforced the frame substantially, using 40x40x2 mm steel profiles, as well as 30x30x2 and at points 25x25x2, where I consider it is appropriate. Especially the beam which I have formed is made of two 40x40x2 placed on top of one another, and again, one 30x30 on top of the two, which i quite strong and resistant to bending. So, now the doors section is less worrying, for me at least.