I have not had a bill for PBC yet; but having agreed 1hr 15mins/£100 of work I'm expecting one soon!

Just heard from Paul at Crawley they they have had 3 IVA passes on the trot so I reckon Martin's must be done and dusted. Spoke to a local motorsports garage mechanic today who regularly puts cars through Southampton for IVA. He reckons if I fail with less than 6 pick ups it will be a good result as they are known to be very hard........just my luck, but every conceivable sharp edge now has trim on it and a new VIN plate is fitted so by this time tomorrow I will know one way or the other.    

Hi boys I was quoted 3 hours of work but I'm arguing that most of it is related to errors in the manual, including removing the fan washers and putting in the washers on the rear brake pipe where it goes through the bulkhead. Some things like tidying up the wiring I will have to swallow as I know it wasn't quite right. I'm taking mine myself to Gillingam on the 23rd of April it was the earliest date I could get! So mine is still in the balance.  Caterham will fit the IVA wheel and then I will have to swap it for my old one! I will let you all know how the test goes. Then of course the DVLA have 6 weeks to get the V5 back so I can get some plates, but I'm hearing from Caterham that typically it takes 2 weeks so assuming it passes then I'm hoping for 2nd week of May

Martin

Hi Simon, I would love an expedition to Somerset once I'm road legal  I need to get a 1,000 miles on the car so I can do a fluids change before we take it to France in June but it would be nice if we could get as many 160s together as possible, i will keep you all posted on my progress

Martin

I'm following up the rear... I've had a few delays due to very small shortage issues. Derek has been really helpful throughout.

Next jobs are propshaft/diff/axle, a bit more plumbing under the bonnet, and then all the soft bits!

I'm hoping to be finished in about 3 weeks. 

I'm guessing now is the right time to get the first IVA form off to VOSA?

All the best, and good luck to all!

Ned

http://caterhamseven160.blogspot.co.uk/

Hi Ned don't delay on the IVA forms it took Vosa the best part of 5 weeks to process my paperwork, booking the appointment took another 3 weeks and then the DVLA take 2 weeks but can be up to 6 and that assumes it passes first time so don't delay

martin 

Hi All. The very good news is that my car passed its IVA at Southampton this morning. I had to reset the lights and (strange one this) they wouldn't pass it until I put 3 jubilee type Fuel Hose Clips on the pipes around the 'Ford Box (I think it's called) on the RH aft bulkhead - one where the hard plastic hose enters the larger rubber hose at the top, one where this hose enters the box and one on the hose entering (or exiting!) the box at the bottom.

This is a Caterham factory fitted item and I tried to suggest that they wouldn't have left it in an unsafe condition - but (when they offered me the ramp to use to fix it) quickly decided to walk a mile to a motor factor and get some! I have no idea what this is all about and I'm not convinced it needed to be done ..................but hey, I'm through the IVA and all those horrible rubber bits can come off.

Martin - I will be changing the steering wheels over this weekend so it should be back at Crawley in plenty of time for you to use

Could be a few weeks before I'm on the road but a blat down to Clarks Village sounds imminently doable. Look forward the hearing the details as things develop.

Hi peter that's fantastic news, well done, just the DVLA to go now. I haven't got my car here so it's a bit difficult to understand what needs to be done. Can you post a picture and also feedback to Paul at caterham as hopefully both Simon and I can benefit from this feedback. Looking forward to seeing yours and Simons car thanks for the IVA wheel I will swap mine back after my test so the next person can use it

Martin 

I have briefed Paul re the 'Ford Box' and will put some piccies on here later but I reckon it was just the Southampton teams thoughts as they don't do many Caterhams and had never done a C160 before.

I couldn't abide the abortion of a Momo IVA steering wheel with collapsible boss on my car a minute longer so it's off already and on it's way to Crawley. The car looks nice again with the Motolita. 

Oh by the way; I put trim on the bonnet louvers closest to the screen, and on the front edge of the silencer heat shield. The trim I put around the back lights is definitely not needed but it looks neat and takes away the cheap and nasty plastic edges so I'm leaving mine there...........hang the weight! 

I got a trouble free 55 miles out of it on a long journey to and from the test station...................big grins all round. The speedo was about 4mph heavy at 70mph on the rolling road but this was in tolerance. Brakes and emissions - no problem.

But what do I do now; I feel bereft, nothing to do after a busy winter when I could always disappear to the garage and find something to fiddle with. 

Re Clips on the 'Ford Charcoal Box' - Derek has replied that clips are not needed and if comes up at your IVA ask them to look at the same box installed in a Ford, where clips are not used either. This might not change their mind of course - but good luck anyway. 

Hi Everyone, not good news unfortunately.  It failed the emissions test!  by a very small margin I might add and then there followed a list of other small items that also were not up to standard, even with a post build check.  I have a plan to rectify this quickly and when this is complete I will be more explicit about what has happened, I'm still slightly shocked it failed on the emissions which is something I have no control over.  Having said that I've done nearly 150 miles today and will do that again soon when I take it back for the re-test and the car is an absolute hoot to drive, noisy and windy on the motorway at 70mph but on the bends and accelerating through the gears it is an absolute blast

Regards

Martin

So.. forgive the dumb question but... how are you able to drive it without the IVA pass? 

My understanding is that as long as you have a booked test appointment then you can drive an unregistered car to and from the test centre.  So Gillingham is a 80 mile trip for me, I've clocked up quite a few miles and will do so again for the re-test. My insurance company has confirmed I'm covered on the same basis 

Martin

Ah OK, understood thanks. Sorrry to hear the car didn't pass. I've seen other Caterham blogs where emissions failed. It's clearly Caterham's issue to sort out for you.

My build has ground to a halt yet again, as I seem to have the wrong spacer bushes for the rear radius arms. Did you have problems with these? I'm hoping I don't have to grind them in with a vice... 

Ned

Hi Ned, yes I had the wrong bushes as well but in the end I got the one remaining bush turned down to the right dimension, a lot of faff, I think you will need to go back to Derek

Martin

Thanks, Martin. That's reassuring, at least!

So, you opened up the metallastic bushes themselves, or turned down the spacer bushers? I was wondering about putting the two rogue bushers under a pillar drill and opening them up with a 12mm drill.

It's less than 1mm either way, but it's a significant 1mm !

Thanks

Ned

Be careful using a pillar drill, I used a lathe as the tolerances are quite tight. Quick update, my car failed it IVA re-test, another 150 miles and £90 lighter.  Very fed up but now left the car with Caterham, it's their problem to fix and they will drop the car off when it is all done but our trip to France is almost certainly off, not happy

Martin

That's really grim news, Martin. I'm very sorry to hear it. But you'll get there soon enough.

(You're right about the pillar drill. Derek, of course, is sending me replacement spacers.)

I look forward to seeing us all on the road soon, for that meet-up!

Ned