SVA failed

[SIMON.G.]

took the car to newcastle for its sva thursday morning, it failed on a few very minor things which i could of put right there and then, but he did fail it on a couple of things that worried me,

1, wiring around the brake/cluch master cylinders could do with a few more cable ties to make them more secure

2, braided hydrolic clutch pipe could do with securing more

3, bias bar on brake pedal reqiures some kind of locking method (he said to drill a hole through it and add lock wire, or splt pins)

4, fuel hose from cap to tank, he couldnt see any markings on it to tell if it was propper fuel hose or not (i did go with a boot box fitted and he couldnt see it from underneath)

5, harness eye bolts, failed because they didnt have s or 8.8 stamped on them, when i removed the rubber i had wrapped round then to show him they did, he then failed the harness because i wasnt covered

6, numer plate light, was in a place were a standard size number plate could not be fitted

7, lower steering column was a non collapsable type, and in line with the upper column (standard westfield item)

8, failed on the westfield padded race seats as the harnesses touch the seats before they touched your shoulders therefore the harness holes he classed as an anchor point  and were not strong enough

items 3, 7 and 8 i think should of passed the others i aint worried about as they are a quick fix,

ive been onto the factory about the seats, bias bar and steering column  and mark has told me the steering column is off set by 7 degrees so there for should of passed,

the seats should of passed as he has ever know the padded race seats to fail, he did go into detail but i carnt remember what he said

the bias bar i wasnt too bothered about as ill just drill it out and add split pins, but as above he has never known one fail on a bias bar

i was told i could correct a few minor things while he carried out the test, so some items i could of put right, but as soon he failed it on the seats, column etc i decided not to bother

has anybody else heard of these things failing or did i just get the worlds worst sva tested      

[jeff oakley]

Certainly sounds like he was harsh.

Point three is valid, if the locking bar comes undone there could be a chance that the bias might adjust without your knowledge until you go backwards through the hedge. Very very unlikley but that is why it is on their list.

Point Seven, the colunm to rack has two universal joints which are slightly offset, the idea is that in the evnt of a head on the shaft moves sideways and doesn't stick through you. If it all standard westfield he is incorrect.

Point eight, Never heard so much rubbish! Speak to Westfield and get them involved. If he is correct there are hundreds on the road which should not have passed.

You can appeal but realsitically getting westfield to support you will be the quickest method.

[Hammy]

not very helpful but..  I'm sure I heard of someone else having the harness touching the seat problem - he took seats out and put a piece of painted ply with a bit of foam on so he sat lower and  it passed. ( it was on a tiger cat).

might be worth taking a few photos of harness bolts fuel filler tube etc with you.

This must be very very frustrating.

[SIMON.G.]

not very helpful but..  I'm sure I heard of someone else having the harness touching the seat problem - he took seats out and put a piece of painted ply with a bit of foam on so he sat lower and  it passed. ( it was on a tiger cat).

i was having the same thought on the way home from sva, my first westy (orange one in pic) had when i bought it seats that looked like the were just cushions attached to some ply and bolted to the floor and rear bulkhead for the back rest, i thought about trying to get hold of a pair and using them as there would be no way of the belts touching them

all steering columns are standard westfield items

[Kevin Wood]

QUOTE

bias bar on brake pedal reqiures some kind of locking method (he said to drill a hole through it and add lock wire, or splt pins)

If you do this, buy a new bias bar and fit it as soon as the SVA is passed. I'd say drilling the bar will weaken it and I'd rather have one that can adjust than one that will break! A better way to lock it would be to put a blob of weld between the bar and the outermost bolt on each side.

Was the brake balance test OK? I hope he did this test befoire failing it because how do you know where to lock the bias bar if you don't know what the balance is like?

A collapsible steering column is not required if the manufacturer can demonstrate that the angle between the two columns is sufficient, so it may well be worth getting Westfield to send you a letter confirming this. I think Westfield have crash tested this chassis in the past so if that doesn't demonstrate its' suitability what does?

Most of the other items seem a bit petty, TBH, especially failing something when you've dismantled it to satisfy the tester

Still, if you go back with those points rectified you should be fine.

Kevin

[Peter M]

7, lower steering column was a non collapsable type, and in line with the upper column (standard westfield item)

Westfield supply an aluminium 12mm spacer to go between the lower column mounting bracket so that the column is at a slight angle.

[SIMON.G.]

Was the brake balance test OK? I hope he did this test befoire failing it because how do you know where to lock the bias bar if you don't know what the balance is like?

brakes were spot on for test, the tester even pointed out how good they were, seen as everything was new

[simonbell]

We have had a presentation by our local SVA team and point 8 in the list above was a major topic of discussion.

Personally I understand what they are saying.......If the seatbelt touches the seat before your shoulder then the seat is supporting the belt. This is OK if you can prove that the seat is constructed to a particular standard, you will see this in rally cars etc. However most std kitcar seats would not be constructed to this standard so the belt must pass through the hole with your shoulder being the first point of contact. Basically the Westfield mount points are too low and require to be spaced, we have seen this on a few local cars now.

With regard to the steering column there must be a minimum 10 degree offset at the universal joint either horixonrtally or vertically.

If you have brake bias fitted it must be set to the worst setting, fully biased to the rear I think, for the SVA test.

So I think 3,7 and 8 are valid fail points, if they had been correct he would probably have let you away with the other items or let you fix them on the day.

[simonbell]

Do you have a copy of the SVA manual? Having seen a number of manufacturers SVA instructions you just can't rely on that to get you through the test. The only way to be sure is to personally check your car against the current SVA manual before going to the test.

[Sir Greg]

Personally I understand what they are saying.......If the seatbelt touches the seat before your shoulder then the seat is supporting the belt.

So why then can't you stick a cushion under your A*** so your shoulders are higher??

Just adjust your own shoulder level until the belt comes through the seat and upwards, hence touching your shoulders first. If you're not allowed a cushion then take your six foot seven mate with you to prove it.

Daft cure for an even dafter rule!

[SIMON.G.]

Personally I understand what they are saying.......If the seatbelt touches the seat before your shoulder then the seat is supporting the belt.

So why then can't you stick a cushion under your A*** so your shoulders are higher??

Just adjust your own shoulder level until the belt comes through the seat and upwards, hence touching your shoulders first. If you're not allowed a cushion then take your six foot seven mate with you to prove it.

Daft cure for an even dafter rule!

this was one question i asked (or argued about), i asked about raising or lowering the seat, but he went on to tell me if i were to sell the car to someone taller or shorter than me, then we are getting back to the same problem, so he coundnt pass it on the seats until i come up with some proof that the seats are strong enough to act as a seat belt anchor point      

[Sir Greg]

So Simon, he's actually saying that an SVA pass is owner specific???

In other words if you were a bit taller your car would have passed on this point........

The guy sounds like a proper to**er to be honest!

[simonbell]

No

If you look at the manual it gives you the dimension from the seat base. This dimension relates to the average person.......like everything where ergonomics is involved they base the dimensions on the average person......now you then can get into the argument about male / female etc etc but they have to base the test on something.

You can't blame the testers, they are given the same set of rules that anyone who buys the manual is given. If a manufacturer or a car builder does not build their car to comply with the manual then it isn't going to pass.

I think we will all agree that many regulations are a PITA and in some instances complete nonsense........but that's life.

[NRW]

After my SVA test (fail) I had a discussion with the head office! as I wasn't happy. I could tell he agreed with me but would not challenge any tester on certain points just saying that the indivdual tester has to be satisfied. This leads to a more serious point that the test is open to personal interpretation by the tester's with much evidence on this forum to support this view. Some failing cars because they haven't got a piece of appropriate test equipment and others ignoring it for example. I know this doesn't really help this situation and I sympathise. Speak to Mark at the factory and see what he suggests