[Davey]

Its not a scooby related in the slightest but I know there are lots of boffins on this site so I thought I'd try my luck

I'm currently building a mid engined hatch-back.. The body shell and 60-70% of the floor pan will be virtually un-touched but im curious about the 'Radically altered vehicle' scoring system.. The details on the various government sites are very vauge and the DVLA only suggest I take the car for inspection but to be honest I dont want to risk getting it taken off the road if they feel it requires an SVA..

Does anyone know how the scoring system relates to body shell modifications if the VIN number is untouched and most of the chassis rails stay in place? I'm totally lost

Ideally I'd like the car to be 100% road legal so I dont encounter any problems if the worst happens.

Thanks for any feed back

NotoriousREV

Strictly speaking as soon as you modify the monocoque you are into ESVA (I should imagine that removing 30 - 40% of the floorpan could be construed as modifying the monocoque.

Otherwise the scoring system is pretty straightforward, add the points up for things you're keeping standard (you can fit uprated parts i.e. fitting coilovers but if you get the back axle from an old Jag, chrome it and weld it to entirely new mountings, that's cheating unless it's an old Jag already!). If you don't get 8 points, you need to go through ESVA like a kit car.

In reality however, who polices it? The coppers are likely only to worry about whether it's got an MOT, insurance etc. unless it looks obviously rough or poor quality in which case they'll get it inspected and you may find your car getting banned from the roads under construction and use regs. I think because you are doing the mid-engined conversion, this is more likely to happen to you than it is to someone dropping a V8 into a 70's saloon car even though they score less than 8 points.

The best thing to do is ask your SVA centre for advice (you can do it anonymously but when you say "most" of the chassis rails are intact, that suggests not all are and I'm certain they'll tell you to SVA it).

[Davey]

How difficult is the SVA? I'm only concerned because the car is from 1993 and I very much doubt it would meet half of todays saftey standards.

David_Dickson

In my opinion...

(assuming the car is alread uk registered etc)
do the modifications,
sit an MOT.
declare all to insurers.
dont worry about the rest.

the points system only really becomes a problem trying to register a modified shell for the first time - ie importing something or scratch-building something, then you need to pass the sva.

NotoriousREV

I suspect you're right and personally I'd risk it, but I wouldn't recommend anyone else to do that.

NotoriousREV

Sorry, don't know but I suspect a 1993 car wouldn't be too bad to get through. I looked into this when I was planning on dropping a V8 in my Vauxhall Firenza (it was fairly new legislation then) and knew that I'd have practically zero chance of getting it through an ESVA.

jono_pryor11

Some insurers will want an engineers report but you can get them easy enough from a local auto engineering place. Basically them passing their eye over the work and agreeing its been carried out to a good standard and looks safe. My local one is also my MOT man.

Police only seem to be interested in making sure its mot'd, insured correctly (i.e making sure you insurance doesnt still say 1.0 when its obviously got a 5ltr chevy in it or something) and taxed.

Britain is still quite liberal with what we can do.

[Davey]

I think I'll go down the route above, Engineers report, insurance and an MOT..

NotoriousREV

What car and what engine, BTW?

Shark Man

Probably the best way;

I know of a number of Series Land Rovers which may look like an SII or SIII 88" or 109" but essentially they are a shortened Range Rover chassi with the old Series body plonked on top...the V5 still says the vehicle is a SII/SIII 88"/109" just with a 3.5-4.6 V8 instead of a 2.25 4pot

So, the whole chassis has been changed, axles, steering, suspension, gearboxes, and engine. But they are still identified as what it was orginally built as on the V5. They did the work - and just registered the changes on the V5 - so that would be colour and engine size

Now I'm not saying this is totally legit, but lets just say there are a number of these that exist on the road which are taxed, MOT and insured.

The only issue I can see is being a 1993 car, a MOT inspector might want to put it through the stricter emissions test (although, I belive there was/is a loop hole where if the engine used is older than this its excluded - my info is out of date on that). Also I should forwarn that when registering changes on a v5, the DVLA can demand inspection of said vehicle. This is probably most likely happens if the car has been off the road for a good number of years.

[Davey]

The car doesnt have a CAT so hopefully wont be an issue

Vauxhall Nova and its getting a Y22SE or a Z20LET, havent decided yet.

Only just started really, the engine frame is fabricated and im currently trying to work out how much floor pan I need to remove.

NotoriousREV

That looks like fun. You should start a thread in projects.

[Davey]

Thought I'd post a quick update to those that are interested

Havent been able to spend much time as I've bought myself a DRZ400E and I've been playing with that


But I have however finished removing the floor pan:



I am currently going through the tedious task of seam welding the factory rails.

[Davey]

This is where I'm at now

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Handling could be, er, interesting, would suggest shakedown runs somewhere with nothing vertical.

[Davey]

This is the idea

Leslie

Looks an interesting project. Will you be able to fit diagonals for triangulation of the chassis.

Les

[Davey]

I've got a full cage, I just need to chop the rear section up so I can weld it back up in situte.. The chassis rails have gussets down onto the uprights and the subframe is square, so its very strong..

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

More pictures when its progressed please, looks really interesting.

How do you explain that to females and non petrolheads,

First and foremost "I have a Nova"

Secondly, "I have spent a lot of time and money removing the back seats and putting the engine where they used to be"

Dont get me wrong, I think it looks great, but then, when was I a fountain of good ideas

[Davey]

Bah Its all in the name of fun

[Davey]

Very slight body modifications.. Ignore the wheels!

[Davey]

A little update

scoobynewbie72

iTrader: (1)

Hi, Project looks very interesting,
Can I ask why your thinking of using the 2.2 only there a shocking engine to tune, I know a few with supercharges fitted and the yanks use silly fuel in them but there dire to tune NA mate, Ud be better off with a X20XEV or even a XER(if you can find one) as there lighter and better to tune,
Unless you go back down the Z20let,
Ive about 15 years experience with tuning vx`s when you do get to that point if you need any advice.
atb
Brett