Tuesday 6 May 2014

It passed the IVA - 2nd time!!

With the fuel pump fiasco well and truly behind us, the team at CC Midlands set out by fitting the fuel pump and starting my car (see previous post) then prepping it for the IVA.  According to Dean they (CC Midlands) have a really good working relationship with the Nottingham VOSA test centre, and they could get my car booked in at a couple of days notice.  No doubting required here, the fuel pump arrived on the 28th April, the car was started for the first time on the 29th April, and it was booked in at the VOSA test centre for the coming Friday!

So the car was readied for the test, loaded into a covered car transporter and taken up to Nottingham to be tested.

The R500 loaded into a covered car transporter ready to be taken to Nottingham VOSA test centre
The R500 loaded into a covered car transporter ready to be taken to Nottingham VOSA test centre.
Side view of the car in the transporter (fitted with standard tillet seats)
Side view of the car in the transporter (fitted with standard tillet seats)
Another view of the car in the transporter - note the bundles of spare IVA trim
Another view of the car in the transporter - note the bundles of spare IVA trim!
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the car being tested as it's a VOSA test centre, and they don't allow it.

With the IVA booked for 8:30am on Friday 2nd May 2014 I decided it was a good idea to go for a few beers the night before (when isn't going for a few beers a good idea??).  I subsequently had a pretty manic day in the office, so it wasn't until lunchtime that I realised I hadn't had the "it's passed" call or email...  I spent the next hour or two nervously watching my iPhone and Outlook mailbox for a call or email.  Then... an email popped up from Dean Francis to say unfortunately it had failed.  I was a bit gutted, as I thought I would've heard something by now if it was good news... Anyway, there was still some good news - the team up at Midlands had swiftly devised a work around and re-booked the car for this morning (Tuesday 6th May 2014) so only a day lost.

Why did it fail...?  Noise, and noise alone.  The R500 has a short exhaust can so the work around was to fit a longer can with a larger diameter.

This obviously worked, as I've had the email and subsequent call to say all is now well and my car is now approved!  Superb news.  If I'm honest, I was climbing the walls at the weekend... A few friends were at the LOT (Lotus on Track) track day in Folembray, France (which I'd booked back in Nov-13 thinking I'd be there) alas it wasn't to be.  BUT... Dean has the certificate of newness and my certificate of entitlement, so I'm happy as I write this post.

My next jobs are to send a scanned copy of my driving licence, a copy of a utility bill and my insurance cover note to Dean so he can complete whatever paperwork is necessary and get the forms off to the DVLA.  Dean said that his 620R customers are getting good prices for insurance from Lloyd and Whyte so I gave them a call, and got a pretty good price including 5 track days, European trips, European tracks (Nurburgring aside) so agreed the price with Ryan at Lloyd and Whyte and he emailed the cover note to Dean this afternoon.

Prior to collection there is still work to be done from Caterhams front.  There was a reasonable list of remedial works I wanted rectifying prior to collection, but...  I'm not going to dwell on that now, as it's already been said, and based on my current experiences with Dean to date, he's not let me down.

6 comments:

  1. What sort of seats have you fitted at the end? I see there are some in the car, but the pictures are not very clear.

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    1. They're the standard composite tillet seats for now - the 620R ones are on order and will be fitted prior to collection. This and a number of other points were agreed to be done after the IVA was approved as there'd be the inevitable 3 week wait for the V5 to come through from the DVLA.

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    2. Well I'm slightly behind you in the process - I was the second guy waiting for the fuel pump which arrived together with yours. Just spoken to Dean, my car is going to the workshop tomorrow for about five days. I'm having CSR chassis with the R500 engine in it. Little envious of yours by now with this weather...All the best. Igor

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    3. Interesting to hear that Igor - when did you order your car? Perhaps you can email me directly and we can have a discussion... Cheers, Daniel.

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  2. The fuel pump fiasco maybe over for you but i'm still waking up at night having cold sweats. I'm pleased that Nurburgring insurance is not included at the moment as it means you get to keep the car a little longer. Unless you are Cole Trickle or have been coached by Sabine - taking that thing round there is going to end in tears. On the plus side Mark Evans is a bit long in the tooth now and you could have a promising TV career producing a series of car builds and maybe then diverse and build a helicopter. Your first series would have to be titled "Caterham R500 Kit Car Rebuild". The story of you collecting the various bits of bodywork and car from the 'Ring' and trying to put it back together over a 12 week show - i'd watch it. TV Gold.

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