Kitcar Build Diary

It's been a while but we're in sight of the finish!

The last kitcar update was around November of 2008. Since then I have been busy with the DVLA to get everything sorted out. At long last, late in April I received the "authorisation for a number plate" letter and 6 days later the V5c. The V5c turned up the day after I picked up the car and bought it back to the Netherlands, which meant although I drove to Harwich I couldn't drive in the Netherlands. Dominic picked me up from Hoek van Holland (07:30am thanks m8!) and we took the car home on a trailer... and guess what, once again the car was spotted! (Click me)

Once the car was here I started going thorugh it and checking things out with the target of going to the Dutch RDW (Equivalent of the DVLA/VOSA) on the 29th of April. On the 28th of April at 3pm I found out that my clutch slave cylinder was leaking badly, and seeing as this shares the same fluid reservoir as the brakes I needed to get it fixed ASAP. Once again Dominic rescued me, after a quick call he arranged a slave cylinder and bought it home that evening. We fitted it, bleed the system and were done! I had also moved the radiator as my original positioning was too conservative with regards to air flow, now the radiator is placed clearly in the air flow within the left hand wing, and the cooling is noticeably better.

The last problem that was fixed is the one that caused rather some embarrassment when I came to book in for the boot home. The car wouldn't start and showed all indications of having a flat battery! After some research we realised I had made a mistake in connecting the battery earth lead to a bolt that passed through an aluminium component... a bit of corrosion and the connectivity was gone. We've now moved the lead and everything is running fine again.

On the morning of 29 April I took the car to the RDW station in Nieuwegein and presented the car for an import exam. This is just a question of checking the vehicle details with the registration paperwork. No problems found, even though the DVLA paperwork said the car had two seats! A few hours later I was on my way home. The vehicle paperwork should turn up around the 4th of May, then I need to arrange for a Dutch APK (MOT) and I'm done and dusted!

I've now created a new list of things to do, two A4 sheets full, but I can take my time for most of these.   

SVA First Attempt

Well the first SVA attempt came and went. It was a sunny friday in october and everything went as planned. The test took almost 5 hours and I left with a list of 8 points where I needed to adjust correct etc. Considering I wasn't expecting to pass first time this wasn't a let down, and the points on the list were also pretty simple to resolve. 

It's now a few weeks later and with the exception of one point the rest are resolved. Below is a list of the points and the resolutions;

1 Right Hand Head lamp had a bad aim. This was an issue in the lamp itself and so I changed it.

2 Rear fog light was in fact a brake light! Replaced with a new fog light

3 Handbrake cable support under the engine showed movement when the handbrake was applied. This has been strengthened

4 Exhaust CO content was above the limit. Adjusted the richness down and co is now around 0.3%

5 Exahust sound >101db. This is not yet resolved, Right hand outlet is 98db, but left 102. Stil working on a suitable solution

6 Petrol filler cap was more than 5mm above the body so needed to have a rounded edge of 2.5mm. Refitted petrol cap is now just 4mm above the body

7 and 8 refer to the supplied vehicle weights. Edge are supplying me with a letter to revise the vehichle weights.

 ...and thats it. Really not that bad.

The second SVA attempt is planned for 14-11, This time however if the weather is good enough I will be driving to the test!

Update

Second SVA was succesful and the weekend after the car was on the Edge stand at the Exeter kit car show, how cool is that! Photos can be found here for the show.

I did also drive to the test; you can find two videos on youtube here and here .

I'm still working with the DVLA to get the registration sorted out, once that's all done I'll be updating the site again.

Project for the cold months

 Its cold, dark and windy outside and therefore not the ideal weather to drive the car. So I have a project or two to carry out (not that its particularly warm in my garage).

Project 1: Replace the Audi NF engine (NA 10v, 130hp) I now have with an Audi ABY engine (Turbo 20v, 285hp)

Project 2: Rebuild Dashboard to incorporate Digidash

Project 3: Rewire car for all of above

Project 4: Replace rear lower wishbones with a considerably stronger alternative

Project 5: Lower fuel pump in its bracket, fix sender leak and add a fuel tank filler breather.

...and of course the car has now covered around 5000km's so its a good time to go through everything with a fine toothed comb and see what is loose, broken, rusted etc. As you can see in the photos below the body shell is off and I'm ready to pull out the engine and start working out what is or isn't going to fit. As things progress I will attempt to update the website as per the original build diaries.