nor do I want a Q plate.
I dont want to start a sh!t fight so please allow me voice my opinion and I in no way mean this personally to anyone writing on here, I am more peeved with the mess of the rules than anything else.
Tommy as an MOT tester maybe you can shed light on the subject - I fail to see how putting a zcars kit into a mini does any of the things that are in the above statement, maybe I am missing the point so please put me in the picture if I am. I have broken down the points in the statement below:
1) significantly reduces the original strength of the car - surely with the addition of the space frame/roll cage in the car the overall strength greatly exceeds that of the original car.
2) excessive corrosion - it doesnt cause corrosion and this would be more for the body panels as the spaceframe/rollcage would be new any way.
3) Severe Distortion - it doesnt do that, if anything it helps to not distort the original car.
4) A fracture or an inadequate repair of a load bearing member or its supporting structure or supporting panel within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting that is within a 'prescribed area' - Again I refer to my observation about the strength of the space frame going into the car that replaces many of the original parts with stronger, better solutions. This includes the original sub-frames both front and rear as it can't be argued that the new Zcars rear structure or front sub-frame are in any way 'an inadequate repair' as they wouldnt pass an SVA test in those cars that have been built with that very purpose in mind.
5) Appendix C - I dont have the ability to view this so cant comment.
I agree that the car is radically altered, there is absolutely no getting away from that, I dont see how it could fail an MOT an any of the things in the VOSA statement as this would surely mean that every Zcar, even with a new reg would never pass an MOT or am I really way off the mark here??
Again Tommy I am not arguing against you personally, so please dont take it that I am. Like it has been said earlier in the thread it is such a grey area that VOSA really need to update their rulings on such things or make them much more black and white across the whole organisation as it hardly seems fair that a person can go to one office and get an OK and another office wont allow it.
What does VOSA stand for again? - Very Obstructive Significantly Annoying?
I knew my post would cause a reaction amongst testers and Z car builders alike, and I take no offence whatsoever to your reply.
You can ignore most of the statement I pasted out of the MOT manual, The significant bit is "significantly reduces the original strength of the car" with the emphasis on Original. In my opinion this is exactly what you have done in creating a Z car, and as Phaeton pointed out it also extends to people who hack away parts of the front subframe to fit non original engines and even flip fronts where the inner wings have been partially removed.
When you modify your car you put in extra bracing etc and it may well be stronger than original, but I am not in a position to calculate the stresses an strains involved and say whether your modifications are strong enough, and if I were, I wouldn't have spent half my life with sh!t, water and oil dripping on my head.
I know nothing of the SVA test but have imagined it would be carried out by qualified engineers who are capable of making such assessments, and if they say it's OK I could not object to giving it an MOT.
I did indicate in the original post that this is only my interpretation of what is written in the manual, and urged interested parties to contact their area VOSA office to get clarification. These are the people you would normally complain to if you disagreed with the outcome of an MOT, and since they sit in judgement over the likes of me ,they should be qualified to give a better answer. I would be as interested as everyone else to hear what they have to say.
I have to stand by what I said originally, I would hate to encourage modified car owners to take them to their local MOT station only for them to end up getting crushed. For anyone willing to give it a try I would suggest they enquire of the test station before submitting for a test, then if they refuse, at least they dont have your details to report to VOSA.
