I've been working hard for the last few weeks to get the car ready for the MOT test. I wanted to get the MOT done at least a week before the SVA test, to give me time to sort out any problems the MOT test might reveal. I phoned my local service station on Monday the 19th of June, to book the car in for Saturday the 24th. They only had one free slot available, at 11.30am, which I accepted. I also arranged for them to check the front wheel alignment while the car was there. I presume I can legally drive the car to any testing station (as long as the test is pre-booked), but the people at my local garage are a friendly, helpful bunch, so I'd rather give them the business. Also, the fact that they have an inspection pit, rather than a ramp, in the test bay meant that the Xtreme's rather limited ground clearance wouldn't be a problem.
On the Saturday morning, I got the car out of the garage early and checked the lights, wipers, washers and horn a dozen times. To pass the time, I then nervously (and quite needlessly) fussed and fiddled with the car for a couple of hours and at 11.10 I started the engine, to ensure it was fully warmed up for the emissions test. At 11.25, I climbed in, put on the harnesses and took to the road. I felt nervous, exited, proud and apprehensive all at the same time - I was actually driving on a public road, for the first time, in a car that I had built myself! The test station is only 500 yards away from home and I never got above 35mph, but the car felt really twitchy and difficult to keep in a straight line. I remembered that Quantum's demonstrator I drove back in November was very responsive to steering input, but this was ridiculous!
I managed to arrive safely at the test station and parked outside the empty MOT test bay. The MOT tester John and mechanic Nick both came out and stared open-mouthed at the car. "What the bloody hell's that?" asked Nick. He's worked on a couple of Quantums in the past, but was expecting a Fiesta-based Saloon or 2+2 model, not a "2-seater go kart". John asked me to drive into the testing bay and suggested that I stay in the car to operate the controls. He's a big man and thought that if he got in, he might never get out again!
The test went well, apart from a minor scare over the emissions. The limit for my age of engine is 3.5% CO. The reading on the tester was 6.0%! John said that if everything else was OK, he'd adjust the mixture for me later. There were no other problems, so at the end of the test he fetched a small screwdriver to make the adjustment. I could see him turning the screwdriver, but for what seemed ages, the reading on the machine stayed the same. Eventually, the reading plummeted to 1.9%, then stabilised at 2.5%, to my great relief.
While John wrote out the MOT test certificate, I drove the car round to the workshop, for Nick to check the tracking. The front wheels are supposed to be exactly parallel - mine were toeing in 4 degrees! After adjustment, I moved the car to the pumps and filled the petrol tank to the brim, so I could check for any leaks from the filler cap, neck or breathers when I got home. The SVA test also requires the car to be presented with a full tank of petrol.
I drove home the long way - about half a mile - and it was immediately apparent that the tracking adjustment had transformed the handling and stability of the car. With a full tank of fuel and the sun shining, it was tempting to take a wrong turning and to head out in to the country lanes. I resisted and when I got home, the car was put up on axle stands to check for fuel leaks. None were apparent, so the next task was to prepare the car for the SVA test.
Like most modern kit cars, the Xtreme is sold as being fully SVA compliant. However, there were a few items that I wasn't confident about, so I phoned Chris at Quantum - he's the guy that builds all the "turn-key" cars for customers. Chris said that all they have to do for the cars to pass the SVA test is to cover the track rod locknuts with rubber (even this isn't mentioned in my copy of the build manual, dated March 2000). I got the impression that Quantum's local test station (Shrewsbury, I think) is quite lenient and doesn't apply the rulebook too strictly.
Last August, when I was researching the various Seven-style kits available, I bought a guide to the SVA test, published by Kit-Car magazine in 1998. This gave some very useful information regarding what the inspectors test and how they test it. The items on my car that I thought wouldn't comply with the minimum radius requirements were the upper wishbone brackets on the chassis, several suspension mounting bolt heads and nuts, the cycle wing mounting bolt heads, the outer edges of the headlamp brackets, the headlamp mounting bolts and nuts, the top rear edge of the handbrake lever and possibly the edges of the wheel arches. My non-standard air filter sticking out of the bonnet would also need to be modified.
All these possible failure items were easy enough to correct - at least temporarily - with the addition of some pieces of rubber, foam tape, spirap, Titanfast trim and nut covers and with some attention from a file and an angle-grinder. I think Quantum could and should mention these items in the manual. Although it could be argued that some of them do not present any real risk of injury, if the rules are applied according to the book, they will fail the test.
My neighbour Rod had kindly offered to follow me to the test station. He's been very interested in the kit's progress and was keen to witness the SVA test. The evening before the test, we loaded his car up with a big box of tools and another box full of cable ties, spirap, Titanfast, nut covers, bulbs, fuses, the build manual and my camera. We also took his small trolley jack, one of the Sierra's wheels as an emergency spare and a gallon of petrol to top the Quantum up when we arrived.