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Bramble's Tips and SVA/IVA info
- Heating issues. The small pipes that connect the heater matrix are too large a bore and they allow 30% of the hot water to bypass the radiator and hence the water going back to the engine is not cooled. Solution, reduce the bore. Second the vents in the bonnet need opening to allow the hot air passing through the radiator to escape. Also cut some holes in the bulkhead in front of the front wheels to allow the air pressure build up from the grill to escape. In the engine bay make sure the expansion bottle is above the engine, mine is fitted in the side wings to get it high enough.
- Handling issues: Make sure the shocks have a minimum of 22mm bore shaft in them or they will bend and jam up. 4 wheel alignment is a must to get the car to handle properly. A big issue is bump steer. The car has bump steer front and back which makes it handle extremely badly. Curing it is fairly easy and is best done during the 4 wheel alignment process so that the caster can be re-adjusted. You should be able to get it handling neutral and hence safe to drive. When getting the wheels make sure they fit inside the wheel arches or it will fail SVA. Image Wheels will make them to measure.
- Windscreen: Strengthen the windscreen frame with a good rollbar. I suggest you ask a fabrication person what they suggest to use in the frame to stop it flexing. Bond it in with fiberglass paste (P40). Without it the screen will break in no time. Bond the screen in with for extra strength but leave it till last so that you can tuck all the trim around the screen edges to give it a good clean finish. The screen needs to have an “E” mark for SVA. The old BS mark dispensation has now run out.
- Rollbar: Fit a rollbar behind the seats. There is a groove in the rear over top deck that will accept a 1.5” x 0.75” bar/tube to sit up inside it. Plate the end and weld or bolt it to the chassis. Bond the top in with fiberglass. I used a solid aluminum bar bent to shape.
- Windscreen wipers: I fitted the mini one as per the instructions but in hindsite I would rather have fitted a more up to date one as it would be easier and also more adjustable. Again SVA are stringent on this as it is safety. They must park out of view, clear the screen and have a full sweep. (don’t forget the big water bottle, and it’s full. They do check!) Doing this with a mini wiper is a nightmare even to the point that when the screen is nearly dry getting the wipers to park in position is an art as they don’t have any power in the motor! You have to play with the cam-wheel in the wiper motor itself to get the right sweep and park.
- Bonnet: Fit two catches to the top of the bonnet. One single one will allow it to flex and bounce especially when the wind goes through the grill and into the front boot space. Don’t forget the sticker for the brake fluid cylinder; it is a SVA tick box!
- Heater: If you don’t want to fit a full heater system. The rules say that you need to clear the screen with fan assist. After mine failed SVA for the heater knobs being to sharp (Out of a Nissan!!) I ripped the controls out, left a blank panel and left it forcing air to the screen with a fan switch. Passed! With the lid on it warms the cabin up in seconds as it is quite compact.
- Gear linkage: Don’t mess about with the bits they show you in the book, I have and I’ve made it work but in hindsite I would go down the scrap yard and get a linkage from a scrapper that suits your gearbox selection. Depending on where you have to send the selector shaft (under the engine?) use a good quality pipe rather than a solid shaft. (The shaft will twist over that distance and make the selection difficult.
- Centre console: Don’t drill into the centre chassis members to fix the centre console down. (They are full of water pipes!)
- Seat belts: Before you anchor them, fit a seat in and see if they are long enough. The anchor points are a long way apart and need a huge belt. I had the reels in the side wall behind a panel sitting vertical and worked a treat until I tried to move in my seat. I had to reposition the reel up onto the rear deck to get enough movement from it. Passenger one was fine for some reason. The SVA man gets in the seat (both of them) and tries them If he’s a big bloke they must work, He says you should be able to move and reach all the controls, ie radio, heater, screen vents etc. whilst belted in.
- Steering column: Needs to be collapsible. I had to strip mine down to prove it so take tool box. Also make sure it does not foul the chassis where it connects onto the rack. I had to adjust my chassis with a hammer to make it miss the knuckle joint whilst turning the steering wheel.
- Exhaust: Will be sound tested to 90db’s at 4000rpm which is not very loud. It will also be emission tested so make sure you can identify/prove (with documents like the logbook) the engine and if it had a cat fitted to the donor it will need one fitting for the emission test. (You can always remove it afterwards.)
- Mirrors: They are tested to the weird setup in the manual. They will need to be E marked and adjustable. The car in front of me failed as the tester pulled the mirror of the screen. Superglue is not the answer!
- Targa top: Don’t fit the roof for the test, gives him something extra to whinge about. Also don’t put a spare wheel in or it will be tested to see that it fits all corners and it is street legal.
- Glass/plastic: Everything must be E marked and for lexan, proof of what it is and where it came from must be provided on the day.
- Driveshafts: You will need to get the drive shafts made to suit the engine to hub type and distance. Do not get them cut and shut as they will break and/or foul on the chassis member. Get them made from solid. (£160 each|).
- Speedo: When wiring in the speedo don’t use coax. Use speaker cable instead. It must be accurate. Depending on what dial you use, call the manufacturer up with the details etc and they will tell you what pulses to use. I used ETB and the tester was miffed that it was accurate to 0.2MPH up to 70mph. (As hi as they test).
- Fueltanks: Obviously you have 2 tanks. Keep the cross pipe down to ¾” dia or you will hold a gallon in the pipe. Make sure it is not hanging down below the chassis for damage etc and that nothing is attached to it. It must also be well supported. Make sure the slave tank can breathe (carbon canister or whatever) or it will cause a vacuum in the fuel delivery system. The fuel filler cap also needs to be tethered to the body for SVA. Mine is the aircraft type and I used a piece of toilet chain to secure it to the body for the test.
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Ferrari 308 GTS Replica
