Had a mail from Vosa today saying my application has been progressed and sent to Beverley TS. They will be in touch to arrange an inspection date.

WOOOHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Still waiting for VOSA to give me an SVA date. I sent the Amateur Built Declaration form off on the 9th May and on Friday the 23rd another one arrived. I rang the up to ask whats going on and put the phone down more confused after someone telling me there was something missing from the form. That was after he said they had not received the first one. I pointed out it was signed for on the 13th and he found it in about 30 seconds! Anyway I have to phone back later this week as whoever I need to speak to is on holiday :-/

In the meantime I've picked up a Rover T16 engine that will be married to my Toyota W58 gearbox and installed in the car at a later date. It will be a challenge as the recognized route is using Sherpa van or SD1 gearboxes. Van boxes have rubbish ratio's and SD1 boxes are rare. Land Rover R380 boxes fit but they cost a fortune. I already have the Toyota box so thats whats going in. People put them behind big V8's and they come from Supra turbos so I know its well up to the job.

This is the box...

This is the engine, getting them together will be a challenge....

Making the box fit the engine is fairly straightforward if time consuming! I have two options, the first being a Maestro backing plate (I already have) that I can mark the Toyota bellhousing out on and redrill the mounting holes. Only problem here is the starter mounting is where the turbo is. Moving it to the other side isn't a drama as the Maestro plate is a 1/2 inch piece of steel plate. In a word, heavy!

Option 2 is using the original FWD bellhousing. Separating the FWD gearbox to expose the front part which is little more than a bellhousing. Grinding the diff carrier off makes it suitable. Then making an adapter plate to bolt the Toyota box to it. Nice over box clutch lever but the starter sits in the bellhousing and hangs over the top of the box. May cause a clearance issue. This way makes the install a lot lighter and it should be dead easy to line everything up. Again may need to move the starter!

I got this idea from a fellow Locostbuilder, Bill who is doing the same for his 7. Check it out here:

http://bills-locost.blogspot.com/

Right then, while waiting for Vosa my mind is turning to what happens after SVA.... current plan is to lift the 1.8 zetec and replace it with a turbo engine. Plan is a Rover T16 with a Toyota W58 gearbox. I will then have a spare Ford engine that I may replace with a 2.0L and drop it into one of these little tin cans!
I really fancy one of these French fillies with rear wheel drive and 160bhp.....

As requested some pictures of my rad mount. They are not very neat but are out of sight and do the job remarkably well. Aluminium brackets riveted to the chassis tube at the bottom as described in the build manual. The original top brackets, one of which can be seen in the picture of the top mount were to far back to fit the hoses etc, so I made brackets that bolt to the top mounting plate on the chassis that also serve as handy earthing points for the front lights, and the rusty Sierra horn bracket I've reused!

Quick update, nothing much happening ATM, waiting for Vosa to give me a date for SVA. There is a small amount to fettle, boot lid, fog light switch, and chassis number to stamp on. Then some fettling with polish to make her shine.