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17-8-99Sent off the necessary paperwork. This consists of:
I had to deal with the Peterborough Vehicle Registration Office (VRO). I'd heard on the mailing list that they are a bit unfriendly there, so I had initially approached the Luton office. Luton told me that there are strict catchment areas and I had to talk to Peterborough. The kitcar man at Peterborough VRO is a Mr. Hill. He sent me the necessary forms and talked me through the registration procedure. This includes an inspection of the car, to write down the chassis and engine numbers, just as the SVA tester had done. Why can't the left hand of government talk to the right hand? Too busy trying to sort out their arses from their elbows perhaps. They won't come to the car, so the car must go to them. The good news is that I can legally drive it there, no plates or tax disc, on the same basis as I drove it to the SVA test. Goody, another drive! I was going a bit frantic with the Dax stuck in the garage and blue skies above. Form V627 asks for the origin of all major parts of the car being registered. Whether new or used, it demands accompanying receipts. Form V55/5 is used to register any vehicle for the UK roads. As such, it's full of boxes to fill in, most of which are not applicable to a kitcar. For example - 'Revenue Weight', which is only for HGVs. There is no guide to filling in the form though and it took a couple of phone calls to the Peterborough VRO to sort out which boxes to fill in with what details. 20-8-99Mr. Hill phoned and asked me to bring the Dax to Peterborough on Monday for its inspection. He sounded quite friendly and gave me the impression that it was all a boring formality. 23-8-99Took Jadzia to the Peterborough VRO. I got stopped by a Peterborough traffic cop who wanted to know why I didn't have any number plates on. He was happy with my explanation of the VRO appointment and didn't even want to call them to check. Even though I was completely legal, it's still a shock to see blue flashing lights in your mirror! He spent much longer telling me how to get to the VRO, because the bridge on my planned route was closed, than he did listening to my story. Guess he was feeling bored ... At the VRO offices, Mr. Hill compared the chassis and engine numbers with what I'd written on the form and that was all there was to it! I had a nice run back in the sunshine through all the small Cambridgeshire country lanes. Not long after I got home. Mr. Hill rang and told me that the Dax was now officially registered as Q366 MAV. Excellent service! I went straight to Halfords and got some plates made up. The rear one simply sticks to the rear panel with sticky pads. For the front one I made up two aluminium brackets to hold the plate off the 'chin spoiler' under the nose cone aperture. I also fitted the exhaust heat-shields, which probably wouldn't have passed the SVA test. These clamp to the silencers with outsize jubilee clips. They don't actually do anything, as the outside of the silencers don't get so hot that you can't hold your hand on them, but they do look the dog's danglies! 24-8-99The tax disc arrived in the post, together with my returned receipts and insurance certificate. I got a chrome bolt-on tax disc holder from a local motorbike shop and bolted it to the front left-hand windscreen support bolt. That's it! We're on the road! I had a good drive around that evening and took several friends including, of course, friend John, for a spin. John had a drive and tried an unofficial 0..60 on a quiet lane while I timed it. By 60mph, the vibration and wind meant that I couldn't see my watch clearly, but Jadzia did stroll on up to 60 in about four seconds :-) By this time, dusk had fallen and I got to try the headlamps out. They're plenty bright, thanks to the Cibie Oscars supplied by Dax. The blue main-beam warning light is blindingly bright at night though and may need a bit of toning down somehow. I'll post more driving impressions, and record the modifications already in the pipeline, as soon as I can. At the moment, rain stops play ("Blouse" I can hear you all crying!) but better weather is forecast soon. I'll have to take it to work to show it off, just to prove that all these months of rumours of its existence have worked out OK! The local Cam7s group may be interested also. I'll also complete the 'Costs' section so that potential builders know what they're letting themselves in for. I may post a 'Hints and Tips' page when I can collect my thoughts and, hopefully, the thoughts of other Rush builders. Go on to Driving the Dax |
