Ive recently got my hands on a coupe with a metro turbo engine in, does anyone have any good contacts on glass (sva Approved?) and information on sva testing?


any information is vital at the minute as im not sure which way to go (tubo lump in classic mini maybe)

Thankyou

Chris

Heated front screens are possible.
I've had a few batches made in the past and we could do it again if there's enough demand.
Side screens and the perspex rear are more problematical, I'm not an expert on SVA but I'm not sure perspex is allowed any more?
D

The SVA is now the IVA. You can get the latest manual here:

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-approval/ind ... al-manuals

All windows need to be e marked, but side and rear windows can be perspex. I believe Plastics 4 performance or one of the other plastic window makers can e mark them.

For side & rear windows I think it is possible to get polycarbonate (Lexan) screens made with the appropriate E markings.
I'm sure I read somewhere that Plastics4Performance http://www.lexan-windows.com/ could make and mark the windows.

For a while you could get away without fitting the side & rear windows but the IVA have tightened up on this and would fail as parts were missing.

Windscreen and side windows need to be E marked, rear glass doesn't but it must be toughened. Side windows also need other markings to comply - I think it's 43R and something else that I can't remember offhand but it's all in the manual. The only plastic suitable is Lexan because it is the only one that meets spec (definitely not Perspex) and I got a set made for my Rossa by http://www.Plastics4Performance.co.uk but they were very expensive - £240 the pair Now that my car has passed IVA I'll be removing them to replace the glass (which is kite marked and not acceptable for IVA) so they will be for sale at a lot less than they cost. However, I don't know if you could cut them down to Coupe size and also you need to have the markings visible just above the door handle but it might be possible.

One other thing - when mine arrived the paperwork said GTM coupe with a small c. If ordering a set for a Coupe with a big c make sure that you send them a template or you might get the wrong ones.....

Thankyou for the replys,

How could they fail missing parts when they wernt there in the first place? ie westfield sidewindows? with regards to the front screen, ive found pilkington glass do a screen so im going to contact them.

Cheers

Chris

I discussed the side windows with an IVA tester but it was 4 years ago. I asked if side windows were compulsory and did I need to have them - the answer was No in both cases. Provided that you make the door look as if no windows were meant to be there ie: seal off the slot in the top off the door with some rubber sealing strip and blank off the window winder holes in the door card then it would be ok. However, minitici says that they have tightened up on that now and I can't argue because I don't know. The best plan would be, if possible, to ask a tester yourself but you can't phone direct nowadays - you have to phone VOSA at Swansea and ask to be put through to whatever test station you intend using. Hopefully they will put you through and your tester turns out to be a reasonable one rather than a jobsworth! Alternatively, you can always call in to the station and ask the guy - mine was happy to discuss several issues.

They are trying to tighten up on people not fitting parts for the test because they know they would fail but they know full well that as soon as the car is home the parts will be fitted. It's a huge grey area because they can't prove your intent.

With a Coupe it would be fairly easy to leave the side windows out since you could just leave the window frame off the door and there is no slot for the glass to drop into or winder mechanism to suggest that something is missing (sliding windows) a nice finishing strip of some sort along the top of the door to make it look pretty and create a radius with the edge of the fibreglass should do the trick. Problem is that the style of the car (and all the others on the road) makes it fairly obvious that there are going to be side windows so the tester is in a no-win situation. From his point of view if he takes your word that you are not going to fit them he might be slapped from above if you happen to be an inspector. From your point of view he can't prove your intent to fit side windows later.

And then of course he might be like the tester I got on my SVA retest (Robin Hood not GTM) and just being difficult for the sake of it.

You need really to speak to the person that will be testing your car - and there might be several at the station so there's no guarantee that the person you speak to will be the person that comes out of the office on the day you turn up with the car.

Regarding Plastics 4 Performance - they are only a couple of miles from me and sort of mates of mates. I don't think I could swing any sort of discount but if they need templates of Coupe stuff I can take my screens to them since my Coupe is in bits at the moment and not likely to need it's windows for some months yet. I had been half thinking about asking them for a rear screen as mine is a little misted but I'm not at that stage yet so hadn't gone any further than thinking about it.

Iain

Plastics 4 performance where very open minded about group buys when a bunch of us on Turbo Minis got together a decent order. Made a nice saving for me.

If anyone is going to arrange a group buy of Coupe rear screens - I need TWO!

Thankyou for the replies, im a class 4 tester (standard passenger vehicles) so when we test westfields etc if the windows arnt present we cant test them. Different story if you would have one on the passenger side and nothing on the drivers side. Im going to ring a bloke called steve cabe who is our local vosa officer see if he can shed some light on the situation.

With regards to screens if we could start another link getting everyone to list there details what we want and sort a date to contact / order all items needed?