Formula Ford - coverting to a road car via SVA

[Mr.Jingles]

OK - the layup is this. A friend and I were chinwagging about kit cars, specifically how everything tends to fall into one of a limited number of brackets (Seven, Cobra, Supercar impersonation or - in the case of MEV etc - Atom type impersonation). Eg, nothing really exciting or extreme (maybe not a fair comment, but it was how this whole thing got started).

Anyway - not to dwell on that, we started wondering why no one had converted a race car to be a road car recently, only to find someone had done it with a vee.... this got me thinking

How hard could it honestly be to convert a Formula Ford (asume Duratec) to be roadworthy ALA the SVA, doing the absolute minimum so you could put it back into race trim in an hour or two? The ultimate in race what ya brung

Not talking great road quality driving here - don't care if it is lumpy to drive and will never clear a speedbump - just love the idea that I coudl drive it down the M4 (maybe with a fuel tanker following ) and straight into the pits.

Issues I can see straight away:

1) Heat management (need some fans that can be removed)
2) Wear and tear (mileage on the engine)
3) Getting run over by a lorry driver reading his text's
4) Fuel tank size (lack of)
5) Getting pulled.... lots

plus the obvious indicators, mirrors and other frilly bits!

[The STIG]

Lose the wings and what do you get...



Been trying to find more info on this - it's called a Sprint-R and it's built by Road Runner Racing, whose website seems to be offline at the moment. yes it's road legal (Just), and should give you an idea of what a road going single seater can look like. You will need to cover the wheels, this is an IVA (new SVA) requirement. lights and indicators of course, find a place to put the registration plate, Make sure it's going to be quiet enough for road use... there's quite a lot to do when you think about it.

[Mr.Jingles]

Have to admit I hadn't see that - nice.

How the wings get passed/got past the IVA is anyones guess - guess if they are radius'd enough, who cares if they break your ankles

Yeah, it's alot of work to do - however, the real trick was to be able to race covert it back... the novelty factor

[The STIG]

I'm not sure how they got away with the wings either! The beauty of it is that if you can make the lights and cycle wings so they simply unbolt or unclip somehow, the rest should be a doddle

[JamesH]

What's the new rule on covering wheels?

(I have a 9 year old Locost build in the garage that's nearly complete, but haven't checked the SVA rules in years. It's a FFord 1600 powered car, but with bigger cam and bigger carbs...)

[terence]

Originally Posted by Mr.Jingles

OK - the layup is this. A friend and I were chinwagging about kit cars, specifically how everything tends to fall into one of a limited number of brackets (Seven, Cobra, Supercar impersonation or - in the case of MEV etc - Atom type impersonation). Eg, nothing really exciting or extreme (maybe not a fair comment, but it was how this whole thing got started).

Anyway - not to dwell on that, we started wondering why no one had converted a race car to be a road car recently, only to find someone had done it with a vee.... this got me thinking

How hard could it honestly be to convert a Formula Ford (asume Duratec) to be roadworthy ALA the SVA, doing the absolute minimum so you could put it back into race trim in an hour or two? The ultimate in race what ya brung

Not talking great road quality driving here - don't care if it is lumpy to drive and will never clear a speedbump - just love the idea that I coudl drive it down the M4 (maybe with a fuel tanker following ) and straight into the pits.

Issues I can see straight away:

1) Heat management (need some fans that can be removed) == With the range of Fans available,why remove them.
2) Wear and tear (mileage on the engine) == More concern about the Transmission,Engine should be fine using something
like Motul.
3) Getting run over by a lorry driver reading his text's == A worry anyway!
4) Fuel tank size (lack of) == Not too difficult to overcome.
5) Getting pulled.... lots == Not if your quick enough.LoL

plus the obvious indicators, mirrors and other frilly bits!

Not that difficult,several have been done before.One I seem to remember was converted by Roger Williams,the originator of the Snetterton 24hr,[the proper one,not 2CVs] It was even driven down Oxford Street in the Smoke.

[Mr.Jingles]

Originally Posted by JamesH

What's the new rule on covering wheels?

(I have a 9 year old Locost build in the garage that's nearly complete, but haven't checked the SVA rules in years. It's a FFord 1600 powered car, but with bigger cam and bigger carbs...)

There is a diagram somewhere (can't find it now, sods law) but you need to cover a certain amount of surface area and across a certain part of the wheel. The edges also have to be radiused/rolled inwards.

[Mr.Jingles]

Originally Posted by terence bower

Not that difficult,several have been done before.One I seem to remember was converted by Roger Williams,the originator of the Snetterton 24hr,[the proper one,not 2CVs] It was even driven down Oxford Street in the Smoke.

I know there was a road-legal FF way back when (flower power paintscheme, right?) but I've not seen any others.

Certainly not seen any that could be coverted back to race trim in, say, 30 mins to an hour using only basic tools.

[RICHARD.T]

In Nicxk Brittan's book 'The Formula Ford Book' it has a couple of photos of his road going Formula Ford which he drove round Hyde Park, London.
But it was about 35 years ago and things were a lot different then.
It looked like an old FF with Lotus seven mud guards and lights with stick on numberplates.

[Mr.Jingles]

Originally Posted by RICHARD.T

In Nicxk Brittan's book 'The Formula Ford Book' it has a couple of photos of his road going Formula Ford which he drove round Hyde Park, London.
But it was about 35 years ago and things were a lot different then.
It looked like an old FF with Lotus seven mud guards and lights with stick on numberplates.

That was done under some "invalidity-carriage" get out wasn't it?

Still not quite the same though - we were thinking of a quick bolt-on/bolt-off road to track conversion jobbie - not seen anyone do that yet, they all seem to be road-compromised.

I still think you can have your cake and eat it on this one.....

[ian_w]

If you chose a car that is more than 10 years old then you won't have to do SVA/IVA and can just get an MOT before registering it. I've got an old Van Diemen Multisport that I'm restoring/modifying and may make road legal - I have spoken to VOSA and they confirmed that it didn't need an SVA.

It is also possible to get a 'daylight' MOT whereby you don't actually need any lights at all. As soon as you fit sidelights then you need the full complement of lights, my plan was just to have brake lights and indicators. You will however need a handbrake and a horn, I think that even a speedo is not required.

Useful website: http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual/contents.htm

[Mr.Jingles]

Originally Posted by ian_w

If you chose a car that is more than 10 years old then you won't have to do SVA/IVA and can just get an MOT before registering it. I've got an old Van Diemen Multisport that I'm restoring/modifying and may make road legal - I have spoken to VOSA and they confirmed that it didn't need an SVA.

It is also possible to get a 'daylight' MOT whereby you don't actually need any lights at all. As soon as you fit sidelights then you need the full complement of lights, my plan was just to have brake lights and indicators. You will however need a handbrake and a horn, I think that even a speedo is not required.

Useful website: http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual/contents.htm

Now that I didn't know - I assumed you'd have to stick it through an IVA to get VIN plate etc. How do you get it registered? Does the VD plate count for proof of age?

Wow - this could be easier than I thought thanks for this, something to look at....

[ian_w]

I spoke to Van Diemen heritage dept and for a small fee they sent me a letter confirming the year of manufacture which should hopefully be sufficient.

I'm not 100% sure of the exact details of how you register it. I built a kit car many years back and as I remember you got somebody from the local vehicle licensing office to come out and verify the chassis and engine numbers, I next got it MOT'd on the chassis number and took this down to the licensing office with an application form and they issued a V5 and reg number.

[David Driver 1973]

Originally Posted by ian_w

If you chose a car that is more than 10 years old then you won't have to do SVA/IVA and can just get an MOT before registering it. I've got an old Van Diemen Multisport that I'm restoring/modifying and may make road legal - I have spoken to VOSA and they confirmed that it didn't need an SVA.

It is also possible to get a 'daylight' MOT whereby you don't actually need any lights at all. As soon as you fit sidelights then you need the full complement of lights, my plan was just to have brake lights and indicators. You will however need a handbrake and a horn, I think that even a speedo is not required.

Useful website: http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual/contents.htm

Hi Ian I spotted this old post. Did you ever get your van Dieman multi sport on the road? Thanks Dave