Radiator cowl/surround

[merlinart]

Forget the using of a Ruby chassis and Reliant engines. I am interested in what you do to get the DVLA to accept your cars. I really could do with some pointers. I have a matching chassis/logbook , but it reads Saloon , I want to build a special. And. Would appreciatedyour advice.

The simplest DVLA route on this is a "rebody". But  there are some things to be aware of. Their rules on this  mean that there should be no chassis lengthening / shortening or removal of external mounting points. So  the body needs to be altered to suit the chassis and not the other way round. Any brackets / supports required either need to be  or become, part of the body and not removable from it.

They usually require a photo of the complete original car with number plate showing, a photo of the complete running chassis with number plate showing, and a photo of the finished car with its new body. The manufacturer name can still be Austin, but the model name can't be anything that's been trademarked; not that you're likely to want to call it an Austin Mondeo:-)

The fact you don't have a saloon body now shouldn't be a problem, they certainly have accepted just a photo of a running chassis and a finished car previously. If do you get an inspection of the finished car by SGS (they're the DVLA's contractors)  it will only be to check the vehicle identity, i.e. chassis etc. numbers against their records.

This is exactly what I expect. They'll either permit the use of the existing number or presumably allocate an age related number and I'm very familiar with age related for my own aero cycle cars. it is a question of keeping good records/photos etc as a builder. As a manufacturer, I find it easier anyway as I provide Certificates of Newness for all of my new parts and most likely will do similar with this idea. The main thing in my experience is not to fear the DVSA as they are now, don't listen simply to previous anecdotal ideas/nonsense/opinions on various forums (no disrespect to the above advice, which is good) and provide substantial evidence, but...don't drop yourself in it! I remember my first 3 wheeler that I built in 1992, a JZR, I was so proud of where all of the different components came from that I identified them all separately and told the inspector that this comes from this Ford, that comes from another Ford model etc, and lo and behold I received a Q plate! I learned my lesson from that.

regards

Arthur