The final to-do list?

 I've now gone through the IVA manual line by line, and these are the gaps I have left;

• 01 Noise.

Must have a measured sound level not exceeding 99DBA. I have actually measured this but it wasn't at the required revs and the engine was cold. I could do with doing this again just to make sure, hopefully the neighbours don't mind. The first time I think was around 91 so I am hoping I'm well within the limit.

• 02B Metered emissions.

The emissions limits must be met. Nothing I can do here, as with regular MOT's I can just hope everything looks fine. 

• 05 Steering effort.

The steering angle must not be limited by any part of the steering, transmission, or suspension system unless the components have been specifically designed for this purpose. Steering components must not foul or be likely to foul other parts of the vehicle under normal operating conditions. Basically I need to put the steering limiters back in, because otherwise the steering hits the wishbone. It's only at full droop, and the test is done with the vehicle at rest, but no point having it do something it shouldn't. 

When the vehicle is driven at speeds above 10mph, there must be a degree of steering “self-centring” evident. This to be retested now I've reset the suspension.

• 09C Park Brake control.

A parking brake lever, actuating linkage, cable or associated component mounting / bracket must be secure to the vehicle structure. I need to make clips to hold the handbrake rear cables to the chassis, otherwise they could be seen as touching and potentially damaging.

• 09D Hydraulic systems

An indelible label must be affixed in a visible position within 100 mm of the filling ports of the fluid reservoirs to ensure that it is possible for the end user of the vehicle to identify the brake fluid used in braking system. I have the sticker design, just need to print and stick. 

• 12 Interior fittings

Handbrake and mechanism to be assessed for contact. The nuts/bolts/edges etc just need the various covers on them. And yes, I still need to protect the wiring as it enters the car.

Edge trim on all edges. See previous post. 

• 16 Exterior projections

Check front grille metal edge is at least 2.5mm. The corner trim has made me paranoid that part of the front grill isn't correctly radiused. If it isn't then an extra bit of trim is required.

• 25 Headlamps

Headlight aim based on dipped beam. This sounds and looks really simple to check and adjust, but my garage isn't square on with the drive, so I actually need to do some rearranging in the dark to get this right. 

• 44 Masses and dimensions

Calculate design weights based on kerb weights plus passengers plus fuel. Measure length and width. This is for the registration form as well. 

In terms of corner weights, I managed to do it properly, so here it is;

Front left: 144.2 KGs

Front right: 144.9 KGs

Back left: 152.8 KGs

Back right: 146.8 KGs

For a total of 588.7 KGs. I am very happy with that, I thought I was closer to the MX5 donor car but turns out I'm 400KGs lighter. 

There are a couple of caveats to that. The tank only has a few litres in it, and it's a 27 litre tank. So based on the IVA values I can assume maybe 20KG of fuel to go in. I also did it per corner, with lifting the other three. Apparently it's a valid method of measuring, but I want to be overestimating the total weight rather than under. 

What I can't figure out is how these numbers relate to kerb weight, axle weight, gross vs max, what is permitted, what needs to be declared etc. I'll have to check the IVA form to figure out what numbers are actually needed.