On the Road

 I sent off my paperwork to the DVLA on the 31st of July 2025.  There are only 3 people who work in the kits and rebuilds section and with various bank holidays and personal holidays, I got my paperwork through on the 5th of September 2025.  I got my insurance upgraded for road use and since the weather was amazingly good I set off for a few drives.

St Ninian's Isle - https://maps.app.goo.gl/6F3zS3DxBQAowUef6

Hopefully will get a few more days before winter sets in!

IVA Test!

After getting my old faithful Land Rover Discovery serviced, and my Ifor Williams Transporta trailer brakes checked I was ready for the long journey.  My friend Mervyn agreed to come with me for moral support, and also to help in case we broke down!

My plan was to take the GD down to Andy at the Grantham headquarters for a sense check, then off to Derby for the IVA.  With the overnight ferries being a bit tricky to get booked during holiday season, we managed to get some space which sort of worked.

Arriving in Aberdeen at 7am, we had a 422 mile trip to Grantham.  We stopped twice for fuel and made it to GD Cars at approx 4pm.  Andy had a quick look over my car and we made a list of things for us to to confirm on the Monday.

Checking the brake bias, and adjusting the handbrake

IVA Compliant Fog Light Fitted

IVA Compliant Head Rest In-Fills Fitted

Speedo re-calibrated to 33000 as per Andy's Spreadsheet calculation

Adjusting the steering to try to get her to self centre while driving in a circle

Lowering the fuelling at idle to ensure she was within emission limits - she was!

Arrived at Derby on the 30th July

Nervously waiting to enter the test bay

Being checked over

IVA Success!  A massive thanks to Andy!

In the trailer ready for the long journey home

Celebratory Steak!

Getting ready for IVA

Working through the GD checklist for the IVA test, I double checked all points to make sure they were covered.  I sent photos to Andy at GD to make sure he didn't see anything obvious before I sent in my IVA application.  This didn't flag up anything so the application was submitted!

Rolling Road

I managed to book in a slot at Specialist Technical Solutions rolling road up here in Shetland while liaising with Dave at Canems to ensure the car was going to run as good as she could.

Ray got to work strapping the car down and started the tune after a good chat with Dave regarding the software and tune.

My engine isn't a standard LS7, it has had a camshaft and other various internal items and if you remember clocked 620bhp on the engine dyno.  I was expecting less power through the drivetrain and with the lesser quality of fuel up here (Far from super unleaded) so we put it to the test.

A good few runs were done and the basic tuning was put in place.  There was however a slight misfire at higher revs.  After speaking with Dave he confirmed that it appears when I got my engine it had been supplied with aftermarket coil packs and these could potentially be the route cause.

I ordered genuine GM ones from Rockauto.com along with spark plugs and leads.  

• Coil Packs - GM 12699382
• Spark Plugs - ACDelco 41-104
• Leads - GM 748UU

Once these were fitted, the misfire was gone and the rest of the tuning could take place.

I requested that the car didn't need to have every ounce of power extracted from it, as long as it was comfortable and smooth to drive.

Ray comfortably got 544 bhp and 562 ft.lbs of torque with no sign of pre-detonation.

Once on the road we can fine tune it.