SteveL

In my case once it finally happened it took a couple of days...... Also in terms of how duty/GST is worked out, the exchange rate they use is taken at the day the ship left port in Japan (or the country of origin), not when it docks here. The rates are published on the customs website.

Yes, my brokers/attendance fees came to $250 and looks like LW was charged $240 ($150+$45+$45), so seems about right. All the other charges he got are either shipping/port related or govt charges and unavoidable. But I'm a bit surprised about the aircon one, particularly as there was not a word about this in my case - but I could still get something down the track from the DEH.

Top secret Actually I have friend that makes steel flywheels, plus I already have a blank. I have to change my clutch soon and I can save a lot of time by getting hold of a flywheel to 'copy'......come to think of it, even just borrowing one would be good enough.

Looking for a stock RB26 flywheel (R32 type if it matters - probably not). Prefer a 'dead' one (cracked, whatever, but must be complete) and cheap, of course Melbourne only thanks, shipping from interstate likely to be 'silly' (unless you want to give me the flywheel for free, I'd consider paying the shipping in that case ) PM or e-mail: [email protected]

Be careful....I've noticed that with genuine RB30 head gaskets (and I think RB25...have to check) the holes vary in size from front to back - bigger at the back, smaller at the front. I think the idea is to promote even coolant flow in the block. It's possible by just opening them all up you could end up with hot spots, particularly at the back of the block. RB20's could be different, but check to be sure.

You probably wouldn't have the time (or the desire to get involved), but it seems there's a business opportunity here for the guys like you in Japan - you could offer an independent inspection service for cars like this. Don't really need to be a mechanic, just check the cars out so they match description, all damage (if any) as described, etc etc, offer a general opinion - no guarantee's, of course, just the opinion. Just a thought

Geoff relies on the supplier in Japan to take care of things like this....it seems that some suppliers are more 'communicative' than others. Geoff told me that my car was booked on the boat for a certain date, but I had no way of knowing it had made it until I received the arrival notice about a week before it docked. Do you have any similar indication from him ??

Nothing was missig from my car, so you might be fine. Can't you confirm with your broker that its on the boat ??

My god that's a helluva long time....no one could have predicted the broker going broke (sick joke in there somewhere).....hope it all works out for you....

'Peeling' of the paint on the intake manifold and cambelt cover looks like corrosion damage, and the alloy turbo pipe with the 'twin turbo' badge looks to have white, powdery aluminium alloy corrosion product on the upper surfaces. Corrosion like that usually occurs on parts that have 'sat around' for while, ie may not have been used very much, which could be consistant with the k's and the condition of the reat of the car. Could be a bargain. Edit: corrosion damage could also occur if the car was exposed to a saltwater environment, but you'd also begin to see damage on a lot of other components in the enginebay (and even in parts of the body) if that occurred over any length of time, like since 1995 when the car was manufactured

Great to hear you finally got your car, I'd be climbing the walls if I had to wait months like you did just to get it out of storage - so near and yet so far. Who could predict that a broker would go broke ?? and it's probable that other businesses relying on them have gone to the wall because of it Bummer about the parts and extra damage, but you sound positive and it's a great feeling finally having the car safe in your garage :Party:

There are heaps of threads in the importation forum that have all the info you need, or just do a search.

They probably have something similar in Melbourne, but I figured that by the time I chased them up it'd probably be quicker to grab my own battery. I was also under a bit of time pressure from the wife who had to be back for an appointment at 2:00pm. It worked out in the end.

Thanks guys, also found a MINES sticker on the ecu, the car must have been tuned at some stage. The Carrozzeria CD/MD player still had a MD in it - I wondered why the thing started playing music while I was playing with it, wasn't Japanese music tho, sounded a bit like the Stones but I don't think it was. Yeh it takes up high/near the top which means the clutch is almost certainly worn. I couldn't detect any slip, but wasn't able to really try it out.....

Well picked up my car this morning, there are a few relatively minor issues, but also some unexpected pluses (see below). Nothing was missing from the car and there was no 'extra' damage. I had decided to drive my car home from the dock, so I got an unregistered vehicle permit from Vicroads. At $67 dollars for 28 days it works out cheaper than having the car transported everywhere (I've also got trips for compliance and RWC to come). First it was out to Tullamarinew to see the CA, pay him and pick up the clearance paperwork, then back to Port Melbourne (Webb Dock) to get the car. It was a case of signing in at the main gate of the Patrick's terminal and then a short bus trip (they provide a little mini bus just for the purpose) to the clearance clerks office to complete the paperwork and get the key (1 in my case). After that,. a short walk to secondhand car storage area to locate the car and my first problem - dead flat battery. I had thought this might happen, so I brought a fully charged spare....but that was located in the car with my wife back at the visitors car park (you can't take another car onto their site, and they only allow one person in to collect the car - be warned). Anyway I decided to walk back to the get the battery and also grabbed a handful of tools. Fortunately the bus arrived back at the main gate at that time, so I hopped on board and after another short trip was able to chuck the battery in - but then came problem #2, terminals were different sizes (!!). I was able to jury rig the terminals, car started first kick, and after handing in some forms at the main gate I drove home (well, I had to stop for some petrol :-) ). It all took about 3 hours. I've been able to spend a few hours looking over the car and have found some unexpected pluses and a few minuses: +Bilstein suspension +braided brake lines (might be a minus for RWC) +HKS intercooler piping (don't know about the I/C, how do you tell ??) +'big' exhaust from dumps back. +remote oil filter kit (I couldn't find the filter in the normal place, eventually located it at the front, LH corner just 'behind' the front lip - couldn't be easier to change). +looks like the car has had a recent full service -some sun faded parts like the tops of the outside mirror housings (to be expected, I think). -car has factory wheels (which I wanted) and the owner has used lock nuts - but I can't find the key !! -clutch take-up is very 'short' which means it's probably worn. -an after market oil cooler is fitted along with the remote filter, but it appears that when it was fitted a bracket was pushed forward and has been touching the I/C core. It looks like it may have rubbed through a tube, but it's something I'll have to check closely. All in all I'm pretty happy.....

It's not likely to be thousands of dollars unless something really unusual happens. Before making a decision talk to your CA/broker about timeframes and any likely extra costs THEN make a decision. As they say advice on the internet is worth exactly as much as you pay for it..... As for risk...everyone accepts that buying a secondhand car by remote control is a 'risk' (if you don't, your a fool), but there are risks which you have direct control over as in this case with decisions about shipping. I went with a CA because that was what was recommended.

Well it's really your choice. DOTARS recommends against importing the car until approval is received...you can't really blame them if you do it anyway. Also they say turnaround time for approvals is about 17days, but with the proviso that increased demand could blow that out. Fact is they've probably got that right now with increasing number of 15yo apps. Also your adding to the risk by applying before the car becomes eligible - but others have had success in doing that, so again it's a question of the risk your prepared to take. That said, your agent is probably seeing what is happening with a lot of the apps that are going in at the moment and would (or should) have a pretty good idea of how things will pan out...... As it happens my car went on the boat before I had approval which was quite a shock and did cause me some stress, but that part turned out alright in the end. But in my case it was about 18 days between when I sent the app in and when the car went on the boat - a lot more time than your situation. If you decide to go ahead, make absolutely your app is complete in every way down to the last detail and you should be fine.

That's cutting it fine, comes down to whether your prepared to accept the risk of having to pay storage charges or not. You car would not clear customs without the import approval documentation and would probably have to go into bonded storage. I'd suggest talking to your CA about the potential costs (it would be a per day charge) and go from there. My import approval took 22 days to be received from DOTARS and it seems most people have experienced the same timeframe. If that's the case, your car would get approval about the middle of November, assuming they accept submission on 26/10. It could sit on the docks for up to 3 days as 'free' storage, so that might _just_ get you there, but there are a lot of if's, but's and maybe's.

AFAIC any car fitted with a stock sump should at least have some sort of baffle system fitted if it's to be used for trackwork. Stock sumps aren't designed for it and oil starvation/surge is a very real possibility. Obviously a dry sump system is the 'ideal' and probably mandatory for 'professional' competition, but it depends on how deep your pockets are.....

I asked whether I could get to see the car the day after it got here but was told that would be 'very difficult'. I didn't press the issue as I could see I was pretty much going to get nowhere from the response I got... Interestingly not a word about aircon requirements and there's nothing about it on the copy of the customs clearance doc I was faxed this afternoon. I asked the CA about any paperwork I might need to fill in, but he said not to worry about it and that he'd just put the car through and see what happens. Of course I could still see some something from the DEH down the track, but if I get nothing all those people that paid to have their car de-gassed in Japan will have every right to be p'd off.

Yeh, gotta be pleased about that.....saving will balance out the extra storage charge. I should know the final bill this afternoon.

There's nothing to stop people going 'fast', but there will be a lot of cars running at different speeds on the track at the same time, plus drivers with vastly differing experience and it really is a question of common sense. After all it's meant to be a driver training day as well as a fun day and not getting into 'serious' racing/practice.

Just got word my car cleared AQIS inspection first time, I pick it up Monday

He answered that a few posts up:

Care to elaborate ??...I was wondering whether it might have info on things like accident history, etc. Also is the engine number shown anywhere ??, mine had a couple of numbers that looked like it, but no way to be sure.