Defect Help!

[NeboRdChick]

Traffic cops are out in my small town of mackay being dickheads and targetting every import on a thursday/friday/saturday night.

It's bullshit.

Anywho a month ago i and 20 other skylines got done with the same defect. The intercooler piping going thru the inner guard.

So i went to investigate - email DOT about the legality of intercoolers.

I received this email in return.

Hello Karina

Thank you for your email, In regards to your inquiry,

The installation of intercoolers and associated pipework are regarded as

accessories and do not require specific approval from Queensland Transport

(QT). As such, QT does not approve nor disapprove the fitting of

accessory providing that the vehicles compliance to ADR's and structural

integrity is not affected. It is up to the owner/modifier to ensure that

the accessories fitted do not affect compliance to ADR's.

For the installation of an intercooler to be considered acceptable, it

must be capable of being fitted without substantial alterations to the

vehicle structure. The drilling of holes for mounting bolts and the

drilling of larger holes through inner guard panels is acceptable provided

the installation is carried out in accordance with good engineering

practice.

Please note that the drilling of larger holes through chassis rails is not

permitted.

With regards to the cutting or enlarging of holes in the inner wheel

guards of motor vehicles, a comparison can be taken with the cutting of

holes in bonnets to facilitate the installation of a bonnet scoop. Any

holes cut or enlarged in an inner wheel guard must not reduce the impact

resistance of the wheel guard assembly.

To facilitate this procedure, enlarged holes must be reinforced with

equivalent or similar gauge metal to that utilised in the original inner

guard panel to ensure the impact resistance and strength of the inner

guard panel is not affected. To ensure this requirement is achieved,

consultation with a relevant authority (engineer) or a competent

tradesperson may be required to confirm that the modification is in

accordance with good and sound engineering practice. Additionally, any

holes through inner wheel guard panels should be fitted with appropriate

protection against chafing, rubbing and vibration.

If you require further information please contact my self on 3253 4851.

Billy Gallagher

Assistant Policy Advisor

Vehicle Standards

Modifications Help Desk

Queensland Transport

Tel: (07) 3253 4581

Email: [email protected]

The police told me i have to redirect my interooler piping and patch the hole up.

I went to a roadworthy place and the bloke who gave me the roadworthy certificate 6 months ago when i bought the car, had no idea paperwork and said it was all legal, so signed it off anyway.

AGAIN - last weekend i was pulled up - and had a huge fight with a copper. I told him i had an email stating it was all legal and i just had it cleared. He was going to give me another defect notice and charge me with 2 offences.. but my sweet boyfriend calmed the cop down. Coppa reckons he just spent 2 weeks with DOT and know that the piping is illegal. I told him it's not - it doesn't go thru the chassis rail! He said if he see's my car around again he's going to take it off the road!

Noooo!!!

So i need some help!

Im having trouble understanding the email.

One of the mechanics told me i should just get a bit of steal surrounding the piping and weld it there, or if stainless - bolt it on..

But am i going to get in another shit fight with another police officer if i do this.. and it's wrong?

Is there a standard hole in the guard? I bought the car with the intercooler already installed.

How are you to know that cutting thru a guard is going to reduce the effect of impact?

Has anyone else had this trouble before?

If worst comes to worst, ill pull all my piping out and patch the hole up - but what other intercoolers can you buy that don't do that?

Thanks Karina

[Count Grantleyish]

Hey,

Man, this is very neat hole!

Do your 33 have drivers or dual airbag? If it does, it might be the reason cops bother you about it (In Victoria cops often do that but I don't know whats the legal requirment in QLD), might email QLD Transport and ask again regarding the one with airbag?

There is one thing you could do to stop this from happening again but it would cost you - remove this fmic and replace it with 'turn flow' unit (the intercooler that use piping that lead from/to standard piping) and weld the hole, just a thought.

Cheers

Grant

[NeboRdChick]

Hey,

Man, this is very neat hole!

Do your 33 have drivers or dual airbag? If it does, it might be the reason cops bother you about it (In Victoria cops often do that but I don't know whats the legal requirment in QLD), might email QLD Transport and ask again regarding the one with airbag?

There is one thing you could do to stop this from happening again but it would cost you - remove this fmic and replace it with 'turn flow' unit (the intercooler that use piping that lead from/to standard piping) and weld the hole, just a thought.

Cheers

Grant

What would airbags have to do with it? It doesn't have them.

LOL be good if i could just cover it with something..

Edited October 29, 2008 by NeboRdChick

[Count Grantleyish]

What would airbags have to do with it? It doesn't have them.

LOL be good if i could just cover it with something..

Apparently cops in Victoria claim that airbag sensor wouldn't work, from engineers viewpoint that if the hole is made it would reduce the chassis strength over the original report made by whoever tested it during compliance process should the accident occur (just going from what I'm told, others free to correct me on this).

Maybe you catched the officer on wrong year!

Maybe you could paint the pipe and the cooler black for sleathly look?

What year is your 33? (curious)

Cheers

Grant

[skymugs]

personally i think they're full of shit and are picking on u for some reason, it looks neat and doesnt go through anything major like the chasis rai,l u would have to be stupid to put it there lol

and the other side has two holes dirilled in roughly the same area, and prolly one isnt being used. but if you are running the standard plenum u can route your piping another way,

but then you make the pipes slightly longer..

hope i helped

[NeboRdChick]

Yeah they just target imports lately. Wouldn't look twice at my neighbours VE SS with a T51R.

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

When i bought my GTT they didnt pass roadworthy due to the intercooler piping going through the same area.. and to pass it needed reinforced plating.. i'd suggest getting a plate welded on and then getting an engineers cert.. with the engineers plate on the car it would be stupid of the copper to defect you when you can just go to court and show the plate clearly labeled and then go for the harrassment road and get the copper on notice

[Johnny]

Yeah they just target imports lately. Wouldn't look twice at my neighbours VE SS with a T51R.

JDM sports cars are 'sports cars' so they always assume that someone young who modify's it for more power is driving dangerously.

Police drive commodores therefore they would be less inclined to examine any modification.

Fix the problem on your car so its more stealthy and you wont give them a reason to defect you; wishful thinking.

[RusH_]

also carry around in the glove box a copy of the engineers cert that is signed off and a copy of the email as well, next time they begin the rant, shove it in their face

[djr81]

What the bloke from Queensland Transport has written in the email is both sensible & straight forward.

What he is saying is that if you remove some metal from the guard liner, say a 80mm diameter hole then you should weld in (Or bolt in) an equivalent or larger amount of metal around the hole to compensate. This usually takes the form of a ring with say an 80mm inside diameter & maybe something like a 130mm outside diameter. Unsurprisingly it is known as a compensation plate & is universal engineering practice on things far more highly stressed & critical than guard liners.

By installing such a plate you have done what you can to ensure the strength of the panel is not affected by the penetration.

The key question is: Does you car have a compensation plate welded in? Because if not it would not appear to comply with what Billy Gallagher has written.

Your best chance of not getting further hassled by the police is to either remove the modification, follow the procedures as described by Queensland transport or have sufficient paperwork with you to demonstrate to the police that the car ocmplies.

[NeboRdChick]

So if i do weld this metal plate around the intercooler piping - and get a certificate from an engineer as proof and keep the email with me; ill be okay?

(can i just get this done from an exhaust & metal fabrication business?)

[djr81]

To be honest I would try somewhere a bit more solid than an exhaust place. You don't want some muppet with a mig running amock. See if you can't find somewhere who does automotive work & will either tig weld it or will get someone who can. Also remember that welding = burnt paint so you will have to get that fixed up afterwards anyway.