Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hi Everyone.

Starting the planning phase of an R33 upgrade, and need to know some legalities. How do permits get obtained, what permits are required and how closely to the cops look at permits. I am looking to build a serious drive car but don't want to be yellowed every time I head down the road.

Let me know of your experiences or share your knowledge in this area please.

Cheers Blinky

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/274345-permits-for-mods/
Share on other sites

More info?

What kind of mods?

Basic mods, just download an app form off the DPI website or ring up/go into centre and get one.

Bigger mods require a Light (Commercial) Vehicle Modification Application or whatever they're called, which needs approval before mods can begin, from there, you need to download additional 'VSB14' sheets, and fill out appropriate forms relevant to the modifications, taking them with you to the pits along with engineering documents to get them passed. (This only applies for big shit like engine swaps, chassis/body modifications, etc).

Once you get your mods passed, thats it, cops don't really have ground for a sticker.

VSB14 also covers what IS and ISNT legal, nothing specific, but it denotes legal power-to-weight ratio's, types of swaps you can do, outlines the limits of chassis mods, defines what brakes, suspension, steering, etc are required when modifying, etc.

Edited by Nic_A31

Looks like I have a bit of paper work to do then. I am looking at either a dirty 30 or RB26 swap to replace the current RB25.

Thats the only mod I think I would need a permit for, the rest is cosmetic, ie, boot, bigger rims etc...

Upgradding a R33 to R33 GTR is easier, because that counts as installing "optional engine", "optional transmission", etc, bascially its the same car with all the fruit, but again, go the whole nine yards and be safe.

An RB30 is a different story, the power to weight ratio will be different on your R33, and R31 brakes wont pass over the pits, so you'll need something bad-ass, ring the guys at the DPI for more info on that.

Crossmembers can be fabricated for about $500 each w/ certs, at the most (no, anyone who tells you otherwise is a tosser who can't do homework) and just have them made to use the stock mounts so you dont need to use customs.

The rest should be all sweet, rims have their limits, and unless you want a huge 40 inch Suburu style bonnet, you're fine.

VSB 1 through 14

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/veh...etin/index.aspx

Modification Application (Light (Production) Vehicles)

http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/lic_modform_prodveh.pdf

Edited by Nic_A31

Ok

I checked out the DPI web site and then the link you gave me. To be honest it doesnt look that complicated.

Work out what I want to do, apply for the approval and get it, do the work, have it inspected and passed, drive with permits to flash at cops.

Sound about right???

Alot easier than people tell you it will be, but easier said that done.

Plan it

Apply

The app comes back, telling you exactly what you need to do, take it to any fabricators if neccesary, or go ahead with the work, take it over the pits, and yeah, you should go all good hopefully.

With the application, dont be scared of "out there" idea's, they dont judge it by "thats going to be an idiots car" or "yes thats fine", if they can see you know your shit and you put safety before moron performance, they'll give you a green light.

Alot of people told me applying for a J30 Maxima RWD conversion would never be approved by the DPI, but hey, I proved that to be wrong, not that I've taken that idea any further.

Try for an RB30 if you want, just focus on making it afe, reliable, and do a proper job and take your time, then the DPI guys should be easy on ya.

If you dont want to be stickered then simply dont make the car illegal... sorry to say but i have never once had to pop my bonnet and neither has my brother and his is carbon fibre...

if your car looks straight and is not excessively loud and your not doing the wrong thing you will not have a problem...

By fitting a 26 or a 30, they will ask you for an emissions test = decent $$$ now. Plan this one well in advance if you want to go through with it.

dont goto the pits until you get stickered.

Why? Really you are supposed to apply for the modifications before beginning them, as their reply would only be a pre-approval which is then subject to an inspection where they will either permit it, or not. By having a sticker & going through the pits if it's not removed you will have to try again x number of times, while if you have the pre-approval & they don't allow it, at least you don't have a defect notice on your car to go with it.

It's valid for 2 years so you have the time to get it done, but really when it comes down to it if everything is done properly, chances are there won't be too much of an issue.

extremely good advice.

plus some cops will just say 'you replaced the part that you got the permit for with an illegal one' and sticker you anyway.

if you dont want to be stickered buy a volvo.

Not good advice, as going over with a sticker & there is something/s they say you need a permit for, at best you will get an extension to that yellow sticker & then get to play the waiting game to hear back from the tech section about it, which could take weeks. *above comment here too*

If those cops were to say that to me I would be taking their details for an official complaint. The brand name is also listed on the permit, so if they were going to sticker me for having a Garrett turbo when my permit lists it as a Garrett turbocharger fitted, I wouldn't exactly be taking it on the chin :P

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Hey Dave, welcome aboard! Good to see another soon-to-be Stagea owner here. The wagons are awesome — plenty of space, still got that Skyline DNA, and loads of potential if you’re into mods. Definitely post up pics when you get it, everyone here loves seeing new builds. What model/year are you looking at?
    • See if you can thermal epoxy a heatsink or two onto it?
    • The other problem was one of those "oh shit we are going to die moments". Basically the high spec Q50s have a full electric steering rack, and the povo ones had a regular hydraulic rack with an electric pump.  So couple of laps into session 5 as I came into turn 2 (big run off now, happily), the dash turned into a christmas tree and the steering became super heavy and I went well off. I assumed it was a tyre failure so limped to the pits, but everything was OK. But....the master warning light was still on so I checked the DTCs and saw – C13E6 “Heat Protection”. Yes, that bloody steering rack computer sitting where the oil cooler should be has its own sensors and error logic, and decided I was using the steering wheel too much. I really appreciated the helpful information in the manual (my bold) POSSIBLE CAUSE • Continuing the overloading steering (Sports driving in the circuit etc,) “DATA MONITOR” >> “C/M TEMPERATURE”. The rise of steering force motor internal temperature caused the protection function to operate. This is not a system malfunction. INSPECTION END So, basically the electric motor in the steering rack got to 150c, and it decided to shut down without warning for my safety. Didn't feel safe. Short term I'll see if I can duct some air to that motor (the engine bay is sealed pretty tight). Long term, depending on how often this happens, I'll look into swapping the povo spec electric/hydraulic rack in. While the rack should be fine the power supply to the pump will be a pain and might be best to deal with it when I add a PDM.
    • And finally, 2 problems I really need to sort.  Firstly as Matt said the auto trans is not happy as it gets hot - I couldn't log the temps but the gauge showed 90o. On the first day I took it out back in Feb, because the coolant was getting hot I never got to any auto trans issues; but on this day by late session 3 and then really clearly in 4 and 5 as it got hotter it just would not shift up. You can hear the issue really clearly at 12:55 and 16:20 on the vid. So the good news is, literally this week Ecutek finally released tuning for the jatco 7 speed. I'll have a chat to Racebox and see what they can do electrically to keep it cooler and to get the gears, if anything. That will likely take some R&D and can only really happen on track as it never gets even warm with road use. I've also picked up some eye wateringly expensive Redline D6 ATF to try, it had the highest viscosity I could find at 100o so we will see if that helps (just waiting for some oil pan gaskets so I can change it properly). If neither of those work I need to remove the coolant/trans interwarmer and the radiator cooler and go to an external cooler....somewhere.....(goodbye washer reservoir?), and if that fails give up on this mad idea and wait for Nissan to release the manual 400R
    • So, what else.... Power. I don't know what it is making because I haven't done a post tune dyno run yet; I will when I get a chance. It was 240rwkw dead stock. Conclusion from the day....it does not need a single kw more until I sort some other stuff. It comes on so hard that I could hear the twin N1 turbos on the R32 crying, and I just can't use what it has around a tight track with the current setup. Brakes. They are perfect. Hit them hard all day and they never felt like having an issue; you can see in the video we were making ground on much lighter cars on better tyres under brakes. They are standard (red sport) calipers, standard size discs in DBA5000 2 piece, Winmax pads and Motul RBF600 fluid, all from Matty at Racebrakes Sydney. Keeping in mind the car is more powerful than my R32 and weighs 1780, he clearly knows his shit. Suspension. This is one of the first areas I need to change. It has electronically controlled dampers from factory, but everything is just way too soft for track work even on the hardest setting (it is nice when hustling on country roads though). In particular it rolls into oversteer mid corner and pitches too much under hard braking so it becomes unstable eg in the turn 1 kink I need to brake early, turn through the kink then brake again so I don't pirouette like an AE86. I need to get some decent shocks with matched springs and sway bars ASAP, even if it is just a v1 setup until I work out a proper race/rally setup later. Tyres. I am running Yoko A052 in 235/45/18 all round, because that was what I could get in approximately the right height on wheels I had in the shed (Rays/Nismo 18x8 off the old Leaf actually!). As track tyres they are pretty poor; I note GTSBoy recently posted a porker comparo video including them where they were about the same as AD09.....that is nothing like a top line track tyre. I'll start getting that sorted but realistically I should get proper sized wheels first (likely 9.5 +38 front and 11 +55 at the rear, so a custom order, and I can't rotate them like the R32), then work out what the best tyre option is. BTW on that, Targa Tas had gone to road tyres instead of semi slicks now so that is a whole other world of choices to sort. Diff. This is the other thing that urgently needs to be addressed. It left massive 1s out of the fish hook all day, even when I was trying not too (you can also hear it reving on the video, and see the RPM rising too fast compared to speed in the data). It has an open diff that Infiniti optimistically called a B-LSD for "Brake Limited Slip Diff". It does good straight line standing start 11s but it is woeful on the track. Nismo seem to make a 2 way for it.
×
×
  • Create New...