Canberra's At It Again

[Iron Chef]

Again, no consultation with anyone. They're already asking for photos from all applicants....

As you can imagine, the Australian Street Rod Federation is seeing red over it.

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/veh...1989scheme.aspx

[zebra]

That sucks!

[Mr Eps]

kris - i guess if you're ceating an HPI article based my my thread titled "the import industry" you could further elaborate what this means?

i'm a little hazey myself on it... is it saying that pre 1989 built hot rods / street rods / rat rods etc can no longer be imported???

if so... how does this affect ANYBODY???

umm that came out wrong... i meant to say how does the 0.000005% of cars which are converted into hotrods etc which are imported... affect ANYONE

these owners are just very proud individuals who drive their cars once a weekend to the beach and all the kids point and stare - why would this rule change!?

who has it upset?

and can anything be done to change the rule?

[N1GTR]

It may be Canberras way of stopping cars coming in with dodgy work done to them?!

Not like there isnt a multitude of dodgy operators here who are perfectly capable of doing those sort of conversions themselves in their backyards.

[Beer Baron]

nothing new from these gentleman. they pull this kind of stuff all the time. they love nothing more than constantly moving goalposts. all we can do is deal with it or turn to mushroom farming instead.

[Blitz_boy]

damn, i was looking at this thinking i could bring it in. there goes that idea.

[Guest]

Below is a couple of images and info on a truck for sale in the US, have a read and below that is an extract which gives you a basic overview of what this means by using the truck as a reference.

1949 Chevrolet 5 window pick. Body was custom fit onto a 1995 Chevrolet half ton pick up truck frame and suspension. Frame shortened 18 inches from the rear, disc brakes in front, rear drums, custom fabricated to fit. 1995 corvette LT 1 engine and transmission, 4 speed automatic with OD.

Importation of converted/modified vehicles under the pre 1989 scheme.

The Department of Infrastructure has recently begun rejecting Import approval applications for the importation of modified pre 1989 vehicles.

The Department has placed an Alert notice on their website and have issued a new version of the Vehicle Standards Bulletin (VSB) that relates to importation.

New Interpretation of Policy

The policy that the Department has commenced implementing is detailed in VSB10, but can be summarised as follows:

• Original and unmodified (factory specification) vehicles manufactured prior to 1 January 1989 can be imported without restriction. Import approvals will be granted as per previous policy.

• Restored (factory specification) vehicles manufactured prior to 1 January 1989 can be imported without restriction. Import approvals will be granted as per previous policy.

• Modified vehicles originally manufactured prior to 1 January 1989 can ONLY be imported if the owner can demonstrate that the modifications were completed prior to 1 January 1989. Import approvals will only be granted after the Department is satisfied that the modifications are pre-1989.

• Modified vehicles originally manufactured prior to 1 January 1989 can NOT be imported if the modifications were completed after 1 January 1989, or if the owner can’t demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Department that the modifications were completed prior to 1 January 1989. The date of manufacture will be reset as the date the modifications were completed, and if that date is post 1989 the application will be rejected.

Assessment Process

A Department of Infrastructure staff member based on the following information will make the assessment on the level of modifications and date of modifications:

• A copy of the vehicle purchase document.

• A clear picture of the vehicle.

• A complete list of all modifications and evidence of when the modification were completed .

• Such additional evidence as the applicant can supply attesting to the level and date of modification, this may include vehicle registration documents, a statement from the converter or evidence that the vehicle was exhibited in its converted form (eg, exhibited as a hot rod) some time before 1989.

The department will make a determination based on a review of the information supplied, and will send you an approval or rejection letter.

[zebra]

What is considered as a modification, Im guessing Engine swaps, or as above chassis mods.

What about wheels, suspension etc?

I guess they could be classed as replacement wear part?

Sorry if its an obvious answer but i know dick about importing.

[Mr Eps]

zebra - that's what i was confused about - that isn't explained in their press statement...

ie "to what extent" does "modification" mean...

also

you have to PROVE that the modifications were done prior to 1jan 1989...

how the FUCK can ANYBODY prove that!?!?

case in point, lets say a new engine was fitted... let's say a twin turbo L28 was fitted into a 260Z

in november 1988...

let's say that's the case

do they want receipts from the 1988 payment? to prove the work was done on that date?

because

food for thought, a receipt - in the business world, is known as a record.

a record is a business movement or financial transaction bla bla bla.

if it's important, the document is given an R&D schedule, retention n Disposal, this governs how long the record is kept, and when it is OKAY to send offsite or to be destroyed completely. usually there are scans taken

they're asking for documents of evidence from an overseas car which are records that have been kept... for 22 years??? NO BUSINESS. NO LOCAL STATE OR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ORGANISATION HAS AN R&D schedule like that. ESPECIALLY not a private vehicle owner.

why? because PAPER DETERIORATES. IT CORRODES AND FALLS APART.

there is no way that this can be acceptable to us as the public. thats ridiculous... nobody keeps that sort of info at hand for that long. so it's unrealistic on their part to expect it!

i mean, sure... there could be electronic scanned images of these documents. but this dates back to 1988 - there WERE no scanners or EDRMS systems etc,

back then they had microfische... (taking a picture and shrinking it onto a tiny piece of photofilm, so that when needed it can be zoomed in on sepcial projector and it was very uncommon for public use

this is such an unrealistic expectation!

[Chris Rogers]

nothing new there. I had to prove age of a subaru and the like. most of the guys that build these cars with modern drivelines keep dockets anyway.

bad part about it though. the Rodders now get screwed. all of those that were doing brokering for USDM have to bite the bullet and market something else. from where I sit the gov't has a beef with brokers/dodgy people and not really the end user. its the end user that gets caught up in it.

then again it still does not stop me from bringing in old 88 soobs from NZ. plenty there and all stock.

[Chris Rogers]

1949 Chevrolet 5 window pick. Body was custom fit onto a 1995 Chevrolet half ton pick up truck frame and suspension. Frame shortened 18 inches from the rear, disc brakes in front, rear drums, custom fabricated to fit. 1995 corvette LT 1 engine and transmission, 4 speed automatic with OD.

if I read that correctly the vehicle has a 'build' date of 1995. well and truly outside the 1989 rules. by that note if it COULD come in it would still have to be flipped and engineered. another point on that. the donor car (engine) had rear discs the truck does not.

looks like the price of local rods just went up

[Hank Scorpio]

Well that's just shit! I'd love an AE86 Trueno, Mitsi Starion or Skyline R30 RS-X/HR31 one day but it sounds like thats going to become quite a bit more difficult.

[Chris Rogers]

Well that's just shit! I'd love an AE86 Trueno, Mitsi Starion or Skyline R30 RS-X/HR31 one day but it sounds like thats going to become quite a bit more difficult.

so what is the problem. whilst they are on thin ground there is no reason why you cannot find a stock one and bring it in. read the example closely..

same as this:

perfectly legal to bring in. its an 88 model - check. its stock - check. it needs and import approval and paperwork done - check.

no issue with that. as an idea why look in japan for these cars- try NZ plenty of older jap imports there. part of the reason I'm looking there for the one above (and I have been watching these for the last 10 yrs!)

[Chris Rogers]

actually:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-289447967.htm

$1700..

[Hank Scorpio]

Thus why I said it would be more difficult. I would assume most 20 y/o+ "performance" cars would have some sort of modifications done to it? Of course there will always be stock examples but aren't these few and far between?

[Iron Chef]

The big issue is it causes confusion for buyers, in that no-one knows how modified "modified" is. Modified could rule out engine conversions or it could even rule out a set of aftermarket rims.

Given that you have to buy the car before you can apply for import approval, it's forcing importers to commit to purchasing a car without really knowing if it will be granted an approval, which is ridiculous. Imagine how much fun it would be having to put your car back through auction in Japan if it got knocked back...

[Roy]

So this means tuff R31 coupes with good gear on them are a no-go? Shit!

[Chris Rogers]

kristian,

playing devils advocate here. one would assume that it was designed (ruling) to stop the retro rods coming in from the USA.

for the enthusiast that knows what they are looking at (vs the kid that knows all the brand names) it probably wont slow them down.

in the space of 30 sec I found a stock toyota for that fellow. the subaru I have been watching for a while now.

from your side of things I see exactly where you are coming from. kid finds a nice R31 and says I want- you say no because it has a shopping list on the side of it and you are not sure what has been done to it.

[Iron Chef]

Yeah it's definitely an attempt to stop retro-rods, but the wording of the changes is so ambiguous that it could theoretically be used against anyone or any car they take a disliking to, and it's forcing people to spend 30 seconds on Google Images and send off a pic of a stock car rather than face possibly thousands of dollars in costs trying to resell their car overseas. I take issue with any new law that puts pressure on otherwise law-abiding citizens to break it.

[Mr Eps]

exactly what kristian said...

this "law" makes people take gambles at becoming a criminal without even knowing it

and as i said at the top of this thread... the way that this law is worded is so grey and muddy NOTHING is transparent... modicification can mean the following....

DR30 skyline with different wheels... minor... but still a mod

DR30 with RB26 engine conversion... medium grade mod

Dr30 with roll cage... =/

hot rod - shaved door handles... minor mod

chassis conversion ie ford willies truck moulded onto a chev corvette chassis... huge modification and customisation

like

where is the line??? none of this law makes ANY sense and clearly hasn't been revised or thought about