DPI rules and regs questions.......

[DirtyDezza]

hey people i was looking at teh DPI ( Department Of Planning and Infrastructure) stuff on the net to see wat is legal and what isnt with out cars and tehre is sum interesting stuff in here....

eg,

1) you CAN fit a fibreglass or sheetmetal rear spoiler ( if it wont kill someone)

2) any engine changes (change an rb25 for an rb26) u only need to have the vehicle inspected over the pits ($53)

if sm1 disagrees put it on here, it would be interesting to see what is actually legal, and what isnt...

[dr00]

spoilers have to satisfy certain parameters i think. engine changes are perfectly fine as long as they are within 25% of the original engine (rb20 -> rb25 is fine) but above that you needs engineers certification.

[2LV8ETR]

I got canaried for my GT wing a coupla months ago. The dude told me because it had sharp edges it was considered a pedestrian killer.

The other thing was the wing stuck out beyond the confines of the main bodywork by 10 cm each side! It was a beauty!

When I asked what I had to do to make it conform to the regs I was informed that I had to cut the wing's width down to make it fit inside the pillar/roof structure, and all edges on the wing including the uprights had to be rounded and thick. In other words after finishing the required mods, the wing would look like shit.

I went and bought an R32 VS spoiler to replace the GT wing and I was told that it was still too wide (outside by 5cm each side). I went and replaced it with the same spoiler off a DC-5 Integra, and was outside in width by 1cm, but it would be considered passed.

Then came the kicker.

Vehicles manufactured after 1989 must be fitted with an eye-level brake light. Shit man! Is there any limit to the bullshit?

After all of this I was told that if the spoiler met these requirements, a permit was not required.

Hope this helps a bit.

[Sneeza]

Dezza - learn to spell check matey

Yeah the eye level spoiler is part of compliance on imports.

The thing about this is, the DPI might consider these mods ok - but the important thing is, your insurance company might not. You have crash.... 'oh whats this after market 400hp turbo doing here... you never told us that - NO INSURANCE CLAIM FOR YOU!'

[miss_petepie]

u can increase ur engines power via upgrading it by no more than 25% more than the models released engine...

i know from bogan terms in my torrie it was a 186 but now a 253 and i cant go any higher than that without going to get it engineered

getting it engineered is so much a of a hassel.. but yeh..

[Nizmo]

The inconsistancies within the DPI are a lot less than within the police force. More you argue with the police - more they are sure they are right even when they are not. GRRRR

There needs to be a lot clearer guidelines on what is legal on cars and what is not .... needs to be made readily available to public .... and police need training on what is a stickerable car and what is not.

[R32Skyliner]

With the 25% rule, is that capacity or cylinders? Can you replace a CA18 with an RB20 without an engineer's certificate or only put in an SR20? And with the brake light thing, is that after 89 or including 89 cars? I got told at the pits that I needed one and my car is an 89 model. Cheers guys.

[Sneeza]

I think the police have enough to train for and worry about with adding learning about 1000 different types of engines and mod combinations etc. Which is something very minor in the life of a cop.

The reason they give you a sticker is because they 'believe' it to be an infringement and you need to get it checked... thats why you have to go to the pits and they either confirm or deny this. If the cops had training in all of this, what would be the point of having a sticker system? They'd just take your car off the road then and there.

The simple thing is - its YOUR job to know the modification rules and get permits.

[Nizmo]

Firstly; They cant have better things to do if they are stickering so many cars ..... We all have to learn the different aspects of our job - the rules etc .... police should be no different. Half of them cant even tell an aftermarket BOV from a legal. One ive encountered thinks Nismo is a brand of car.

Obviously if you've modded you car illegally its your fault. But im talking about the countless of uncalled for stickers that police have used just to make a nuisance of themselves. They dont have to pay for taking the car over the pits for no reason - we do .... and we dont get any reimbursement either if it was a wrong judgement call.

Ive been in cars that have obviosuly been targeted and pulled over for the most ridiculous reasons .... rust around a sunroof? a wing thats been cleared by the pits numerous times? Ive seen a new mitsubishi challenger be stickered. Its just a waste of our time and police time.

[Sneeza]

hrm? 6 months in the academy training to disarm a gunman.... or 6 months learning about mechanics... I know which one I'd rather.

The fact is cops are NOT mechanics and never will be.... the sooner people get over that, the sooner there will be less tears about getting stickers for something you probably deserved.

[ric777]

hrm? 6 months in the academy training to disarm a gunman.... or 6 months learning about mechanics... I know which one I'd rather.

The fact is cops are NOT mechanics and never will be.... the sooner people get over that, the sooner there will be less tears about getting stickers for something you probably deserved.

Ditto.

[DirtyDezza]

i can agree with u about what the police are better 4 being trained for BUT they do get given a little book wiich says what u can and cant have..... sumtimes they use itand sumtimes they dont...... but alot of the time what the book says and what is said by the guys at te pits is different ( i was told by the guy that did the inspection on my car that i didnt need a permit for my fmic, suspension, adn that u dont need permits for gauges) .

when i asked if i could have it in writing so i wouldnt have to pay for permits he said he cant do that "the police should know this" was what i was told... what the pits does come down to ESPECIALY with stupid yellow stickers IS REVENUE.

[ric777]

i can agree with u about what the police are better 4 being trained for BUT they do get given a little book wiich says what u can and cant have..... sumtimes they use itand sumtimes they dont...... but alot of the time what the book says and what is said by the guys at te pits is different ( i was told by the guy that did the inspection on my car that i didnt need a permit for my fmic, suspension, adn that u dont need permits for gauges) .

when i asked if i could have it in writing so i wouldnt have to pay for permits he said he cant do that "the police should know this" was what i was told... what the pits does come down to ESPECIALY with stupid yellow stickers IS REVENUE.

As far as the guy at the pits saying "the police should know this", he is just trying to evade the issue of you wanting something in writing. Like Liz said, there is no way the cops are going to know everything that's legal or not. I'd be inclined to go to the horses mouth, which in this case is Reno Marchesi (head of engineering) and plead your case to him. He may just allow you to list the things of contention on the permit. FFS don't make a case that you think this is all a revenue thing (which may be partly true). You could probably say that you don't have the time to be continually having to go to the pits because of a yellow sticker that the inspector turns around and says was not warranted in the first place.

The contentious thing with suspensions is really how low the car sits. With gauges, it's probably a matter if they obstruct road vision or view of your speedo. Fmic, god knows.

You could even write to Reno and list the items that are contentious and see if he gives some kind of requirements. DON'T list the items 1,2,3 and so on because he may just reply item 1. no permit required item 2. can not obstruct vision and so on. Make it so he has to mention the specific item in the reply and that way you can show the letter ( a photocopy of it ) to the cop if you get pulled up for those things.

In the case of height requirements e.g. suspension, carry a tape measure in the car if you know you are legal and produce it to the cop so he can see for himself.

If you know that things on you car are not legal or within requirements, then there's no point trying to prove otherwise.

[2LV8ETR]

With the 25% rule, is that capacity or cylinders?  Can you replace a CA18 with an RB20 without an engineer's certificate or only put in an SR20?  And with the brake light thing, is that after 89 or including 89 cars?  I got told at the pits that I needed one and my car is an 89 model.  Cheers guys.

Sorry man, we're losing track of your original thread.....

The eye-level brake light I was told is '89 onwards. This was an inspector at the O'Connor pit, nice guy, scared the shit out of me when he took my car for a "test drive".

As far as the engine is concerned, I believe as soon as you change the engine type, certification is required. By this I mean if I was going to put a VQ45 into a Holden Commonwhore, I'd need one, but if I was going to put an RB25DET into my R-32 GTS-t I wouldn't need one as the capacity increase is spot on 25% and I'm using the same RB series engine.

[dr00]

its capacity only. other than that they dont care. you just have to make a modification application to the tech section and they will approve it and then the pits will give you a permit for it.

[NO_RSPECT]

dr00 have you done this before?

by that i mean are you talking from experience... cos i am going to be going over soon and if all i need is a permit i will do that

[dr00]

yes, i have an rb25det in s13 that started life as a ca18det. i had to make an application to the tech section who told me i had to get engineers approval because it was over 25% increase in capacity. i did that (eventually) and got permits for it.

another guy (smitler) did the same but started with rb20de, which even though it is less powerful than the ca18det is within the 25%. he didnt need an engineers approval.

call up licensing and get put through to the tech section and they will mail you out a modification application. do that now coz they take at least 2 weeks to process it. you tell them what you want to do and they tell you if its cool and if not what you need to do to make it cool.

[dr00]

forgot to say, you dont need to do the modification application if its within 25% but its a good idea coz you will know for sure. if you have approval from them the pits guys wont look twice at the conversion.