Aussie Rego inspection - Fail - but not that bad!

[Dodger]

Took the 50 in for its rego inspection after weeks of work and lots of money spent getting it ready.

Failed but only on pretty minor things, so within the month she should be on the road!

You US guys have got it good I reckon as Regulations are full on and inspectors are very picky.

Had a heart attack after he checked the old US title, the Australian importation approval document and then checked the ID plate against the numbers. Both documents have the last ID number listed as an 8 and the last number stamped on the plate is a 9. Thought I was stuffed but after some computer checks and phone calls, seems like a typo on the documents that has just continued along the line. Bit of computer work and all fixed. Phew, could have been a disaster! Can't believe I missed that.

The Transport Dept have now updated the system with the correct number and the rego papers when issued will read correctly. All good on that front!

Other than that I need to:

Get a passenger side mirror

Plug all the firewall holes with grommets

Move my tail lights further back as they can't be seen at the required angle from behind. They are a little far forward.

Fit a fly wheel guard.

Get it weighed on an official weighbridge (our rego fees are based on weight of vehicle)

Stamp an engine number on the block (they allocate the number)

And, the hardest one - fit new king pins as there is a little too much movement.

All up, very happy as no engineers report required for V8 and no collapsible steering column required as is sometimes the case.

Apart from the king pins, very easy fixes.
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[fabguy]

Congrats.
Sounds like a lot to go through for registration down there.
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[Dodger]

Yeah, it can be a real drama and when buying an old imported vehicle, you have to research the hell out of the regulations or you could end up with an expensive vehicle that can never be driven on the road.

Even after all that research, different inspectors can interpret the regulations differently and make your life a misery!

All good in this case though!

Just need to start researching the king pin replacement job. Some say difficult and you can spend hours honing to get the pin to fit. Some say easy enough to do yourself, no honing should be required. Google will be my friend.
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[Katrina/10]

Sounds like you can handle that!

[Dodger]

Should be able to Gary but I can tell you, without this site with the advice and especially the motivation I get from everyone else's builds, I would have probably thrown the towel in ages ago!

Only the king pin swap to get my head around.
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[Katrina/10]

I have changed several sets of king pins, took them out of the box every time and they fit without honing. The hard part is getting the old ones out.

[1project2many]

You US guys have got it good I reckon as Regulations are full on and inspectors are very picky.

In the US, there are very few places where a vehicle of that age would need to be inspected and I couldn't imagine anyone requiring a vehicle of that age be refitted with devices such as collapsible steering column. Individual states may or may not require a state safety inspection but the degree to which a vehicle is checked depends on state laws and regulations. I've lived in places where vehicles are never checked. One old Ford had been hit in the rear so badly that you could see in the trunk around the wheel and under the trunk lid. That car was on the road for at least seven years.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Dodger

Took the 50 in for its rego inspection after weeks of work and lots of money spent getting it ready....

"Rego"? = Regulation?

Originally Posted by Dodger

Thought I was stuffed....

After my senior year in college I was on a trip in Europe and had just finished eating a big lunch sitting with a couple Australians I'd met on the trip. I said, "Man, I'm stuffed!" ("I'm full" in American English). They both almost dropped their forks. They were very embarassed that I'd say such a vulgar thing at the table (It was 1976). I didn't understand why they were upset and had to explain, then we all had a good laugh on it.

Originally Posted by Dodger

Stamp an engine number on the block (they allocate the number)

And, the hardest one - fit new king pins as there is a little too much movement.

All up, very happy as no engineers report required for V8 and no collapsible steering column required as is sometimes the case.

Apart from the king pins, very easy fixes.

Just curious:

Why is a new number on the block required? Why isn't the factory cast-in number sufficient? It's not like you can change it, or NOT change the one you would stamp in!

What would an "engineer's report" on the V8 attest to? Rules for a collapsible column?

[dwcsr]

I took mine in for an inspection and the guy never got off his chair and passed it. Looked at it across the parking lot and asked if it had a brake light. He didn't have anyone that could start it or drive it into the bay for a real look over.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by dwcsr

I took mine in for an inspection and the guy never got off his chair and passed it. Looked at it across the parking lot and asked if it had a brake light. He didn't have anyone that could start it or drive it into the bay for a real look over.

You never attempted to import one into Australia either Dave. We are pretty spoiled in most states here even when we have to take one into the State Patrol Inspectors here in Washington State. I've taken a number of vehicles into the inspection station in Union Gap, Wa over the past 35 years and they are always pretty thorough with their inspections including running the vehicle into a separate room with a hoist and putting it in the air to inspect it from below when you take a rebuilt vehicle in.

I'd have to think that the primary reason for Australia's stringent inspection rules is that sometime in the past people were shipping suspect vehicles into the country and said vehicles were involved in some serious accidents due to mechanical failure or the failure of poor workmanship during rebuilds. Driving up and down this Yakima Valley of Washington I live in one can see a serious number of "rebuild" shops with large numbers of wrecked cars sitting outside waiting their turn to be "rebuilt". For quite a while it was all too common for those shops to buy one car that was hard hit in the front and an identical car that was hit in the back and cut both in two and weld the good ends together to make a "rebuilt" car to put on a car lot. There was a big problem with those stitched together cars breaking in two during an accident.

Dodger there are two styles of kingpin kits. The style that you can swap out the bushings and don't have to fit the pins and the ones with the brass bushings that you have to fit or have fitted. Fitting those bushings usually takes less than five minutes a spindle at a competent machine shop that has a Sunnen pin hone or it's equal. As was mentioned before the hard part is getting the old pins out and that may take a bit of grunting.

[_Ogre]

you have a good attitude about it dodger, knowing you have a mth of work before your proper
yeah we get lucky sometimes
i've never had to have one inspected except in colorado where they look for working lights and cracks in the windshield
here in michigan i was able to title my 6 yr non-running 58 without a hitch

[Dodger]

Dan,

Rego = registration as in licensing.

Stuffed = finished, done, all over.

Re the engine number, it looks like this one only has a GM ID number at the back near the bell housing. The one that tells me it's a 69-72 (from memory) 307.

That's not an Individual ID number so I need to stamp a new one. Supposed to assist in tracking down stolen cars and engines should a car be stolen and parted out (happens a fair bit here as I'm sure it must over there).

Ogre, this is the kit I just ordered from Classics



Hope it does the job because shipping is crazy.

Total order price $77.

Total shipping price $127.

Never mind, it's gotta get done! Just breathed a slight bit of air into the very dead truck budget.

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[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by Dodger

Total shipping price $127.

ouch!

[Katrina/10]

That shipping charge is ridiculous. Wouldn't it be cheaper to have someone in the US buy that and mail it to you?

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by Katrina/10

That shipping charge is ridiculous. Wouldn't it be cheaper to have someone in the US buy that and mail it to you?

Probably not, the USPO got rid of cheap international rates so everything usually goes international Priority. A few years back I shipped two ramhorn exhaust manifold to AU from Idaho for just over $50, would probably be over $200 now. Big reason I quit Ebay selling anything over a couple pounds weight or larger than a medium priority box to international bidders, got tired of having to explain that I was not jacking them around it was the PO.

[Katrina/10]

Wow, I never knew they changed the rates. I mailed a tap and die set to Australia a few years ago, and it didn't cost that much. I just checked what it would cost me to mail 5 pounds to Oz, now it's 70 dollars! By eliminating the lower priced rates, they just kill that market altogether. I wonder why?

[Dodger]

The only way to ship parts cheaper is to have someone put it in a container and bring it back.

We have a lot of guys across the country who do trips to the US 3 or 4 times a year and the import as many container loads of parts as they can as well as vehicles. It seems like a good business for those that are knowledgeable with all the import rules and taxes etc.

Problem is you have to wait until they are doing a trip and in this case that's not viable.

There is also one or two companies over here that sell classic pickup supplies but their price was a little more expensive and the items would take 3 to 4 weeks to get here. The parts I ordered from Classics will be here 4 - 6 days after they ship.

Still hurts though but if your into working on old Chev trucks, this cost needs to be factored in. Lots don't and they come unstuck.
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