Sisu

Go for it. Any man would understand why you bought it. The only vehicle that has more Mana would be a Tatra 815 8x8 

Yes over the next year as it gets harder to register a modified car it would be wise to sell it if you live in the UK or rethink your tastes. My only concern is that before everyone goes balls deep thinking that making your classic car electric side steps your problem. You have to bear in mind that I wouldn't want to be in a Classic car with 300kg of batteries in the boot/engine bay in a crash. 

10 hours ago, tortron said:

Is it similar to our standards then?

The problem for the UK is that the consultation period ended in 2016. Only 2000 odd people replied which in a country of 65 million that is sweet f a. From what I heard people were pissed at the PurSang Bugatti's and Lightweight, C/Dtype Jag replicas being registered as the real deal. Now this was either because of snobbery or financial self interest. Those people were most the vocal and other groups hoped to fly under the radar as most people declare modifications to insurance in the UK and they don't have rules on how you modify your car or where the parts came from. So why make it more complicated?

The IVA is an individual vehicle inspection which is similar to the modification plate in NZ, but aimed at self built cars. No one suggested any changes so they used this for all other cars.

The reason for the change was a UN view aimed at safety to stop the bloke with a car being towed by a horse in Romania.

When you consider the industry around aftermarket parts and restoration in the UK and all of the owners of cars that have been modified over the past 40 years that's alot of people with unroadworthy cars come April.This might not be a problem for a Classic car that was fast/safe/reliable originally back in the day. Who's only modification today would be modern compound tires. However not all Classic cars are like that. 

If you look at one car scene such as Aircooled VWs. Most of the cars were imported from the US. The strong £ and source of rust free cars fueled a huge industry over the past 30 years. Go to any VW meet in the UK and 90% of them are from somewhere else. The weird thing having seen California in the 90's sucked dry of these they moved to Arizona and other states in the US.

An original '63 Kombi with drum brakes, 1192cc single carb Solex at standard ride height is very slow and surprisingly dangerous.

 Like most Classic cars people have solved the problems but it involves replacing the original parts. Not a problem before now and the Split screen VW owners in the UK have grown to Jamie Oliver proportions. 

But do you undo the modifications to the engine, suspension, brakes, steering as the tubbed front bodywork to clear your narrowed front beam makes you lose 5 of the 8 points? 

The main problem is that the rules are vague and not designed for compromise such as a plate showing modifications of an original car like NZ. 

The UK is tightening up on its MOT next April. The modified classic car scene is shitting the bed.

 Any modifications happened after 1988 these are the criteria.

If 

Chassis, monocoque bodyshell (body and chassis as one unit) or frame
- original or new and unmodified (direct from manufacturer) 5
Suspension (front and back) - original 2
Axles (both) - original 2
Transmission - original 2
Steering assembly - original 2
Engine has more than 15% power and original 1

If you add up the points and the total comes to less than 8 and you need to do a BIVA and run a Qplate. So you lose your historic plate. This means all of the interior needs to be "no sharp edges" and the exterior handles, mirrors and bumpers have to be rounded.

So all of the RS replica Porsches, Ford Escorts with Box flares, Lynx D Types registered as an XJS, VW's with narrowed beams/tubed arches, your Singer 911's and all of the Hotrods suddenly have become a problem. Some have had their V5 revoked.

So you lose the historic plates and it being judged under historic status. The appeal period was in 2016 and it comes into action in 2018.

If you see alot of modified road cars on the market in the UK as everyone cashes out this is because the current owner would be the one who has to prove it was done before 1988.

Plus they have Brexit 

6 hours ago, tortron said:

count the hours to straighten an old body and that new body is looking pretty cheap tbh

 

I cant believe they are still using the a series though, even a Japanese spec one wouldn't meet emissions for today

same with the crash rating I guess, but can they get around that due to being low numbers?

 

at least bang in a vetec Honda or something

That is the bit that has me into the Moss shell. While I admire restorations I don't like restoration blogs anymore. Once you have seen a bloke replace the bottom 6" and (insert known design rust areas) of that car or van and we are doing the same as every other restoration before that on the net over the last 15-20 years there isn't the fizz so to speak. 

These David Brown Minis are 1000hrs of work at around £20/hr which is about £20,000. So you still have £30,000 to play with in parts if that was your thing and you weren't paying someone else.

Project Binky has the reignited my interest as it is more about the fabrication rather anything else. 

If you were in for a new mini Moss will sell you a new bodyshell for £9000. 

 
The body shell comes complete with genuine bonnet & bootlid assemblies, front wings without repeater lamp holes, roof without aerial hole, slatted inner wing for side mounted radiators and grille panel. The dashboard bulkhead panel includes the large ‘rotodip’ aperture, improving access to the centre binnacle. Front seat belt mountings are attached in pre-1977 positions and rear seat belt mountings are fitted. Side impact bars are included in the doors. E coated, sealed and primed using industry standard water based paints.

I would just get personalised plates and then bolt ye olde black plates on. It isn't going to get cheaper or easier in the future 

Had a '65 impala in Wellington. The LHd thing is not an issue. Overtaking on the open road is more cautious and it is no wider than a small truck. So if you can't fit then neither will the fire truck.

As for converting to Rhd well it isn't just the dashboard. Even when you have a donor RHD car some stuff is easy. You can flip or reuse parts. But other aspects require a cuppa and a spliff or two. More than likely you will need to have the engine/gearbox/subframe out. If you are lucky the wiper stawks in the scuttle panel don't require moving. You are going to need to rewire some of the car and if it is a 60's car then the window switches will need to move to the other door. So you need a pair of RHD door panels or armrests. 

These are all things you could incorporate into a restoration. But you wouldn't be adding value otherwise 

How's things going 

What is thw actual purpose of this? And the company you are starting?

It is easier to have a company to import things and cover expenses than to have it all privately. I have a friend at Auckland airport that can help, sign writing can be written off as can a company car.

So I thought this would be better than a colour and family pet as so many companies seem to be named nowadays.

I want to open a company in NZ and thought "Chemtrails" would be a good name as the illuminati haven't registered it in NZ.... yet.

My thoughts is that I have the logo of a plane with "Barium supplier to the aviation industry" or should it be a play on the illuminati triangle eye?

I would like to register a company van and thought a plain white panel van would be best or should I go for an American van to ramp up the mystique?

But would people see the troll/joke or would the tin foil hat conspiracy types just burn it in a pentagon triangle while wearing Anonymous masks?

Yeah it has been weird seeing Matt, Zach, Thad and Neno who do the Smoking tire do stuff on NZ. It was good that someone chumped up the money and took them there. Good to see this website mentioned and fitting that they are going to make the best video possible of an Estima ever.

Has there been much heat for this guy with the Renault V6 powered home built Pug?  

I think this is a good window on the 80's 

Yeah alot of Hunter's writting about the shit going down in Chicago really lit the fuse for his sceptical view on things.

Need a gift for someone over xmas P.J O'Rourke writes some good stuff.

His book "Republican Party Reptile" is a collection of his writtings in mid 80's, he wrote for Car and Driver. His most famous was 'Ferrari refutes the decline of the West' where he documents his journey across the US in a Ferrari 308 from NY to LA. The car was being delivered to Hawaii for the filming of Magnum P.I

This is an excerpt "How to drive fast on drugs while getting your wang squeezed and not spill your drink"

When it comes to taking chances, some people like to play poker or shoot dice; other people prefer to parachute-jump, go rhino hunting, or climb ice floes, while still others engage in crime or marriage. But I like to get drunk and drive like a fool. Name me, if you can, a better feeling than the one you get when you're half a bottle of Chivas in the bag with a gram of coke up your nose and a teenage lovely pulling off her tube top in the next seat over while you're going a hundred miles an hour down a suburban side street. You'd have to watch the entire Mexican air force crash-land in a liquid petroleum gas storage facility to match this kind of thrill. If you ever have much more fun than that, you'll die of pure sensory overload, I'm here to tell you

More for your perusal

http://www.heretical.com/miscella/reptile.html

Smiths - the guage guys do digital versions of the orginal speedo it replaces the original mechanical unit with a cable. It gets a reading from a sensor at the wheel, You drive a route on google maps that is 1 mile from your home and press the button.

Alot of VW Kombi's use this as your speedo doesn't read right if you change the tire size. Also alot of the suspension changes aren't compatible with a 60's spec technology.  So this bypasses the problem. They also make all the other guages for motorbikes and older cars to, but this is the one I have seen.

Speedo Accuracy: 0-+5%
Speed Sensor Compatibility: any 2 or 3 wire, 5 or 12 volt sender(hall effect, inductive, reed or quenched oscillator
Temp Range:-20 to 70 deg C
Programming range: 500 to 125000 pulses per mile/km
Factory Setting 8380 pulses per mile/km

2006 Maybach 6.0 V12 ... flood damaged. Value $162,348 - Repair cost $198,336. Current bid $200. Auction endson the 12th of August.

http://www.salvageautosauction.com/vehicle_detail/Salvage-2006-Maybach-57+S-for-Sale/lot-12670873/Tifton-Georgia/id/6/pg/1

Well my experience of sponsorship is don't expect people to give you cash.

I got a mate who took photographs for the Dominion Post. Got them to do an article - Photo with a caption as a filler during the week. This allowed me to say to punters - this guy is in the public eye.

I went to BP and got a fuel card - this paid for me to drive around to races. I kept a log and didn't take the piss, they got to write this off as a tax expense like any other company car.

When Red-bull was being launched in NZ (Yes I am that old) I asked them if they would like to aim at this market and initially I just got stickers for the van and a flag sort of thing. I didn't ask them for anything else, basically it was a way to show trust. Then later in the season I got more Red-Bull to dish out at races and I hate the stuff now.

I approached Sony and did the same sort of thing. Nothing up front, just stickers and stuff. They gave me a handycam to shoot stuff. This was before the go-pro, so basically the 'headcam' was made out of an old Bell MotoX helmet cut with a camera sized hole cut into it and the rig made out of polysterene, balsa wood and duct tape - Ghetto Go-Pro.  We made nice framed photos for them to show thanks at the end of the season or when they were having a budget/tax change.

This then enabled me to go to other companies related to the sport and make it look professional with these big names rather than just the local bakery. The importers are getting bombarded by all the other punters in my sport and normally aren't a charity.

Make it beneficial to them and doing things like asking them to give a promo card or something tangable you can hand out at a race that they will benefit them before they have to shell out anything themselves. Such as 'quote this reference number and get 10% off' to show that you aren't just a black hole in a marketing budget. This could be your local pub, whore house or any other company that punters who hang out watching your sport or participate would want thru the door. But this meant I was able to ask them for help paying for my equipment for next season once I had some credit with them.

Before you throw away the Lucas FI, you can service it. The distribution unit has rubber seals and domes. Álthough Fuel injection was a bit of a black art in the 70's - 80's when this and the Bosch were being developed they are quite simple and antiquated. They have a mechanical distrubution unit. While now a computer would do this. So it is a sealed system, everything relies on everything else. Now you would change the mapping of the injection pulse widths.

If it was me I would look at what similar fuel inj systems you can poach to fit. eg the Jag V12 is just 2 BMW 6 cyl systems. Aftermarket inj kits might also solve the scene tax of the old 70's Lucas parts or limited availability.

With the Webers, you can get rebuild kits off the net.

It is on at the moment now right? Lets hear from you how it went.

I'll be honest I hate these sort of things as they are so artificial. It should be a race but you can't go fast. These 'event' rallies tend to be a wanker magnet as everyone is pretending to be wild and crazy for the 2 PR girls and a camera crew for the video to promote the next years race.

They told you take 6 condoms as the marketing people want this to appear like a Vegas trip with Charlie Sheen. But the nearest you got to a Dirty Sanchez were the 2 guys in afro wigs vying for the biggest hair award at the DJ Elmo afterparty.

You wouldn't be the first person complaining that an island off France is cheaper than an island in the pacific

I too have missed his thread for reasons of stupidity. My dream of going to the eastern block has been re-ignited except the spoils have changed. I now won't need a divorce first

If you can get a transfer or hook up from NZ with a company already there then that helps alot with getting established there and finding somewhere to live. Most of the places that teach English language are owned or run by British people, which is a steady job. But there are alot of Russian companies that want english speaking people when they are dealing with other markets, so check it out - I was dealing with the Marussia Cars company and they have a guy from Guilford.

The Ferrari 355 is a nice sound. 5 valves/cyl , flat plane crank and short stroke mean it won't be the tourqueyest engine. But they do sound great.

L.A. Los angeles? Cool. I want to head over to the states next year and would love to get work in some car/engineering place. We want to go to Colorado- its all about the mtbing for us so wherever great trails are.

I need to start another thread..

I would agree with the others, there are lots of qualified mechanics and others with basic qualifications who have bad habits and inconsistant work, surround yourself with a good bunch of people from the start. Also don't just limit yourself to working in Aussie, I was offered work in UAE, L.A and China all on good money. If you like a car /race team or a company then ask them how do I get a job there?

A friend of mine who is a fitter/welder now works at Icon 4x4 who make over restored 4x4s in L.A liked their work and asked

I found a Russian typewritter in the trash here in Finland. No I am not mailing the whole typewritter to NZ as it weighs 4kg and is made of steel. But I am gonna take the bakelite keys which are Russian and I can mail them to someone who is into the Russian stuff. I dunno make fridge magnets out of them.