For Questions Regarding WOFs/CERTs/NUMBER PLATEs

[drftnmaz]

Whats the minimum distance between P-clips/mounts for fuel lines+hoses?

Nephew is building his first car and converted a carb car to efi, and mounted external pump behind the tank, It has rubber lines going over the top of the tank ~500mm each, so thinking these will need clips added to make sure they can't move. (while still moving enough to drop and raise tank, haha)

[cletus]

300mm 

[GARDRB]

Dearest Clinton,

 

Is there any (straight-forward) way to build something like this using ye olde coaster bus chassis technique?

[RXFORD]

1 hour ago, GARDRB said:

Dearest Clinton,

 

Is there any (straight-forward) way to build something like this using ye olde coaster bus chassis technique?

 

Yes, you basically just hand over bulk hard earned cash to a shop, then many days later you will receive something similar. 

[GARDRB]

Haha yeah, I probably could have worded that better. 

What are the rules around modifying something on a COF, I assume you can't move it off a COF and it's basically a ballache to have a body-swapped bus legal?

[cletus]

over 3500gvm- sorry cant help you, i know nothing of the world of heavy vehicles apart from knowing that getting a gvm lowered is not possible, you might be able to body swap a old body onto a truck chassis, im pretty sure thats been done before

under 3500- what you are talking about doing is doable. i have done a couple of mini kenworth truck bodies on chev silverado chassis

 

where it might get tricky is doing an old body on a new truck chassis but if the chassis was from a truck with a higher gvm than 3500- if the weights all work, you might be able to do it but i dont know if lvvta would allow that

 

if you used the chassis from a 3500gvm truck like a dyna or something then that would be ok, no different from using a hq ute chassis or l200 etc

[Carsnz123]

I believe it is possible to get a GVM lowered but requires some indepth engineering certificates to prove that it can't carry the weight that it's currently rated for. I recently (probably a year ago) ran a late 40s truck through reregistration. It had a 6.5 or 7 tonne GVM on it which was incorrect going off GM's specs from the era. Mainly non boosted brakes, section size of the chassis, and the number of leaves in the rear springs. There was also still an old loading certificate in the truck that said it was good for a touch shy of 5 tonnes. With the evidence accepted by NZTA the GVM was dropped which resulted in it being able to be driven on a class 1. 

[drftnmaz]

As far as i understand it because there is no cert system for COF vehicles so you can modify as long as it done safely, IE i have a few friends with buses and we turbo them to make them drive nicer, so we asked COF place and they said no worries cause no cert system, seems like a loop hole cause the general public don't wanna drive trucks and busses.
Also apply's for tractors I think? cause there's that guy with the 1uz one driving around auckland roads...

[shizzl]

Pretty crazy really seeing as more weight = bigger cannonball if things go wrong.

 

we had 3 Bedford buses with repowers, 1 Nissan and 2 Isuzu swaps, all with 6 speed boxes. Just drop in, weld up and go. 1 even got a power steer upgrade after we sold it. 
 

crazy ideas of step notching a truck chassis to lay frame hahaha 

[cletus]

There is a cert system for heavy vehicles, there's probably a different threshold for things like turbo swaps than for light vehicles 

LT400 is the name for heavy vehicle certification 

[sleeektoy]

As Clint said - there IS a cert system for the heavy vehicles and it seems like that COF place is taking the piss or not following the rules..

I used to be a heavy vehicle certifier up until 2004 and we did many certs for repowers/turbos etc back then.

https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/heavy-vehicle-specialist-certifiers/heavy-vehicle-specialist-certifiers-list.pdf

[smokin'joe]

8 hours ago, cletus said:

LT400 is the name for heavy vehicle certification 

and after the nonsense with a certain certifier, good luck finding someone to do the workings and sign it off. unless changed dramatically in last 5 years, many left due his shonky behaviour

 

[cletus]

Yea, because of that guy and the incidents he caused, NZTA came down on all certifiers and vehicle inspectors like a bag of sledgehammers 

lvv certifiers had it pretty easy as we have had a robust system in place for a long time but repair and heavy was a bit of a free for all and every certifier was basically on their own with no checking what they were doing 

Since then it has got a lot tighter, wof included 

 

[lush]

On 29/06/2024 at 15:12, cletus said:

Yeah that looks ok to me 

 

You can actually weld brake caliper brackets if tig welded and passes ndt 

Your idea looks better though 

@cletus ongoing from this topic, what would you accept as a minimum thickness for caliper bracket? 

And can they be Tig welded directly to end flange of diff housing at all ? 

[cletus]

It's impossible to give a minimum thickness as offset, design, type of caliper mounting all influences how thick it needs to be. 

Basically it shouldn't flex. 

You can weld it to the diff housing but not to the bearing housing if it's cast or forged , and has to be tig/ndt, so it's often not a practical option 

[dabuzz]

Water meth tank and pump - can I mount this in the (non sealed) boot/trunk.

50% water/meth mix is stable so I figure it'd be ok, or can I cert just as 'water only' etc?

 

[Bling]

Does the 50:50 mix mean no methanol vapour is produced?

[dabuzz]

I'm not 100% sure, it appears not going by the blurbs on the sale ads.

[cletus]

If it has methanol in it , it has to meet all requirements for a fuel system

 

So every one I have certed has 'water only' on a sticker on the tank, passes cert and nobody ever puts methanol in it ever at all because that would be illegal

[dabuzz]

Just now, cletus said:

If it has methanol in it , it has to meet all requirements for a fuel system

 

So every one I have certed has 'water only' on a sticker on the tank, passes cert and nobody ever puts methanol in it ever at all because that would be illegal

this is true - I would 'never' do that.....- thanks, will proceed.