hey my dads thinking about buying a buggy that has not been registered before and we were just wondering how hard and whats involved in getting it through mains roads so it can be registered. We live in qld also.

Thanks for anyones help.

Save your money and find one that has previous rego or is regoed.

This is for SWB (MAnx), LWB buggies are easier to rego. New SWB buggies go under an ICV (individualy constructeded vehicle) which would drain most peoples budget very rapidly.

SWB buggies are damn near impossible to get registered. They are considered ICV which means they need to meet nearly all the current ADRs. Including post 2003 emmissions.

If the body is any good a few people may be interested as there are a few registered buggies around with buggered bodies.

from what i'm lead to believe if you just run lpg this exceeds the adrs for emissions.
and the easiest way to get the other adrs is strip a sedan and put all the required parts into your buggy.

You make it sound so easy!

guys can build the cobra replicas, and the westfield(i think) racers and get them registered so you should be able to build the buggy of your dreams.
as i think you will find you are not limited to what engine type/size/horsepower you use or what sort of tyre or even type of suspension. your dreams could be a reality

i think the main hurdle you must jump is the lane change test. 100km/hr change lanes then change back again within a distance and without hitting the markers.

I think the WALLET is the biggest hurdle.You are right though....anything can be registered if it meets the required ADR's but it will cost you big $$$$$

ok so im getting the vibe that its not worth it, but why?

Has anyone recently tried or know what the ADRs requir that make it so difficult or expensive?

As the others have already said, it's the engine emissions that is the problem. If the car runs solely on LPG then you don't have to meet the emissions, but running a buggy on LPG isn't easy either.

The westfields meet the emissions with the standard 4AGE engine set-up, that has a pre-approved ECU map. This ECU map has been tested and deemed to comply, so they can use it on all their cars. The testing is quite expensive, so you would not want to have it done just for your buggy. You would need to EFI the VW motor at the very least. The easy option is to use a current generation suby motor that already meets the emissions.

The department of transport is also very slow. Ask custom offroad, they do rebodied vehicles and ICV's and know how slow QT are.

You need to meet all the current ADR's. Have a look on the DOTAR's website to see what is involved. You even need silly things like seat-belt warning lights.

Finally you need a full engineering report done on the vehicle to show that everything complies and all the ADR's are met. This costs money too.

just got my shorty engineered and blue slipped last week. No probs at all. Even had to go thru the pitts for engine ID check and all went fine. They even commented that you don`t see many of them anymore.

It's much more difficult in QLD.

just got my shorty engineered and blue slipped last week. No probs at all. Even had to go thru the pitts for engine ID check and all went fine. They even commented that you don`t see many of them anymore.
Could I please have your Engineers Ph No please ?

I have a manx for sale in brisbane with roadworthy and rego. look on carsales.com.au for info & pics. The price is neg.

i just got ANOTHER one of my buggies (gen manx) rego'd in qld the chassis no is from (a) 67 easy as.......i just went and got a roadworthy for it took that to main roads and whala plates in the hand and a sticker in the post they were amazed that those beetle's even came in a soft top version but i expained that there were quite rare:P and that she should infact put manx buggy in instead of beetle because thats what they were actually called :P

Can I please have your Engineers number? I have sent u a u2u. Thanks

Can someone confirm for me if a shortened chassis can be completed under the chassis mod section of DOTARS instead of ICV? Reason is that if you use all VW running gear, add bar work and only change the chassis then I have been told it will pass as SWB, rebodied vehicle. Are the main roads people correct here? Supposedly I spoke to a person in the approvals deparment that deals with engineers and mods.

Ive spoken to an engineer about this last week for passing in NSW. Any new swb in NSW will be a modified production vehicle. If the chassis is 1970 or earlier then its pre ADR's and the chassis only needs to meet safety standards which the engineer will advise you on. If you get the engineers certificate then a shortened chassis is OK. The body will need to meet current ADRs in regards to padded dash, inertia seatbelts, windscreen demister, eye level brake light etc.

The engineer was very helpfull - he's going to supply drawings on cutting and strenghtening the pan and basically said, if you do it my way (shortening the chassis) I'll pass it.

As far as I know and understand any new buggy being registered whether its long or short, pre 71 or not, the body has to comply to current ADRs. Better off asking an engineer though!

I just got my (shortened) buggy engineeered and registered.

Yes, modified production was the only way it would go through. Basically a rebodied car with a modified chassis. several engineers were prepared to look at it, but most flat out refused. There seems to be plenty of different opinions on why they are/ are not legal.

Had to pass a torsional rigidity test, lane change test etc. For emmisions etc he only wanted 1970 standard( almost none)
I doubt any standard pan would ever pass the rigidity test- any easy way for them to knock you back. Only the tunnel is original in mine and they still didn't make it easy (all new floor from heavy checkerplate, 75 x 50 thickwall for the perimiter, cro moly 6 point cage bolted to that, cro moly intrusion bars, firewall bars, bracing and tie bars to the front beam!)
Mine ended up weighing in at 620kg...so he wouldn't pass subaru power at this stage.