A.k.a.: Adam Pawlowski
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posted on August 22nd, 2009 at 12:02 PM
australians being held on a tight leash
one thing i have always asked myself is why are Australian rules and regulations, in regards to cars, soooooo damn strict.... one example is just to
have a look at some of the cars and bikes going around in the USA..... they can have cars how they should be (low loud and silly) hot rods with no
gaurds, straight pipes, bikes with stupid rake and extended chassis, etc etc etc etc.... i could go on for days......
for example, what set me off on this topic was i was trawling through thesamba website today and saw this..... and its registered..... wtf?
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STIDUB
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posted on August 22nd, 2009 at 12:16 PM
personally i wonder if some things over there are rego'd like some around here, in other words dodgy, rego'd then modded, false info, roadworthys
over the phone etc etc, that said they also have rego's rails/buggies, thats nuts! that said the laws we have here make sense as far as safety &
sensibility go for the masses that just go oooh pretty, when your modding something & know the ins & outs of the way it affects the whole car
they can be restrictive but mod plates cure that up in qld usually, prove it works & its fine kinda system it seems
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posted on August 22nd, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Hiya polak,
Speaking from Stateside, I'd offer this.................
Most (like 95%) of the vehicles you see in the States are pretty much what I think you'd see in Oz. Most of the "magazine specials" hardly ever
see the light of day out on the open road. That's because the insurance for these one-off creations is generally way high.
Regulations here tend to emphasize two areas, basic safety and emissions. By basic safety I mean BASIC safety. Vehicles must have windscreens,
fenders, lights, horn, etc. No checking of the equipment is ever done. However, police will ticket equipment violations. California is extremely
stringent in this area concerning pollution equipment. If it was on your car when it was produced, it better be there (and be functioning!)
now.........or else.
Do folks do an "end-around" to avoid regulations? Of course, and I'm sure this happens everywhere. It's not uncommon here to tweak the tuning of
the car (in a way you'd never do for daily use) to pass emissions tests. As soon as the test is passed the car is tweaked back to what it was.
But at the very core of the issue is the spirit of independence here. The whole issue of gun ownership speaks to the same attitude here in the
States. "It's mine and I'm gonna do what I want with it". Frankly, you wouldn't believe what some folks whip up in their garages. But, as I
mentioned before, there creations usually don't see all that much road time.
A.k.a.: Chris Leete
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posted on August 22nd, 2009 at 01:14 PM
its unfortunate in my opinion though...
if a person is driving something that only presents danger to them selves or the passengers, then their own danger/safety should be their own
problem/responsibility. If they are going ot be silly enough to put themselves at risk, (and do the favour of self-culling stupidity out of humanities
gene pool) then why stop em.
honestly though, whats more dangerous about a rail buggy on the road then riding a harley davidson? i would feel safer in a rail buggy, and either
way, the steel of a bikes forks or the bar of a buggy is going to hurt just as bad.
legislation is gay in my own opinion. And people who put themselves in those 'dangerous' predicaments should be held responsible for their own
actions. the safety of Bistanders on the other end of the spectrum is a different kettle of fish all together though...
(ô_!_/ô) (ô_!_/ô)
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posted on August 22nd, 2009 at 01:23 PM
When I was in the UK, I was asking a Rat Look Splitty owner how they get away with it and he saud the only structural test they do in the UK is for
the floor and chassis rails, so you can have a rust hole in the door panel if you like just so long as the floor is not hanging out, mainly to do with
the snow conditions he believed.
Horses for courses, I am always nervus driving my original ratty 58 Beetle without seatbelts as it never came with them.
I beleive in Germany of you are going to register a modified early Beetle you must convert it to IRS and disc brakes too if it is not all
standard???
Cheers,
David
vwjon
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posted on August 22nd, 2009 at 02:43 PM
Aussy rules (not footy) are screwed, my notch was pitted here in WA, the washers didnt work, wipers were dodgy, the engine was running rough as (a
link had come off 1 carby) and she was on the origional rock hard cross-ply tyres (40yrs old!!) it failed the pit test.......there were no door cards
on the doors! i kid you not! an hour later i borrowed some door cards and got my reggo! no emissions test, no brakes test, no lighting test,
nothing!!
in the uk there must be no structural damage or corrosion within a 10cm radius of a load bearing member, holes on the exterior of the body must not
have shape edges or cause damage in any way shape or form when brushed by in either direction of the vehicle travel.
so a bullet hole into the car is acceptable provided its more that 10cm from the chassis, suspension, cross members, etc,etc.
A.k.a.: Towely BuMpEr KING! ILLegal ALIEN on a roadtrip
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posted on August 23rd, 2009 at 12:45 AM
my kinda workshop hang onto them blokes!
Quote:
Originally
posted by vwjon
Aussy rules (not footy) are screwed, my notch was pitted here in WA, the washers didnt work, wipers were dodgy, the engine was running rough as (a
link had come off 1 carby) and she was on the origional rock hard cross-ply tyres (40yrs old!!) it failed the pit test.......there were no door cards
on the doors! i kid you not! an hour later i borrowed some door cards and got my reggo! no emissions test, no brakes test, no lighting test,
nothing!!
in the uk there must be no structural damage or corrosion within a 10cm radius of a load bearing member, holes on the exterior of the body must not
have shape edges or cause damage in any way shape or form when brushed by in either direction of the vehicle travel.
so a bullet hole into the car is acceptable provided its more that 10cm from the chassis, suspension, cross members, etc,etc.
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posted on August 23rd, 2009 at 08:39 AM
In the uk u could get away with just about anything u wished for as long as the rust was as stated. U could fit a V8 to a mini have the front seats in
the back and leave the brakes standard as long as it passes its MOT (roadworthy) at the standards for that year car ur away. I belive its changed of
late or is changing but still the scope for mods is endless.
In saying that and as much as i miss it the rules here work to stop the idiots and the dangerous cars/bikes from ever seeing the light of day. Some
of the mods i saw done in the UK were damn right scary. Some were just plain stupid and some were fantastic( like the rebodied beetle backwards so it
always looked like it was going in reverse!)
We used to get early cortinas in the summer and chop the roof of, weld the doors shut and use it till winter started and to much rain fell. Totaly
legal to do !!
steff.......
Life with out a v-dub is no life at all!!!!!
vwjon
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posted on August 23rd, 2009 at 09:53 AM
dubcrazy. do you remember the car called "the beast"?
for those who never heard of it, it started life as an american station wagon, the owner fitted a spitfire merlin engine in it, the bonnet was about
10 ft long, truck brakes up front and standard brakes at the rear, it also had a rollsroyce grill fitted, he got prosecuted for the rolls grill cos he
didnt have permission to use it!! the noise from the beast was out of this world, you could hear it for miles around. but it was road worthy, with an
mot and tax!!
i used to have a bug with the roof chopped off, the was great till the battery fell thru the floor!! i put some wood in the battery pan, the rust was
more than 10cm from the rear suspension (just!) a bungy strap held the wood and battery secure, bingo.......new mot!! i was young and skint, but i had
a great fun car! good motor, good brakes, whay else do you need??
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posted on August 23rd, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Quote:
Originally
posted by polak
one thing i have always asked myself is why are Australian rules and regulations, in regards to cars, soooooo damn strict.... id=791083
It's only getting worse with the traffic filth attending car/bike shows with the intention of defecting vehicles as they turn up to the show.
Unfortunately this country is turning into a nanny state which is a real pitty because there are some really nice modified vehicles out there that are
just too radical for the folk who don't appreciate it. If the govt. had their way, everyone would be driving something with the charisma of a white
1990's Toyota Camry.
If you can't fix it with a hammer,
you have an electrical problem....
DubCrazy
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posted on August 23rd, 2009 at 08:59 PM
Quote:
Originally
posted by vwjon
dubcrazy. do you remember the car called "the beast"?
for those who never heard of it, it started life as an american station wagon, the owner fitted a spitfire merlin engine in it, the bonnet was about
10 ft long, truck brakes up front and standard brakes at the rear, it also had a rollsroyce grill fitted, he got prosecuted for the rolls grill cos he
didnt have permission to use it!! the noise from the beast was out of this world, you could hear it for miles around. but it was road worthy, with an
mot and tax!!
i used to have a bug with the roof chopped off, the was great till the battery fell thru the floor!! i put some wood in the battery pan, the rust was
more than 10cm from the rear suspension (just!) a bungy strap held the wood and battery secure, bingo.......new mot!! i was young and skint, but i had
a great fun car! good motor, good brakes, whay else do you need??
Yes!!!! bloody mental and if he had ever managed to get the power down with out twisting or breaking somthing it would have been unbelivably fast!!!
There was some one else who fitted the same Spitfire engine into a Mk1 Capri with the same getting power down issues
As for wood as battery tray i think just about every young dubber there has done it! i have a 73 that was so clean and tidy in the body but the floor
was totaly rusted out. I have a 2x4 through the back of the seat mounts to as i fell through one day
i could go on for hours of some of the mental creations i have seen over there!..
hang onto them blokes! 
