Re shelling an Audi RS6

[ezakimak]

i must be crazy for thinking about this.....

as i look in piston heads classifieds i see that the V10TFSI versions are somewhere around 26k to 30k pounds, which im guessing works out at around 50K landed in Australia

i can then find a povo spec australian delivered A6 shell for around $25K AU

a couple of weeks of spannering, get a pannel beater to transfer the wide RS6 rear guards across and im looking at an RS6ish thing that owes me around $80K Australian.

RS'6s seem to be gowing for a lot more than that at the moment on car sales.

What would insurance companies be likely to say?
any other pit falls?

[Hitch78]

You must really want an RS6!

[ezakimak]

in the Avant version, yes.

could get my bikes, snow boards in. awd to get up the slops.
big enough to house renovation supplies in, easy to put roof bars on, get baby seats and prams in.....
goes like st of a shovel, perfect for family hauling. should have enough grunt for towing.

im building a single seater so that should cover the track duties

therese nothing else that i like thats comparable. if you look at the deprecioation rate they should drop another few thousand pounds which would then make it even more tempting.

[ariddell]

I'd think the car would need to be stripped in the UK, probably sent out minus shell and in multiple shipments to qualify as parts rather than a full car for customs.

Then I wouldn't be surprised if the shells are substantially different, and then the grief of getting it registered could be rather fun.

Suspect you'd need to have it re-engineered for compliance as will flag with different engine number at registration time, might fall foul of state regs re increasing the power output hugely from what the donor shell had etc, and then end up with something pretty much unsellable as most people looking for an RS6 would likely run a mile from one with questionable heritage.

Nice idea, but to be honest I don't see it working alas.

[papahet]

The car would either need to be totally stripped and sent as bits or you can have it cut in half and shipped out as a front cut and a rear cut.

Check your state regs but generally an engine swap with something from the same model of car is acceptable, not sure when it is going from a 4 cylinder to a V10 though. Check the NCOP: http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_reg...

What you are doing is not impossible, this is how people get themselves a Spec C STI Impreza

[ezakimak]

i was thinking send it as a race car, roll on roll off shipping, that way the whole car would arrive in one shipment.

it would be going from a 3.2 V6 quatro to a 5.0 v10 quator. engine swap looks doable providing that an A6 and RS6 share the same basic body. if i have both bodys available for comparison, it should be simple enough to get a certifying engineer to sign of on the basic chassis being the same. i cant imagine that they are vastly different. the front bumpper, rad support, fenders, bonnet would get swapped, rear wheel arches and doors would also get swapped. only unknown would be changes in the floor pan, similar to what BMW do with the M3 verses the base model. where the rear boot looses the spare wheel well to make way for the exhaust box. I have had a look at an A6 and an S6 now and there is not a lot of room in either engine bay. the 10 is obviously longer but its quite common for the front bumper to have to come off for services on the Audi's

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/Registration/P...

from vic roads web site said:

Change of engine
1. Replacement engine is identical to the original engine, or is an option allowed by the manufacturer for the same model vehicle
The optional engine must be offered in Australia by the vehicle manufacturer as an option for that vehicle (or certified variants). The change of engine may be recorded by VicRoads provided that the registered operator or a motor mechanic, or dealer in that make of vehicle or an Automotive Engineer signs a declaration certifying the engine is optional for the vehicle model, and that all modifications made by the manufacturer for the same vehicle model with that optional engine have been completed.

You will need to attend a VicRoads Customer Service Centre to have the vehicle's engine inspected to confirm the new engine details. No appointment is required. You will also need to complete a Change of Vehicle Description form.

car would be registered from start to finish with only the details on the vic roads data base changing.

papahet said:

What you are doing is not impossible, this is how people get themselves a Spec C STI Impreza

Have you done this or know someone that has?

Ryan

Edited by ezakimak on Monday 22 July 04:34

[ariddell]

Think from memory if you want to bring the car in as a race car you need a CAMS license (which is easy) and to be able to show that that model of car isn't available locally..... Which would be an issue..

[ariddell]

Yep:

"This option allows vehicles for race or rally use to be imported into Australia.

Where a particular vehicle model is readily available in the Australian market, a Vehicle Import Approval will not be granted unless there are compelling reasons to justify why it is necessary."

[Mattt]

Silly idea IMO. Why not buy some V8 Commodore estate, it seems to tick your boxes.

[200bhp]

Mattt said:

Silly idea IMO. Why not buy some V8 Commodore estate, it seems to tick your boxes.

Exactly. Get an HSV.

[papahet]

ezakimak said:

Have you done this or know someone that has?

Ryan

I don't know anybody personally but a read around the Impreza forums will soon show you the way. Same as people buying an el-cheapo $3k non-turbo Nissan Silvia and swapping in a SR20DET turbo engine, pulling the V6 out of a Commo and putting in an Ls1.

I would talk to an engineer about it. Obviously you would carry over the correct brakes, suspension yada yada but you might need to see if they expect you to submit the car for brake testing etc.

An interesting concept anyway, if you could find a car that has been crashed in the right way it could cost you substantially less. Like find one that has taken a side impact and is being sold for spares, get the thing turned in to two half cuts and shipped out.

I don't think there would be any other avenue outside of half cuts for getting a car in. Even if your intention is to break a car you still would not get a complete car in and off the docks.

[ezakimak]

might be time to work out where the damaged vehicle auctions occur in the UK.....

[ezakimak]

comming back to this again, will be interesting to see what these two go for

http://www.copart.com/c2/homeSearch.html?_eventId=...

http://auctions.asm-autos.co.uk/vehicle_list.php?x...