Asbestos

[Alan.M]

Hi everyone, newly here, first post.

Happy new year!

I'm in Australia and I'd like to import a Chimaera. We have a total ban on the importation of asbestos.

I'm wondering if it might have been used, for instance in brake pads, clutch linings or exhaust gaskets on cars up to about 1998.

I'd expect that brake pads would be much newer than the cars by now, so almost certainly wouldn't contain asbestos. Probably clutch plates too. But what about exhaust gaskets or heat shielding? Does anyone know? Or know how to find out?

Thanks, Alan.

[The Three D Mucketeer]

Can't answer your question , but a bit ironic that one of the worlds biggest exporters of asbestos , now bans it's importation

[frontfloater]

This Government site, and several other webpages, indicates that the UK legal cut-off for using any asbestos was 1999. Of course, manufacturers could have voluntarily stopped before then.

https://www.hse.gov.uk/mvr/mechanical-repair/asbes...

Elsewhere is information suggesting that components including gaskets & piston rings also made use of asbestos. Do the Australian rules really require a strip-down of an engine to that level of detail? It would appear unnecessary. I was a health & safety adviser for many years, and the mere presence of asbestos is not a hazard : it's only when dust may occur that it becomes a danger. For example, I had an old shed with a roof made of corrugated asbestos panels. A specialist contractor told me it was safe to leave in place, but would require specialist handling if the panels began to crumble or I wanted to replace them.

[phillpot]

Asbestos was banned in UK in late '99 so I would imagine it's use had been pretty much phased out sometime before?

[indigochim]

Can't advise at all but if the extent of the use is clutch, brakes, exhaust gaskets and insulation most of that would be possible to get replaced before you export the car you find. The exhaust manifold gaskets have a tendency to blow so like the clutch and brakes there's a good chance they too would not be original. The heat shield under the bonnet and inside wings is a flexible foil covered mat would that rulenoutbthatnutbmay contain it?

Unfortunately even with the dates as posted I suspect with TVRs reputation for stock control and flexibility with rules they could well have used up stock after those dates if they ever used products containing asbestos.

[mk1fan]

You might want to watch some of the back catalogue of Mighty Car Mods as they imported a few cars from Japan and documented what they went through regarding the asbestos regs.

I recall they would strip the brake pads and pull the engines out prior to exporting them out of Japan. This removed the clutch and exhaust gaskets. Not that much more work to strip the heads etc .. if there were any doubts over the intake and head gaskets.

I think they partnered with a company that specialised is preparing cars for export so had a set of protocols in place to strip what was required.

[swisstoni]

How does it work? Does the importer have to declare that there is no asbestos?

[Alan.M]

swisstoni said:

How does it work? Does the importer have to declare that there is no asbestos?

Yes, the individual importing the car signs a declaration that the car is asbestos free.

Customs and quarantine may (or may not) decide to inspect the car. If they dont inspect, happy days.

If they do and find asbestos it's a real problem. Big fine, and you have to organise to have the asbestos removed while the car is in the customs bonded area at great expense.

So it appears the best approach is to have the car tested and certified in the UK before shipment. If it's certified by an approved tester customs won't need to inspect the car.

Unfortunately it does add a fair bit of cost, especially with the Pacific Peso being so weak ATM.

And hassle.

[Belle427]

I cant answer when modern friction materials stopped using asbestos but i would have thought the clutch and brakes would be ok on the Chim.
Are they really going to the lengths of checking gaskets etc?
Seems odd you could ship the car with them removed and then re fit once cleared or is that not the case?

[Alan.M]

The Three D Mucketeer said:

Can't answer your question , but a bit ironic that one of the worlds biggest exporters of asbestos , now bans it's importation

Australia stopped mining asbestos in 1984.
There are still countries mining large quantities of it today.

[Alan.M]

Belle427 said:

I cant answer when modern friction materials stopped using asbestos but i would have thought the clutch and brakes would be ok on the Chim.
Are they really going to the lengths of checking gaskets etc?
Seems odd you could ship the car with them removed and then re fit once cleared or is that not the case?

Yeah, I'm sure there's no asbestos in them either. But it's a matter of being able to satisfy Customs and Quarantine.

But I think I'll be able to without having the car tested, which takes weeks and can cost over $3000.

The car I'm currently looking at has a good service history including a clutch replacement, with receipts. Hopefully there's a written record of brake pads being replaced also. If not we'll just do them now.

And the motor is a Rover 4.6, which was at the time being exported to countries that had already banned asbestos, so there wouldn't have been any in the gaskets etc.

So I think it's all covered.

Thanks for the response!

[s p a c e m a n]

Another way to do it would be get one from north east sports salvage without an engine in and then get them to ship you the engine 'seperately'.

Would probably lose any category marker on it too crossing the water.

[The Three D Mucketeer]

Try contacting gkronberg on here , see how he did it .... He's in Melbourne with a 2001 Tuscan .

[Fez887]

Question is….How is anyone checking? Is there someone sat at the docks ready to strip down all classic cars to check for asbestos and then put it back together!! Come on!

[swisstoni]

Fez887 said:

Question is….How is anyone checking? Is there someone sat at the docks ready to strip down all classic cars to check for asbestos and then put it back together!! Come on!

Yes. And charge you for the privilege apparently.

[LucyP]

Just get a report prepared in the UK and show that to the Australians. The likelihood of that not being accepted and the Australians stripping down the car to find nothing, because there isn't any asbestos to be found is completely nil.

[Aussiechim]

Hi Alan. I'm based in Australia too and have just imported a Chim to Melbourne. I got the asbestos test done in the UK as Australian Border Force may damage your car when they do the test when it lands should you import one and not have the required report.

Happy to help navigate the import process.

[Alan.M]

Fez887 said:

Question is….How is anyone checking? Is there someone sat at the docks ready to strip down all classic cars to check for asbestos and then put it back together!! Come on!

They do test some cars, particularly older cars with no documentation indicating they've been tested before shipment. As stated above, it's at the importer's cost, and they could damage the car.

So while it's extremely unlikely one of these cars could contain asbestos, it's probably worth getting it tested and certified before shipping.

Theoretically they can still test a car with a certificate, but it's very unlikely.

[Gasolina]

Exported an early 90's air cooled Porsche to Australia last year. Contacted Australia Border Force for info and they sent out a kit to the UK for us to test for asbestos. It was basically a tick list, images, cotton buds, disposable gloves and sealable bags. It included instructions as to what to swab and where to return it. Got a report a couple of weeks later with a certificate to allow entry to Australia.