Discussion
Hey, im interested in importing a vette from USA, but im not sure how easy it would be. like im in australia so its quite a distance, so i imagine that the cost for shipping would be great, and the time taken would be months(?). Has anyone imported a car from the US to anywhere (eg UK/AUS) did you find it more trouble then its worth and how was the cost? any help would be great
You have a particular problem in that your government does not allow the import and use of left hand drive vehicles.
I have two US customers that have taken cars to Aus and both of them have had the cars converted to right hand drive. I can put you in touch with at least one of the guys, Brett Hooker, as we are still in touch. I think he had a C5 and his ZR1 converted.
I have seen the conversion done on a C5 in the UK, suffice to say it is a good way to completely f**k up a nice car!!
I have two US customers that have taken cars to Aus and both of them have had the cars converted to right hand drive. I can put you in touch with at least one of the guys, Brett Hooker, as we are still in touch. I think he had a C5 and his ZR1 converted.
I have seen the conversion done on a C5 in the UK, suffice to say it is a good way to completely f**k up a nice car!!
There is some rule in Australia regarding the age of the car, therefore if the car is older than a certain age you don't have to convert it.
Regarding importing from the USA it is both simple and cheap. The cost of shipping from the East Coast to the UK was £500 approx for my Z06 back in May of this year. The shipping time depends on the route and where you are in Oz i.e. Sydney will be cheaper and shorter than say Perth.
If you need further information and details of costs let me know.
Of course the information from blackzr1 may well put the mockers on your plans anyway...
Regarding importing from the USA it is both simple and cheap. The cost of shipping from the East Coast to the UK was £500 approx for my Z06 back in May of this year. The shipping time depends on the route and where you are in Oz i.e. Sydney will be cheaper and shorter than say Perth.
If you need further information and details of costs let me know.
Of course the information from blackzr1 may well put the mockers on your plans anyway...
Correct on the price. Its the standard of workmanship and the scope of the modification that I have a hard time with.
A brief run down of the C5 conversion,
1)Remove the entire drive train.
2)Remove the entire interior inc harness and everything attached to the front bulkhead.
3)Cut the bulkhead out(!!!) and replace it with a formed fiberglass bulkhead (can you imagine this being done by a not particularly skilled body shop?)
4)Fit new harness that mates up with the new ABS moulded dash/ctr console, etc. All in very nasty ABS that looks like its from a 1960's Skoda
5)Replace both door trim panels with same very nasty moulded ABS panels from the same 1960's Skoda.
6)Get the original steering rack modified with a gearbox that reverses the direction of movement in the rack and also manages to kill any sensitivity that is in the standard car.
7)Re-site the brake and suspension control sensors in the front of the car cos they get in the way of making it right hand drive. This in it's self is a real no no as the yaw and pitch control does not know where the hell the car is half the time. The net result is that the car does a little war dance every time the sensor gets a spurious signal. When asked the suppliers replied that they had not seen the problem as they had not converted anything newer than a 97 C5.
I looked at this conversion in detail from a couple of different suppliers in Aus and was not impressed. I was going to offer this as a service in the UK but was so disapointed with the overall fit and function of the kit I gave it up as a bad job.
Just my 2p's worth
>> Edited by blackzr on Tuesday 4th November 16:16
A brief run down of the C5 conversion,
1)Remove the entire drive train.
2)Remove the entire interior inc harness and everything attached to the front bulkhead.
3)Cut the bulkhead out(!!!) and replace it with a formed fiberglass bulkhead (can you imagine this being done by a not particularly skilled body shop?)
4)Fit new harness that mates up with the new ABS moulded dash/ctr console, etc. All in very nasty ABS that looks like its from a 1960's Skoda
5)Replace both door trim panels with same very nasty moulded ABS panels from the same 1960's Skoda.
6)Get the original steering rack modified with a gearbox that reverses the direction of movement in the rack and also manages to kill any sensitivity that is in the standard car.
7)Re-site the brake and suspension control sensors in the front of the car cos they get in the way of making it right hand drive. This in it's self is a real no no as the yaw and pitch control does not know where the hell the car is half the time. The net result is that the car does a little war dance every time the sensor gets a spurious signal. When asked the suppliers replied that they had not seen the problem as they had not converted anything newer than a 97 C5.
I looked at this conversion in detail from a couple of different suppliers in Aus and was not impressed. I was going to offer this as a service in the UK but was so disapointed with the overall fit and function of the kit I gave it up as a bad job.
Just my 2p's worth
>> Edited by blackzr on Tuesday 4th November 16:16
I saw a black/black 94 RHD ZR1 in Arazona (of all places) a couple of years ago. They had remounted the engine at 45 degrees to the center line of the vehicle (!!!!!) to get enough room for the steering shaft. Can you imagine what the propshaft UJ's are doing!
Again it had the very nice (yea right) Skoda plastic one piece moulded dash. The car was for sale in the Krays classic car auction, didn't reach the reserve.
Again it had the very nice (yea right) Skoda plastic one piece moulded dash. The car was for sale in the Krays classic car auction, didn't reach the reserve.
I saw a black/black 94 RHD ZR1 in Arazona (of all places) a couple of years ago. They had remounted the engine at 45 degrees to the center line of the vehicle (!!!!!) to get enough room for the steering shaft. Can you imagine what the propshaft UJ's are doing!
Again it had the very nice (yea right) Skoda plastic one piece moulded dash. The car was for sale in the Krays classic car auction, didn't reach the reserve.
Again it had the very nice (yea right) Skoda plastic one piece moulded dash. The car was for sale in the Krays classic car auction, didn't reach the reserve.
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