Importing a Westfield minus engine/box

[custardtart]

I'm close to bringing my Westfield over here (Sydney) from the Uk but have a few questions.

1. My car is road registered but currently on SORN. It has no engine and gearbox but everything else. Does this present any problems bringing it over here with?

2. Would I be better of getting an engine and gearbox put in whilst it's still in the Uk and if so do I need to have it MOT'd in the Uk?

3. If it's Ok to bring the car over as incomplete then what engine would be a good one to get when the car is over here? I'm thinking a Toyota 4age would be good and cheap but is there anything else I should consider?




Thanks for your help in advance.
Matt

[deviant]

Sign up here: http://www.ozclubbies.com.au/

They know all the ins and outs of rego and there will be people that have investigated or been down this route in the past.

As it stands you may not get the car in to the country in its current state as it is to complete. I.E. It is still a car and would need an import application submitting which would be rejected as there is no import system in place to cover that type of vehicle.

I suspect the car would need to be entirely taken to pieces and the body / chassis crated and sent over seperately to the engine, driveline, wheels, brakes and suspension....seperately meaning an entirely seperate boat.

http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page4371.asp#kits

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_reg...

Tread carefully.

[custardtart]

Thanks for that. I've re-registered as my old login seems to have been reset. From memory it may take a while to activate the account though.

It would be pretty easy for me to dismantle and ship seperately. Any thoughts on getting it road registered when rebuilt here?

Also, which engine/box options are available/common here for what would be road use with the odd track day?

[Bob the Planner]

Matt,

I occasionally go for a run with the Newcastle Lotus group who have a few 7s along too. I can put you in touch if you like. It does seem difficult to get them road registered though.

[deviant]

custardtart said:

Thanks for that. I've re-registered as my old login seems to have been reset. From memory it may take a while to activate the account though.

It would be pretty easy for me to dismantle and ship seperately. Any thoughts on getting it road registered when rebuilt here?

Also, which engine/box options are available/common here for what would be road use with the odd track day?

I think it can be done, over simplified but you would get a new VIN supplied by the local authorities and commence as a 'new build', you just need to get it all in as very seperate parts. You would need to talk to people that have done it before though.

Toyota 4AGE 20 Valve with a Supra 5 speed box seems to be the most common set up here. Higher budget builds go with Zetec or whatever the Mazda equivalent is. There are a few MX5 based builds appearing.

Do some research on that full cage...not sure if that will fly here or not.

Have you owned it long enough to bring it as a personal import?

I have to ask if there is any special attachment to the car? When I have asked on Ozclubbies in the past about this import lark the general consensus has been that for a seven you need to do your sums carefully. A fun road + trackday seven can be on the road for $30K and it would be easy to sneak past that keeping the local engineers and rego people happy.

Bob the Planner said:

Matt,

I occasionally go for a run with the Newcastle Lotus group who have a few 7s along too. I can put you in touch if you like. It does seem difficult to get them road registered though.

Apparently WA is the easiest place to do it now. Over east is supposedly very difficult with every car being treated differently depending on who you talk to, a real case of being patient and jumping through the hoops and going through the motions to keep the man happy.

[dmulally]

If you have owned the car for over 12 months you have a good chance of importing it into NSW. You can strip it and say its parts or a racing car but then you have to apply for it as an ICV of which it wouldnt pass in a billion years. PRB look after pommy westfields so perhaps contact them.

Oh, and Victoria is the state to be in if you want easy rego.

I should know

[suthol]

G'day Matt,

If you bring it in as a race car you won't ever to get full rego on it.

I'm posting from a pub in Perth but will be back in Sydney tomorrow morning and will check your Ozclubbies status.

Once on ther have a chat to Treeve and Auke

[suthol]

G'day Matt,

I've had a look at your " Custardtart " Ozclubbies login and you are validated and not blocked in any way so I'm think you must be holding your tongue wrong or something.

[Della]

I've heard that the Nissan SR20DE engine (as found in the Nissan Primera GT) is quite common over here. Or even the SR20DET turbo) as found in the Nissan Silvias.

[Gingerbread Man]

An interesting topic. Currently a UK resident, but are going through the motions of applying to move over.

I'd planned on taking my Caterham, so I'd be interested how this plans out. My 7 is in a complete road legal state. I believe there is a Caterham showroom in Sydney!?

[suthol]

Gingerbread Man said:

An interesting topic. Currently a UK resident, but are going through the motions of applying to move over.

I'd planned on taking my Caterham, so I'd be interested how this plans out. My 7 is in a complete road legal state. I believe there is a Caterham showroom in Sydney!?

If you've owned it for more than 12 months then a personal import shouldn't be a problem.

[Gingerbread Man]

suthol said:

If you've owned it for more than 12 months then a personal import shouldn't be a problem.

Fantastic, it's been my daily for about 4 years!

[custardtart]

suthol said:

G'day Matt,

I've had a look at your " Custardtart " Ozclubbies login and you are validated and not blocked in any way so I'm think you must be holding your tongue wrong or something.

Thanks suthol, login does i'm still working on this but will update as I go.

Cheers to all who have helped so far.