Engineering/Registering a 1977 Transam

[bonnevista]

when my chevelle was shipped over from USA in august 2010. It had to have an L02 compliance check for NSW rego. This required lap sash retractable seat belts in the front and lap sash retractable belts in the outer rear positions. the centre rear belt remained a lap only belt. It had to have child restraint anchor points in both rear outer positions on the parcel shelf. The headlights had to be changed so that they dipped down & left from high to low beam. You will also need a weigh bridge ticket.  My car is a 68 model so it did not need to comply for emmisions.  They did say however that after 1975 was different. Make sure when you go to the RTA that you have originals, not copies of your import approval etc. I had to go back with originals.  http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/getnewrego/importedvehicles.html

see ya. Col.

You got ripped off. '68 Holdens/Fords don't have retractable seat belts or child anchorages, so you don't need them either.

Either they don't know what they're talking about or they're gouging you for money.

[bluvelle]

Cost me $1000 to have NSW compliance & engineers report. (not L02 sorry) . Looks like I may have learnt an expensive lesson. Would rather have the original lap belts, The retractables are horrible. Sorry to 1977 transam to give you a bum steer. I was just going off my experience.

[73Transam]

HIya guys,
I had to get my 83TA registered in NSW in 2005, as it was not previously registered in NSW it needed and Engineer's report and compliance with seat belt regulations for NSW, i got my seat belts for a guy called Mark Douwe who is in the pontic car club in Vic he can help if you need them and you wont have to stuff around with modifications to fit them, Also James from Stars and stripes in Wollongong is well versed with Transam, he got mine complied and Engineered... his phone number is (02) 4256 0001

[sms777]

I do not understand where you guys got this engineering idea.
There is nowhere in the rules book states that you need engineers report.
As bonnevista said there are blue slip guys out there simply too damn lazy to look up the rules and make up their own and take all your money for something not required.
The only time you will need engineers report when you have to modify your vehicle to have seatbelts fitted. If your imported vehicle has the original seatbelts in it you just have to replace them with australian ones. As long as you do not alter locations you are right.
This is a warning to all Mustang owners with earlier models not fitted with seatbelts from factory. Once you fit your own you are up for an engineers report.

I hope we are finally clear on this one.

Cheers, Chris.

[bonnevista]

I do not understand where you guys got this engineering idea.
There is nowhere in the rules book states that you need engineers report.
As bonnevista said there are blue slip guys out there simply too damn lazy to look up the rules and make up their own and take all your money for something not required.
The only time you will need engineers report when you have to modify your vehicle to have seatbelts fitted. If your imported vehicle has the original seatbelts in it you just have to replace them with australian ones. As long as you do not alter locations you are right.
This is a warning to all Mustang owners with earlier models not fitted with seatbelts from factory. Once you fit your own you are up for an engineers report.

I hope we are finally clear on this one.

Cheers, Chris.

I've been in the hobby for 'a few' years and I've met alot of people with American cars.  I'm constantly amazed by the number of LHD cars with engineers reports that are bone stock.
When I ask the owner, "what did you modify to warrant the engineers report?".  The reply is usually "nothing, I got it because I was told to".

[1977 Transam]

Thanks for the replies guys. What you have to say is interesting. I'm replacing high/low beam headlights, red indicators to amber and front and rear seatbelts including child restraints which sounds like they kicked in on 1976 in Australia. All this has been told to me it needs an engineers report. I wonder if this has anything to do with it coming directly from the states. Blue slip is being asked for too. Chris it sounds like you process these cars on a regular basis. I don't want to pay for an engineers report if it's not needed. The whole car is original apart from a flow master exhaust system and an alarm.

[1977 Transam]

I just called the rta import department. Basically headlights, taillights, seatbelts and child restraints need to be changed on post 1972 vehicles. He said weigh bridge ticket then engineers report then blue slip is needed. Said if a cop pulls you over you will need to present a copy to him. I think rta employees when we register the vehicles don't look into it.

[Russ]

when my chevelle was shipped over from USA in august 2010. It had to have an L02 compliance check for NSW rego. This required lap sash retractable seat belts in the front and lap sash retractable belts in the outer rear positions. the centre rear belt remained a lap only belt. It had to have child restraint anchor points in both rear outer positions on the parcel shelf. The headlights had to be changed so that they dipped down & left from high to low beam. You will also need a weigh bridge ticket.  My car is a 68 model so it did not need to comply for emmisions.  They did say however that after 1975 was different. Make sure when you go to the RTA that you have originals, not copies of your import approval etc. I had to go back with originals.  http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/getnewrego/importedvehicles.html

see ya. Col.

Damn!

For a '68 Chevelle, the only thing you needed was headlight swap & weighbridge ticket - that's it. No engineer needed to even know of its existence.

If the shop demanded those things be done, and it wasn't you that actually requested them - go back and ask for a refund, or at the least, the cost to replace/repair any mods that may have been done.

At the very least, you should put the Company name here so everyone knows where not to go!

Since you are in Kellyville, if you ever import again and need a Blueslip, head to Pamchar in Riverstone. This is where I got mine done. Paul's been the mechanic for all our family and work vehicles for years.

The paperwork bit just depends on the mood of the person behind the counter. My import approval was a print-out of the scan the importer sent me. No way could I have the original, as it had about a dozen cars on it. The bill of sale was an out-of-focus scan print-out, and the RTA bloke never looked twice at it.

Original is definitely better though, but if possible, make some nice high-quality scans of them (not black & white photocopies), just in case.

I just called the rta import department. Basically headlights, taillights, seatbelts and child restraints need to be changed on post 1972 vehicles. He said weigh bridge ticket then engineers report then blue slip is needed. Said if a cop pulls you over you will need to present a copy to him. I think rta employees when we register the vehicles don't look into it.

When registering an import, RTA will only check to see that each required piece of paper-work is there - but they won't thoroughly check every document and be sure that every modification needed has been carried out, as that would require them to actually know something. All they care about is it's the right bit of paper filled in correctly, with someone's signature on it. As far as they're concerned, it's up to you, the blue slip inspector & engineer (if needed) to ensure everything is done properly. If something is false, misrepresented or missing - they arn't liable, and if the Cops (or Insurance) nab you on it - it's on you, not them.

A quick tip: Go to the RTA office you intend to use when registering, and ask them what you need. Plenty of people have done as you did and got a response via phone, but when they've gone into the RTA to finalise everything, the person behind the counter has a differing idea on what's "correct", and you've wasted a bunch of time and need to do some more running around. If you can, also jot down the persons name - that way , if someone else serves you and has another differing opinion, you can say "that Lady there said I only needed this" and then the 2 of them can sort it out - so try and ask someone that's in charge.



And finally ... if you get the opportunity, take Chris up on his offer. Pay him a visit, he'll spell it out for you in simple terms - and you may even get to see a Hemi-powered Challenger that'll make you put the TA up for sale to fund a Mopar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:shades:

Good luck!

[joe74ta]

HIya guys,
I had to get my 83TA registered in NSW in 2005, as it was not previously registered in NSW it needed and Engineer's report and compliance with seat belt regulations for NSW, i got my seat belts for a guy called Mark Douwe who is in the pontic car club in Vic he can help if you need them and you wont have to stuff around with modifications to fit them, Also James from Stars and stripes in Wollongong is well versed with Transam, he got mine complied and Engineered... his phone number is (02) 4256 0001

When I imported my 74 TA I took it to this Stars and stripes guy and it was not a pleasant experience to say the least he had my car in his shop for three months gave me all the same rubbish your guy is giving you then at the end charged me $2000.
He ordered the wrong seat belts three times then just bodged the last set to make them fit.
He drilled a hole in my original washer bottle and retrofitted a washer pump bypassing the original pump on the wiper motor then charged me $80. I replaced his bodgy solution later with a new original wiper washer motor from Pontiworld (just across the road from him) For $70.
Take my advice just drop in to Chris (sms777) and have a chat with him he will steer you wright and save you some $.

[1977 Transam]

Hi Joe.

Thanks for the advice.  I saw Chris at the Castle Hill show yesterday and he was very helpful (Thanks Chris!).

I basically have two options, keep it stock and get it registered or change seat belts, lights and indicators and get it engineered.  The latter is more expensive but I figure if I have an accident and I haven't done any of the other stuff there's a chance the insurance company finds a way out of paying my insurance.  From all the great advice everyone has provided me I have ensured the rear bumper on my car wasn't mutilated and it saved me $330 on labour.

I am getting Dave at Minto to cut my tail lights for rego purposes but I will buy a spare original lense set for my Transam from Dave at Pontiworld to store away so I still have a correct 1977 Vehicle at the end of the day.

I really look forward to meeting up with you all and seeing your cars and all the hard work you've put into them.

Thanks again for all your help!