Importing a Car from the US

Oneball

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11,071
Malboro Maroon with black interior. It's fairly active on the classic scene VRY561H

Looks a lovely car. I’m thinking yellow or orange.

... and I hope major suspension mods so it can go around corners!!

It’s pretty limited by what was homologated in period but springs dampers and geo will be changed, arb on the rear which the big block cars had anyway. Basically period spec. The first non prototype home in the 1970 Le Mans was a Vette until Porsche lodged a protest. So theyre not all bad.

Will hopefully look something like this in a year or so.

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allandwf

Member
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10,958
Looks a lovely car. I’m thinking yellow or orange.



It’s pretty limited by what was homologated in period but springs dampers and geo will be changed, arb on the rear which the big block cars had anyway. Basically period spec. The first non prototype home in the 1970 Le Mans was a Vette until Porsche lodged a protest. So theyre not all bad.

Will hopefully look something like this in a year or so.

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Mine had the standard bonnet when I had it, new owner fitted a big block bonnet and had the engine tweaked. You may want to upgrade the standard drive shafts as mine twisted when power torque raised.!
 

Oneball

Member
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11,071
Mine had the standard bonnet when I had it, new owner fitted a big block bonnet and had the engine tweaked. You may want to upgrade the standard drive shafts as mine twisted when power torque raised.!

Yep. Drive shafts and diff flange caps are on the list. Diff will be refreshed. Gearbox will be an M22. Looking into alloy propshaft too but that’s probably overkill.
 

Dan!

Member
Messages
3,029
May seem initially like a daft question but.... Is a F150 raptor considered commercial at import or can it be considered PLG?

My current F150 is registered as a PLG rather than a commercial vehicle. This also allows you to do 70mph on a motorway, unlike those pickups registered as commercial that are only allowed to do 60mph as a result.
 

Oneball

Member
Messages
11,071
May seem initially like a daft question but.... Is a F150 raptor considered commercial at import or can it be considered PLG?

My current F150 is registered as a PLG rather than a commercial vehicle. This also allows you to do 70mph on a motorway, unlike those pickups registered as commercial that are only allowed to do 60mph as a result.

Don’t know about your question but a non-articulated goods vehicle less than 7.5t can do 70 on a motorway.
 

Dan!

Member
Messages
3,029
Don’t know about your question but a non-articulated goods vehicle less than 7.5t can do 70 on a motorway.

Sorry, I meant Dual Carriage way.
  • Built-up areas (such as towns and cities): 30mph – the same as a car
  • Single carriageways: 50mph – 10mph less than a car
  • Dual carriageways: 60mph – 10mph less than a car
  • Motorways: 70mph – the same as a car
 

Oneball

Member
Messages
11,071
Thanks to John it arrived a little while ago. Got it stripped to a rolling chassis which looks good, body’s had quite a few repairs over the years and the windscreen frame is rotten so that’s looking like a fair bit more work than I thought, I’ve not seen this much “proffesional” filler work since my mate’s chicken wire sill Beetle. So may have to compromise on the engine front.

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philw696

Member
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25,113
Thanks to John it arrived a little while ago. Got it stripped to a rolling chassis which looks good, body’s had quite a few repairs over the years and the windscreen frame is rotten so that’s looking like a fair bit more work than I thought, I’ve not seen this much “proffesional” filler work since my mate’s chicken wire sill Beetle. So may have to compromise on the engine front.

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You must have too much time on your hands :)
Looks a fun project though.
 

zagatoes30

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20,758
At least parts availability is pretty good for old Vettes, so it should be just a matter of time and effort. Looks fun and from what I understand these things are pretty straight forward.
 

Oneball

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11,071
You must have too much time on your hands :)
Looks a fun project though.

There’s now 6 months of darkness here, got to find something to do! Just need to get over the tedious chassis strengthening, the box sections are two U sections tacked together, I reckon I’ve got 80ft of seam welding to do. I’ve joined the 1990s and treated myself to one of those new fangled auto-tint welding masks :cool:

At least parts availability is pretty good for old Vettes, so it should be just a matter of time and effort. Looks fun and from what I understand these things are pretty straight forward.

Most things seem available but the exchange rate has added about 40% on to everything. Every time Boris says something my wallet gets a little lighter!
 

Oneball

Member
Messages
11,071
I’ve got hold of a used 350 that I think has come from a Lola, moderation in everything.

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Oneball

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Messages
11,071
Bit of checking over the engine today, it had a piston melt and was in bits when I got it, but came with another set of rods and pistons which are slightly different to what it was built with and don't give a high enough compression ratio with the heads, so the heads need skimming to raise it.

On inspection one of the heads has two broken valve guide bosses on the damaged cylinder, I think it'll sort but will then need all of the ports machining to match, and obviously new guides and probably valves, not quite so much of a bargain buy!

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Crank in

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The four end pistons in

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And measured the piston depth, all around 30 thou so and 5 thou out front to back, needs a little off to help with the compression ratio

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The welded on balance weights only clear the piston skirts by 10 thou, which is a bit of an issue, so it's either have them removed, the assembly needs balancing anyway, or get a different crank, cock!

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