Hi All,
I have just purchased the above having wanted one for years and years! I live in Australia and will be exporting the car over the coming months. Before i do so I need to get an asbestos check done on the car......Yes....you heard that correctly! Basically, I need a certified report stating the car is asbestos free.
Does anyone have any idea of any specific "asbestos" parts on the car? For example, brake pads, head gasket, clutch plate etc? I have searched/ googled without any success and your help is much appreciated.'
Thanks.

 

The use of asbestos was reduced from the 1970s on. Since January 1993 it's no longer allowed to use asbestos in Germany. I'd say the Sapphire 4x4 Cosworth already is asbestos free as the car manufacturers usually switched to non-asbestos parts earlier.

Best thing is to ask Ford Deutschland or Ford UK for an official statement.



P.S.: Funny coincidence: Yesterday I was looking for technical details of the Escort RS2000 16V and in the technical brochure "product introduction" Ford informed their dealers and mechanics that the head gasket is asbestos free.

 

I think there used to be a sticker on the slam panel of a 1991 Sapphire I had that said the brake pads contained asbestos. But those were of course the original parts and will probably have been exchanged within the last 30 years anyway.

 

Thanks for the replies, fellas.

However, I have had zero luck so far. I ended up speaking with Ford UK. They recommended sending a blank email to "coc@ford,com" The auto response stated they cannot provide a "Certificate of Conformity" for any cars built before 1997. So.... can anybody provide any literature stating the 1990 RS Cosworth is asbestos free or if it does have components containing asbestos, what they are?

I cannot believe that there is no data available stating such information - well I cannot find it anyway!
Cheers.

 

Brake pads and clutch would be the only parts and if changed outside of warranty, would now be different material

 

all friction parts now are organic pads clutch etc unless there original parts still wouldnt of thought what sort of miles has the car done

 

Car done 118K miles.

I need an official statement from Ford - having gone through "hoops" they refuse to do a "Certificate of Conformity" for pre 1997 cars! It looks like it is now going to cost around 1K pounds minimum to get it pulled apart, bits trashed for samples and new bits put on. What an absolute joke! It seems like a complete rort to me.

 

There are already quite a few Sapphire Cosworths in Australia, i suggest you contact the Australian Ford RS owners club and see if you can contact someone that has imported a Sapphire Cosworth from the UK to see how they did it. Seems to me a jobsworth prick is going out of his way to make it difficult for you.

 

the only parts would be the clutch plate or brake pads.

And it would be extremely unlikely at that age/miles those parts are original. Of course actually proving that will be harder.

If it is really such a sticking point, only option is to replace. Although if you were looking to modify the car at all in the future, then now might work out ok to put a better clutch in the car. And besides, at 120k, might do no harm for a new clutch anyway.

Brake pads hardly a big deal as they'd be easy and cheap

Given the overall purchase cost of them these days then shipping, I'm sure a new clutch really isn't much

 

Thanks for the replies fellas - it looks like I will have to pay up. Even if I do the right thing and replace both the pads and clutch plate, I will need to produce a "certificate" proving there are no parts containing asbestos throughout the car! Aussie Border Force/ Customs seem to have taken this to an extreme. Anyone importing a car pre 2000 ish has to prove the asbestos issue!
Apparently, a guy importing an older mustang was slapped $15K AUD to have his engine taken apart, checked and re-assembled at the dock!
Jeez. Not happy but I am literally left with no choice.
Thanks for the replies again - I thought that I could get a "Certificate of Conformity" from Ford but zero chance of that with pre 1997 Ford cars. I am so looking forward to finally owning and driving a Cossie though - a massive tick on the bucket list!

 

Not sure what sort of asbestos companies exist for inspecting cars. Buildings would be no problem, as loads of companies do that.

Cars are easy because there pretty much is no asbestos, but getting someone to survey and report it...no idea. I'm sure plenty of people have shipped cars to Oz before, so some of the shippers might now ?

 

Stevieturbo - you are correct. I have found two places that do it. One starts at 590 then 76 per hour after that! The other is 390.then ++. I think both will be much the same as no definite costs given. It is frustrating when the only parts that may contain asbestos are the brake pads and clutch - but they have to check loads of stuff:All engine gaskets.

2. Head gasket.

3. Exhaust manifold gaskets and heat shields.

4 Cylinder head cover gasket.

5. Obvious rope gaskets to exhaust system.

6. Woven material to engine compartment/bonnet cover.

7. Brake pads one side only, front and rear.

8. Air filter cleaner.

9. Clutch.
Quite a list!

 

True, exhaust manifold gaskets are a possibility if original, which again at that mileage I would doubt.

Head gasket, I would doubt.

Can Ford even give a list of whether the original parts did contain asbestos ?

 

Nah - Ford just won't help at all.

 

I heard a story about cars imported to Australia and possible asbestos in them. It goes like this Maserati Australia imported a couple of cars to Australia, all were concourse condition old maserati,s they may have been shipped out from a museum or somewhere, and they were due to go on display in a museum or dealership here in OZ. however as they did not get the asbestos cert from the place they came from they were not allowed to leave the dock and were shipped back out. No matter what they said or did the Australian customs would not let them in. So it as far as i can see set in stone. no matter who you are. they even said they were not going to be driven and trailer ed to the museum and that was not good enough as the paperwork needs to be done before they get shipped.

 

What about taking the engine out shipping that separately and fitting new brakepads to the rolling shell.

 

I know a guy who came back from Oz, and the skinflint spent days taking a few motorbikes apart to ship them as parts, rather than paying whatever duties etc where needed for keeping them as complete bikes.

I guess it could be feasible to do similar and ship a vehicle as parts ? which individually many might come under less scrutiny ?