Maybe it come in as a race/rally car, which means it could be on rally registration that some states have, or not registered at all and track only. Otherwise it would have to be personal import, as the M3 was sold in Australia so it would not satisfy SEVS.

If you modify after import, do it by the state mod plate cert system, then there is no risk.

 

I will have to look into it a bit more but the only peopel who seem to be able to import a Ecos are Chalker's but when i spoke to Gordon chalker he said he couldnt import it on the "SEVS" as he is only allowed to import the small turbo versions. He sugested to go the personal import route as he thought that would be my only and best chance . When he said that i thought HAPPY DAYS but when i spoke to "J SPEC" they said no it wont qualify as a personal import ?? personally i think "J SPEC" are wrong but ive just sent some e-mails to some "RAWS " compliant workshops in Bris as thats where i will be settling.

 

Yes very few here, owned by people who have bought them with them, or people who grabbed one when they came up for sale. Rarely see them come up for sale. If chalker still have the 2 on there web site then that may well be it for what is available locally at the moment.

Most were imported when the exchange rate was around 33c to the pound. So sellers of those spent $60ish plus fees for a £20ish car ex UK.

If you want your EsCos here it is doable. I'd be questioning the need for airbags if it didn't have them from the factory. Sounds a matter of educating the powers that be about what year air bags were introduced. From the little I know, I think personal import is your best approach.

AirCon is worth having in Queensland's climate.

 

Oh, Ok, didn't realise chalker could only do SEVS for the ST. Somebody must be able to do the BT as the sevs 181-00 is for all versions. Press the Gov for who has BT sevs permission.

I'll ask the bloke I bought mine from, as he now has a Monte (BT) he bought in after selling me the ST.

My understanding is personal import is less difficult than SEVS, so seeing as SEVS 181-00 is in place, I can't imagine personal import being an issue.

 

If you could ask him John that would be a huge help , just wondering how hard it is to retro fit air con ? worst case senario .....stick my head out the window

 

Some more links for you.

Google personal import LO3

Then find LO3 in the PDF's

Reading this doc, vehicles older than 15 years are less difficult in Qld.

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rc...dO2MM9GmoNxrDA

Link to a company that looks like they have the knowledge to do import and mods.

http://www.dbautotech.com.au/id6.html

 

Have emailed him, will let you know what he says.

Mechanically it looks fairly straight forward. Electrically might be more of a pain, depends on if aircon cars got a different harness to non aircon.

All windows open at 80k works ok

Bring a complete A/C system for the car, if you think 30ºc+ and 70%RH+ makes A/C a must have.

 

Thanks very much for the links John --- will have to come buy you a drink when i get over to OZ

I have e-mailed dbautotech to see what they can come up with.
The other thing i thought of last night seeing as we were talking about retro-fitting aircon.....Ive been looking at buying a donor Escort with the driver & passenger airbags,wiring,ecu,instrument cluster etc and fitting it to my Ecos . Thus making it compliant for Australia , I have asked Chalker his opinion on this and if he can import it as it seems the only thing stopping him is the Airbag issue . Just another avenue to explore

 

Yeah, that's an option.

I'll PM you the email address of the bloke who has bought in two EsCos's etc.

 

cheers John
just fired him off an email

 

It was very straight forward back then (1996) the only mod we had to do was fit child seat anchor points on to the rear slam panel in the boot and it sailed through the test in SA. That was under a personal import and was a 3dr sierra cos not an escos.

My bro in law took his E46 convert out 2 years ago under the same scheme to SA and I think he just had to fit new headlights and tyres, nothing major.

Its far easier under the exemption you get with a personal import tag, outside of that process its a ball ache

 

unfortunatly the personal import way is not an option for me as i havent owned it for the 12 month qualifying period so i would need to look at other ways to get it in

 

There used to be another sting in the tail regarding your personal import as an immigrant. You have to keep the car for at least 5 years, if you sell it sooner you are then liable for import duties and tax that you have not had to pay as a personal import.
The reason for that rule is to stop people making a big profit on their car that has been let in " cheaply " through the personal import rules.

 

im not 100% on the 5yr rule but i know on a personal import aswell as a SEVS you have to pay import tax and customs charges etc when it lands on Australian soil.

they seem to keep moving the goal posts

 

We paid all the duties in full at the time of import, the car could then be sold on whenever, maybe thats changed since, although I think that may have been a very old rule rather than a new one.

Our 3dr is still in Aus, the current owner is on PF and has converted it into a very high spec track car.

If you cannot take the car in under the personal import rules I honestly would not bother, sell it, buy an aircon equipped ST and go the SEVS route.

 

The only way i can see that i can go on a personal import is if i stay here until the 12 month qualifying period lapses. But having said that im now wondering if they will be picky on letting it in as im planning some big mods for it Brakes,engine etc and not sure if they will just out right say no ? that being said "Nick.W"s m8 imported the BMW which is far from standard so it must be possible ?

I know you have to show them a copy of your logbook and insurance cert to show you have owned and have been able to drive the car for the 12 month period but is there any other docs you have to give with relation to the car ? and do they check with the insurance company to find out or just take the insurance cert as proof enough ?

 

Its purely a box ticking exercise to get it into the country under the personal import rules, you will need proof of purchase in order to work out the duties at customs in Aus before they will release the car from the dock.

Its the local registration office that are the awkward buggers that may pull you up on the mods, so keep all the standard parts to swap back if needed, just put them in the boot when it goes in the container and make sure you see it sealed up this end.

 

You have to accept the fact that if you are going to live in Queensland as a new migrant, what we can do to our cars here in the UK with no restrictions is completely different to how it is in Australia. As I have said you will be better off to sell your car here and buy a car there which meets their road rules. There is no way you will be able to sneak a full on modified Escort Cosworth
past them without hitting a shit storm!!
My Brother-in Law from Adelaide was amazed when he came here to stay with me and I took him to Simply Ford at Beaulieu and he saw all the highly modified Fords on show. He is in the Ford Owners club in Adelaide and had never seen anything like it there.

 

Yes here in the United Socialist States of Australia, it is not a free for all.

But from the links I've provided above you can see that modifications can be done and certified.

Big brakes can be certified, engine mods can be certified and so it goes.


Sneaking is not the way to go. Andy needs to get in contact with someone like DB Autotech who do import and mods, and ask which order to do things in.

Modify there and import OR import and modify here.

 

Fuck sake I typed you out a massive PM and then found the thread

Now I know you're moving to QLD you are laughing. Very easily sorted. I know several cars in QLD that are far from standard. I got caught and done for speeding in a mk1 escort with an SR20 in it

Aha you must own Jon's old auralis escort? I'm v good friends with Jon! The saff is for sale at 30k.

Not the case now.

Which one is your old one then?

Problem with SEVS is that it'll massively increase the cost.

You dont need the ins cert.

You have spoken a lot of bad information I'm afraid mate. He will be able to bring a modified escort into QLD and thats fact. I'm not here to type out how or why but its nothing to worry about. I can almost suggest that he will be able to take his car on personal import even though only owned less than a year.

Yes I'm qualified to respond because I live in Adelaide and have imported a car already.


EDIT - I will say a little about mods. It's easier when the car looks generally standard. Bigger wheels and brakes are ok as is an exhaust so long as it's not too loud. Things like bigger ic and turbo cant be proven because they have no spec sheet of a standard car because it wasn't sold here. This is what I was told by the guys at the centre where the assess the cars. And anyway QLD is far easier.........

 

What car did you import? Was it highly modified ? As I told him I saw myself the cops booking cars coming out of the car show because they were modified. Have things relaxed a lot in the last 2 years ? I lived in Adelaide and went through the crap with my Modified Capri V6, getting a defect sticker and having to put it back to standard. If he can bring in a highly modified Escort Cosworth and have no hassle good luck to him, I hope it all works out fine.

 

Yeah, sure do.

I get the impression all of his collection is for sale, just a matter of price.

 

I imported my E46 M3 first so it is bog standard.

You have to be clever with what and how you import. Like I said already a standard airbox goes a long was and no low cars. In fact you aren't allowed coilovers in SA unless you have them engineered correctly.

QLD will be MILES easier for the OP. It's loads different to SA and I know several high hp cars out there in Ford world.

I cant comment enough on SA because I haven't got a modded car here yet but I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little apprehensive.

 

I am struggling to remember the current owners name of my old 3dr, there is a big thread on here about the conversion he is doing to make it a track car, think it was Vic, will have a search.

From what i remember the SA police are hot on local cars with mods as they can prove all that, but a euro car with a personal import compliance plate they would struggle to prove as they dont have any info on the specs of the cars at factory standard level.

The guys down at the inspection place in Adelaide were great back then, one was a Medieke fan and loved the Sierra's.

Edited, it was Lincoln, not seen him post for a while though

https://passionford.com/forum/restor...track-car.html

 

Bumped into Lincoln at Small Ford Sunday earlier in the year where Aaron picked up a couple of trophies for his 560 BHP 3dr. Lincoln is flat out with work and the track car had not been touched in a while

 

Nice to hear he still has it though, as good as money in the bank anyway, its the time to do the work thats the hard thing to find, same with my various projects.

 

When I had the hassle with the Adelaide Police they had with them in their car all the factory specifications for loads of different cars. They measured the wheel track front and back and because I had bigger width alloy wheels
that was the first problem, The steering wheel was a nice after market one
which they also measured and said it was too small, wrong lowered springs,
Holley 4 barrel carb also wrong and lots of other things.
Hopefully it is better now?

 

Iv never had a issue with police and modified cars and im in one of the strictist states (vic) for one they dont know what the hell is factory, cosmetic etc on a cosworth