The POOL ROOM

[petrolhead]

Left ball in the corner pocket

[BMK]

Been a little strange at Portland also.

A rather warm day that saw evening heavy rain. Then high winds and rain overnight.

My elderly neighbor put me at ease by telling me it was similar weather to 1967 when her son had his 21st birthday party on the beach.

Whoa for a moment I thought Al Gore may have been right and climate change was really real -

[Rog246]

Originally Posted by BMK

My elderly neighbor put me at ease by telling me it was similar weather to 1967 when her son had his 21st birthday party on the beach.

Whoa for a moment I thought Al Gore may have been right and climate change was really real -

Ber nie I would have thought that Mr Gore would have thought that climate change was "UNREAL!

[BMK]

Reminds me of that movie

I'll have what she is on!!.....

Either smoking or blowing smoke up someone...

[Rob. Smith]

I remember back in the early / mid sixties...I was a little kid but the regular summer afternoon hail storms made a big impression...The back yard was slick and fun after the storm...until someone got hurt then mum ended the play. ha ha ha Maybe the weather cycle is coming back around. This time all our houses, cars etc are a little more fragile than those back in the sixties.

[BJ's Snake]

This time all our houses, cars etc are a little more fragile than those back in the sixties.[/quote]

As well as the new generation

Cheers

[mudbrick]

Have been looking these past months at purchasing kit from local supplier.
Had virtually decided on a couple of kits and go and have a look at, printed out $$ from their sites before Xmas. Looked at one site after new year and was shocked to see price increase of between 40%-100%+ (complete kit stayed same) extras like wheels/mats/optional rear ends/bumpers etc etc.. had increased
Went to the American site, the original price list I had printed out was theirs. At those inflated prices why would you buy here. Even after shipping etc way cheaper.
I am now reconsidering wether to buy from this local kit supplier

[Zeus]

I have been dealing with the same said supplier and he has from the day I met him explained that his website is under development and to call him about any concerns.
Having done the exercise of importing myself previously you have to allow for all the costs, taxes to bring it in.

[Treeve]

Originally Posted by mudbrick

Have been looking these past months at purchasing kit from local supplier.
Had virtually decided on a couple of kits and go and have a look at, printed out $$ from their sites before Xmas. Looked at one site after new year and was shocked to see price increase of between 40%-100%+ (complete kit stayed same) extras like wheels/mats/optional rear ends/bumpers etc etc.. had increased
Went to the American site, the original price list I had printed out was theirs. At those inflated prices why would you buy here. Even after shipping etc way cheaper.
I am now reconsidering wether to buy from this local kit supplier

From where I am (NSW) I would be concerned about buying a kit from overseas without doing my homework first, on the basis that most places are left hand drive, and don't have the registration requirements that we do. There's plenty of things you have to have that you don't need in other jurisdictions, for example, emissions tests, beaming and torsion tests, brake testing, side intrusion protection and so on. Plenty of overseas standards are not accepted by Australian registration authorities too - they want the standards listed in the ADR's.

The cost to fix up these things from overseas? well, you have to allow for your own time too, and only you know what that is worth, but consider that the Australian distributor already has these things done for you. And he'll sort out the importation which is worth the effort - importing my UK based kit took a huge effort, and I wont be doing it again.

There are a small number of overseas distributors who have done their research into what is required for Australia, and can give you valid support. An example for me is a distributor of testing equipment. I could have saved about $2.5k on a recent purchase ($17k all up), however it would have been calibrated in mph instead of kph. The Australian vendor couldn't squeeze his price down any further, as he still had to do his work to make the unit to Australian specifications. Final outcome - my business justification was that I needed the Australian calibration for my work, and it was worth it to buy from the australian distributor - he knew the Australian specific requirements, so that I don't have to worry about it.

I would suggest for Australian importers of kits that it is much the same - if you are buying a model for the Australian market, then there will be some changes to be made. Instead of comparing the overseas version and the australian version of the same product, what about a price comparison between equivalent aussie versions? Is this distributor way off the mark? Have all costs for shipping been included? I know from experience that GST is charged on top of duty (which means you pay a tax on a tax)... Plus you have to deal with importing something yourself, which I also know from experience is a pain. I would expect that there would be a much smaller gap than the 40 - 100% you suggest when you get down to a real even comparison.

Buying Australian is a good thing for Australia, so why cut out the Australian guy? Why not give the Australian distributor a call and discuss why his prices are different. There is likely a reason behind it - and it will probably save you a load of money in the long run.

Treeve

[Rob. Smith]

Just changing the subject a bit...I don't watch much commercial TV..so I missed the thing about a police crackdown on 'hoons' in Sydney. My mate was telling me about it this arvo. An XY falcon with a tall blower and Idle noise at 115 Db....told the cop it was legal. Another in a ricer with windows so dark that it allowed 3% light penetration. Told the cop it was legal. These peanuts don't even know about engineering ,rules or regulations. They are part of the "street machine" scene. The major cause for the NSW RTA crackdown with ridiculous rules. I also went to the big street machine show at olympic park and enjoyed looking at some awesome machinery. One of the winners had an XC falcon...Registered and obviously illegal. I heard one bloke ask the owner how in the world did you get this registered. The owner answered (genuinely) saying that they just kept it registered all the time they were building it.(apparently a registered car gets more points) By the way he spoke I really think that he thought that this procedure was OK. The car had suicide doors , a blower that was higher than the roof, the rear tyres were about 21" wide and the fronts were motorcycle tyre wide. It was immaculate and I doubt it would ever see the road but it gives other people the idea that you can build anything and put it on the road. No wonder the RTA hates anything but factory cars.

[Modena]

I know someone who is doing the same thing here in Vic - hes up to about year 10 of the car being registered while it gets "re-built"

[Rog246]

You would think that the RTA would/could make use of some PR and send some people to club meetings to explain their position and the Laws position re vehicle mods.
That being said it smacks of common sense.........................oh sorry !
I got carried away, what with Govt. depts. using common sense
I'll try and do better next time

[Rebel1]

Originally Posted by Rog246

I'll try and do better next time

Tis Ok Rog, we do make allowances for those who live down the ahmmmm ..... south east side.

[Rog246]

Originally Posted by Rebel1

Tis Ok Rog, we do make allowances for those who live down the ahmmmm ..... south east side.

Now that's just cruel !
But then again we never get blown off the face of planet, hailed on etc like them fellas up your way !

[boxhead]

Wow, how good was that tennis match.

[Dimis]

Originally Posted by boxhead

Wow, how good was that tennis match.

Absolutely EPIC!!!

Thank goodness Bruce didn't go with "Special", that would have been an injustice.

[sambo]

In other news... we dropped to 20 degrees yesterday (celcius) and I swear I picked up 30kW from the L98. I'm used to big gains from cold air with the little turbo daily driver, but driving the Cobra in the heat the last few months... I totally forgot what it's capable of. Is this typical for a big V8?

[boxhead]

I heard a rumor today.

[Treeve]

What rumour did you hear Boxhead?

Treeve

[David Hodgson]

Originally Posted by Treeve

What rumour did you hear Boxhead?

Treeve

Might be a rumour about the not so great wheather down south east