rayofleamington wrote:Fitting 9" drums will give you improved stopping power compared to the original units and are much less likely to be spotted as a modification.
Regarding fitting rear belts post 2005, in the western world it is extremely rare to make a rule based on registration date to apply to a car that was originally registered 50 years ago! The usual get-out-of-jail-free is to exempt a classic car based on manufacture date.
As a qualified mechanical engineer, I really doubt you'll get someone to certify your seat belt achorages to the latest legislation. To do that properly could require a full CAE body model and a top end FEA package... The issue is not just how well the mountings are done (a good spreader plate will do that), but rather the strength of the vehicle structure where they are mounted.
As for China - I was told (maybe completely wrongly) that the current rules pretty much stop the import of old cars - so I'm not sure that registering over the border would help - however with mainstream culture there being rather different, you may just need to pay the right amount of 'fee'.
I've been wondering when we'd get these kind of questions from China or HK - so please do give feedback on how you get on!
Hello Ray. Your comments are very sensible. I will go through them one by one :
(1) 9" drums would be a great idea, and yes they would never recognise that as a modification. I will receive an email from the head of the vehicle approval section of the Hong Kong transport department on Monday. The chap told me last Friday that it is permissable to modify the brakes providing I get consent from their department first. He said he had concerns of the possibility that some of the parts may have been past recalls from the manufacturers that used those parts in their production cars. Hes a smart cookie, and he knows his stuff, but with respect, hes not realistic. The rules state that a letter from the car manufacturer must be supplied stating that the modification is acceptable. I cant get that, but ESM will provide a letter verifying that they have supplied thousands of these kits in the past and there is no history of problems associated with fitting such kits. I suspect the Government's email on Monday will request a further letter asking for confirmation that there have never been any recalls from the car companies that have used these components in the past. If thats it, then I am sure it will be fine. If not, then I will be ordering a complete new front end brake system to change back to drums. A big job as the servo will have to go and all the pipework will need changing back to how it originally would have been. My retest is Thursday, so if I do have to change back to drums, I will need the parts in Hong Kong by Wednesday morning so I can spend the day fitting it !! I really hope I dont have to change back to drums.
(2) Rear Seat Belt Mountings. I completely agree with your sentiments. I think I have a way of getting around this, but there is no guarantee it will work and I cant discuss it on this forum !! That said, I can say that I know its possible for any car produced after 1965 to pass the Seat Belt Mountings requirements because that is when the BS AU48 standard was introduced. Im sure anyone thinking this through will understand what im getting at.......
I have been told that another option I have is to remove the rear seat ( in its entirety ) including the rear seat belts. The Government will then approve he car for first registration but it will only be approved as a 2 seater car ( i.e. front seats ). If I go down that road as a last resort, I will not be allowed to carry any passengers on the rear seats and the rear seats will not be permitted to be fitted. If I get stopped by the police then I would be committing a criminal offence under Hong Kong law and could go to prison. I will have to do it this way if I cant solve the problem any other way...
I was told by the seat belts manufacturer in the UK that to get an engineers report to certify the rear seat belt anchorages to the BS AU48 standard then the car would require a crash test or a belt test with a dummy to the tune of 1.7 tonnes per rear passenger....we all know what the result would be......an expensive pile of imported steel scrap and a very angry me !!!
(3) Hong Kong is apart of China, but it tules itself and has its own laws which are the remnants of the British Basic Law from the handover in 1997. As far as Government departments go in Hong Kong, you cant bung them a few quid to solve a problem...now if it was Mainland China...I would by now have already had dinner with the local Government officer, taken him to a suitable girly club, padded his back pocket with RMB and got my approval certificate !!! In almost all cases, I would still rather be under the Hong Kong system because although Hong Kong beurocracy is worse than that in the UK, HK is a safer place and you can see why !!
(4) Ive been out trying to get a local workshop to weld a large washer with a 23mm hole in the middle to the top of the petrol tank filler tube to comply with the 23.6mm regulation but nobody wants to do it. So I bought a large piece of acrylic plastic about 20mm thick. I was going to cut it myslef to fil, then silicone it in and drill a 23mm hole in the middle. When searching for my hole cutter I came across one of those plastic discs that are used inside bathroom cabinets to cover the back section of stop taps. The hole is 22mm diameter and tapered inwards. I cut the outside rim downwards and it fits perfectly into the head of the tank filler tube. What a result !!!! No screws, no glue, no silicone, no nothing !!! Only took 5 minutes and it looks like the proper job. Pic below..
(5) I tightened up a dripping pipe connector which now no longer leaks, so that will now pass, but I noticed a damp patch on the connector to the nearside rear brake cylinder which the MOT people missed. So ive taken the connector off to reveal that the copper washers are badly worn. They should never have been used on the rebuild......I need to see if I can buy some new copper washers tomorrow but not sure where to get them from around here. No sure if they will be readily available. Pic of the connector and washers below.
(6) Ive rigged up a hand brake brake light system today. Used a pull type switch screwed down to the top of the tunnel just behind the hand brake with a spring attached to the switch that connects throgh a tiny hole I drilled in the back of the hand braker lever. The made a neat cover from a biscuit tin lid, which screws down on top of two Ikea kitchen cabinet brackets that I had knocking around the store cupboard. They hold the cover away from the spring and switch. Ive attached a wire from the solid green wires terminal on the fuse block under the bonnet, fed the cable just below the dip switch on the floor, through a small hole and along the side of the tunnel which then connects to the switch. Then it continues along the side of the tunnel, up behind the vertical section of carpet and along the underside of the rear seat and into the rear quarter panel through to the boot.....dipping under the wooden floor and connecting to the purple green wire for the brake lights. With the carpet back in place you would never know that the mod had been done and it works a treat. So when the handbrake is pulled up with the ignition on, the brake lights come on. I think its ridiculous that the Government require this mod, but they say all single brake system cars ( i.e. old cars ) must have a brake light on the hand brake with the ignition on, just in case the foot brakes stop working and I have to emergency stop with the hand brake then everyone will know im stopping. Cant help but thinking this is way over the top but ive done it anyway to comply.
(7) The inspector said there is a small drip from the engine sump which must be stopped to prevent failure of the retest. Ive been under and had a good look but cant see where the drip is coming from. I suspect it is probably from an oil spill when I was changing the oil, so have wiped it clean and will have another look tomorrow. If there is another blob of oil there again, then I will take the sump off and give it a thorough inspection.
One way or another, Im going to get Daisy on the road. Its a pain in the DONT SWEAR OR YOU WILL BE BANNED dealing with all this, but I know it will be worth it in the end.
.
(3)[frame]
[/frame][frame]
[/frame][frame]
[/frame][frame]
[/frame]
[frame]
Over the border and its a totally different story !!
