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man everytime we buy a car over the web from japan its a "risk" if we didnt take risks we'd all be be driving holdens or fords!!

if i had the cash to waste i would have gotten it. a lot of the repair work i can do my self, or with friends.

steve

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This car is a risk however.

I was *VERY* lucky to get this car when i did, it was a matter of being available at the right time.. i missed out on a lot of cars before this one was found - there were alot of other people who wanted to buy it.

As far as the suspension is concerned, google knows jack all about it.  Other than "it's on my car" i don't know anything else about it..

Blitz: I'm not sure that i can see what you mean, i assume you are referring to the first picture.  The car is driveable, so if a fan was colliding with a belt i doubt that it would be.

-Patrick

Pat, thats exactly right :D again its impossible to know exactly to what extend the car is damaged from the pictures but a good panel shop should make light work of the repair - if you have already budgeted for the panel work you are doing well although I would not be taking those who think there is "a few grand max" worth of panel work to seriously.

man everytime we buy a car over the web from japan its a "risk" if we didnt take risks we'd all be be driving holdens or fords!!

Are you saying driving a holden is not a risk in itself? :D

Ocean, did you get any dyno sheets from the car?? They claim its arounf 650HP but some dealers claim a lotta things. Itll be very interesting when you get the car fixed and slap it on a dyno... see if the risk was worth it

I haven't got dyno sheets of the car, my agent assures me that power figures are likely to be genuine, although it may be a flywheel figure that is quoted. In either case with 2530's you are going to make a bucketload of power.

As far as the panel work is concerned, i will be a bit surprised if i need to buy more than a bar, bar support and headlight (panels only).

I have some panel experience, and one of my best mates' dad used to own a panel shop. We have all the tools and expertise necessary to perform most of the work ourselves. This is another big reason i have bought the car.

I also have little doubt that the modifications list is incomplete. There are going to be extra bits and pieces on the car (possibly good and bad) that were unexpected. This is what happens when you import.

*dreaming* Maybe it's got a Motec M800 */dreaming*

Apart from this i am quite capable mechanically and i have no doubt i will be able to perform any mechanical repairs required.

-Patrick

Yeah importing is all about risks vs. benefit and judging for yourself whether you can take that risk. Im sure you wouldn't have if you didn't think you could pull it off so kudos to you for trying.

Worst case you could part the GTR out and make your money back.

Regarding the quantum suspension, quantum is a UK suspension brand that is used by some of the big Japanese tuning houses like Trial so that they are a bit more individual and hence make suspension for a lot of Japanese cars.

Apparently their suspension is quite good, good enough for Trial to take a few time attack records using it in their R34 N1 circuit car on street legal tyres.

Cheers,

Jae

Sounds like it is very hard, and very expensive..

An update on my timeline:

Car booked onto ship leaving 23rd of October.

Applying for import approval on the 26th of October (GTR manufactured in November).

Car arrives around the 10th of November.

Import approval should be in my hand around the 12-13th of November.

Car should be in the garage soon after that.

Unfortunately the next boat isn't even scheduled yet, expected to be 2-3 weeks after the 23rd, which will land at the beginning of the christmas period - a bad time to be importing.

-Patrick

yea... christmas for international shipping is where a lotta stuff goes missing.  

should we expect your car to be in Aus by mid november then? hopefully repairs wont take long and it will be a treat to see on the road sometime

If all goes well, the car should be here by mid november yes, i am allowing until january or february for it to be on the road, given that i will be spending quite some time getting it right :D

Another question i have:

Does anybody know if i need to get the car "complianced" (if you can call what happens under the 15y rule compliance) in any kind of time frame? Do DOTARS issue the new VIN for the vehicle with my import approval? If this is the case all that is needed is an engineers certificate, rwc and rego.

-Patrick

You need it to be engineered with side intrusion bars, fuel filler, etc all the ADRs before you get it onto the road.

Good on you for having the guts and buying a modified one, can pay off big time if all is well and if not, well just bend over and drop your wallet and you'll get there either way :P

You need it to be engineered with side intrusion bars, fuel filler, etc all the ADRs before you get it onto the road.

Good on you for having the guts and buying a modified one, can pay off big time if all is well and if not, well just bend over and drop your wallet and you'll get there either way :P

The question is more about how long i have to get it complianced..

As far as the timeline is concerned i have had a bit of a setback.. email from Geoff,

Hi Patrick,

The supplier has just updated us on the situation.  They transported to the vehicle to Yokohama Port on the weekend but the shipping company complained that it is hard to start (triple plate clutch, flat battery and smoky exhaust).  So the supplier enquired with Kiwi Car Carriers who can ship via Brisbane and truck to Melbourne.

Kiwi will accept it as towable condition.  There is not much choice in the matter so I told them to go ahead and ship by Kiwi.  The cost is the same.  The next Kiwi vessel is fully booked, that arrives in Brisbane on 13th November, the one after that is not scheduled as yet but is likely to be 2 to 3 weeks later.  You can monitor the schedule at:

http://www.kiwicar.com/Schedule.htm

Regards

Geoff

Bugger.

-Patrick

On a more positive note, as far as Kiwi are concerned as a transport company, they are said to be excellent.

-Patrick

I know a few people who have had their car transported by Kiwi and their service has been nothing short of exceptional :P

That's good to hear.

I'm not sure what this other shipping company was doing - according to the email the car wouldn't start due to "triple plate clutch, flat battery and smoky exhaust" - go figure..

Anyway it's nothing to get worked up over, just a couple more weeks..

-Patrick

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