Refurbing the underbody - water blasting etc

Matt Simis

Is there any place that can do this, at a reasonable cost?

I want to ensure my car passes inspection in NZ at some point in the future. They will seemingly not tolerate any rust (even cosmetic surface rust) anywhere. This makes importing anything with mileage or age on it horrifically expensive as they will insist entire subframes and panels are replaced.. ie no patch work.

EG:
http://www.mgparts.co.nz/advice/technical-notes/importing-a-car-into-new-zealand/

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/new-zealand-expat-forum-expats-living-new-zealand/64966-importing-older-cars-uk-nz.html


Here is the catch-22.. you cannot have fresh paint, sealant or anything to suggest you have repaired rust or else you will also fail inspection and have to pay to have all paint stripped back (at which point they will want a whole lot more stripped out too). I personally pulled off side skirts (and have front and rear bumpers off) and there is no rust on the car. Where there is some surface rust is on things like subframes and anti-roll bars, where the paint has flaked off.. but this is inconsequential of course to the vehicle but it wont pass inspections over there.


Im open to suggestions/referrals. So far Im thinking some sort of sand/water blasting (water was preferred as it wont trap sand in random places) and some sort of etch'ed/zinc paint?

macplaxton

Matt Simis wrote: »

They will seemingly not tolerate any rust (even cosmetic surface rust) anywhere.

I don't believe that to be the case. Are we talking about the 6 monthly WoF?

http://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/virms/in-service-wof/general/vehicle-structure/structure-incl.-frontal-impact

Shows part of the WoF manual and what they look at. Repairs appear to be acceptable if they are done correctly. e.g. sections can be let in if they follow the rules.

There a loads of agents that do a WoF. I saw the figure 3200 on one of the pages, which for a country with the population of Ireland, quite a luxurious ratio of places to people. The UK has around 19,000 MoT agents to 60+ million.

I think it might be worth investigating a bit further before getting too paranoid about what they expect/demand.

I'll ask a couple of Kiwis about it.

Capri

WHY bother bringing something from here to there, there's lots of stuff over there


http://www.autotrader.co.nz/used-cars-for-sale/year-any-1990?sort=LowestPrice



http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/CategoryAttributeSearchResults.aspx?sort_order=price_asc&search=1&cid=268&sidebar=1&rptpath=0001-0268-&5=&14=&15=&18=0%2C0&24=0%2C1990&searchRegion=100&sidebarSearch_keypresses=0&sidebarSearch_suggested=0

Matt Simis

No offence guys, but I'd rather some suggestions for preventative steps I can take in Ireland!

macplaxton wrote: »

I don't believe that to be the case. Are we talking about the 6 monthly WoF?
I think it might be worth investigating a bit further before getting too paranoid about what they expect/demand.

I'll ask a couple of Kiwis about it.

Sadly no, not the WOF! I have researched this for months and months. I have a Statement of Compliance from BMW, I have a contact in the AA to operate as the Entry Certifier. What Im talking about is not the 6mth WOF, its the Border entry Compliance Inspection, which NZ beefed up thanks to a bunch of retards reselling flood damaged Jap scrap which rusted to bits a few years ago. Now the Compliance Border inspection (which comes after MAF but before WOF) is in overdrive, its the thing of nightmares.

I have spoken to Kiwi's, sadly very few of them have any first hand experience at all of importing a car.

Capri wrote: »

WHY bother bringing something from here to there, there's lots of stuff over there
http://www.autotrader.co.nz/used-cars-for-sale/year-any-1990?sort=LowestPrice
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/CategoryAttributeSearchResults.aspx?sort_order=price_asc&search=1&cid=268&sidebar=1&rptpath=0001-0268-&5=&14=&15=&18=0%2C0&24=0%2C1990&searchRegion=100&sidebarSearch_keypresses=0&sidebarSearch_suggested=0

"Why bother" and you link to two open ended searches with mostly filled with random old junkers?? Why.. well a) Cos I want to and b) its super rare here and a lot more rare there. At what point did I state my aim was to bring "any old thing" to Nz? This quite obviously is a specific question about a specific case.

I didnt really want to specifically get into what I'm importing lest this works against me later, but I'm talking about an E31 BMW, specially the BMW-M CSi version, which in regions with availability of the car (of which there were 161 RHD versions made originally, single digits sold into Oz and Nz at the time) commands a 3x to 4x premium over the "vanilla" E31 850i models.

These are the cheap, "common" versions, just 3 on Trademe right now:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/bmw/auction-557601858.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/840ci/auction-604686019.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/850/auction-350397434.htm

Now multiply their prices several times over to get to the value of what I'm talking about. Thats ignoring the fact that there are no used CSi's forsale (and possibly may never be or have been) in Nz.

bbsrs

Matt Simis wrote: »

No offence guys, but I'd rather some suggestions for preventative steps I can take in Ireland!

Sadly no, not the WOF! I have researched this for months and months. I have a Statement of Compliance from BMW, I have a contact in the AA to operate as the Entry Certifier. What Im talking about is not the 6mth WOF, its the Border entry Compliance Inspection, which NZ beefed up thanks to a bunch of retards reselling flood damaged Jap scrap which rusted to bits a few years ago. Now the Compliance Border inspection (which comes after MAF but before WOF) is in overdrive, its the thing of nightmares.

I have spoken to Kiwi's, sadly very few of them have any first hand experience at all of importing a car.


"Why bother" and you link to two open ended searches with mostly filled with random old junkers?? Why.. well a) Cos I want to and b) its super rare here and a lot more rare there. At what point did I state my aim was to bring "any old thing" to Nz? This quite obviously is a specific question about a specific case.

I didnt really want to specifically get into what I'm importing lest this works against me later, but I'm talking about an E31 BMW, specially the BMW-M CSi version, which in regions with availability of the car (of which there were 161 RHD versions made originally, single digits sold into Oz and Nz at the time) commands a 3x to 4x premium over the "vanilla" E31 850i models.

These are the cheap, "common" versions, just 3 on Trademe right now:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/bmw/auction-557601858.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/840ci/auction-604686019.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/850/auction-350397434.htm

Now multiply their prices several times over to get to the value of what I'm talking about. Thats ignoring the fact that there are no used CSi's forsale (and possibly may never be or have been) in Nz.

Go on to s14.net , there's a few kiwis on there who have imported BMW's into NZ they'll tell you what needs to be done.

macplaxton

Matt Simis wrote: »

Border entry Compliance Inspection

I see now. I see this: http://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/virms/border-inspection

And note they do allow some dings, dents and even corrosion, but only to a prescribed degree and in only in prescribed places. Yes, it's thorough, but the book is quite clear about what they want.

As you say, the killer line is this:

•Where signs of fresh repair, rust prevention, or under-sealing to any part of the vehicle chassis and energy management path are evident, the vehicle must be flagged.

Now I see a problem if there is a 6" square of fresh paint showing, but if the whole of the underside was in uniform mint condition then I might begin to doubt the freshness of it, then with the doubt comes:

7.1 Doubt regarding damage status
If after completing the check on the vehicle there is any doubt whether to report the damage found, the following approach should be applied.
IF IN DOUBT DO NOT REPORT THE DAMAGE

So it boils down to the lottery of getting someone testing who hasn't got out of bed the wrong side that morning? And if they flag it, then I suppose you're relying not having the same sort of person certifying it to get the flag lifted. Absolute pain in the hole.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I'd go to some other country instead.