New user - comments

[Golde60]

I am a newbie here and doing a lot of trawling trying to decide if one of these awesome little cars is for me.

I have done a ground up bare metal resto on a 1960 ragtop bug so I am familiar with the perks and pitfalls of custom cars.
I was hoping to continue my aircooled addiction while in Dubai, (been here about a year now) and wanted to build one of Jakes kit engines and take it home to aus for my bug when we go

In that process, I discover the spyders and started the research over here.

I am a long time member of the Aussieveedubbers forum, and an STF and ACT member too.

So, get to the point you say

I am astounded at the knowlege, enthusiasm, usage and lack of hostilities on this forum.
It is a pleasant surprise after my many good experiences on other forums that such a low volume car such as the spyder can have such an enthusiastic following.

I am still new, and will be learning for a while, but I like the help and content so far.

Thats for a GREAT forum guys

keep up the good work

[laneco]

That's the biggest reason I chat/post here... The people are awesome. Even better in real life!

But obviously they don't have real high standards 'cause they let me hang out with them!

angela

[Wayner]

Larry forbid me from replying with some wise acre response

Welcome aboard

(BTW the wink isn't for you Golde its for Angela... )

[PhotoAaron]

We found out most of us pack firearms. An armed society is a polite society.

[drdriddle]

Amen to that!

[gotowo]

Welcome to the site - I live in Melbourne and have a McRae spyder from New Zealand and currently going through compliance issues with VicRoads. Before you consider a project like this, you need to do the ground work as at this point you would have little of no hope of getting it registered in any state in Oz unless you modify it to extreme to make it compliant. There is a guy in Sydney who is bringing in the Chamonix Spyders out of Brazil and it took him a couple of years and a lot of money to get it to a point of ADR approval. You will need to install a subaru engine in it to get through emissions and numerous other mods. Ken (Aussiespyder) in WA has a Chamonix and there is only less than a dozen other 550s in Oz.

you can see the ones you can buy in Oz which are compliant at this site

http://www.550spyder.com.au/

Sorry to dampen the spirits, but it will be a long journey and you will have to know what you are in for

ANdrew

[Greenberg]

Welcome to the fam-damily. Angela is awesome, you just have to be careful and tip toe through the grass in her back yard.

[prototype4]

We found out most of us pack firearms. An armed society is a polite society.

Just so no one "shoots off his mouth"
(boy do I feel self-conscious)

[Golde60]

gotowo

I did live in Melbourne for my whole life up until a recent move (18 months ago) and wound up in Dubai.

That is one of the reasons why I want a spyder - it never rains over here, and I dont have any aircooled stuff to play with, which I miss.

I went through the same process that you are talking about when I built my bug. I put a 2L t4 into it, and with CB wide five discs and t3 rear drums as well as many other speed and safety mods. I decided that I wanted to get my car VASS approved (IE inspected and compliance report by an engineer) in order that it was fully insured and fuzz-proof.

I got pulled over twice in the first 2 months, having been canaried a couple of times previously in my last bug for being too low.
Anyway, when Seagent Stupid pulled me over the second time I was feeling a bit more confident cos I knew that I had all the correct paperwork, so I reached into the glovebox to get the Engineers Certificate. His response was
\"Thats only valid for 30 days and expired 3 months ago\"
I replied
\"Yes, it was valid for 30 days, during which time I had to have the car registered with the modifications, which I did. If you go back to your car and check on your computer records you will see that the car has been registered with these modifications. This report will help you to check them all to make sure that they are still in place. Why dont we start with the engine at the back and move our way forward\"
He looked a bit confused, perhaps because the engine was in the back.
\"Move right along Sir\"

Made the whole process worth it!

It was a very expensive excercise but to me, who is by the book and wanting to protect the vast amounts of money I had spent on the bug, worth it.

There is an engineer that I can recommend who is actually a member of the VW Club of Vic. He is located in the Eltham area. PM me if you need details.

Good luck with the process, but I think you might be able to get around the emissions restrictions by making the engine case older that 1975, which worked for me.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.

[gotowo]

I know Bill who is in the club, but talking to him he was not very positive in getting around issues, so I know another guy who is very much on my side. Unfortunately I don't have all the paperwork of when the can was built, but the engine is a 1969 type 1 which will help wit the cause. I am trying to track down a bit of a history on the car - all part of the fun!

[Golde60]

Bill was ok with me, but it was a real process to get through.

We had to do destructive testing on the dropped spindles to verify their strength, as well as a simulated ADR test to check braking.

Emissions were the easy part