jon dee

On 8/11/2022 at 9:57 AM, elias said:

So it seems pointless to go with a half cage/rollbar, either go full cage, bucket seats, harnesses, remove airbags etc then get a authority card or leave the car as is but maybe with some more supportive seats.

The real question is how hard are you intending to drive the car ? To race at the front of the field you need to push yourself and your car to the limit = higher risk levels = more chance of a crash. In which case you should seriously consider building a racecar with a full cage and modified as you say above.

On the other hand, if you just want to have some fun and are quite happy dicing with someone further down the field, driving within your comfort zone and keeping your car straight, leave it as a road car. After all, cars are designed to provide a decent level of rollover protection. If you would like a little more security, keep your airbags and 3-point belts and install a rollbar. So long as your car is certed for all mods, has rego and WOF, you won't need an Authority Card and all the associated hassle. 

Least ways, that's how I interpret Schedule A – Driver & Vehicle Safety (Part 1) 

Personally I have never put a car on its roof, so I guess I just haven't tried hard enough  

Cheers...

Being on the road without WOF or Rego improves your situational awareness, encourages you to stay within the posted speed limit and drive in a careful and considerate manner.   Of course, not everyone knows that's how it works...  

Cheers...

Valves are tough little bastards... if a piston hit a valve on the way up while you were turning the crank by hand, it would have stopped. Or at least there would have been a point at which the resistance to turning increased noticeably. If it turned smoothly and easily (plugs out) and you didn't feel anything I think you should be fine. 

Cheers...

1 hour ago, aja540i said:

Probably the same a55hats who drive around on clear nights with their rear fog lights on!

Having made a lifelong study of this particular phenomenon, I have determined that it is primarily high end cars with older drivers. The likely cause is that the dashboard presents so many options (buttons, knobs, switches etc.) that they have no idea what most of them do, and are completely unaware that the rear fog lights are ON. Not restricted to nighttime driving either !! 

Cheers...

3 hours ago, NZ00Z3 said:

LVV Certification Threshold Schedule  https://www.lvvta.org.nz/documents.html#thresholds

When I was modifying my car I worked with the LVVTA documentation in mind. These are the docs that the Cert Man will rely on when inspecting your modified vehicle. As far as I know WOF requirements are the same for all cars modified or otherwise. The WOF guy will be OK with your mods if they can see them listed on a Cert plate fixed to the car. 

The LVVTA docs are primarily related to any modification that can affect safety aspects of the vehicle and its operation. Therefore by invoking the powers granted to them by legislation, if they something is a safety matter it is non-negotiable, regardless of how annoying or how illogical that rule may be. Minor modifications like adding gauges or M3 stickers are not required to be certified

Cheers...

2 hours ago, gjm said:

Not sure they're charging even that. Certainly not what the Customs website suggests: 

Yeah... just had a look and you are dead right  Seems that somewhere along the line they did away with the "GST is payable if the GST payable on the CIF is greater than $50" rule, and I hadn't picked that up. I know that Aliexpress, Amazon etc add GST to everything regardless of value. And NZ Post will add GST to anything they bring in from overseas. But waiving GST on shipments under $1000 will save a heap of paperwork for Customs.

Just need to check if the $1000 limit is inclusive of freight and GST, or before GST. The worked calculation above does not make that clear. I don't like surprises !!!

Cheers...

1 hour ago, gjm said:

And there was me thinking everything privately shipped in to NZ is now liable for duties.

Still liable for GST tho...

It seems logical to me that the big oil companies will be at the forefront of development of hydrogen as a combustion engine fuel. They have the investment capital and a vested interest in maintaining dominance of the transport fuels market. 

So while I have no doubt that there will be some entrepreneurs and special interest groups that see an opportunity to get a slice of the pie, realistically the most likely outcome is some kind of joint venture between oil companies and specialist hydrogen gas manufacturers. Fuel cells on the other hand represent an alternative and competing development path to direct combustion of hydrogen, one that can either complement existing battery technology or displace batteries altogether.

The dividing line between the competing technologies appears to be vehicle type and intended use. So perhaps instead of drawing up battle lines a better solution would be to allow both to develop to their full potential and let the consumer decide which suits his/her requirements better ? Improved technology always comes at a price... evolution and changing attitudes to important issues takes time. 

Cheers...

The problem is that NZ is prone to political posturing... we might only be a Dachshund but our leaders like to run with the big dogs. If you like, we seem to need to have to prove that our collective pen is mightier than anyone else's pen is   And that leads us to want to be among the first to sign up to any pact or global agreement on containing and reducing greenhouse gases / global warming. We set the country goals that realistically need decades to achieve, and then flounder about looking for easy ways to meet those goals to the timeline that we agreed. 

Using forestry as a carbon sink seemed like a good idea twenty years ago, but now that the trading of carbon credits has become well established it seems that growing trees and selling the credits does not do a lot to achieve a reduction in emissions in NZ. Big polluters just buy the credits and add the cost to their products  Fcuk... who could have foreseen that ??? Well, obviously not NZ politicians. 

Now the answer is electrify everything, cull our dairy herds and get everyone to drink oat milk. 

If the world can manage to get over it's irrational fear of atomic energy the door is opened to virtually unlimited electric energy without the need to dam every river and upset centuries old ecologically sound farming and fishing cultures. Yes, getting rid of the spent fuel rods is currently a sticking point, but given that China has more than 50 reactors in service and plans to build 150 more in the next 15 years, how long do you think it will be before they develop a way to recycle spent  fuel ?? 

Why reinvent the wheel just because a proven technology does not have a big green sticker on the box ??

Cheers...

There are certain things that are difficult to discuss in a rational manner... religion, politics, safety and how to save the planet. In what by any yardstick (metre rule just doesn't sound right) has been an incredibly short time, the world has gone from not giving a sh*t about global warming to near panic. The media is full of headlines about melting icecaps, record breaking floods, rampaging bush fires and how we must all beat our fossil fueled cars into ecologically correct mobility vehicles.  

Adversity is the mother of invention. Not all that long ago there was a war that involved most of the major western countries and when hostilities cut off supplies of certain essential raw materials, necessity drove the combatants to invent/discover/modify/adapt to find alternative solutions. War has the same effect on otherwise complacent scientists and engineers as a cattle prod has on a recalcitrant steer. 

Likewise, when one finds oneself facing a moral dilemma, like for instance, choosing between freezing to death and running a heater using cheap power from a nuclear reactor, suddenly nuclear power stations don't look quite so threatening   So we can expect to see the rapid development of some new technologies and alternative energy solutions when the full implications of the sanctions placed on Russia manifest themselves. 

Anyone or any country that is foolish enough to think that making life tough for the Russian people is going to cause them to knuckle under has obviously not read about the siege of Leningrad. Putin knows that he has western Europe by the short and curlies and just like Xi he knows that no-one is going to step in and try and stop him doing whatever he decides. 

What we are seeing today are kneejerk stopgap measures that politicians love as it shows the world that they are doing something. But they are only short term solutions to long term problems. Excavating a hole in a mountain to store nuclear waste or dumping it in the ocean is not exactly doing the planet any favours. Maybe Musk can use his rockets to fire waste into the sun... that really would be an achievement !!! 

Cheers...

4 hours ago, Twistee said:

So TT is long over - was a real mix of tragedy and some close racing. But on a happier note I found this today while shopping for my daughters B'day present...

 

And at $329.99 it's priced like a BMW!

Wut.... ??????????????????????????????? 

AMEN to the above. When you consider the primary source of the battery raw material and the country dominating EV battery manufacture, the EV industry is severely limiting its options. No different to Europe's dependence on Russian gas coming back to bite them on the ass.

Cheers...

Finally.... some common sense enters the discussion   Battery manufacturers have had far too much influence on the direction of motor vehicle development for far too long. 

Cheers... 

Ahhh.... the beauty of the English language...

My personal preference is more along the lines of... "No disrespect intended, but I think that you are acting like a bell end !!!"  

On 7/18/2022 at 9:31 AM, Blackie said:

No offense, but I think if your attitude resembles your second sentence there, then it's no longer the job for you and perhaps it is you in need of the counselling? Others have volunteered to step up and replace those who appear to have compassion fatigue.

Dang... seems I missed out on a good stoush  Oh well, it won't be the last given the world we live in... 

47 minutes ago, C-130 Hercules said:

Express lanes still exist? 

The express lane is always the lane next to the one I am waiting in... 

Don't Tesla cars talk to home base via the internet so that Elon can install patches or turn certain features on or off when problems occur ? I guess if that kind of technology is already in the wild it is only a matter of time before BM and other manufacturers want to be in on it. Reading the news the last couple of days it would not surprise me if CO2 content monitors were not mandated pretty soon to keep us safe if there are too many people exchanging breath in our vehicles.

Cheers...

Hardly surprising. The basic principles for "subscription options" are already engrained in everyday commerce. In-App purchases, mobile phone service plans, insurance, hire purchase, etc., and computer software that contains various locked options that you have to pay to unlock. Microsoft is moving towards a subscription model for their Office applications and will probably find a way to block anyone using their apps if they have not subscribed. A lot of other software and internet content is already provided as a "pay to use" service. 

BMW currently offer a wide range of options and this make a big logistical problem for production having to individually equip and program each car with the owners particular choice of options. Far easier to build as many options as possible into every car at the time of manufacture and simply activate the options that the car buyer elects to purchase. 

Where it gets a bit muddy is further down the line when you buy a previously owned car.  Presumably if the new owner does not pick up the subscription payments, the car will default back to base specification. And then the new owner will have to choose and subscribe for any pre-installed options that he requires. 

Jacko nailed it... the training phase is complete and now it is time for big business to monetize their investment !!!! 

Cheers...

People who join on-line forums just to pimp their Youtube videos.... 

xHP trans tune doing its thing....  

http://www.speedhunters.com/2020/06/uniting-nations-the-1930-ford-with-a-v12-german-heart/

3 hours ago, KwS said:

Drained straight into the gutter, right?

Yeah... nah... we don't do that round our way. Better to catch the old oil in a 10 litre bucket and let it stand somewhere quiet for a month. Then the black stuff sinks to the bottom and you can decant the clear oil off and use it again. Gotta recycle for the good of the environment  

Cheers...

Real men just park straddling the gutter and crawl under to do an oil change 

Cheers...

HP2

Geeezzz !!!! What kind of car was that ????? 

Cheers...