So the E30 got a pink sticker!

[joshnz 2]

And I lost my license (for demerits, nothing boy racer-ish or idiototic) but thats another story.

Me and the better half were on our way to a mates on Friday night for drinks, we were both sober, got pulled up by a Police car that had 2 LTSA inspectors in it, we got told to follow them back to an underground carpark.

Where they had several Police, Immigration (wtf) and testing station inspectors down there with trolley jacks, spot lights etc, checking everything on any car they felt like

I knew it wasn't going to end well, I ended up getting done for the dodgy seat rails, black tail lights and a marginally bald tire.

The dodgy seat rails are going to be a PITA since somewhere along the line a bracket has been added in.

The black tail lights ... well are black so that's something that I'll be updating.

Bald tire speaks for itself - camber on the rear.

Missed the spacers, rust in firewall, height (which I think is negligible).

Took it into VINZ today, have a small novel on other things that need fixing, I guess I have 3 months free time anyway

On the night it was all inspected I had about 6 people trawling all through the car for about 30-40mins, they questioned me on the last place that gave it a warrant so I feel sorry for the man that did that - he'll be getting a visit soon I think.

So now the plan is, get the height, seats, sway bars, wheels, steering wheel, engine and 260 certed so I don't have any problems in the future.

Not having a moan, I just found it all quite interesting - and yes, before you flame me, it was deserved, it had to happen, but it will be be fixed soon!

They also questioned me about the euro plates, but that wasn't listed as a testing station issue so they are staying on.

Edited April 6, 2009 by BEEMIR

[SIR E30 68]

Hey there, can you post up a pic of the car at its current height?

[jordyboy2 0]

Ouch dude

[joshnz 2]

Original post updated with some pics guys.

[ED1RTY 2]

If they are the same rails i had in there is nothing wrong with them. Tell the cops to go f**k a stick... I've been through VTNZ WOF's with those.

I once got a greeny for the height, but that was easily fixed with a swap of rear springs and a headlight adjustment

Also WTF is wrong with the sway bars.

Total bullshit IMO

P.S Glad to see you got rid of all the smoking on the front, looked cheap and shitty..

Edited April 6, 2009 by ED1RTY

[joshnz 2]

They are probably not your rails, there has been a angled bracket or some sh*t added in.

I really can't be bothered changing springs around so its just going to get certed.

I thought the WOF was wrong on swaybars, I"ll have look into that.

[joshnz 2]

From the LVVTA threshold pdf thing ..

I'm guessing the front sway bar won't be to OE fitting because the blocks it fits onto - that are bolted to the chassis, even though I think they may have been there from factory? f**k knows.

[M325is 0]

Thats so cool they took you to an under ground car park hahahahahaha

[e30plz 1]

Thats so cool they took you to an under ground car park hahahahahaha

+1

You so lucky

[joshnz 2]

Think I am missing something here?

Or maybe I'm getting to old .. ?

[Guest Ari Gold]

Good to see you're taking it on the chin and not having a winge, but as Chris said, I would query some of the things they said needed certing vs. some of the things they missed.

[Eagle 1662]

Are they talking about the rear or front sway bar?.

Im running the same IE sway bar mounts as you. The front mounts up the same as OE with an additional metal plate, its only 1mm bigger(assuming its a 21mm bar) so doesn't really need any reinforcing.

Rear suppose to be reinforced thru the boot which im sure Chris has done & the base of the sway bar links wielded to sub frame which not really needed for street use.

[Jamez 2147483647]

sounds harsh, hope this dosent ever happen to me, they would go nuts when they see most of the car is held together with good old No. 8 wire

[_BRS_ 209]

So you are the new owner!

Looking good dude!, gutted bout the pinkie, but good to get it all legit so you don't have to worry about anything.

Love this car.

[joshnz 2]

Cheers guys.

While I'm here, has anyone had dealings with spacers?

The ones on the Alpina reps (for the front) I think are 20mm, but I'm having trouble deciphering the difference between "bolt on" and not.

The spacers that came on the car just sit behind be wheel on the hub and need to be (rather difficultly) lined up to get them in the right position. Of course these look different to other spacers I have seen for sale (just had a quick look) that come with bolts and actually look like they bolt onto the hub then the wheel goes over the top - but I don't think there is a way for bolt on spacers to fit the E30 hubs, am I correct in assuming my slip on ones will be fine for a cert?

Of course I'll get clarification at the time but just wanting to know a bit more now.

Cheers

Josh

[Mattzy 0]

Hey bud, they'll be slip on spacers.

Probably 8mm or 10mm ones with longer studs.

Similar to this:

Not sure about the cert requirements for slip on spacers.

But they probably have to be hubcentric which if your having issues lining them up (I run the same wheels with slip on spacers and I feel your pain!) means they're probably not. And will also most likely be limited in terms of size.

Fingers crossed you fly through the cert!

Edited April 6, 2009 by Mattzy

[Boost Junky 1]

You need these

They have to be bolt on spacers where you bolt the spacer too your hub and then the spacer has another set of studs to hold your wheel on. The spacer must suit the spigot of the center of the hub (Slip nice and snug over the center ring) and also have its own ring that fits snug inside the wheels internal diameter hole. They also must have a low volume cert as far as I know.

My understanding used to be that if they were under 1" thick then no cert was required. I believe now that this is not true they have to be certed regardless.

Luke

[Guest Ari Gold]

You need these

They have to be bolt on spacers where you bolt the spacer too your hub and then the spacer has another set of studs to hold your wheel on. The spacer must suit the spigot of the center of the hub (Slip nice and snug over the center ring) and also have its own ring that fits snug inside the wheels internal diameter hole. They also must have a low volume cert as far as I know.

My understanding used to be that if they were under 1" thick then no cert was required. I believe now that this is not true they have to be certed regardless.

Luke

Ollie and I had a massive discussion about this type of spacer, and though its another "link" to the hub as it were, are they really better than spacers that are slip on in style, that require a longer wheel bolt? I know that H&R (among many many others) use this style, and they are all TUV certified, and if it's good enough for ze Germans, its good enough for me (in Germany, every single modification to a car must be TUV stamped and certified - bloody good system).

When Johnno help me out with my schnitzers, we noticed that the wheel had a counter sunk spacer that was reverse bolted to the wheel to clear the E30 m3 brakes, obviously factory and it's never been queried by the WOF people - so this is "probably" the best kind of spacer to have.

With slip on spacers, you're going to put more pressure on the wheel bolts as they are further from the hub seat, presumably all the bad press about them is due to people not using longer bolts and having a wheel fall off because there simply wasn't enough turns of thread to properly engage with the hub.

[tire 10]

Gees thats pretty full on mate, underground car park and all. And since when were sway bars an issue? :S

Oh well good luck with everything its an awesome car you've got there ( <3 alpine reps )

Edited April 6, 2009 by tastic

[laadeelaa 0]

It's a great feeling aye!

Not.

Good luck with getting it back on the road.

[Mattzy 0]

Oh and just an FYI if you hadnt already realised. Your front wheels wont fit without the spacers as they dont clear the front calipers.

[CamB 48]

If you find the Low Volume Vehicle website, look at the documents, and go to wheels you will find what you need.

http://www.lvvta.org.nz/stdWheels&Tyres.pdf

In summary:

- up to 20mm spacer, needs hubcentric (locating the wheel). Cannot have multiple holes beyond the 4x required; or

- up to 27mm bolt-on adapter - can change PCD if you want.

Interestingly, you can use a 25mm spacer for motor racing (according to MSNZ) so they can't be that unsafe. Also interesting, the '77 on Porsche 911 Turbo often came with an approx 25mm spacer and they had 300hp and 700kg over that axle...

Edited April 6, 2009 by CamB

[westy 614]

It is this locating hub that supports the weight of the car.

The bolts only hold the wheel to the hub.

So if the spacer is a proper fit it shouldn't be an issue using the larger ones. Can certainly see the need for a cert tho.

[QuickSilver 0]

Out of curiosity, why is it required to cert the 260? Because its not the box it came with? What happens when people blow their gearboxes and put in a replacement etc etc? Surely that doesn't need a cert. If they picked up that its the m20b25 as opposed to b20 then maybe I could understand the motor needing a cert, but the gearbox? Or did I miss something?

Edited April 6, 2009 by QuickSilver

[Guest Simon*]

Hey Josh, just to clarify, this happened in Palmy?