importing a project

[lotus4me]

hi all
have started this thread on advice from alex in norfolk, the home of lotus.....

I am contemplating importing a tc rolling chassis from usa....
no doubt many [or at least some] of you will be old hands at this, but I have done nothing like it before, so my experiences may be useful for anyone else thinking about doing the same.....
europas, or project ones anyway, seem to be more plentiful stateside?

so, first question.......assuming I agree a deal, what is the best way of paying for it?  paypal? cheque? bank transfer?

[EuropaTC]

Oh jolly good - I just reply to your previous thread and bang, you've already got one rolling !  Great, I shall lurk with interest......     

Brian

[Grumblebuns]

There seems to be mixed opinions in regards to using PayPal for payment method. One of the forums that I belong to has this lively conversation going on as to using PayPal in paying for a car.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=299414

Apparently, the buyer has all of the advantages using PayPal vs. the seller by using PayPal. As a seller, it all comes down to how much do you trust the person that you are dealing with when using PayPal.

Oh by the way, I'm the seller of the rolling TC chassis that Fred is referring to. With both us being members of this forum, this will be a very public transaction.

Joji Tokumoto

[jbcollier]

A "vehicle" needs to be titled before it can leave the US.  You also need the title to register it in the UK.  I do not know if it is still considered a vehicle if there is no engine or tranny.

[EuropaTC]

A "vehicle" needs to be titled before it can leave the US.  You also need the title to register it in the UK.  I do not know if it is still considered a vehicle if there is no engine or tranny.

Up until this week I would have thought there was absolutely no problem with importing an incomplete car, but there may be debate now. Our DVLA (Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency) who does registrations has become concerned about what's defined as an "historic vehicle".  And as usual there's quite a bit of sensationalism in the motoring press about it all and no doubt some of the facts have been interpreted to make a good story.   So it would pay to check out exactly what's been said.

The fuss as come about because people are making new "old" Bugattis and getting them registered as period cars, complete with period number plates. The alternative is what's called a "Q" registration which clearly announces you're driving a Kit Car replica rather than a very expensive old car. 

Although it's not happened yet AFAIK, the inference is that the DVLA is going to start cracking down and making people prove their cars are "original" otherwise they no longer qualify for historic classification.  In the UK that means pre-1974  pays no annual road tax and pre-1960 no annual testing. (which may now be changing to pre-1980 as current EU legislation says so)   

Personally I can't see this as a problem because the requirements have been listed for a few years now, this is just the DVLA using existing rules to sort out a fiddle that some folks are using. Basically if you have a body & rolling chassis you're going to be ok.

The requirement are listed on   https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/radically-altered-vehicles   so it would be worth checking that you can tick enough boxes to get 8 points.  If not, then Joji will no doubt put the required components in the boot for you !!!   

Brian

[4129R]

As for payment, if the vendor is unknown, this can be tricky, as if you pay by bank transfer, you have to rely on the honesty of the vendor, and there are scams going on where people see what is sold on ebay, contact the second highest bidder, convince him they are the vendor and the highest bidder did not complete on the sale, and they are offering it to them as the second highest bidder.

Exactly that happened to me on a Europa sold in the USA. The contacter was a scammer and had no access to the car, and was not connected to the vendor. Luckily I smelt a rat before parting with cash.

In this case the vendor is well known, so payment by bank transfer is the easiest way.

You need the vendor's account name and account number, the name and address of the bank, and the iBan or Swift Code.

Your bank will charge you £25 for the privilege of doing this, and the exchange rate should be close to £1.00 = $1.60. 

[lotus4me]

thanks for the input and info, guys..

I should mention that the rolling chassis actually has a body attached, so more accurately a 'rolling shell'

fred

[EuropatcSPECIAL]

I have a strong dislike of pay pal and closed my account after the last transaction they messed up.  I agree the buyer has all the power when using them regardless of the argument/proof you provide (just my experience)
all the best
Stuart

[lotus4me]

seems that joji is well known on this forum, so bank transfer looks good!

thinking ahead a bit [well actually a long way!] joji may have a source of engine and transmission, so a couple of questions......
do I presume that all federal europas had stromberg heads?
which gearbox was OE for uk twink europas? was federal spec the same?
also it seems that europa weber heads are very rare [unless new from qed]....... is that right?

  fred

[BDA]

Yes, Joji is WELL known here!   I think a bank transfer would be fine.

All Federal Europas had Stromberg heads. The standard trannies were the 352 4 speed and the 365 5 speed, and this was true on both sides of the pond.

Weber heads are pretty rare. The QED heads are much better if you plan on porting it. Besides the heads, I think there were pretty minor differences between the Federal and Brit cars that are mostly related to emissions and maybe some cosmetic differences, too. I believe the parts manual helps you with that - at least with which parts were different if no how the looked different.

[jbcollier]

Early TCs had the 336 gearbox.

Fed to Euro = you missed different lights, wipers, switch gear, electrical and brakes.

[Grumblebuns]

I have a strong dislike of pay pal and closed my account after the last transaction they messed up.  I agree the buyer has all the power when using them regardless of the argument/proof you provide (just my experience)
all the best
Stuart

For small transactions, PayPal is convenient to use even with the service charge to the seller. For larger transactions the risks are too great for the seller in my opinion between strangers.

Buying used aluminum heads is always a gamble especially for engines that have been around for a long time like the twin cams. Unless I can have the head checked out by an expert, I would be leery of paying too high of a price for a Weber head.
If you have a good Stromberg head, an expensive alternative is a Weber conversion as offered by Omnitech Engineering here in the states. As BDA mentioned, new Weber TC heads are available, QED being one and another is SAS Engineering also in the UK.

http://www.sasengineering.co.uk/lotus-tc-cylinder-head.html

   

[RoddyMac]

I used a bank to bank transfer for one of my cars that went to the UK from Vancouver.  It was a very smooth transaction,  though in my case I knew the buyer and had no reason to doubt the transaction. I had also used an Escrow service through Ebay when I sold an Elan +2 to a guy in New York, the buyer suggested it and it worked well. But I can't recall the service fees on the Escrow deal.

Rod

[BDA]

Early TCs had the 336 gearbox.

Fed to Euro = you missed different lights, wipers, switch gear, electrical and brakes.

Oops! Glad you were there to fill in where I missed!

[4129R]

Importer's total handling fees for a full 40ft container = £511.

I am surprised I haven't been charged for importing Calais asylum seekers (UK current joke !). They managed to find 9 things to charge for, the biggest of which was "Port Handling Charge" at £150.

£615 to bring the trailer from Southampton to Norfolk (about a 6 hour drive). Probably £80 for a fork lift to unload the container.