GT40 Australia #27

[Peter Delaney]

Well, at last an update other than one referring to the passage of time or the levels of my frustration !!

I now have passed the RTA's emissions tests, and have only to do the brake & noise tests !

I am still not happy with the brakes, so will be doing a master cylinder upgrade & mods to the handbrake over the next couple of weeks - then on the last tests.

I see the light at the end of the tunnel - let's just hope it isn't a 4-8-2 coming the other way !

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Good on you Peter, one down and only a couple more to go.
What is required for the brake test and what is the max noise level allowed in N.S.W.?.
I am sure it won't be long before you will be driving up and down Manly Esplanade checking yourself out in the plate
glass windows. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Peter Delaney]

Thanks Pete - I think the noise limit is 93dB on the drive-by test. You hit a line on the road at 60kmph in third, then floor it for 25m past the microphone (or something like that). We get an extra 3dB to play with on rear/mid engined cars (front engines are 90dB).

The brake tests involve 10 consecutive hard stops from 110kmph to check for fade, 6 full crash stops, then hard stops with fronts disconnected, then rears. All this is done with an accelerometer & pedal pressure transducer. I have no idea how the results are interpreted, or what constitutes a pass.

As a teenager, I did the "plate glass" routine in my old MGTD & ran up the back of a mate's TF ! Since that, I only sneak a look when I am stopped !

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Robert Logan]

Peter,

I believe that there is a ststic noise test also that can be conducted at most good mufler shops. This involve a run to 3300 RPM and a microphone placed at a Meter from the tail pipe and at 45 degrees. The requirement is UNDER 90db. for a normal car and an allowance of an extra 2db. because of the mid-engined thing. Your exhaust looks very similar to the system that we use (can not tell how many passes in the silencer) so you should be OK.

Best wishes,

Robert

 

[Peter Delaney]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for the info on noise tests - I wasn't really sure of the actual dB numbers, but just assumed that I would have to do the more onerous drive-by test. Given my aquaintance with Murphy, I'll probably have to do both !

The exhaust system should look a little familiar - it was rescued from the recycling bin when Terry Daley got his new S/S system made up ! Its a bit like grandfather's axe now - to get it to fit my setup from CAT's to mufflers & from mufflers to tailpipes, we ended up changing everything except the mufflers themselves. Not much important really changed except the shapes & flanges, so it should be ok as I understand that Terry's original setup with these mufflers passed the noise tests.

Whilst the details might be slightly different from your standard setup, the basic concept is the same - after lots of stuffing round, we came to the conclusion that there is only one way to run CAT's & conforming mufflers in the limited space available. Its fun to re-invent the wheel from time to time (NOT) !!

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Peter, Robert, I know in Qld you can do a static test and think you can go to 98db?? I spent most of the afternoon searching Qld Transport's web site and could not find a thing. One of the most frustrating sites I have searched,
but thats what we pay our taxes for.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[Peter Delaney]

Pete, if you think that QT's site is bad, have a look at NSW's RTA site ! At least QT give the semblance of trying to help - I even saw a special section on hot rods, etc (but no mention of new ICV's, of course).

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Peter Delaney]

Well guys, at long last it is time for an update on old #27. Since my last meaningful post, we have gone from a driveable car to a fully registered car - it only took 8 months to get there ! I'll outline the major steps over the next few posts.

a) Emissions

Here in the State of NSW in Oz, we effectively have to pass the Australian Design Rules (ADR) which are in force at the time we go for testing. Thankfully, I applied for testing at the end of last year, so I had to meet last year's standards & not this year's (about twice as strict as last year). The test is done in the RTA's test cell on a dyno & involves a 2 minute driving cycle up & down through the gears, & through various loads. Whilst this is happening, 3 gases are measured by way of an enormous "vacuum cleaner" nozzle placed over the exhaust pipes - NOx, CO & Total Hydrocarbons (THC).

We failed the first test dismally - THC was way, way high & the other 2 gases spiked up all over the place on hard acceleration & back-off - big transient problems. The RTA guys kindly ran the "vacuum cleaner" over the whole car & we found that fuel filler caps were leaking vapour in a big way. I pulled them apart & found that the problem was in the sealing between the ULP inserts & necks of the filler pipes. My EFI gurus did a bunch of work on the mapping, & things started to look a lot better.

Off to the RTA again for another test - much better results than before, but still around 50% too much of the nasty gases ! We then took the car out to a dyno & the gurus spent a few more hours on calibration.

Then another RTA test, & this time we just scraped through - what a relief that was !!

 

[Peter Delaney]

The next installment :

b) Brakes

During the minor bits of driving that I had managed up to this point, I decided that I was not all that happy with the brakes - spongy & too much pedal effort, & the handbrake was useless. As the brakes on the DRB's are 80's Corvette, I took the car down to my Vette expert for a diagnosis. After discussions with Peter Ransom, it was concluded that I had inherited the wrong master cylinder & booster when I bought the car. After changing that for the correct one & re-bleeding, they were transformed - heaps better.

Then onto the handbrake - another surprise, courtesy of the previous owner - I have '88 rear brakes on which the handbrake works on the calipers, rather than the '87 brakes which have a mini-drum brake inside the disk rotor centre. The DRB handbrake setup was designed for the '87 brakes, & would not provide enough enough cable travel to do the job. A dozen ideas later, I thought of running the inner cable around a pulley mounted on the bottom of the lever, then onto a fixed bracket - this gave us a 2:1 increase in the cable pull (and a 2:1 increase in effort - now 35lbs !).

 

[Peter Delaney]

And the next :

c) Hubs

While we were doing the work on the brakes, we checked the play & runout on the wheel bearings - surprise, they were all stuffed ! A complete new set was ordered from the US & they arrived a week later (at the staggering cost of over A$2,000 !!). The Vette bearings come as part of a complete hub assembly - not repairable - hence the cost. The car was so much quieter without the rumble from the crook bearings, BUT, one new set had just as much play as the old ones ! Another replacement came a week later & damn it if wasn't just as bad ! It is just within acceptable limits, so will have to do for the time being. Lesson learnt - don't buy 3rd party replacement parts for Vettes ! We are still waiting for original GM replacement parts.

 

[Bill Musarra]

Peter,
The same goes for the bushings in the front end. When I had to replace mine, we tried Moog and one or two others, and finally went with the GM stuff which was more expensive ,but actually fit.
Bill

 

[Peter Delaney]

Bill, you are right with the bushes too - fortunately, my Vette expert had a shelf full of Moog bushes, & after a few tries, we got a set of urethane ones that fitted ok (not much consistency). After all that fiddle, we'll be going for GM parts on the Vette.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Peter Delaney]

But wait, there's more !!

d) ADR Compliance Testing

Here in Oz, this has to be done by a qualified engineer, licenced to do such tests. I had the good fortune to have originally asked Trevor Booth (a Forum member & GT40 owner) to help me out in this respect quite early on in the project. He inspected the car about 18 months ago & left me with a rather daunting list of things to be done & changed. With all of that eventually completed & the items above done, I took the car out to Trevor's workshop for the final compliance checks & tests. Everything was measured & double checked, then off to do the brake tests - countless hard stops from 110km/h, crash stops, tests with front, then rear brakes disconnected, more tests with power boost disconnected. The results were recorded via a pedal load cell & an accelerometer, & the old girl got through all of this ok (but is now a few pounds lighter, courtesy of the rubber left on the road) ! Trevor then tested the handrake & it worked ok (huge relief) - had to hold the car on a 17deg slope for 5 mins.

Then it was off to do the noise tests on a sealed road in the middle of open & flat farming country. A static test was done with the mic a metre away from the pipes at 45deg - the limit is 92dB & we managed 88dB. Then there was the drive-by tests - hit a marker at 50km/h in 3rd, gun it to get to 60km/h by the next marker 20m away, then back off. The mic was about 10m off to the side, in the middle of the 2 markers. I just scraped through this test, as the car tends to get a bit of that famous GT40 howl under load & revs.

These checks & tests are really quite rigorous, & if I hadn't had Trevor's advice in the first place, there is no way I would have made it through !

 

[Peter Delaney]

And More !

e) Engineer's Report

With Trevor now being satisfied that the car was compliant, he then wrote up a monster report for the RTA which included every detail from his checks & tests, copies of test reports on chassis torsion/beaming, seat belt anchorages, glass specs (thanks to Peter Ransom for all this info), seat tests (thanks to Robert Logan for this), pictures, etc, etc.

This was submitted to the RTA, and a couple of weeks later (after some gentle prodding), they approved the lot & issued a new VIN Number. At that stage, I thought that it was all over - NOT !!

 

[Peter Delaney]

And even more !

f) Blue Slip Inspection

Before you can register a new car here, you need to get one of these done (why, other than to raise a bit more revenue, I don't know !). Basically, the car is checked for all the safety issues (lights, wipers, suspension, etc., (and gets another damn brake test !), then VIN number checks, etc. (ie, everything Trevor had already done). So off to a local guy for this one - 45 mins later, the paperwork was done, then away he goes for the brake test. As he drives away, the heavens opened (& I was glad that I had organised full insurance for the day). Mercifully, he returned unscathed, & with a pass on the brake test (how, in that weather, I don't know) ! Then up on the hoist for more checks, then more paperwork, then the magic Blue Slip - it had passed !

Armed with Trevor's report, the RTA's VIN number (now engraved on the chassis), the Blue Slip & the necessary Green Slip (Compulsory 3rd Party Injury Insurance), off I went to the RTA, expecting to pay lots more money & get some plates & a sticker - NOT !!!

 

[Peter Delaney]

The Last Straw !!

g) The Good Old RTA (again)

After a quick check through the paperwork, I was asked for a receipt for my purchase of the original rolling chassis (this was needed so that they could figure out how much duty to hit me with). I had a 6" thick file under my arm, but did it have the receipt in it - no. By then it was closing time, so back home with no rego. The following morning, I returned to the RTA with two 6" thick files - everything I had (including the receipt).

Further discussions & they then announce that I will have to get a "3rd Tier Identity Check" done - the RTA knows about tiers, & their victims know about tears !!! Apparently, "the computer" (obviously a diety in its own right as far as the RTA are concerned) had identified the '40 as a "high risk vehicle" - one that is subject to all manner of suspect activities like re-birthing, cut & shut, etc - like Mercs & Porsches - right ! Totally irrelevant was the fact that only one GT40 has been stolen in Oz (& that was a GTD, I think, some years ago) - "the computer" had spoken ! So an appointment was duly made with the nearest "High Risk Vehicle Inspection station" - this happened to be at Gosford (about 60kms north of home) - if nothing else, a good excuse for a nice drive !

Three days later, off we go to this latest inspection, & surprise - it rained all the way ! 30 minutes of chat about GT40's & 15 minutes of checking, then it was done. More rain on the way back, but I somehow convinced myself to go via the old Pacific Highway, rather than the freeway. This old bit of road has been bypassed by the freeway, so has almost no traffic, and, has about 15kms of the best high-speed winding hill-climb driving around ! As it was raining & the car's handling is a bit of an unknown at this stage, I took things fairly sedately - but it was great fun & a hint of things to come !

Back to the RTA Registry Office where the guys were really happy that "the system" finally had nothing left to throw at me. $1100 later (Stamp Duty), I was handed the plates. Like someone from the Olympics, I held them above my head, then kissed them - this had the RTA guys in fits of laughter & all the other customers thinking I was deranged ! The rear plate went on in the car park & I was off - a quick tour around the neighbourhood & then into the garage to avoid the next downpour !
So endeth Stage 1 - a basic car with rego !
Stage 2 will see all the things that got bypassed in the rush to rego, but will have to wait until I get the novelty factor out of my system !

 

[Bill Musarra]

Hooray!!! Hooray!!! Hooray. Perseverance pays off. God knows it takes it with these cars. Now get busy with stage 2 and have some fun.
Bill

 

[Peter Delaney]

Thanks Bill, you are right - perseverence is the key thing (and a thick skin also helps). There were a few times when I thought that an accidental fire in the garage wouldn't be so bad, but in the end it was all worth it.

Stage 2 should be the fun part - fixing things up as & when I feel like it, as opposed to trying to meet some artificially imposed deadline !

I'll try & get some pics together of where things are now to provide a benchmark for future enhancements.

In the meantime, fun will be had !!

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Mark Worthington]

Wow, what a royal pain in the arse! Congratulations on having the patience and tenacity to get through that ordeal.

 

[Peter Delaney]

Thanks Mark,

Yep, these guys really put you through the hoops. In one way, I can understand where they are coming from on safety issues (I understand that the RTA got sued for $20m last year as result of an accident - the contention was that the car was unsafe, & that the RTA was negigent in allowing it to be registered). So I wasn't fussed about all the ADR compliance, brake tests, etc.

Where I got annoyed was with emissions - if I was going to build 100,000 cars & sell them, it would be fair enough. But a dozen or so "one-offs" a year - unreasonable ! I figure that I would do more damage to the environment with my lawmower than the '40 !

Some driving fun has been had (with the minor exception of running out of fuel at the local shops - how embarrasing) !

I got the nearly car home, checked all the wiring, etc, then an hour later remembered the twin tanks - flicked the switch & all was well ! Dumb or what !

Kind Regards,

Peter D.