cisco
» CMF Member
I'll cut a long story short. But basically, 6 months ago the RTA told me that car wouldn't need an inspection when I come back to re-register my car, as long as it hadn't been unregistered for 12 months or more. I made a clear point of double/triple checking this before saying "ok great, then I'll cancel it and cash in the rego refund because I know the car will be off the road for a while.".
6 months later, I go in last Friday to re-register it again, and they laugh at me and basically tell me no way the car now needs a full vehicle inspection. I certainly expressed my frustration and argued my case based on the advice they had given me, and it went up to the floor manager, then to some RTA manager, and now to the head of Canberra RTA. They've offered to waive the inspection fee, offered to give me a single-day driving pass for free, and also made me sign a legal stat dec which describes my story. But it still looks like I won't be able to get out of having an inspection.
Friday and yesterday I was heart broken and extremely angry. Just because I'd done so many modifications to the car since it went over the pits, which means a whole pile of extra work and effort and money for me to now pass through this latest challenge. E.g.: ABS has been removed, back seats have been removed, battery is now relocated under the seat, the breather pipe that made it pass last time no longer fits so I need more changes and new one made up, the muffler is too noisy to pass, the height adjustable coil-over suspension is too low, and probably more things. Most of these I have options for getting around so the car will pass, not a huge drama, but it will probably involve an again updated engineer's certificate ($$$) and plenty of time and effort and money to get the car where it needs to be to pass.
After lots of hesitation I came up with an awesome plan and have turned this frustration into a positive force! Now I'm actually excited about it and going to write a new article soon about "the new breed of super sleepers!". These are the cars that rub performance in the face of the cops and RTA while being 100% legal and subtle and noone would have EVER picked it. Anyway, I'm doing a big write up about this, its going to be really cool.
Today I've raised the height adjustable suspension to its maximum. The car looks like a 4wd, its so funny. But you know what, its 100% legal, it can drive over bumps, noone would pick the car as being extremely modified or dodgy looking because its not dumped, AND its still going to have that super firm great coil-over feeling about it, just the offset is higher. So it will still handle great. So why not leave it like that all the time and have ZERO hassles. That's the beauty of coil-overs. You can. They will still function exactly the same, you just loose some looks, but also you lose your car looking very modified and something for the cops to pull over. This is GOING TO PASS.
Who besides a micra enthusiast knows that in 1995 Super S micras came with ABS. Nobody. I've made a big effort to strip every trace of ABS from my car as possible. Everything looks totally stock 100% like the car came with 4 wheel discs and no ABS. I've even removed the rear wheel ABS sensors. The pits guys aren't going to ask a single question or even realise. And if they do, my response will be "It was an option on Super S micras, mine never came with it". I've even gone as far as putting in these little clark rubber rubber grommets where the grommets were for the ABS sensor wires to poke out the side of the engine bay. So they will look like factory rubber plugs that have never ever has holes in them. ABS was never here man, look all my brake lines are 100% factory. This is GOING TO PASS.
Breather pipe is an easy fix.
I know my muffler is too loud to pass, it was about 91Db last time, but its also too loud and annoying for me. So I'm going to replace it with a genuinely quieter muffler. This will both give me a quieter more sleeper car, plus also drive straight through the pits and pass the Db test. This is GOING TO PASS.
The rear seats being removed is hardly an issue. I'm going to install my full rear floor and carpet it all, notify the RTA its a 2 seater (may not even have to, but depends on which state you are in, NSW this is the case, ACT not sure). Then drive right through the pits with that as I like it. This is GOING TO PASS.
The relocated battery will be written into my updated engineer's certificate. This is GOING TO PASS.
The dodgy Taiwanese crystal headlights are for LHD vehicles, they're alignment is up to ****. Easy solution, Temporarily borrow shortcake's headlights. Because last time I got inspected, they measured the headlight beams and alignment. This is GOING TO PASS.
That's really everything. So now I'm taking on this new way of thinking where I leave the car like this all the time, except probably put the crystal lights back in, no big deal. And I'm driving a 100% legit, safe, pits-worthy but ULTRA-FAST sleeper around all the time. You can't beat that. Might even go as far as slamming on some 14" steelies with awesome stealth hub caps.
Imagine rubbing that kind of performance in the face of any other car, any police, any RTA officer and still being able to rock up to the pits AS IS and pass with flying colours.
That's what you want.
The new breed of super sleepers!!!
PS - Check out the 4WD.
6 months later, I go in last Friday to re-register it again, and they laugh at me and basically tell me no way the car now needs a full vehicle inspection. I certainly expressed my frustration and argued my case based on the advice they had given me, and it went up to the floor manager, then to some RTA manager, and now to the head of Canberra RTA. They've offered to waive the inspection fee, offered to give me a single-day driving pass for free, and also made me sign a legal stat dec which describes my story. But it still looks like I won't be able to get out of having an inspection.
Friday and yesterday I was heart broken and extremely angry. Just because I'd done so many modifications to the car since it went over the pits, which means a whole pile of extra work and effort and money for me to now pass through this latest challenge. E.g.: ABS has been removed, back seats have been removed, battery is now relocated under the seat, the breather pipe that made it pass last time no longer fits so I need more changes and new one made up, the muffler is too noisy to pass, the height adjustable coil-over suspension is too low, and probably more things. Most of these I have options for getting around so the car will pass, not a huge drama, but it will probably involve an again updated engineer's certificate ($$$) and plenty of time and effort and money to get the car where it needs to be to pass.
After lots of hesitation I came up with an awesome plan and have turned this frustration into a positive force! Now I'm actually excited about it and going to write a new article soon about "the new breed of super sleepers!". These are the cars that rub performance in the face of the cops and RTA while being 100% legal and subtle and noone would have EVER picked it. Anyway, I'm doing a big write up about this, its going to be really cool.
Today I've raised the height adjustable suspension to its maximum. The car looks like a 4wd, its so funny. But you know what, its 100% legal, it can drive over bumps, noone would pick the car as being extremely modified or dodgy looking because its not dumped, AND its still going to have that super firm great coil-over feeling about it, just the offset is higher. So it will still handle great. So why not leave it like that all the time and have ZERO hassles. That's the beauty of coil-overs. You can. They will still function exactly the same, you just loose some looks, but also you lose your car looking very modified and something for the cops to pull over. This is GOING TO PASS.
Who besides a micra enthusiast knows that in 1995 Super S micras came with ABS. Nobody. I've made a big effort to strip every trace of ABS from my car as possible. Everything looks totally stock 100% like the car came with 4 wheel discs and no ABS. I've even removed the rear wheel ABS sensors. The pits guys aren't going to ask a single question or even realise. And if they do, my response will be "It was an option on Super S micras, mine never came with it". I've even gone as far as putting in these little clark rubber rubber grommets where the grommets were for the ABS sensor wires to poke out the side of the engine bay. So they will look like factory rubber plugs that have never ever has holes in them. ABS was never here man, look all my brake lines are 100% factory. This is GOING TO PASS.
Breather pipe is an easy fix.
I know my muffler is too loud to pass, it was about 91Db last time, but its also too loud and annoying for me. So I'm going to replace it with a genuinely quieter muffler. This will both give me a quieter more sleeper car, plus also drive straight through the pits and pass the Db test. This is GOING TO PASS.
The rear seats being removed is hardly an issue. I'm going to install my full rear floor and carpet it all, notify the RTA its a 2 seater (may not even have to, but depends on which state you are in, NSW this is the case, ACT not sure). Then drive right through the pits with that as I like it. This is GOING TO PASS.
The relocated battery will be written into my updated engineer's certificate. This is GOING TO PASS.
The dodgy Taiwanese crystal headlights are for LHD vehicles, they're alignment is up to ****. Easy solution, Temporarily borrow shortcake's headlights. Because last time I got inspected, they measured the headlight beams and alignment. This is GOING TO PASS.
That's really everything. So now I'm taking on this new way of thinking where I leave the car like this all the time, except probably put the crystal lights back in, no big deal. And I'm driving a 100% legit, safe, pits-worthy but ULTRA-FAST sleeper around all the time. You can't beat that. Might even go as far as slamming on some 14" steelies with awesome stealth hub caps.
Imagine rubbing that kind of performance in the face of any other car, any police, any RTA officer and still being able to rock up to the pits AS IS and pass with flying colours.
That's what you want.
The new breed of super sleepers!!!
PS - Check out the 4WD.
