Thread: The 101" FCs stranded in Hong Kong.

Originally Posted by Senorbarbo

Thanks for the info, guys. I already remove all the asbestos on mine. Yes, they do have a blanket on the engine cover.
it is sad, but it seems they are sentenced to rust to death. I will try to save my ambulance, and maybe a GS.

This is one time I wish I was rich. Money opens doors.

[QUOTE=workingonit;3234205]

Originally Posted by Senorbarbo

What do we do with these cars? Can you think of anything?[/QUOTE

My two cent ramble.

Sell them to a country that can pay for them, has a use for the vehicles beyond sentimental value, lower import standards, lower wages for refurbishment work and whose workers have the skills to maintain these basic vehicles, trade agreements with China that cover machinery and vehicles?

Are there not enough millionaires in China who would like a status symbol of the declining manufacturing capacity of the west - the west can't afford to refurbish its history...but China can...and what's more it's been made electric!

Significant attention is given by Australian authorities to anything that has interacted with the outside environment of another country, for example:- imported animals or their products - imported second hand machines like tractors, vehicles traveling the world, military vehicles returning to Australia - all the way down to jet liner passengers who may have mud stuck to their boots after visiting farming areas with mad cows disease.

I remember somewhere, maybe in Australian importation paperwork or quarantine guidelines, that in simple terms if the imported item was assembled in a factory environment that the imported item wold attract less attention.

Many years ago I imported an Ashcroft reconditioned gearbox. It arrived wrapped in plastic. The gearbox was eventually released to me with no huge cost, and no indication that the plastic had been removed to make an inspection. Authorities like things wrapped in plastic, as it is more likely to have come from a clean environment, and if an insect did get in before the plastic wrapping it is most likely dead before it gets to Australia - although the view on wood items is less favorable, particularly when compared to metal products. A clean environment also implies less chance of seed contamination.

You are probably already across all of the following in regard to your other business activities. It would take a lot to set up, and obviously the financial benefit has to be there, but could attract other business opportunity. Establish a business that meets Australian standards (or higher) regarding imports from a factory. You may require a local independent certifier who occasionally needs to say you are conforming to standards. Your business breaks down classic vehicles to component parts. All the components are sterilised (this deals with pests in chassis rails and other nooks and crannies), resprayed and plastic wrapped. Engines and gearboxes probably wont require opening up, just the outside pressure cleaned and plastic wrapped. There is no reassembly, instead you provide a knocked down kit, all plastic wrapped. All the component parts are easy to inspect. Original wiring looms, for example, are probably (in the authorities minds) are a good place for pests to hide and difficult to check, so thrown them away and provide new looms straight from the factory wrapped in plastic. Same with replacement chassis, glass, hoods etc new from factory and plastic wrapped. No tyres, old seats and seat belts, headliners, anything wooden.

Good luck.

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply in such a dedicated way. I really didn't know there were so many problems with exporting, and in fact in all the shipments we have made to your country, the goods have never been delayed more than a day or two in customs, with transit being even faster than in many countries in the European Union. Of course, what we have sent to date has always been new products, such as soft tops , power steering, and the like. I suppose that if the customs declaration says they are second-hand parts, the matter changes substantially.


As for the possibility of taking them to mainland China, it is totally ruled out. It is not that there are no rich Chinese who would like to have one, but it is absolutely impossible to bring an old vehicle into China. Not just a vehicle, but spare parts. It is considered scrap, and China strictly prohibits the import of scrap. It is even more difficult from Australia.

As far as business and profit are concerned, the truth is that I have never considered anything related to these cars as such. This is pure romanticism. The cost of developing some parts that must necessarily be replaced is so high and then has such a short commercial run, that it would not compensate in any case. What is true is that it will always be much more effective to restore 10 vehicles than to restore just one. As far as business and profit are concerned, we already have the rest of the parts that we sell, but I never considered it that way.

But you have opened my eyes to a possible option that would also be much more effective from the economic and time point of view. Disassemble the cars, clean and paint the parts thoroughly, and send them all together with the new chassis and their documentation as a kit so that the client can assemble them. The engines, gearboxes, transmissions would have to be thoroughly cleaned... And as you say, everything would have to be obsessively wrapped . In this way it would be more than possible to send all the vehicles in a single shipment in a single container, significantly reducing transport costs. In fact, the vehicle itself had already been designed to be very easy to transport, and without having to disassemble them, four of them could fit in a 40-foot HC.