Thread: P38A and Asbestos

Hi Shed Man,
I have imported many motorcycles from the USA and I am well aware of the rules regarding asbestos in motor vehicles. I have heard all the horror stories. The bikes I bring in are all about 30 plus years old and all would have asbestos in them, mainly the brake shoes. So to answer your concerns, I would do not think there would be any asbestos in the brakes. But you may need to get some documentation from a workshop to verify that. The exhaust manifold gaskets are metal shim type, so no problem there. The head gaskets I don't believe have any asbestos in them. but you would need to find out what sort of documentation the customs people want. I try to remove all the suspect parts and have them shipped separately. But that would not be an option for you.
I hope this is a help, Alan

Originally Posted by old dirt bikes

Hi Shed Man,
I have imported many motorcycles from the USA and I am well aware of the rules regarding asbestos in motor vehicles. I have heard all the horror stories. The bikes I bring in are all about 30 plus years old and all would have asbestos in them, mainly the brake shoes. So to answer your concerns, I would do not think there would be any asbestos in the brakes. But you may need to get some documentation from a workshop to verify that. The exhaust manifold gaskets are metal shim type, so no problem there. The head gaskets I don't believe have any asbestos in them. but you would need to find out what sort of documentation the customs people want. I try to remove all the suspect parts and have them shipped separately. But that would not be an option for you.
I hope this is a help, Alan

Thank you Alan,

The information you give is heartening, as I don't want to spend a "small" fortune on an official inspection if it will ultimately fail the test!

I'm aware of all the BS and expense I have to go through to import it, but don't want to spend the time and money getting it officially checked if it's guaranteed to fail by having too much asbestos to fix economically.

Brake pads are a consumable anyway, so that's not going to be a problem to replace if it hasn't already got asbestos-free ones fitted. It was the head gaskets and exhaust manifold gaskets which were my main concern, but you think that they are clear of it...

Decisions! Decisions!

Hi Shed Man, I think mostly the P38 should be OK. The gaskets on the exhaust between the headers and the cat converters are the only thing I am not sure about. Lots of home work to do before you make a final decision.
Regards, Alan

It is unlikely a 90's P38 would still contain asbestos since it was illegal to sell and use (industrially) per 1994 and the car came out after that time. Regarding exhaust, not many cars from this area would have their original exhaust at this point in time and the gaskets would have been replaced (with no asbest) and brakes, unless it has only done 10k or something , would certainly have been replaced. During my work on the P38 I have never found any asbestos. I should think it would be fine.

The only horror stories regarding importing vehicles into oz that we hear from this side of the pond is that they need to be so clean as to be able to eat from every single part of the car, which is not easy with a 20+ year old P38 (ask me how I know!) and 1 shipper I have spoken to thus far has actually stopped offering shipping to down under for this reason.

Good luck! Cheers,
-P