The Kiwi has Landed

[Hotyacht]

My MkIV Roadster arrive in Auckland Tuesday morning at 8am aboard the Maersk Batur, and was Customs and Biosecurity cleared by midday.........but I was too busy to take delivery! She was finally delivered to me at midday today. Boy the box looked big! and it was packed pretty tight full of goodies too. I am absolutely stoked with my 17" wheels from Bob at Vintage Wheels - just stunning!
After getting the box off the truck, avoiding the power lines and over the trees, I got the box unpacked and everything inside. Two of my employees helped me to carry the chassis and body into the garage where the wee car will slowly transform into a fire breathing monster!
427 stroker is under assembly at The Engine Factory.

[CraigS]

Excellent!

[68GT500MAN]

Let the build begin!
Doug

[Avalanche325]

Congrats on the arrival. I look forward to seeing your progress.

[David Hodgkins]

Wow, how cool it that?? And you're getting the other goodies for Supporting Vendors! Yea!

I'm looking forward to following your build!
You do have the ability to host your pics here and then link to the full-sized images. If you need help, let me know!

Hotyacht's photo albums

[riptide motorsport]

Sweet, congrats!!

[seagull81]

Welcome to the madness! Have a great build. More pictures!
My wife and I will be down your way next year. You can give me a drive. LOL!

[Hotyacht]

Well my Roadster will soon have a heart! Just received these photos from The Engine Factory of my new 427 stroker and have seen the video of it running.
At 560hp it will be more than enough to scare the pants off me.
Just have to wait for the ship to arrive!10987722_850461005012668_516055163767298698_o.jpgIMG_5010 (2).jpgIMG_5019 (2).jpgIMG_5047.jpgIMG_5068.jpg

[Bren]

Well my Roadster will soon have a heart! Just received these photos from The Engine Factory of my new 427 stroker and have seen the video of it running.
At 560hp it will be more than enough to scare the pants off me.
Just have to wait for the ship to arrive!10987722_850461005012668_516055163767298698_o.jpgIMG_5010 (2).jpgIMG_5019 (2).jpgIMG_5047.jpgIMG_5068.jpg

Ooh, that's pretty.

[Hotyacht]

Yeh, I agree, it is pretty.................but I think it might have nasty sharp pointy teeth if I tread on it too hard!

[DaleG]

Nice! Just out of curiosity...was the roadster shipped from the US or from the outfit in Perth?

[Avalanche325]

Very pretty engine.

Just be sensible. Don't even think about full throttle at first. Where you might stomp the pedal to the floor on other cars, you can end up pointing the other way in one of these. If it does get wild, DO NOT just lift. Ease off to neutral throttle. Watch a few of the super and muscle car crash videos on Youtube as a learning experience. First of all, they will make you think when you get in a Cobra. You will notice two things that are pretty consistent. One,the car gets out of control and the driver stays on it for a full second more. That is a long time to not realize that they have lost it. Two - When they do realize it, they lift 100% off the throttle. Around comes the rear and the real trouble begins.

Before you allow yourself to do anything aggressive on the street, go do an autocross. Do they still call them gymkhanas down there?

[Hotyacht]

Hi Dale, Shipped direct from FFR in the US, so I still have the exercise of converting to RHD. The Perth option was just way too expensive. I am lucky in that there is a race car builder only about a mile from my build and they have converted both a MkIII and a MkIV previously so hopefully they know some of the wrinkles. I am getting them to do the chassis and steering work as all has to be certified during construction in order to get a VIN and registration when complete. I have been waiting for the engine so that I can install straight away and make sure all the mods fit around it and the headers - need to increase that right hand foot box!

Avalanche, I hear you! I have raced Alfas in the past and have a bit of track experience in V8 saloon cars, I also owned a short wheel base 300zx twin turbo that was just evil in the wet! At 425hp it gives me some idea, and yes I turned it around a couple of times in the first few weeks. Since then I have had a 420hp RS4 and was loaned a couple of Lamborghinis touting 525hp, but they all have a bag of electronics to stop idiots killing themselves. I am already wary of what awaits with my wee baby.........I may only drive it once and then just walk away............I doubt it though. I have never done a gymkhana/autocross, but yes I think the various car clubs still call them that.

[Hotyacht]

Here is the beast running.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152722782933990

[DaleG]

Yes, I was asking shipping origin due to the right-hand drive issue; makes sense that ordering from Perth would be more expensive, since there is a middle-man and RHD conversion involved. Good luck; I'll follow your progress. Is Auckland fully recovered from the quake?

[Hotyacht]

Thankfully no earthquakes in Auckland - we are more likely to explode as the city is built on some 60 volcanic cones! Christchurch in the South Island was the city devastated by the Earthquakes. The city is gradually recovering but will be years in the rebuild. A great opportunity for the future, but very sad for those who remember what Christchurch used to be like.

[McObra]

Cool! Enjoy the ride! Nice looking wheels.

[CHOTIS BILL]

Very nice engine. I am running a similar setup but mine isn’t all together yet. I am curious what brand your air filters are and how are they attached to the air stacks? The stacks I am running are from Red Line and look almost identical except for the hose that connects the 2 fuel rails. Mine have an aluminum piece that bolts across the end of the rails.

Bill Lomenick

[Hotyacht]

Hi Bill, my stack system is from Inglese and they supply the air filters which simply plug into the velocity stack. They are available for sale on the Inglese website - $200.72 for a set of 8 of available individually. You would have to investigate as to whether they will fit other stack systems.

[APJ]

Hi, will be so satisfying seeing all the pieces come together..
I am hoping to do the same, but in AUS (and the importer here does seem exe$$)
So.. a couple o questions if that's Ok.. (thinking NZ & AUS would be similar in costs)
Did you use Stewarts transport from the US?
Roughly.. what transport fees, customs fees, crate/container fees, local transport costs.. etc were involved? US & NZ..
Any import or taxes involved?
Would be neat to get some ballpark figures and some insight into whats ahead for anyone thinking of importing one.
Any hidden 'gotchas' you encountered through the import process?
look forward to seeing any build photos and RHD conversion info as it happens.
maybe the guys doing your RHD conversion could video each step?
cheers
AJ

[Martin]

APJ - I have a RHD car in the UK.

My advice would to become very good friends with your local old school mechanic. Not one of the ones that only knows how to plug the computer in to be told what to replace (when in fact it could be repaired). Things won't fit when they should, you'll probably have a few of the wrong parts and you'll bang your head against the wall.

Hotyacht - very keen to find out more about the registration process in NZ. My car is nearly finished, and will be registered in the UK and driven for a while, but ultimately I'd like to bring it back to NZ with me. I couldn't find out much through the internet, and was originally told "there isn't really a guide book, but some guy from a hot rod club has written an unofficial guide which is the defacto standard now". I'm guessing that has changed since you posted above that it needs to be inspected throughout the build process.

Martin (currently displaced in the UK).

[chopthebass]

That engine is the dogs danglies

[Hotyacht]

Hi, will be so satisfying seeing all the pieces come together..
I am hoping to do the same, but in AUS (and the importer here does seem exe$$)
So.. a couple o questions if that's Ok.. (thinking NZ & AUS would be similar in costs)
Did you use Stewarts transport from the US?
Roughly.. what transport fees, customs fees, crate/container fees, local transport costs.. etc were involved? US & NZ..
Any import or taxes involved?
Would be neat to get some ballpark figures and some insight into whats ahead for anyone thinking of importing one.
Any hidden 'gotchas' you encountered through the import process?
look forward to seeing any build photos and RHD conversion info as it happens.
maybe the guys doing your RHD conversion could video each step?
cheers
AJ

Hi AJ,
The Australian option didn't make sense for me as I would be double freighting the kit, as it gets shipped from FFR in the US to Perth WA, then the Australian agent does the RHD conversion, for which they charge a substantial sum - then I would have to ship the kit from WA to New Zealand. So the shipping costs made it prohibitive, and I objected to the idea of the Australian agent almost doubling the cost of the kit. In addition the Australian rules for building a car like this are more strict than New Zealand and so I wasn't that keen on paying for things that I didn't need or want. To be fair to the Australian agent, I believe that his price includes all of the certification and permits to complete the car and make it Australian road legal - it may still be the best option for you?
I purchased the complete kit, with extras like the IRS, additional aluminium panels so I can replicate/mirror various parts. I also purchased the IRS pumpkin, wheels and tires, and a few other items so they could all fill and ship in one 20ft container. FFR charged a small handling fee so that I could have all the items from other suppliers sent to FFR and they packed them into my container with the kit. The kit is boxed in a seriously sturdy timber box - see photos above - and it fits nicely into the container and the kit is chained down inside and packed to the brim with all the boxes.
So I spent around US$30K on the kit and additional items - then shipping the container was approx. US$5K and it took a month to get to NZ. When it arrived I had to pay sales tax of 15% plus Customs clearance and MAF fees, but there is no Govt duty on importing automotive parts. I used a New Zealand based shipping agent to arrange the container, transport in the US and the ship and clearance and delivery in NZ
I purchased the engine and transmission from The Engine Factory which cost approx. US$26K with the eight stack injection and that included shipping of about US$1500 and the Engine Factory arranged all of the shipping from their end - again I had to pay 15% sales tax but no duty at this end.
Subsequently I have been buying various items from FFR vendors since and have found that the best method of shipping is via USPS - it is cheap and delivery takes between 4 and 10 days from the US to NZ. Following the tracking the parcels seem to take about 2 days from the US to be cleared by NZ Customs, so any further delay is at this end - it makes no sense to pay for FedEx or UPS as they are no faster.
The shipping and import has been easy, and I have to say that FFR and all of the US based suppliers have been FANTASTIC to deal with! So obliging, polite and helpful - it makes it much easier to part with money to foreign lands with some certainty. The hardest part in the whole process is coming up with the money, especially if you take into account the exchange rate. I was fortunate that I chose to purchase when I did as the NZ$ was worth US$0.87 at the time...........it is now US$0.64

[Hotyacht]

APJ - I have a RHD car in the UK.

My advice would to become very good friends with your local old school mechanic. Not one of the ones that only knows how to plug the computer in to be told what to replace (when in fact it could be repaired). Things won't fit when they should, you'll probably have a few of the wrong parts and you'll bang your head against the wall.

Hotyacht - very keen to find out more about the registration process in NZ. My car is nearly finished, and will be registered in the UK and driven for a while, but ultimately I'd like to bring it back to NZ with me. I couldn't find out much through the internet, and was originally told "there isn't really a guide book, but some guy from a hot rod club has written an unofficial guide which is the defacto standard now". I'm guessing that has changed since you posted above that it needs to be inspected throughout the build process.

Martin (currently displaced in the UK).

Martin,
There is a code of practice and an inspection process to go through.
There was a danger that the Government would introduce rules that would effectively outlaw the building of hotrods and kit cars as they were proposing to enforce all of the same requirements as brand new manufactured cars - so the Hotrod association went onto the front foot and wrote a code of practice and compliance for low volume cars. There is a substantial manual and a certification process for a build.

Here is the website http://www.lvvta.org.nz/

The manual covers everything and every aspect of the car. Essentially if you can show that your replica 1965 Cobra has features that were on an original Shelby then you are allowed them on your replica - there are some exceptions......you have to have a 3rd brake light (quite large unfortunately) you have to have head rests on the seats (can be removable......), there is a dB limit on the exhaust of 107dB for a Cobra measured 18" from the end of the pipe at 3000rpm.............must have 3 rear view mirrors if you have a 5 point harness, a drive shaft safety loop, no welded steering components, nothing protruding from the bodywork with an edge radius of less than 3mm (1/8") It is all fairly sensible stuff and being enforced by the Hotrod club rather than Govt. officials means that a sensible approach is taken, it is relatively cheap but they are quite strict as all are wary that if anything in the system fails then the Govt. could can the whole system and essentially ban home built cars.

If you are importing a car already built up then it will have to go to an inspection centre and you may have to upgrade some items, but it should be a relatively painless exercise.

[Hotyacht]

That engine is the dogs danglies

Yes it is!

[Hotyacht]

As far as build progress goes, it has been a bit slow as I haven't had a lot of spare time, and I actually didn't even start on the project for 6 months after receiving the kit. When I have worked on the kit it has gone together relatively quickly and without too many hick-ups - as a result I have not bothered posting progress reports as my build to date has been fairly vanilla and covered by many previous build threads.

I am however aware that there isn't a great deal of info on the forums regarding conversion to Right Hand Drive so I fully intend to document that aspect and to post the various issues that arise.

My build was always going to take longer as I have had to partially build the vehicle in the knowledge that I will have to completely undo some of that work to then move forward again.

I have been concentrating on getting the chassis to a point where I can then send it to the race car guys down the road to do the conversion for me - I don't weld unfortunately.

So to date I have fitted the rear-end - pumpkin took about 15mins to install by myself so much relief. I had one delay when I discovered that FFR had sent me 2 lefthand rear LCAs, but they air freighted me a replacement within a few days. My rear track is all set up at 54" for the narrow pin-drive option - beautiful wheels from Bob at Vintage.

The front suspension is installed and my optional Wilwood brakes - the biggest I could fit! The left hand drive steering is installed, as is the pedal box..................why, you ask? I have fitted this and the engine/transmission so that the guys can see what has to fit when they have transferred to the right hand side - headers are on for the same reason.

Again I installed the engine and transmission by myself........you are thinking that I have no friends............and again no big issues, but of course I have not yet fitted any aluminium panels yet so there is lots of access and all is easy to see at the moment. It will have to come out again so I can build the new foot boxes etc. and I figure I will need some help the next time around.

As you will see in the photos, I have discovered a significant issue with the front suspension which is a bit of a blow. I fitted the front wheels for the first time this week so that I could adjust ride height etc and it highlighted a major camber issue..........you guessed it I have the wrong spindles for a pin-drive set up, and so have massive positive camber. I got onto Dan at FFR and he is sending me new units - great service, but never the less a bit frustrating.IMG_0684 - red.jpgIMG_0685 - red.jpgIMG_0686 - red.jpgIMG_0687-red.jpgIMG_0689 - red.jpg

[Hotyacht]

Well another milestone of sorts! 8419 has been carted off to the race shop for the conversion to Right Hand Drive and the first round of inspection and certification. These photos show the last time it will see the light of day with the steering wheel on the wrong side.

Front suspension sorted with the correct spindles, brackets, and the UCAs attached inboard for my pin-drive width setup.

When I get it back I get to pull the engine and then create the new alloy panels etc. to form the footboxes. I have pre-fitted and drilled most of the other panels, built a battery box and modified trunk etc, but have since removed all that for access. It seems like

I am going backwards at the moment!

IMG_0573red.jpgIMG_0574red.jpgIMG_0575red.jpg

[Hotyacht]

Finally we have the Steering Wheel on the Correct Side!!
We have made some progress with the right-hand drive conversion.
First thing was to check the bump steer set up as per the standard kit. The result was not good with the geometry well out of whack - this is possibly through a mix of older style and newer style components from FFR as I am running the narrower pin drive arrangement and so using the old style spindles with brackets and the adjustable UCAs attached inboard? Anyway the set up was unacceptable under the New Zealand rules and we have had to make some significant modifications to where the steering rack is mounted and the steering rod ends to achieve an acceptable set up. It also looks like we will have to modify the UCAs as even mounted inboard we simply cant achieve any negative camber

Next item was to move the steering wheel to the correct side of the car, so the mount for the pillow block was carefully cut off the left and swapped to the right and currently is just tacked in place while we make decisions on final positions for things.

Likewise we cut the pedal box mounting plate off the frame and have tacked it in place on the right with the Wilwood pedal box attached.

We have chosen not to move the engine in the car so there is less space on the right for pedal box and headers. In the attached photos the steering wheel has been moved 25mm (1") further out to the right and the steering shaft travels between the clutch and brake pedals, however when we mounted the door and the Russ Thompson indicator, it was clear that we need that 25mm outside the wheel rim. So instead we are going to section the headers and shorten them up a little (yes they are already ceramic coated!) to gain some more space to the left of the clutch pedal.

IMG_0858red.jpgIMG_0859red.jpgIMG_0860red.jpgIMG_0862red.jpgIMG_0866red.jpg

There is still some jiggling and massaging to be done, but it looks like it will all work without too much compromise. I am throwing away a few parts in the process - the steering rack and rod ends - the steering shaft as these have welded ends and are illegal in New Zealand and all the standard alloy footbox panels..............hopefully not too much more.

[Martin]

This is looking fantastic. My car has the steering wheel on the correct side - am looking to get it finished and driving in the next two months.

Thanks for the info on the NZ registration process and build ideas. Doesn't look like much will need to be done, although a few things definitely will need to be added. Third rear brake light isn't big enough, don't have headrests (but I have the Kirkeys).

Might be relocating for work, NZ is one of the options so it could be interesting to see how the re-registration process goes. I'll be trying to get it registered in the UK first.

Martin

[CraigS]

Would multiple u-joints be allowed in the steering column? Thinking having a steering shaft that curves around the headers might be easier than shortening the headers. And it could be viewed as a safety fix as it would more easily bend out of the way in a frontal accident.

[Hotyacht]

Hey Craig, thanks for the thought. We are looking to section the headers simply to get more width and room for the clutch pedal, not the line of the steering shaft.

The debate is whether I can live with the pedals dramatically offset from the line of the steering wheel or not? I have to decide whether the steering shaft passes between the clutch and brake pedal, or offset the pedal box further to the right (about 2") to allow the steering shaft to run past the outside of the clutch pedal, and live with an offset driving position?

I have owned an Alfa Romeo that had a fair amount of offset and never noticed it and yet nearly every car magazine article complained about it?? I have subsequently driven a number of Lamborghinis that also had a lot of pedal offset and it wasn't an issue for me, but the guys doing my conversion are not keen and reckon it will be too uncomfortable...............

Decision deferred until the wheel is in its final spot and I ill sit in it and have a think.

[Dale Claytor]

My MkIV Roadster arrive in Auckland Tuesday morning at 8am aboard the Maersk Batur, and was Customs and Biosecurity cleared by midday.........but I was too busy to take delivery! She was finally delivered to me at midday today. Boy the box looked big! and it was packed pretty tight full of goodies too. I am absolutely stoked with my 17" wheels from Bob at Vintage Wheels - just stunning!
After getting the box off the truck, avoiding the power lines and over the trees, I got the box unpacked and everything inside. Two of my employees helped me to carry the chassis and body into the garage where the wee car will slowly transform into a fire breathing monster!
427 stroker is under assembly at The Engine Factory.