Very nice car. Great job on the resto. Most people hate metal work but I love seeing all that new metal being put in.

I feel for you guys having so many inspection and registration issues. As much as California sucks for Car lovers, its not a problem if its under 1975. Basically pay between $50-80 to register it and about same for insurance.

Im new to the forum so im catching up on everyones projects. sorry if my comments are way out of date. lol

Hi Joe, welcome to the group.

The car is a 72 PR60 model.

I don't mind metal work etc and although i would rather not have to do it, it's now done. WE have a very strict regime here as you have seen. My car had to have an Engineers report to prove that it abides by all the rules here for cars, called ADR's. Australian Design Rules. Any car sold here must meet these standards and they vary from year to year of course, getting tougher as the years go by. It's now past that hurdle and now has to have another inspection for "roadworthyness". ie check that everything works correctly, basically and car is safe to drive, includes also a brake test.

Full registration here runs about $660 per year. It varies a bit depending on where you live. It includes an insurance component if anybody is hurt in an accident. On top of that is car insurance although it is not compulsory here but reccomended.

Luckily we also have a Club Permit Scheme. You purchase a permit to drive the car and it can be for either 45 or 90 days per year and you must keep a log book of each dasy trip. The beauty of this is that it's only about $65 or $110 a year (from memory) It is essentially just insurance for anybody hurt in an accident. Insurance of the car is not compulsory again, but it is very cheap due to the limited use allowed.

Glenn

good tip, i will check it out. I was pretty sure it wasn't noisy when i got the car so you may well be right ......xxxxx


LATER:-
nothing found at bottom of the shaft.....tried moving the rack also. it's hard to pick really as it seems to 'resonate' itself down the shaft.

glenn

this is the exhaust. I replaced the forklift damaged section up front and fitted an oval bolt on plate to make removal easier. But, after a couple of drives, it's painfully apparent that one of the mufflers has a loose baffle in it. [it rattles like mad] Hard to tell which really but i think the rear. Spare car has a muffler on it, or maybe should just find another to replace it with.

Can't fix the steering noise, it might have to come out completely to see what's wrong. Maybe the donor car again. It's drivable as is but annoying.

Steering wheel was cracked and both the spare I have are also. I elected to fill the crack and two pak it in grey for now. OK, it's not 'restored' but its a sticking point for a RWC as it is. These late model wheels are plastic and they shrink and crack. Later I will get it leather wrapped I think. I also have an aftermarket smaller wheel for it but it has no centre horn assy.

Car went in for RWC yesterday.

OK, finally got there!

RWC yesterday, a hiccup, the red painted calipers (ex Japan) not acceptable. Aparently 'aftermarket' painting of calipers is a no-no. So, had to strip the red paint off last night and bring car back for inspection again. Stripping was not an easy job! Car has now travelloed about 60+km i guess. ODO is not working but speedo seems fairly accurate and is steady. Ride is very firm. You do feel those 'bumps' on our 'super highway' roads Steering is light. Brakes as i recall.... not great. IN fact only just passed the RWC brake test but there was a fair bit of surface rust on the rotors which should clean off with use and hopefully brakes will improve a bit.

Armed with the RWC, i went off to the Vic roads office to get some shiny new plates. Not all offices carry the plates in stock so had to travel quite a ways to get them on the spot. All over in about 5 minutes then. They didn't even want the Eng report ! Contrary to their own web page.

There are still things to do, over time. eg Interior carpet, while half decent, has shrunk. But car has genuine 'Bellett' rubber mats (not in there yet) front and rear to cover that over a bit. Bumpers need new chrome. The sharp eyed among you will notice there is a GT door trim on lh side and a "sport" on rh side. Left door trim backing is badly water damaged and will be repaired asap. Most of the paint is as I got the car except sills, part of front guards, rear quarters (bottom only) and bootlid. A cut and polish is needed.

It's been quite a journey! More to do, but the pace will slow down. So many things around here neglected, i need to catch up on.

Congratulations Glenn, job very well done.
Very very nice looking Sport indeed I must say.

Enjoy enjoy enjoy

thanks for the kind words. It actually probably looks better in the pictures.

congratulations, she is a nice looker!
are you going to leave the rear view mirror on the door?
must feel real nice to have the plates on her!

Never let it be said again.
You saw my Donkey at Merimbula..... now that is a car that looks better in pictures (taken from 30 feet away on a cloudy day if your squinting) but I LOVE my car with a passion and wouldn't part with it for another, even for a mint PR90.
I wouldn't hesitate buying other Belletts if finances allow but Donkey has a home for life.

You have a very unique car in this country and I think it is an absolute pearl-er.

Great work Glenn...I'm sure it's just as impressive in the flesh. You must be very pleased with the result.
Mark

Goodonya Glenn, job well done, very satisfying to have them on the road, after not knowing when someone is going to throw a spanner in the works for you. All you need now is a couple of good club runs for a good shake down.

Cheers Geoff

Good effort - sounds like you went through hell with engineers and even the road worthy was not straight forward .... this country is going to the dogs with regulations and associated fees , workers are carrying too many unproductive people.
KB

Well done - makes all the work you put into into the car worth it.

I can see why you bought it mate - looks fantastic!!!!

Congratulations.

Now go and enjoy it.

CONGRATULATIONS Glenn, at last, you should have a smile on your face!!
Red paint on the calipers, what a load of @#$%&, that is, I have not had that issue in NSW, the GT's are red these days and never a question asked, OR is that because ypurs is a later model!!

Looks great with those plates on board, maybe you should send a photo to the Guy you bought it from???
There are always little things to be worked on and you will get around to them, no worries.

All the best for Xmas and New Year to you and Milena, and of course Milena's Mum!!
Take care, whens the first Event??
Dave M.

BLOODY GREAT JOB WE HAVE ALL WATCHED YOUR JOURNEY WITH THE LITTLE CAR ..YOU HAVE CERTAINLY HAD THE MERRY GO ROUND ...DONT BE HARD ON YOURSELF WE HAVE ALL SEEN YOUR PREVIOUS CARS SO DONT WORRY ,,BE HAPPY ENJOY IT WE WILL ENJOY SEING IT YOU GET TO DRIVE IT .....AND MATE THRU THOSE PICS YOU HAVE AN EXCELLENT FLOWER ARRANGEMENT IN YOUR GARDEN CHEERS DAVO

nice good job aways better in white cheers rod

well done Glenn it's much better when it's on the road and you can tinker

she has come up looking real tidy there, Glenn.

sure is a big improvement on what arrived at home on the back of a truck!!

you have plenty of time to iron out all the little niggly problems as you enjoy driving out on a country road for a quick run.


have a good Christmas and New Year.


OZ

Fantastic effort Glenn . Your car looks great in the photos and most of is original paint. Its been a journey of discovery at every turn and working out a solution to each problem, red tape ones included. Its weird that you are not allowed red calipers but painted red brake drums are OK.

By the way us Queenslanders are envious at your beautiful green carpet lawn. We have had long dry periods here. Looks like Kikuyu.
Cheers, Lewis

thanks to all for the nice comments.

She (no name yet) will probably never be 'finished' as such. I will just do small jobs as time and dollars permits. I doubt i will do a full strip and re-paint as the time involved is just too great for me, especially with the Hotrod project needing copious amounts of time too. I got what I wanted, something unique in Aust. and it's time to have a little bit of enjoyment from it and forget the issues along the way. Been a long road really. I 1st saw this car on Yahoo in about Feb this year. Bid and got it (with prince_skylines invaluable help) 20th June. Long wait for local Govt and transport etc to be here in late Sept., then a dash to try and have it ready for Merimbula which proved impossible, the Vic. Japan Day target came and went, BCCV Xmas lunch came and went, finally on the road a few days ago. Phew. Not to mention the dissapointment (and extra work) of having it damaged in transit also.

Would I reccommend importing a car? Well that depends I guess. As you know, the Bellett is over 40 years old and many problems exist buying any old car sight unseen, except for a few pictures. I was lucky in a sense as this car was basically unmollested and original although repainted and with the usual it seems, Japanese way of 'fixing' things before painting over them ! So, some surprises when the car arrived. Some good points though, lot of NOS parts came with the car, and even a spare car which has come in handy too. And the stage three suspension kit in it too although not sure I like the firm ride. Interior is pretty good condition, tyres were good, Watanabes a nice period part of the car although still undecided about the dark colour!
The spare car might get sold as-is or down the track, if i am bored, might do some body work on it. Just for fun.

Overall this Bellett Sport owes me a lot of money in old car terms. The car itself cost about $4500 in Japan but there are many extra costs on top of that, before it sat in my garage. Just moving it to the export docks and Customs paperwork there for example cost $2133. And there's plenty more costs for shipping etc !

What I must do right now is fix the Fuel gauge! Don't want to run out of gas somewhere ! And put a bulb in the Temp gauge while I am at it. Then everything will 'work'. I pulled the aftermarket radio out and the original radio works, but fidelity is pretty poor. Maybe a new speaker will do the trick.

talk about fixing things, I was backing it out of the shed to take it for the RWC and my wife said one reversing light is not working. Back into the shed and luckily found a spare bulb for it.

Glenn