- Thread starter
- #21
PeterF
Member
G'day Hib,
If you have a vehicle over 30 years old, in Australia you can register it left hand drive. However it has to meet some Australian Design Rules (ADR) requirements, which means some changes. For vettes like mine its not too bad, just headlights and seat belts. Other american cars you need to change taillights or add reflectors. For instance mustangs you have to change the reversing lights to indicators (an easy way to have flashing amber lights at the rear).
Back to us - the lights from a LHD car have a pattern on the lens point into the right side of the road, into on coming traffic for us. So we replace them - not expensive for a C3 corvette at all. Seat belts though are a bigger hassle. They have to meet the ADRs and are therefore modern and don't suit the car. I had to replace with ugly black belts with modern buckle arrangments, removing the nice matching trim belts and buckles that were in nice condition in the car. Good point though there is a belt set that fits vettes really well and do not mean any change to fittings or mountings. Other makes not so lucky. It is not worth changing the belts back, it is worth the safety and not worth the penalty.
Finally you have an engineer certify the changes and mounts a plate in the engine bay. That's the expensive bit. But still so much easier and cheaper than a RHD conversion!!
Bit warm here today in sunny QLD! Bye Peter
If you have a vehicle over 30 years old, in Australia you can register it left hand drive. However it has to meet some Australian Design Rules (ADR) requirements, which means some changes. For vettes like mine its not too bad, just headlights and seat belts. Other american cars you need to change taillights or add reflectors. For instance mustangs you have to change the reversing lights to indicators (an easy way to have flashing amber lights at the rear).
Back to us - the lights from a LHD car have a pattern on the lens point into the right side of the road, into on coming traffic for us. So we replace them - not expensive for a C3 corvette at all. Seat belts though are a bigger hassle. They have to meet the ADRs and are therefore modern and don't suit the car. I had to replace with ugly black belts with modern buckle arrangments, removing the nice matching trim belts and buckles that were in nice condition in the car. Good point though there is a belt set that fits vettes really well and do not mean any change to fittings or mountings. Other makes not so lucky. It is not worth changing the belts back, it is worth the safety and not worth the penalty.
Finally you have an engineer certify the changes and mounts a plate in the engine bay. That's the expensive bit. But still so much easier and cheaper than a RHD conversion!!
Bit warm here today in sunny QLD! Bye Peter
what is the temperature over there this time of the year?
