Suspension & Cooling- Righting some wrongs.

Been a long time since I've ordered anything worth over $1K from the US, but sounds like it's all got a hell of a lot harder.

 

Oh mate, I've never done it before now so this is all I know, but Christ almighty, have a squiz of this:



As you can see from the top right, I'm in Chapter 87 (of something like a million) Section 17 and the Tariff (I believe) for my coilovers is 8708.80.42 with the Stat Code being 46. But I could be wrong, hopefully not though.

I've never been one for Official Documents and this shit I went through was next level. It was a paper-pushers wet dream. I could've got a Customs Broker I guess, but i'll be stuffed if I'm parting with any more cash to get what I've already paid for.

I am very sure that once you've imported a ton of gear you'd get the swing of it I guess, but bloody hell, I went straight to the deep end and damn near drowned lol

Edit: Heh, just look at all those tabs open, USPS, Border.gov.au, Dfat.gov.au, border.gov.au, dfat.gov.au, Boostcruising (importing thread), another gov site, border.gov.au and another border.gov.au. You can see all the shit I was trawling through and cross-referencing.

 

Holy shit....

So what does it cost to get shit delivered through customs ? Well I'll tell you.

My Powertrix SS coilovers cost something like $22xx AUD to import and Customs have taken a slice of me 3 separate times for the 1 item.

Customs Duty.
Goods and Services Tax.
And an Import Declaration Charge.

So, what do customs slug me for me 2200 buck coilovers after those charges ?

Have a guess!

Wrong!

$413.36. What a heaping pile of shit that is and I filled out the goddamn form my self.

You can't tell me that charging me (and the rest of us) approximately 1/5 of the overall value is justified. Especially when anything under a $1000 is free.

 

Man I must be naive as shit, but I never thought it'd be that much.

By the time my Brembo's and Z1 gear go through aswell I could well be paying customs upwards of $1000 for about $4800 worth of stuff.

That's extreme!

 

I hear you!

I mean who really thinks that they'll be paying such an amount when making these larger purchases?

With the currency conversion, shipping bill and then those 3 charges applied...it really isn't financially savvy to go down such a road. I mean I'm paying $26xx AUD for an item that is $1439 USD (with the spring upgrade)

 

There used to be no customs duty on car parts from the US? You only paid GST.
You sure you picked the correct category?

 

If I didn't get it right, they wouldn't of sent me a bill.

But yeah, as you can see, they most certainly charge an import duty on car parts now if they didn't then.

Since my last post, my Z1 order customs bill has come in at around $350 or so.

Hopefully my experience helps illuminate customs practices for people that are looking at ordering parts from overseas/

 

Yeah I'll be making sure any orders I place are under a grand from now on, at least until/if they introduce GST on all orders. Seriously sucks balls!

 

Shouldn't be, I thought the govt postponed it for another 12 mths (if not indefinitely)?

 

According to the ATO it now comes in July 1 2018. So anyone charging it now is ripping you off.
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/New-...ct-taxes/GST/GST-on-low-value-imported-goods/

 

TBH I fully expect it to be scrapped. To expect a company in the US or anywhere else in the world to collect tax for the Australian government is laughable. Amazon is moving onshore anyway. Will be interesting what eBay does if the govt does stick to it's guns. For suppliers like Coz and Z1 would be interesting to know if they ship more than $75K to Aust, if not they're exempt anyway. I can see a lot of companies profiteering off this though.

 

So I have just about everything now. Am just waiting on the OEM Thermostat from Rob - which hopefully isn't far away. Rest of the gear has cleared customs and is now sitting piled up in the 300 awaiting fitment. Powertrix's are a goddamn thing of beauty by the way! in fact i'm super happy with everything... Apart from the fact I shoulda tact a new rad cap onto my order, it completely skipped my mind. Didn't realise the new rad didn't come with one, chalk it upto a rookie mistake I suppose.

I do have a quick query though, where to next?

I've got some auto electric issues to address - dash lights aren't illuminating, aircon (could be a headache from what I've read about converting the gasses to fill it) interior needs some attention but otherwise its all cosmetic. Need some kinda sound system aswell. But anyway.

I am aiming at (I think) a relatively conservative 400 - 500Hp so am thinking new injectors (555cc?) a re-mapped ECU and possibly new turbos?

This is looking down the road a short ways, but I just want to have it thought about when the time comes.

 

I got a set of Nismo 740cc injectors which I think will provide plenty of fuel. Considered getting the 550/555cc ones but wasn't sure if 555cc would still be too small...
740cc is still too small for E85 I think.

You'll definitely want larger turbos, I'd be going JWT 550s or GT2860Rs which should net in the 550ish hp region.

ECU options are a Nistune board ("chipping" the ECU)
or really if you've got the money, a Haltech Plug and Play (~$2-3k mark) is the way to go, most will recommend this by far.

 

No dramas at all mate.

Tell you guys what though, sourcing things locally is a goddamn joke. At least here in Rocky anyhow - People don't want to bloody know you!

Walked into my local Natrad after checking out their website: http://natrad.com.au/radiators-auto...MImuKV9oWB1gIV2gYqCh1YugrrEAAYASAAEgL7o_D_BwE looking for Rad Caps locally and seen they do custom intercooler jobs for performance vehicles.

Well, they sold me a cap and coolant but wanted nothing else to do with me and denied doing custom intercoolers even though I referenced their own website! Follow the link and the intercooler link within to see it in black and bloody white.

This can't be bloody normal.

 

Australian mechanics are very superstitious, the vast majority consider the 300ZX be a black cat.

For the injectors if you're buying new it's generally worth just going for the 740cc, small increase in price and much more headroom plus re-sale value is a heap better.

 

Look at this shit. That thermi never made it out of bloody Victoria, why on earth it went there when Rob's in NSW and I'm in QLD I'll never know, but I cracked the shits and this is what the outcome is. So yeah, Auspost are managing to move an item one state away in 20 business days and counting, solid effort lol.

Advice taken. I'm mulling over the Haltech as recommended by Boorkus aswell. Am hoping it can be purchased within Australia.

What's the opinions on gauges, mechanical the way to go over electronic? Any brands that are preferred and locally sourced?

 

You can definitely buy the Haltechs from RGS performance, they're very easy to get in Aus.
As for gauges, I went for VDO electric gauges. Choose electric over mechanical (excluding boost) because you do not want to have to run high pressure oil lines into the cabin for the oil pressure/temp gauges. An electric sender and running wires is *waay* smarter.
I chose VDO because they're cheap and match the interior of the car:
http://i.imgur.com/y2pwoxk.png

Bought a sheet of black textured plastic: (glued it to the inside of the second DIN slot)
http://i.imgur.com/5MEw7Ep.png

The ones I used are all electric, except the boost gauge (not pictured). Have to run a vacuum hose into the cabin for that one.