Hi all,

New here and i need help with information about what work needs done to get my STi5 legal for UK roads. I recently brought the car in myself after owning it Hong Kong for more than a year but no work has been done yet. I think i need to,

Add a Rear Fog Light,
Change from KPH to MPH,
Change Diameter of Fuel Filler Pipe,
Change Frequency of C/L Remote,

The problem is that i have also JUST been told that i need to change all the glass AND the Rear Light Clusters because the glass doesn't come with an "E" on it, or some such thing, but all very expensive. I'm based near Dundee in Scotland so if there is anyone that can help with information and/or a reliable place to do the mods. i'd appreciate it. I'd like to do as little work to get the car legal as possible, yet still do it right. The glass is the biggie.

Thanks.

I imported my STI5 a year ago, after importing 4 previous cars over the last 5 years and never have had any requirements to change glass etc........

Your list is pretty accurate...main things are fog light, fuel filler, speedo etc

I used SVA UK in Southampton.
I know you are the other end of the country , but not sure where your cars coming in to.

look on the dvla website for sva test, but be quick, rules change on July 1st and you will need a model report to pass.

The Change from KPH to MPH is usually done by putting a MPH label over the KPH on dash, and get the speedo recalibrated by a gearing device which fits on the speedo cable. These are advertised in Jap Performance. This also delimits the 112 MPH Restriction. Also you will need to convert the total KM into total Miles.

Some people change the Drivers side reversing light into a rear fog light, or bolt on a fog light near the Rear Number Plate.

As far as i know you shouldnt need to change the rear clusters as you are adding a rear fog light so that will sort that problem out.

Who told you about the E glass? Usually the tyres and glass does have to be E approved but all the cars imported from Japan usually have this on. i know you bought it from Hong Kong but i owuld have thought it still had the same original glass when bought.

I got the DVLA Information Pack sent to me in HK before i came home so i basically was told of the typical modifications (Fog Light, Fuel Filler, C/L Remote, MPH).

I know of a company that will do the conversion to MPH just as you say, with the gearing inline for about 130 pound. The fog light is done already, just added one instead of changing anything in the cluster but it was a surprise to be told about there being "wrong glass" on those lights. The front is ok aparently so go figure :S

The big sticking point is the windows and brings a bit of a queezy feeling like a hangover. I cannot imagine that Subaru would spend money on different glass for different countries when sticking to the tightest specification would do all. With HK being an ex colony i would have thought their standards were the same as ours.

Ken, what exactly is a "model report" that will be needed? I just read the DVLA website but don't understand it.

Thanks again for your help. I am hoping this will not all turn into a nightmare.

bsswanhk I'm more than willing to offer advice or any help that I can, but some people will no doubt Report To Moderator my post and accuse me of advertising on the forums. So, I am afraid that I shall be forced to bite my tongue. Even putting this post up on the board will no doubt be accused of advertising by some who like to go fishing ;)

I am more than willing to share information I have that will help you, but I am afraid that my hands are tied when it comes to posting about anything to do with importing unless I am asked directly. I wish it was not like this, but I guess that Scoobynet has to protect you from finding out what you need to know in case I profit from it in some way even though I have a Banner Ad.

Hopefully I have interpreted the Forum rules wrong and I am able to help when someone asks for information, but who knows. If this is a genuine desire for help then I am sorry for not being able to help. Perhaps if you are able to mail the webmaster or one of the Mods then they can then decide if I am allowed to reply. Although I shall be finishing soon for the Bank holiday weekend.

ian

bsswanhk sounds like you need to email Ian directly. Thats what I would do if the guy is offering advice.

Get it SVA'd before 1st July and you shouldn't need one, I think it is all about confirming that the car meets EU or UK standards in terms of the steering column and the emissions. You may have to also fit an alarm or immobiliser from what I remember. I think it is a case of having the car checked over by an approved centre and them producing a report to say it conforms. The rules in europe are stricter than those in Japan regarding the way a steering column is designed to behave in a crash.

This is all my understanding from reading the website and looking into importing a car myself and speaking to importers. You are probably better speaking to someone who does this all the time to be certain about it, as I could be less than 100% correct.

I think you could still get it through the SVA after the 1st July but it may cost more, so get it done now.

Agree with Chrisp, just email direct, there is no harm in that :D

Tony:D

i'm interested to hear whether or not anybody else has been forced to change the glass or rear light cluster, regardless of where the car came from. Maybe even forced to change tyres or something else?


thanks,
brian

I imported my late 95 end of last year directly from Japan. It pasted the SVA test back in January... I didn't have to change the lights or the tyres, but needed new wheel nuts as the the tester stated these were not th ecorrect ones, due to the bevel on the nuts... The only thing I did with my lights, have them adjusted as they were too high... plus the usual changes as indictaed by yourself...

Hope that above may be of help...

OJ..

Ian, help the man out :)

OJ, i was going to comment as i imported MY95 at Christmas and there were a few other things needed to be done. but this guy imported it from Hong Kong so didnt know if it had anything done there??? ie if they changed the tyres-do they put E approved tyres on??

I didnt import my MY00 WRX myself but I was the first registered keeper in the UK. AFAIK they only did the speedo converter, petrol tank adaptor, and rear fog light and switch and had a full SVA in 2000.

99% sure the glass has NOT been changed as its a different tint to my old UK model. Mine has the STI clusters on ie. white and red and no fog lamp in the cluster hence the need the the additional fitment of a rear fog lamp. The tyres were same model as my old 98 UK turbo Bridgestone RE010 16" on gold STi rims.

ChrisP

[Edited by chrisp - 5/25/2003 12:13:05 PM]

Money, I didn't just import it from Hong Kong. I was the registered owner there for just less than one year after i bought it second-hand. I brought the car with me when i came home.

The car is box-standard apart from the front tyres. I clipped a kerb to hard at a left hand junction and cut the sidewall so replaced with a pair of Bridgestones. Unfortunately not the OEM fitted type as they were out of production already (I think SO1 on the rear still). I don't know whether they are "E" rated or not.

With the addition of a Turbo Timer and Digital Speedo there has been absolutely no other change or addition from the HK spec. The car's done about 30,000kms (only takes 1.5hr to drive from one side of HK to the other) so there was little point in doing anything, it was quite quick enough already.

Thanks for your ideas though, i'll try to persuade everybody that glass bits don't need changed cause nobody else had to.

brian

here is a list of things you need to do

fog light 250mm off ground
turbo timer remove
fuel neck restictor
sticker over kph on speedo must not be able to read kph
convert to mph
tyres must be speed rated and load rated
exhaust must be below 90db
all glass must be e marked
and a model report will be required
if one is not avalabl
this can be very expencive ie 3k+
and there are immisions probs with late stis

mail me if you have any probs i can help i do this for a living

chris

ps if you want some one to do the work i can do all the work and arrange sva ......

[Edited by wrrjones - 5/25/2003 1:35:38 PM]

ps im not a million miles away im in leeds

[Edited by wrrjones - 5/25/2003 1:37:09 PM]

I would imagine a model report to be already in place, right? As there been quite a lot imported already. And some of those would probably have gone through my local SVA centre.

Apart from that i would think the rest you mention is quite easy(although i see you didn't mention anything about the glass), even the emmissions stuff to a certain degree. With only 30,000kms on the clock everything should still be in pristine condition in terms of the catalyst etc. It was just fully serviced before leaving Kong Kong by the Subaru guys there so a lot of teh parts were looked at then.


Thanks again,
brian