| BACK | HOW TO REGISTER A FIBREGLASS BUGGY IN 2001 | brad @ offroadvw.net |
This page will shortly contain information and people to take your buggy too if you want to get it registered under the current Australian Design Regulations. As I am in Queensland and this seems to be the hardest place to get one registerde I will start of covering how to do it is Queensland. Everything here is 100% legal and references will be provided .
The Rules so far.. ( As at 22 Jun 01 )
Under current QLD Codes of Practice for Light Vehicles a buggy with a shortened VW floor pan comes under a code LH5 and LH6. In English this rule states a vehicle must comply with the ADR's of the year in which it is 1st Registered in the modified configuration. This means that if you build a Meyer Manx then the entire vehicle must comply to current ADR's including emissions and braking. To date this CAN NOT be achieved with an air-cooled VW engine (unless you pay for expensive emissions testing and run some sort of EFI at least). There are 3 ways around this:
1 - Have a copy of the original modification papers which proves the vehicle was modified and approved prior. If you have these then all you need to do is get a RWC and proceed to the main roads where they will register the buggy. Make sure you get Manx or whatever buggy style you have on your registration papers so Main roads don't hassle you later
2 - Be able to prove that the vehicle has been registered in its current configuration (as a buggy) before. If you can do this by providing papers or the likes then you are half way there. Now you need to ring main roads modification department and arrange for an inspection. They will inspect the buggy and if it complies with the ADR's for the date of the VW pan being used or date vehicle is registered as they will issue you with modification papers. Then you may register the buggy.
3 - Build a Long Wheel Base buggy ( unshortened beetle pan) if you used an unmodified beetle pan then only the body needs to comply with the current ADR's. This means that you can use a VW engine, brakes and everything else you want. The body ,however, must comply with the current ADR's. This means it needs a heap of other stuff such a side intrusion bars, seat belt light etc etc. A full list of all things required will be here shortly once I have a complete copy of the current ADR's and have submitted the list I have written to a LH5 and LH6 approving officer. If they are happy with it then I will publish it along with there contact details so everyone in the Brisbane area can use the same guy and make their lives a little easier.