Standards for steering wheel, battery in boot and exhuast

[Andy J]

Hi All

After a little brush with the law regarding the ET I am after some Standards of compliance for the exhaust system which states the rear muffler is not required, and while I am at it does anyone know if there is a standard ISO or DIN for the minimum size of the steering wheel must be and is it legal to have a flat bottom steering wheel (_) and can you legaly put the battery in the boot and the where do I find the standard for this, the reason for all this is I would like to get a copy and have them on hand (in the glovebox) as reference material for any future brushes with the law.

Any help with this would be great.

Regards
Andrew

[Android 360]

you don't need any mufflers if you can keep your pipe db below the legal limit. mufflers just help (except for awful cannons which do the opposite)
why do you want a loud exhaust anyways? quiet = so much better, it's nice gliding by police and not turning a head, its nice not waking everyone up at night, it's nice not getting a headache from highway driving. If it's not a race car, it doesnt need a loud exhaust - and even if it is a race car you can usually get an exhaust setup made that is near silent with little to no power loss.
if your car comes with a cat converter make sure you keep one on there! a decent cat converter will not reduce performance at all and in some cases it can actually improve it. dunno about other states, but in qld you can be fined up to $10K for removing it!

minimum size is different state to state i believe - why not get a later model nissan steering wheel.... that way it looks nice, feels nice and is still legal!
flat bottoms are always illegal.
i have a jap import n13 exa wheel on mine. any pulsar/sentra one fits as well as most silvias etc. to find out what fits, look for an application guide for boss kits and look at which models use the same part number...

for battery in boot, you either need good external ventilation, or instead of going half assed, get a sealed dry or gel cell battery, you can mount em anywhere and in any position except for upside down.

your local government website should have a transport section, and in there you will find all the reference material you need.

good luck - legal cars are good cars

[TimmyET]

I do believe the legal size of the steering wheel in Victoria is about a minimum 13.5 inches from memory

[Android 360]

which is 34.29cm

[Coolbeno]

i agree with android on the exhaust note, i have been is some cars that are
annoying as hell. that 3 inch that you sold me a while back i may have to get
modified cos im worried about noise, i like a sleeper.

[tassuperkart]

Right here:

http://forum.n12turbo.com/viewtopic.php?t=4516

Knock yourself out.

L8tr
E

[dexi_styles]

or you can go talk to an Engineer and see what you can do and what you cant. and find out with him, you can get him to check the battery in the boot and "engineer" it and keep that in your glovebox, so when a cop pulls you up you can be like "here you are sir, its all engineered" and drive away happy scott free.

trust me my bro did his '76 corolla with bucket seats, 17" wheels twin cam engine. all fully engineered. i was pulled up in it and wasnt packing sh!t.

Dex

[Andy J]

Thanks for the replys the last one was really helpful and pointed me in the rigth direction.

Regarding the exhuast dont get me wrong here I don't want a loud exhuast system but the coment was made that to me by the police officer "that it appears to be missing a rear muffler" to which I replied cars of this age only reqiure one which if further back, I was sure I was right but checking with the fountain of knowledge of the other forum members and so next time if I come up against a person that think they know best and can have a copy of the regs within reach to show them otherwise. I do know that the current system on the car is under the DB levels required but more information never goes astray.

Regards
Andrew

[Exa_newbie]

from memory leaded model cars don't legally need a catylic convertor.

the standard one is terrible....

[dexi_styles]

Thanks for the replys the last one was really helpful and pointed me in the right direction.
Regards
Andrew

i think he was talking about E's comment.

Dex

[Coolbeno]

your right about the cat, they don't come with cats because the lead in the petrol reacts badly with the cat and i think might even help em melt(not 100%sure bout the melting tho). if you have the car changed to unleaded im
not sure weather you have an obligation to install one but as long as it passes emmitions.

[Panda_ET]

Yeh its a grey area with catalytic convertors, some want you to have them and some dont.
My excuse was always that the car didnt come with it and I wasnt obliged to fit one, That worked with police down here but hey we dont have emissions testing anywhere in the state so what are they going to do anyway, take the test and send it off to melbourne for testing..... I think not.

it should be in that file anyway explaining what you need. If not Just look in the phone book and ring an engineer cos there isnt any harm in asking questions and then you can be doubly sure

[e15et2002]

RE cats: if the car was sold new in Australia during or after 1986, it will run on unleaded, and must have a cat fitted.

If you have an earlier car, no cat needed, and it would never have had one fitted. Perhaps strictly speaking if you now run your '84 ET or Exa on unleaded for example, you should have a cat, but then who is going to check what type of fuel you have in the tank?

[Panda_ET]

RE cats: if the car was sold new in Australia during or after 1986, it will run on unleaded, and must have a cat fitted.

If you have an earlier car, no cat needed, and it would never have had one fitted. Perhaps strictly speaking if you now run your '84 ET or Exa on unleaded for example, you should have a cat, but then who is going to check what type of fuel you have in the tank?

well in all fairness lol You cant buy street legal leaded fuel anymore can you? Meh they are all unleaded engines anyway, just depends on if you wanna put a cat on or not lol I was going to put one on mine Dont know why just thought id like to for the hell of it

[e15et2002]

RE cats: if the car was sold new in Australia during or after 1986, it will run on unleaded, and must have a cat fitted.

If you have an earlier car, no cat needed, and it would never have had one fitted. Perhaps strictly speaking if you now run your '84 ET or Exa on unleaded for example, you should have a cat, but then who is going to check what type of fuel you have in the tank?

well in all fairness lol You cant buy street legal leaded fuel anymore can you? Meh they are all unleaded engines anyway, just depends on if you wanna put a cat on or not lol I was going to put one on mine Dont know why just thought id like to for the hell of it

Well there you go, I didn't know you couldn't buy good ol' fashion leaded anymore...

So then it comes back to: If the car was sold new with a cat, it must still have a cat fitted. If it is an earlier car, then doesn't have to have a cat. I won't be rushing out anytime soon to spend money on a cat.