undercariage

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IMPORTATION DAY:

On the day of import from the US (March 20, 2008), the very first thing that must be done before registration in British Columbia is to have a Provincial Inspection done. Without that, you just simply can't register and insure the car.

Man was I ever fortunate. I got the car to the inspection center at about 10:30am, with no appointment, and they took me right in. Our Province requires a very detailed and comprehensive road worthiness inspection, but they go far beyond that. Everything must function properly right down to the smoothness of opening and closing the doors, hood and trunk. They check everywhere for rust, and inspect for structural repairs such as body work (basically looking to see if the car has been rebuilt from a wreck or has been in any sort of an accident). In this case they found absolutely nothing to indicate that the car had been in any sort of an accident or had ever suffered any sort of structural damage. They did note a small amount of surface rust in a few places, and when I say suface, I mean exactly that. You could probably take all of that off with a mild abrasive cleanser. The only area that showed anything of signifigance regarding rust was under the hood (right side) where the finder is welded to the engine compartment interior shell. The left side was perfect. What we figure happened here is that the drain hole got plugged and it was left unattended. I have since looked at that more closely and find that with a minor scrping most of it comes righ off. Of course when I get it all removed and clean out the drain hole it will be primed and repainted.

The only things that they found in their inspection that had to be repaired before I could get a pass, was to replace the Steering Linkage (centre link) and install a new Sway Bar Link Kit (there was minor movement in a couple of joints). This was all determined by about 12:00. I called my Mechanic to see if he could get the parts in and do the replacement. He arranged to get the parts to be delivered by 3:30, but he was totally booked. However, he did say that if I could get the Inspection Centre to agree to do the installation, he would have the parts delivered there and let them do the work (Ron actually personally delivered the parts. What a guy!). The long and short of it was that the install was done by 5:30 which allowed me time to get to the Insurance company for registration and insurance. Home by 6:30! It's now a Canadian car!

What a great bunch of people! Without them I would have had to bring the car home and complete the process the following week. That would have been quite a dissapointment. I simply wanted to get it done and go cruising!

The folks at the inspection center were kind enough to allow me to go into the shop to capture the following photos of the undercarriange while the car was up on the Hoist.