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This article was first published in May 2001.
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As you'd all be aware, in Australia it's possible to bring a car into the country that was not ever imported as a new car by the major automotive distributors. These second-hand cars - called grey market imports - must then be modified so that they comply with all the relevant Australian Design Rules (ADRs) applying to that year. This process, called ADR'ing or compliancing, can be carried out by those companies that are legally entitled to affix a compliance plate to that vehicle. The required car modifications are designed by an engineer employed initially by the compliancing company - and then, after the first car is done, other cars of the same model can be modified with just an engineering inspection required on completion.
But what actually happens during the compliancing procedure? There's always vague talk about "lights and tyres and intrusion bars", but what is the actual process? To find out we watched a Toyota Sera (a gullwing door'd version of the Paseo) undergoing compliancing at the Gold Coast's Car Imports Australia.
With the Sera, the whole interior of the car needs to be first removed - seats, rear trim and even the doors.
Car Imports Australia also use this opportunity to clean each part of the interior, with head honcho Roger Cartwright seen here scrubbing the trim panels. The removed carpet is also wet-cleaned.
Seatbelts
The company also compliances Soarers, Surfs and other cars, and as a result it has a wide range of replacement seatbelts on hand. For ADR'ing, all seatbelts have to be replaced, and in the case of the Sera, proper lap-sash belts need to be fitted to the rear. Incredibly, the Sera in Japan came with only rear lap belts.
A very hefty bracket is used to mount each of the new inertia real belts. This is fabricated on the spot and is made from 3 and 4mm flat bar.
The mount is bolted to the bodywork at multiple spots. Wayne Denovan is pictured using the body as the jig for locating the tension strap that prevents forward movement of the mount.
Welded together, painted and then bolted into place, each rear seatbelt mount looks strong enough to be used as a lifting point for the whole car. The company comments that the compliancing engineers often make the mounts far stronger than necessary, just to avoid any legal complications...
One of the tricky aspects on the Sera is locating the seatbelt reel so that the trim panel hides it - and then slotting the panel so that the belt buckle can neatly fit through.
For added security, shake-proof nyloc nuts are used on all of the seatbelt mounting bracket bolts. Each bolt is also 'plated' on the other side, so that its head cannot pull through the sheetmetal.
Both the front and rear belts are replaced, with the seatbelt details needing to be recorded on the ADR'ing paperwork.
Door Intrusion Bars
The Sera's doors come without intrusion bars, so these must be fitted. The hefty C-sections shown here are used for this purpose.
The problem with the Sera is that the clearances inside the door for the added bars are very tight. In fact, the intrusion bar needs to be constructed in this manner, with a section of heavy gauge rectangular tube slipped inside the C-section - the two welded together literally within the door!
These very heavy duty Monobolt rivets (a little like a large pop rivet with a thick steel insert) are used to hold the intrusion bar brackets in place. They are immensely strong (breaking strain is quoted at over 1.2 tonnes... each!) and avoid the need to weld to the metalwork of the door.
The end brackets are placed into position, holes drilled, then...
...the rivets positioned and pulled home with a special air tool.
The intrusion bar can then be welded into place.
The extra mass in the doors requires that the each door's gas strut be recharged so that the doors are still held up correctly.
Child Restraints
The child restraint anchorages are placed in the rear panel of the Sera. They each comprise a plate and a turned-and-threaded boss, with both items made of mild steel.
The hole for the boss is slightly larger than the insert itself, allowing it to be angled correctly before it is welded to the plate.
Once that has been done, some sealer is applied...
..before again the extra-strong rivets are used to secure the now-painted fitting.
A neat cover goes over the cabin side of the anchorage.
Fuel Filler
The fuel filler must be modified so that it can take only the small unleaded-type of nozzle. A special tool is inserted into the filler neck to expand it enough...
...that a new insert can be slid into place. It's a light push-fit and is further held in place with petrol-resistant two-part epoxy.
Dashboard Dimmer
The instrument panel is removed to allow access to the wiring of the dashboard lights - not to allow the clock to be wound back as some have suggested! A dimmer control is fitted to allow the dashboard illumination to be varied in intensity.
Just the knob of the dimmer can be seen after it has been fitted.
And what other things need to be done?
Driver's Side Rear Vision Mirror
The convex glass of the driver's side rear vision mirror must be replaced with flat glass.
Emissions
To pass the required Australian emissions standards, an additional carbon canister needs to be installed (it's buried under all that plumbing, in there somewhere),
... and a new cat converter is placed in the exhaust.
Lights
While all the lights are inspected, only a high-mount brake light needs to be installed - it's a LED device incorporated into the body kit that Car Imports Australia adds to all their Seras.
Labels
A tyre placard is affixed...
...followed by an engine bay sticker showing emission control and tune-up information.
A 17-digit VIN number is riveted to the firewall, right next to the familiar green compliance plate.
Tyres
Then the tyres are replaced, brake hoses inspected for cracks in the hoses or rust on the fittings and replaced as necessary, and...
...the wiper rubbers are replaced.
Finally...
Finally, an owner's manual is supplied.
There is also a host of other aspects inspected, but usually not changed. On the Sera these include the:
- Reversing lights
- Door latches and hinges
- Turn indicators
- Glass
- Steering lock
- Sunvisors
- Windscreen demister
- Wheels
- Head restraints
- Registration lamps
- Cigarette lighter (must not operate with the ignition off)
At the end of this process, the car is inspected by the engineer to check that each of these items has been checked or modified as appropriate, the tick is given, and the car is ready for sale. If you were to bring your own car to Car Imports Australia, this process would cost you about $3300 plus tyres.
And note: if you own a Japanese import car that has been ADR'd, and it doesn't seem to have a lot of these sorta things fitted (like a tyre placard...), then the ADR'ing wasn't up to scratch!
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