OT Anyone ever imported an engine from the States?
Turbo Mini Forums

I'm thinking of building something extreme for my next project.

Maybe rear engined, V8, 500hp, GT40, T70, Ultima???????

I built my Cobra engine from a scrapyard engine but ended up only using the block, crank, rods and one head! It was not cheap in the end.

Given the current Dollar/Pound exchange rate it looks like it would be best to buy an engine in the US and get it shipped over.

I know that it will attract import duty and VAT.

Any idea of shipping charges?

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

I haven't done it yet but I plan on doing it in the next year or two. There are some nice turn key crate engines that are run in and "optimised" on engine dynos. I know theres one place in the UK which distributes crate engines from the US. I might just pull an LS1 from a Monaro instead though.

just fly over and stick it in your'e hand luggage, they'll never notice,

carl

WWW.FORCE-RACING.CO.UK PLEASE CLICK HERE

I have Exported a Full engine to Canada before, I packed it up on a crate, a firm picked it up and dropped it off at his front door. Cost him about £350

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

I know DHL charge £400 for a 2.0, 4 cylinder engine.
V8 would be heavier but along those lines

Quiet, can you hear it rusting?

Also, budget an extra 17.5% for customs.

yes the dam tax man always wants his pound of flesh

4.5% import duties, and 17.5% VAT on purchase price ( well, declared price ) including shipping costs !!!!

When I bought my original LS1/T56 cutout, I think it cost something like $900 via BAX Global.
Door to door ( though I collected ) something like 5-6 day service.

try contacting Steve at moving parts. He's a vette owner who arranges transport.

http://www.moving-parts.com/

Havent used him myself though, as he ships from New York, to London, so it wouldnt really work for me, as I'd then have to get it shipped from London to Northern Ireland, which is just as expensive.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

Thanks for your help guys.

If I can get a crate engine for about $3000 plus $900 for shipping then it works out quite reasonable.

Actually, thinking about it, it could cost less than my 998 turbo!

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

you can buy from Jegs, but it would be a lottery what was acctually in the box when it arrived,lol.

WWW.FORCE-RACING.CO.UK PLEASE CLICK HERE

I might be able to help on this and get it door to door for you.

reckon i could get it for less than 900 USD for you too.

PM the weight of the engine (dry) and i'll get you a quote.

Dev

TurboDave said

"Fab's right of course.

Maybe you should take your styling ideas off the French instead! "

i got quoted about £170 for a mini engine to the states. was with phoenix cargo Emma Pittaway i think the lasses name was.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

I did find this crowd:
http://www.britishamericanengines.co.uk/engine_building.asp

About £5k for a claimed 450hp small block is pretty steep but I guess it avoids shipping and tax. A similar setup is £3125 direct from the states, with shipping and tax ontop of that. Even if you paid a grand on tax and shipping direct from the US its still cheaper.

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

I was thinking old style blown small block 383 stroker. But the twin turbo sounds tempting! These guys: http://www.nelsonracingengines.com/ do some great twin turbo V8 crate engines. I ordered about £1500 worth of car parts from Oz and somehow managed to escape tax. I filled out a form saying I was liable for tax too so don't know how that happened. Wish it could be the same for the engine, spending £5k in the US tax free would get you an awful lot more engine than spending it in the UK.

the tax is a pain in the arse, sometimes it just gets missed, which is nice!

and other times they'll nail you for it,

mate of mine bought a Roger Maguine ( of the byrds) signed 12 string rickenbacker guitar from the states, didn't give the tax a thoght then got shafted for it, ended up paying well over the odds for it LOL.

basicly its luck of the draw, but i think since sept 11th they've been taking a lot more notice of whats going and coming into the states, and as a result les stuff is slipping through untaxed.

Orgasmic!

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

You've got me started on this now, I found this on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Chevy-V8-engine-Cobr...1QQcmdZViewItem

They offer a variety of small blocks and they say "PRICE $4200 USD LANDED IN UK ALL FEES & INSURANCE". They can also offer Tremec TKO's to suit with clutches, yokes etc. Don't know much else because I couldn't be bothered reading the rest of the page.

Looks Good.

See if they get any positive feedback from Buyers first!

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

The same people have a proper website:
http://www.fastcoauto.com/index.html

This is my baby:

http://www.fastcoauto.com/engine_c.htm

Mines bigger than yours:

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

For £5k, I'm sure I could source you a good used LS1 + T56 cutout, and have it delivered.

Engines circa 2001 can be had for that money, good, average milage units.
the newer you go, the more expensive.

Although I dont really see the point in a fresher miles one. More money for nothing really. They are reliable engines.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

I have seen a few LS1s/T56s out of Monaros etc and have been really tempted but the LS1 is a little bigger than the small block. I can get off-the-shelf headers, sump and engine mountings for a small block to suit my car but the LS1 would be custom. Still haven't decided, fuel injected and centrfugally blown sounds fun!

1963 Cooper
1975 Pick Up