Has anyone had to have a "VIV" inspection done in victoia?
I bought an EF Fairmont wagon from the damaged auctions at easter and have been fixing it up since. I am now close to getting a roadworthy so I went to the local vicroads office this morning and they told me I needed to book a VIV inspection and it would cost about $500.... say what!!!! I should never have started this project in the first place. Upon first inspection it looked like new front doors and guards, easy and cheap, a new wheel and tyre for the impacted side and a ball joint. After getting the ball joint and putting it back on it's wheels for a drive round the court I found the front end was way out of shape. So back in the air and much more thorough inspection I found the Kframe was damaged where the radius rod mounts. No worries in with another K-frame from the wreckers along with lower arm and a steering rack as that was damaged too. Nothing too expensive or hard and it only took me a day to do.
Now to my big concern.... the footwell reinforcing had been bent when the wheel was detached from the ball joint. I decided that hydraulic porto-power was easier than cut and shut welding. Its all roughly straitish and I have tidied up the sill and firewall ok. It would pass a roadworthy no worries but will it pass inspection by an automotive engineer as I have now been informed I will have to do? I have spend far too many hours and $$$$ to call off the whole project or take it to a professional repairer as the car will only be worth about $5-6k all fixed up. I have of course repaired dozens of small things all round as a part of bringing things up to scratch along the way.... electric windows etc.
Does anyone have any advice for me?

here is some before and after pics

 

 

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ouch!

 

 

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i my self have been a victom of the VIV cert i got an X3 Excel with the same sort of damage, i did a repair buy cutting out the fkd pannels and replaceing them, i spent quite a bit of time and $$$ in doing this, and when i had it inspected they told me that everything was ok except the sill where i didn't overlap the joins so it failed, they then gave me 10 days to repair it properly.. so i lost intrest that was 2 years ago its still sitting on me dads block.. just make sure it is repaired properly..

the best thing to do is get on the VIC roads web site, they have the vehical standards on there check out: No25

here is the link:

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/RulesStandardsRegulations/VehicleStandardsInformation/

hope this is helpfull.. good luck

ive had one it will cost you $330 for a VIV, mine was a repaioreable writeoff.

this was in clayton south. melbourne.

What really annoys me is I could have just gone for a cut and shut repair for pretty damn cheap with perfect parts from the wreckers rather than straightening if I had known..... I just didn't have a mig welder. Oh well the porto-power is still handy to have. Time for a demo-saw visit to Deer Park wreckers again! Incidentally they have been great for parts.

Last edited by richard williams on Sat Jun 02, 2007 5:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

what were u saying the other week about it being so easy and cheap to buy a car from the auctions and repair it...

yeah ive done a couple of vivs before but not as damaged as yours...they now cost $440 and you have to get a un-reg vehicle permit to drive the car there...

also it depends on who you get and how much of an a**hole they want to be....

i bought a wagon like yours with the intention of fixing but when i showed it to a friend of mine whos a panel beater he said forget it....the damage was very similar to yours.

they will measure the chassis alignment (or you have to get a panel shop to measure for u - not sure which) and if its out by more than 3mm it will not pass....

I also had a car not pass viv because it didnt have any of the little vin stickers on it - that car never got put on the road and it was a perfect low kay wagon with gas...

moral - I hate viv and i only ever buy cars with very minor damage

that sux with the vion stickers as they are non replaceable and are an a** to get off and no new pannel comes with them

Ok I have checked out the info on the vicroads website and I am in less of a panic. I think so long as it all looks good I may be ok.
The other thing is being 37 family man and not an 18 year old I may be treated more fairly. The main thing is to be fully roadworthy compliant and looking good where the damage was.
Fingers crossed

good luck with it... let us know how you go..

Good luck, but I would think you should prepare for it to fail.

Major structural components, such as what has been damaged, are not allowed to be repaired, only replaced. Vic Roads law says that if a rail is bent, it can not be repaired, only replaced. Se there goes your cut and shut idea.

Chances are they will force you to get the car put on a jig and measured and provide a printed copy of the measurements. Specially if they think the body is not straight.

Make sure you take EVERY receipt you got for the repair. You are now required to show a diary on how you repaired the car and what techniques you used. If you tell them the wrong thing, instant fail.

I spent thousands repairing an EL Ghia some time ago only to have it fail VIV. Everything looked 110% perfect, but they found some bog that was used to tidy up a repair they did, and failed it on that repair.

Insurance type repairs are not enough to get the car passed. It has to meet every singe Ford and Vic Roads repair criteria.

I sincerely hope it passes, but I doubt it will.

Also remember the VIV covers damage that was done in the past. So if the vehicle has any existing repaired damage that isnt 100% perfect, it will fail on that too.

Have you already booked? If so, which repair centre did they specify. If you haven't booked it yet, when you do, come back and tell us where they directed you.
Good Luck!

They were offering StAlbans as the closest, other place was Newport. I didn't make a booking as I wanted to look into things further. I am now considering getting another "straight" bady that I know of for about $500 rolling body with most doors etc. I already got the passenger door and guard from it and it is strait enough. Three or four weeks should see interior and engine swapped over. I just have to find out what status the other car is. AFAIK it was only stripped due to mechanical / cashflow issues......
I will ring the guy and see what the story is.

If its Newport, don't go there. That would be Centreline Autos on Blackshaws road.

According to the Vic Roads VIV rep I argued with, they are the toughest VIV inspectors in Melbourne. They let nothing past them, and fail more cars than any other tester. Hell, they failed my car in 3 mintues.

And I don't have any problem with that or what they did. They are simply making sure safe cars go back on the road, which is much more than I can say for Vic Roads themselves. But it doesn't bode well for us that want to get a cheap ride back on the road.

They wouldn't even give me their name or address so I could have a chat and suss them out without making a booking.
Anyhow I spoke to the Vaughn about his stripped car and I will be getting it from him soon. I will then have a rolling chassis with doors,tailgate and guards ready to swap all interior and engine/trans. I wish I had of found him before I did all the work etc.... would have saved about $600 and been all finished by now.

Adrian, you are allowed to heat rails to repair provided it doesnt get too hot, i forget what temp you can go to and you need to put on a marker which goes away if it gets too hot.
Darren will probably know more as they had a bit of a chat with the VIV rep about it when a car got failed etc