Does the USA have nation wide rules rot hotrod building?

Forgive my crappy spelling! I was typing fast because if i take too long to post i get logged off!


I was asked in another thread why i could not take a gas torch to my pitman arm and got to wondering if you guys have a set of nationwide rules and regulations for building your cars.

Here in australia we have a set of national guidelines that spells out what can and can not be done. For example, no steering componant can be welded, heated or bent. That is, not without incuring mega $$ of xrays, certificates and engineers.

On top of that each state has its own rules that may veto the national rules.

as well, each states commitee to run this can be divided amongst themselves over interpretation of the rules.

Basically to build a car here in South Aust, we first HAVE to join the street rod federation ($$) then apply to build ($$) then the department of transport issues a statement of requirements of what will be acceptable re engine, brakes and steering etc. You must renew this every 12 months of your build. After dealing with the rules, the veto's, the opinions and such you present the car to be inspected ($$) and if it does not pass you must go away, make the changes and come back ($$) to be told by a different inspector that the cahnge didnt have to be made!

If you seek to say, put a 1940 cab on a Hilux cassis, the car is not classed as a hotrod but is a brand new constructed car called an Individualy constructed vehicle and must meet almost all current australian design rules for safety, lights and emissions etc.

So, how DOU YOU go about building a rod that can be registered, insured and DRIVEN?

 

Ask people from 50 different states, and you get 50 different answers.
Sometimes there are different rules within a state based on the county or city.
There is no nationwide standard that I'm aware of.

 

As far as I know the only rules you don't need to prove compliance with are crash tests.

 

Geez, great question but please don't give the gov't any ideas!!!!!!That's all we need is a national hot rodders tax or something.

 

even with all the bitching by some, still the greatest place to live in the world!!! plenty of guns to keep the king of england outta our faces. and you can weld together any old scrap you have laying around and endanger everyone else on the road with it. you gotta take the good with the bad.

 

true Toddc... i am helping construct an ICV corvette. C2 body on a C5 Drive train and chassis, just as well we dont have to crash test it, its taken something like 4000 man hours already!

The rule for the hilux route hotrod only changed for us september 2010. Anything with a statement of requirements dated prior to that can still be done... but those that have built first and not got their SOR are going to be pretty bummed. I was going to rebody my mazda ute but i would have to bring it up to 2011 emission standards...

 

Are you kidding? Take a look at all the photos that are posted on the HAMB of people's dream cars. Some are exceptionally well done. However, some of them are nightmares, not dreams.

This is America, where we are pretty much free to build and license a BOS or a POS.

 

So, good friends who drive on the left... what is the actual process you go thru?

do you just build what you hope is a safe ride and try for rego? Do you have to put in a plan first? No official rules about engineering? Or can you guys do both a well planned, engineer aproved car or a slap it together hope it holds car?
do you each check your own states rules first or last or not at all?

aussie is curious...

I think at the end of the day, even though our system is full of frustrations, following it does produce a vehicle that is 'safe', roadworthy and well constructed. The dodgy cars and those that dont make the grade, dont get on the road.

 

whats a BOS and a POS?

thanks, aussie

 

I don't know that this is thread serves any practical purpose. Of course different places and countries have different ways of doing things.

Also FWIW I don't think Hilux or any other late truck chassis should be counted in with hot rods either. They are a rebodied late model and should be delt with as such.

 

sorry you dont think this thread has 'practical purpose'. I THINK IT DOES or i wouldnt have started it. How the hell are two different countries going to help each other build hotrods via the internet if we dont understand where the others methods and reasons is coming from? Some people are interested in the how and why's of other builders. I wanted to know even if you didn't.

FYI, I have also always thought that a hilux rebody was just that, not a hotrod. I was merely relaying information on the situation regarding registration with regards to a method of building a 'hotrod' that some people choose to do.

aussie

 

Yes...but for you guys the right people reading this could potentially see a need to loosen the restrictive build restrictions, while for us on this side of the big lake, the wrong people reading it could see reasons ($$$) to ADD restrictions.
Nothing against you and your understandable interest...but I say don't just "lock the thread"...
DELETE it entirely.

 

I think all the states adopted the Federal Vehicle Equipment Safety Commission rules (VESC) but there is little enforcement except in certain states like PA where they might require bumpers and fenders or CA requiring smog engines in repro cars. It looks like the VESC closed in 1983 due to budget and I did not find a copy of specialty car rules online, but I have an old book and it had some interesting rules that most would not meet like number of square inches windshield wipers must wipe or tempered glass for side and rear windows and minimum headlight height. I saw the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) was talking about bringing back the VESC in 2007, particularly as it dealt with home built cars.

 

Hmm . . .. I think I agree with Hackerbilt. Maybe close this as it's a pretty hot topic in Sth. Aust. at the moment.
. . . . wake me when it's over . . .
CM

 

Remember when they talked about how they were doing titles on Boyd's show? Voila! new title regulations, no more old titles for new chassis' or aftermarket bodies, etc.! Kill it quick!

 

Not only does it vary from state to state, but for instance here in NY your car only needs to have the safety equipment for the year it's registered as - I forget the years, but bumpers, taillights on both sides, outside mirrors, and of course seat belts aren't required if they weren't mandatory when the car was new.

 

There are federal laws that govern the Automotive industry, for instance seat belts, turn signals air bags.

But those only cover new car manufacture. Most states have different cut off dates for what is covered by the general equipment requirements. Some of the laws are a little vague. For instance in the State of Missouri I am not required to have seat belts in any of my vehicles that did not come from the factory with seat belts. Never the less I am required to be wearing a seatbelt if I am driving or riding in said vehicle.

We don't have laws that say you can't heat or bend a steering component. In order to enforce that you would have to have bureaucrats and enforcement officers that were knowledgeable of the pieces in question. The Govt doesn't want to spend much monet educating its police officers for instance, they would have to be educated in that area in order to enforce the law.

Bottom line in our society is the cost verses the income on things like that.

Edit: not trying to be political here just being honest.

 

we don't need no stinkin rules

 

In the US all hot rods have to be pre 1948...imo

 

My garage.....BOWTIE RULES.

 

Aussie O,
Worthwhile question, but likely better if dealt with thru PM's, since here (HAMB) we are an otherwise open forum. Flammable things ignite quickly around these parts!
Less regulation, but intelligent practices and guidance can work.The subject should be addressed, as a means to ensure the tradition can continue. If not, the insurance costs of OUR cars may come to reflect this omission.
PM = private message
POS = piece of meurde
BOS = ??? (not in my dialect, sorry!)

 

No real rules, but the rat rodder fad threatens to ruin it for us all if a shoddily built car kills somebody and the press finds out about it. Most builders I know make every effort to make their rods safe.

 

No, don't know about today but guys from out of state used to get busted for cars that didn't meet Connecticut rules.

 

These should answer your questions

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=507249

www.killbillet.com

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=558711

 

Wi has federal mandate at the time of manufacter . There was o federal regulation early so most saftey equipment is not mandatory including bumpers, fenders, wipers etc.. Starting in 1965 seat belts are manditory. We suggest keeping the statute in your glove box as some state patrol officers do not understand this law and need to be informed after they light you up.....

 

It's illegal to call a honda a hot rod here.

 

Aussie check your PM'S

Kenny

 

Cars are built to the Federal safety standards in place at the time of manufacturer, which, if you go back far enough, is none. Seat belts, turn signals, etc., are up to the year. If it did not come with it, it does not need to have it.

Some states have safety inspection, some do not. If the state does have a safety inspection, it is up to the inspector. I have lived in two states with safety inspection. In both, the inspection was pretty basic. The car had to have functioning safety equipment, complete exhaust, no holes from rust in the floor, etc. No inspector ever looked at the modifications that I had done, and some were extensive. If you do it well, they don't even notice.

Now I live in California. We don't have safety inspections here. If they feel like being jerks, the Highway Patrol might ticket you for exhaust, fenders or height, but for the most part it is a free-for-all. Local cops either don't notice, or will give you a thumbs-up, unless you're doing something abjectly stupid.

 

BOS = Best Of Show
POS = Piece Of Shit

There are rules, but no formal enforcement of them like you have to deal with.
Federal level = http://www.dot.gov/about.html
State level = (example CA) http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vc.htm
County level = (example LA county) http://search.municode.com/html/16274/index.htm
City level = (example LA) http://www.lacity.org/SubMenu/CityCharterRulesCodes/index.htm

Notice that under the state level, it's not about the vehicle itself really, but how it is used or stored.

For the most part, the DOT is not involved in individual's vehicles. (example when they ARE is importation. See http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=8263 ) The states can be pretty hands-off or pretty micromanaged. They use vehicle registration (lawful use of the vehicle on the roads) as the stick to enforce the rules. Sounds the same as what your country does at the national level.
This is changing, due to the vast differences of the states. The US constitution is pretty strong on state's rights, but the national issues of auto theft, wide variables in titling and safety issues has started to push things like having a national stolen car database, national flooded and salvage vehicle database, and will obviously move more toward less freedom as time goes on. The things keeping this from happening is money (always follow the money!) grassroots support against any big change (including the states wanting to keep the power) and that there isn't an outcry from the average Joe to have the federal gov't 'save them' from the current situation.

 

Yes, please DELETE this assinine thread. No need to give em any more ideas.