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01 Caprice

Skydrol

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I got caught at 97 MPH on a 75 MPH zone, was a hair over but that is what the officer clocked... got a $500+ USD fine; no court, just points taken. In the states, your lic can be suspended and some jail time. The car is impounded and if you do not pick it up is sold in an auction, given to a gov agency (cops love exotics for propaganda). If is a piece of junk (cannot be auctioned/bought) that nobody wants, will be tossed in the scarp yard.

Trully hate to see it crush.... is a great looking vehicle. If is inminent, remove all you can and sell on "flea bay". At leas get some money back.
 

WHCapriceHBD

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I'll see what progresses but I was warned not to alter or move the vehicle- this means removing parts like wheels, engine, interior, etc because there's some large $5,900.00 fine if you move the car or tamper with it.

Its parked in my backyard now and hopefully its just a large fine and points on my license- I'd much prefer that instead of seeing the car crushed or sold off. I put quite a lot of time, money and effort into it. It would make me really angry and cynical if it was destroyed over something so petty.

If it was Joe Blow's 1995 V6 Commodore, with two bald tires, a cracked windscreen/faded peeling paint and he paid 600 dollars for it; well I wouldn't be upset. Maybe if I was performing some "real" act of hooning- sitting there in the McDonalds carpark on the brake, burning the rear tires off the car at 5000rpm stationary, then yeah I'd say that would be stupid enough and I'd be an idiot.

I did say to them to find something unroadworthy on the car. In fact I invited the officers to find anything mechanically wrong. Apparently they don't make the rules, they just enforce them. And a 29 year old in a V8 is not looked upon very favorably.
 
R

Risky

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I'm not a fan of nanny laws in any state & nor am I a fan of cops on our roads being used as revenue raisers. Back in the old days, community policing is what it was... cops being out in the street saying g'day to the public. Public presence deters & it helps the community feel safe. These days cops prefer to stay in their stations & the only time they go out of their building is to grab lunch or go to a job.

The best thing to do in your defense is to get confirmation that the flight got changed for your dad as it was beyond his control. You also had to calculate check-in time etc. If you can get a letter from your dads sisters doctor explaining the situation, that will be helpful. Admit that you did the speed as it was for mercy reasons at the time & note traffic conditions. Speak to a solicitor as it's going to court. As it's your first offence, it shouldn't be harsh but expect a fine, points off your licence or a short period of loss of licence. If you build your case & there is evidence to support it, it'll be taken in consideration as it must under any law.
 

wraith

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No offence but you saying that to them seems like you were being a smart ass and in turn made them go harder on you. Risky gave some good advice about court.
 

uniacidz

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Checking up on the road rules in TAS, looks like fell under category of Hoon as described below.

Im assuming more to the story as simply speeding is not classified as hooning.

‘Hooning’ behaviour It is an offence to commit certain types of “hooning” behaviour, including operating a motor vehicle in a way that deliberately creates unnecessary noise or smoke, unnecessarily accelerating or causing a loss of traction (for example, by doing burnouts or drag racing) or racing against another vehicle. This offence is contained in the Police Offences Act 1935. The maximum penalty for this offence is 20 penalty units (i.e. $2,800), 3 months’ imprisonment or both. Also, a court may order that the offender be disqualified from driving for a maximum period of 2 years.

Read more: Hoon Laws in Tasmania, Link: https://www.gotocourt.com.au/traffic-law/tas/hoon-laws/

Now if the above did no happen, then of course right to go before a judge and plead not guilty as one should do anyway

In NSW anyway, can also go for a Section 10, try for TAS

Section 10 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 enables a court, upon a plea or finding of guilt, to order the dismissal of charges without proceeding to record a conviction. The order can be made with or without conditions.
 

WHCapriceHBD

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Well, $450 later and a period of good behaviour (no prior offences, so they were not as heavy on me as a repeat offender) and we're good to go. Still, a $450 fine and 6 points on the license is a LOT better than forfeiture of the car. I'll happily take that and walk away with my car and my slightly bruised license. A friend of mine in the district is a police officer, and luckily the heat was able to be taken out of the situation, but as he said to me, next time may be harder to defuse. So take this as a bit of a caution, and learn from it. Believe me, I learned really fast.
The 'good behaviour' condition is a bit moot because I don't tend to do many stupid things, unless I'm trying to test a new diff or get someone to the airport on time... 12 months of staying under the radar is going to be pretty simple for me. I have restraint. More so now, fear that they can threaten to take a car if they deem something to be hooning. Even a straightforward speeding offense.

Things got a bit better just after I paid the fine- I was a bit down about the whole thing and then something.... else.... popped up that I had to grab for the car. Because I clearly haven't spent enough time or money on this thing as it is, and to be honest, I've been chasing one of these for a long time.

I found a Series 2 Caprice steering wheel- the wood grain type that everyone is always chasing, and usually paying $400-$450 dollars for. They were a rare option, and not many were made, as they were only available for one model of WH, in one series run.
This one was not perfect, required a leather retrim and the guy was asking less than a quarter of the price they usually command. So logically I had to have it.

I spent a lot of time at night mulling over how lucky I was to still have the car, whilst I encouraged arthritis onset in my hands by 20 years, with the hand stitching of the new black leather onto the steering wheel. This was the biggest pain in my a$$ as far as fiddly work on the car I've done yet. Stuff up a section of stitching too tight or too loose and you unpick it all and try again. Most thread is too weak and it snaps with the tension you need to pull everything tight. I snapped a thick mattress needle in half trying to force it through a section of leather that was extremely tight. It was just torture. I don't know how people do this for a living but they must have the patience of a saint. Twice I nearly threw the wheel across the bench, and near gave up. But I came back and tried again. And I finished it last night.
The other problems with the wheel were a section of wood grain was chipped/smashed off, and I had to get creative with some brown and black paint and epoxy and "make" a piece of wood grain to fill in a hole, then buff and polish the repair area up to the same level as the rest. How you smash a chunk of wood grain out, I have no idea.
Also, the foam core had let got of the steel hoop, and was rolling around in your hands. I bought some of the SLT99 repair glue and some hypodermic needles in a kit and re-injected glue back into the wheel to stop that happening. It was a bit of a basket case, hence why it was so cheap. But ultimately it was worth saving. The feeling of new leather is really nice.

20161002_1248272_zpsvfuwljgs.jpg


You may remember that the previous steering wheel (the normal leather wrapped Statesman/Caprice wheel) was all worn and faded, so a few pages back, I stripped the leather and re-dyed it and refinished it and it came out really well. This is the wheel:

20161002_1253082_zps9qpmnum9.jpg


It was nice and everything, but I wanted a wood grain wheel for a long time.
Swapping it over was the easiest part. The trick is to disconnect the battery, then remove the airbag system 15A fuse, and wait 20 minutes. I prefer to turn the headlight switch on and walk away for 20 minutes to ensure all capacitors discharge before removing the airbag. Be gentle with the yellow airbag connector on the back of the bag. Its quite a fragile connector and just pulls straight off the back of the bag with a click.

The new wheel looks and feels a million bucks. The grain and smell of new leather, and the soft feel is nice. And I think it looks better in there.

20161002_1805132_zpsdqpnjlcf.jpg


20161002_1805492_zps1a5na3co.jpg


Also while I had some time, I removed all the door trims and retrimmed all of the lower pieces with the courtesy light, in the same suede that I've used in the rest of the interior. I didn't like the hard plastic look. I know dirty feet need to be kept away from the suede on entry and exit, but I'm prepared to deal with that.

20161002_1805242_zpshxvpeuu5.jpg


And then today as soon as I got the old steering wheel out of the car, it sold and I got back half the cost of the wood grain wheel anyways. I was happy about that.
 

Skydrol

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See if you can get a shite box to take people in an emergency.

Anyway. Not a fan of wood grain but is looking really good. Good job restoring the steering wheel.
 

BorisL

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Very glad to see that the legal stuff worked out okay for you and excellent outcome with the steering wheel, looks great.
 
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