A different sniper thread... (1 Viewer)

[Skellibert]

Just to let you folk in the US of A in on some info regarding how good you guys got it (for some things).

I have been perusing the Holley Sniper threads and drooling at the prospect of TBI for my old cruiser. Looking at the $$ needed for the setup, and for you guys it runs somewhere around the $900 mark. This is within "scratch and save" territory for me - would take some time, but I could make that happen eventually.
Anyway, I decided to see about the cost over here in the land of Oz. Now, there is exchange rate (about 1USD to 1.5 AUD) to consider, and then freight and import taxes, but I figure that if I get it from Holley direct I should be able to do it for about $2000. nope, that's just too much for me.
But if I go to an autoshop over here, it is a special order (I have to wait for them to import it) and the list price is $3220........

Let that sink in for a moment.

It will cost me 3+ times the dollars to get a sniper kit.
Now this is not on Holley in any way - as I said if I import it myself I still have to pay freight costs and import taxes, so not on Holley in any way.
But the autoshop is going to mark up $1000 on the unit, and their freight costs would be lower because they would bring it in with a bunch of other stuff.

As a result, this little brown cruiser is going remain all carby all the way for some time at least.

And really, it is running fine, so I guess I don't need it anyway.

Rant over - you can all go back to enjoying your computer time now.
Thanks for listening!

 

[Seth S]

In 2011 your dollar was 1:1 with USA dollar. I was in Perth for a race and needed a KTM brake lever. At home it would have cost $80. Cost me $200 across your ktm dealer counter. Was a very expensive trip.

on the flip side you guys get all the Toyota diesels we don’t get and you get manual trans options we don’t. You get troopies and utes and a ton of models we don’t.

 

[Seth S]

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

 

[Skellibert]

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

OH yeah, absolutely - There is so much about living here that is great, and although I would love to visit the US, there is no way I want to live there.

This is just sooooooo ridiculous an example. As a generalisation we pay more for our bits here than you do, and of course there are freight costs - but this particular example is just stupid.

We generally pay half again to twice the price, but three times is....... If I import it myself it ends up being just under $2000, which is a lot, but expected.

And again, this has nothing to do with Holley - freight costs what it costs, and import duties, well... no one likes to pay taxes, but you have to.

But we do get some ripper trucks here as you mention. Who doesn't like a troopy?
And you can still buy a solid front axle Landcruiser - 79 series. Comes as a 4 door wagon, a single cab trayback, a dual cab trayback, or the troopy, and all of them have a 4.5ltr V8Turbo Diseasel, five speed manual (Stick shift).
Alas I don't have about $80k for a new one.

But the reality is, I love my old 60 series, and it would take some convincing for me to get a newer 4x4.
And parts in Oz are generally about 2x what you guys pay.

 

[NYIronPig]

 

[cheeese]

How feasible would it be for someone in USA to mail you a personal parcel that happened to contain some useful EFI components?

 

[Willard]

I struggled with the idea of EFI in mine. looked at the sniper, FITech, and a custom TBI unit (have that in a box in the garage). In the end I had a carb. Simply put it is reliable, will get you home every time. Runs rough if there is a vacuum leak but still runs cares less about exhaust leaks (little backfire maybe) and still goes. I can fix it in the bush with little effort screwdriver and a little ingenuity.
You have the luxury of not having all the emission crap on yours, so it makes it an even simpler setup.
EFI needs electronics (hence the E), good exhaust, sealed vacuum etc etc. You have to carry your own spares and hope it does not crap out in the bush.

Myself I will never convert a carbed vehicle to fuel injection. Maybe I am just to old school in that regard.

 

[Skellibert]

How feasible would it be for someone in USA to mail you a personal parcel that happened to contain some useful EFI components?

We still have to "Guess" a value, and pay tax on anything more than $1000 (I think), so probably still cost tax, and freight is what it is - exxy from there to here. But if I had around $1500 to spend on the car in one hit I would consider it.

When it all comes down to it, I am a bit like Willard in some respects - the carby is doing fine - this is a "Want" rather than a "need", and I can happliy spend $1000 (if I had it) on other bits of the car.

For instance, I need a full set of bushes for the steering - I found a set for about $150. Hopefully next pay I can spend that much, and then spend a weekend putting them in. Steering is OK, but a bit woofly - so not urgent, but certainly more urgent than a sniper.....

 

[Seth S]

I was in Perth back in 2011 and it was before I had a 60 but still I loved all the 70’s and troopies and 40 series utes running around.