Import advice

[RICH-I-AM]

Yeh, Good luck.
Hope to see it on UK Terrafirma soon 8)

Rich.

 

[streetboy]

It's been so long since I parted cash for it that the edge has been taken off a bit. But I'm sure when I get a call to say it is coming into Southampton I'll be very fired up.

What should have been a formality turned into a proper fiasco. The bus arrived at Tacoma docks yonks ago but customs kicked up about the title and bill of sale not matching up. Thus, the owner had to get the title into his name via the Oregon DMV, write and date a new bill of sale and an Export Power of Attorny form for the guy delivering the bus. Had it been me who had cocked up on the paperwork I would have bent over backwards to get it sorted out ASAP, but this guy kicked his heels at every oppertunity. I chased him, my shipping firm chased him, the guy who kindly offered to sort things out at the docks with customs chased him. Everybody got very pi**ed off with him. :x
To cap it all, having got the paperwork sorted and taken to US customs at the dock they requested proof of his ID in the form of his social security number, this is law when exporting and a formality. Now the owner did not want to give it meaning no number, no bus!
Despite being assured by everybody that the information he gives cannot under US law be used in any way other than for exporting, he would not budge. We all assumed he had something to hide by his reluctance to give it. This was also was drawing unwanted attention from US customs. The bloke is a right Ar*ehole I tell you.
Now customs don't need to get involved with all this but they did know how frustrated I was. A call from them to the owner and it was job done! you don't mess with them I hear.

Just nedd it not to sink or be taken by pirates and I'm home and dry!!! :lol:

Would I do it all again? I certainly know every pitfall there is now, so maybe

 

[Bookwus]

Hiya All,

If there are folks over there in Jolly Old England who are thinking of going the same route as street, you need to know that you can get an evaluation of your potential purchase for free. There are a number of us Bus-types here (especially in the Pacific Northwest) who would be only too glad to take a hard look at a Bus for sale (provided it's reasonably close). We have already done that for purchasers outside the PNW and probably saved them a considerable amount of cash. We can give you an experienced evaluation and pictures. In short, we can tell you whether it's worth going after.

 

[streetboy]

Well the 8th August looms and the old bus is nearly here in good old blighty. I might start getting excited about it soon

With its pending arrival it crossed my mind that the fuel guage was not working. Until I have a look it could be anything. But I suspect the sender unit. I may need to source one but don't have a clue where to get one from.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ib-bus]

Wow what a ride, good thing is that your bus is almost home, do post pictures when you pick it up, specially of that California rear bumper riding inside the bus :mrgreen: , cheers man.

 

[streetboy]

Not in the bus i-bus, they made me take everything out and shipped it on a separate pallet!! :roll:

 

[ib-bus]

:shock: I guess different ports have different rules, still arrival date is coming so you should start getting excited right about now.

 

[streetboy]

Well the bus touched UK shores today, if only Bristol. Not that there's anything wrong with Bristol of course! :lol:

Now on its way to Zeebrugge where it will be loaded on its third ship and if on time will dock on the 11th at Southampton. I'll be going to pick her up on the 12th

She's well travelled alright.

Originally shipped from Germany to the US,

And from Tacoma US to..........

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN JAPAN 09/06/2009 09/06/2009
TIANJIN-XINGANG CHINA 13/06/2009 13/06/2009
INCHON REPUBLIC OF KOREA 18/06/2009 18/06/2009
MASAN REPUBLIC OF KOREA 19/06/2009 19/06/2009
SHANGHAI CHINA 21/06/2009 21/06/2009
TIANJIN-XINGANG CHINA 24/06/2009 24/06/2009
YOKKAICHI JAPAN 28/06/2009 28/06/2009
GAMAGORI JAPAN 29/06/2009 29/06/2009
OMAEZAKI, SHIZUOKA JAPAN 30/06/2009 30/06/2009
ALEXANDRIA EGYPT
TARTOUS SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC 24/07/2009 24/07/2009
BRISTOL UNITED KINGDOM 05/08/2009 05/08/2009
ZEEBRUGGE BELGIUM due in on the 7th

Then onto the Fedora in Zeebrugge..............

ZEEBRUGGE BELGIUM 10/08/2009 10/08/2009
SOUTHAMPTON UNITED KINGDOM 11/08/2009 11/08/2009

What a journey :shock:

 

[ib-bus]

So it should be ready for Vanfest right? :lol:

 

[streetboy]

Hi i-bus, err, not quite :lol:

Getting a little excited now and counting the days down. Been in touch with Wallenius the shipping company and everything is sorted with them this end, and Kingstown who are dealing with customs this end for me. So, with a little luck (must be owed some after all the grief) it should be a straightforward excercise. :|

 

[ib-bus]

You are with good hands with Kingstown, they have sorted my buses every time, at least that will go smooth.
Cheers man.

 

[lard]

wow :shock: - that's some journey! Korea? Japan? Bristol - then to Belgium then back to Southampton?

Seems a bit of a long way round to get across the pond - bet you're chuffed it's on it's last leg now, you're a patient man!

 

[streetboy]

To be fair Lard after all the problems just getting it out of the States its been nice to forget about it for a while! :lol: lost count of the hours I spent sending emails and making phone calls, and trying to do it working around them being 8 hours behind. Some pretty late nights.
But its nearly here now and dying to go get it

i-bus, yeah Kingstown are very good so should be ok.

 

[RICH-I-AM]

Glad its here mate, not long now 8)
Just in case you were wondering, you havnt had an Early Bay on your drive for 368 days :mrgreen:

Rich

 

[streetboy]

Hi Rich, only talking about the old Montana bus today

Its been that long? :shock: too long mate.

 

[streetboy]

Soooooo close now, just need the Zeebrugge to go red on the Walleneius tracking site and I know its on its way to Southampton. Red indicates the ship has unloaded, loaded and is at sea again. very excited

Port Country Arrival Departure

BREMERHAVEN GERMANY 05/08/2009 07/08/2009
ZEEBRUGGE BELGIUM 08/08/2009 10/08/2009
SOUTHAMPTON UNITED KINGDOM 11/08/2009 11/08/2009
HALIFAX, NS CANADA 19/08/2009 19/08/2009
NEW YORK, NY U.S.A. 21/08/2009 21/08/2009
CHARLESTON,SC U.S.A. 24/08/2009 24/08/2009
BRUNSWICK, GA U.S.A. 25/08/2009 25/08/2009
GALVESTON,TX U.S.A. 28/08/2009 28/08/2009

 

[streetboy]

Well the day finally cometh!!

Caught the train down to Southampton Central and set off in search of the docks with map in hand. I didn't realize how for it was from the station, bloody miles! :roll:
I found Wallenius's office ok and got the paperwork etc signed and the nice man asked me to wait there while he brought it round. I could hardly contain my excitement by this stage! :mrgreen: ( a little nervous though) :|
Sure enough some ten minutes later I heard that familiar sound, and then saw her for the first time as he swung her round the corner of their storage depot. I was not dissapointed.
A little dusty inside but not too bad considering it has spent 4 years tucked away in a barn in Oregan. Outside was pretty clean. To be honest I was so caught up in getting the pallet of bits loaded up that it didn't all sink in at the time. One little issue was that for some reason she would not tick over (we will come to that later), the engine sounded sweet though.
The battery was also u/s and required a jump start.
So on with the trade plates, obviously insured, via Adrian Flux, and also booked in for an Mot at my old garage for good measure. Hum :msn4:
Now with it wanting to stall and the battery gone awal my first port of call was a local Halfrauds to purchase a new battery. She drove really well, steering was good and under normal driving she pulled very well. The brakes were good too.
Battery on in Halfruads car park. The only way to keep her ticking over was to wind the throttle screw miles in, but it did the job. It does smell rich to me and some pointers would be appreciated. I'm on a learning curve with all things flat 4.
The journey home was a real buzz and all the memories of my old bus just came flooding back. She fairly zipped along and cruised at a steady 50/55 up and down some quite long steep drags. And finally home on my driveway, mission accomplished! :mrgreen:
Following a cup of well deserved tea I could unwind and start taking it all in and have a good poke about. When I think what I paid for her I think I've done well. Despite all the grief it was deffo worth it. 8) Body wise it is very solid.

So here are some pics of me new bus

A very happy bunny!

A few all the way round.....

Then I sent in my small boy with a bush......

Nice and solid.....

Floor looks worse than it is, only surface rust.....

I'll post some more up later, few!

 

[uber cool]

glad it all went well. That's a sweet looking bus, great colour. Hopefully meet you at Brighton breeze

 

[streetboy]

That's the plan Uber but have a few things to sort out for the Mot.
Must have been owned by a wiring junkie! :shock: not too bad though with a bit of sorting. n/s brake and flasher not working but I've sussed it, horn is not OE and needs sorting and the washers were never gonna work :lol: everything else looks ok. At a quick glance its as solid underneath and looks good. Better gander tomoz.
I've not even looked at the parts that came with it yet. Tomorrows another day
Knackered now!

 

[ib-bus]

You do look like a happy bunny!
Congratulations man , the bus looks sweet, very solid too and well worth the wait.