Engine Swaps and P Plates [VIC]

[Giraffe]

hey guys just wondering if your allowed to drive a engine swapped car on your p's..
my mates said your not allowed because its "modified to increase power"
so say i want to chuck a k20 in a dc2 .. and drive it around is that legal and would i need to get it engineered ?

[ekcoupe]

nope, if you want to do a engine conversion while on your p's it can only be of 10-15% displacement

say since you have a b18 1.8l swapping it to a k20 2.0l you will need a mod plate which is illegal for p platers. but if your swapping a b18b 1.8l to a b18c 1.8l thats fine an you dont need the mod plate so its legal:)

hope that helps

[quangsuke]

pretty sure u need to get it engineered because your modifying your oem engine mounts.
with eg swaps to b18 we dont need to get it engineered because the capacity is less then 200cc's + keep oem mounts.

i may be wrong.
just my 2 cents

[vampzzz]

you are wrong quang.

need to get it engineered.

went into vicroads to get my b18c registered and they didnt let me without an engineers certificate.

Giraffe - i think it is illegal, because you are changing your engines capacity. not sure though, hopefully an expert can chime in and enlighten us.

[quangsuke]

you are wrong quang.

need to get it engineered.

went into vicroads to get my b18c registered and they didnt let me without an engineers certificate.

Giraffe - i think it is illegal, because you are changing your engines capacity. not sure though, hopefully an expert can chime in and enlighten us.

now i know =D

[Giraffe]

vampzzz- so when you did your engine swap, were you on your p's ?

[acurabot]

I recall something along the lines of if you need an approval or certificate for your modification i.e. mod plate, then it's not considered p plate friendly. Best to do is ask your transport station.

[vampzzz]

did the swap at the start of last year and yes still currently on my P's. Didn't ask them if it was legal or not for a P-plater to drive an engine swapped car.

[pure_na]

nope, if you want to do a engine conversion while on your p's it can only be of 10-15% displacement

say since you have a b18 1.8l swapping it to a k20 2.0l you will need a mod plate which is illegal for p platers. but if your swapping a b18b 1.8l to a b18c 1.8l thats fine an you dont need the mod plate so its legal:)

hope that helps

i would hazard a guess that you don't really know what you're talking about...considering 1.8 to 2 litres is less than 15% increase.

quangsuke is right, you need it engineered because you are modifying the engine mounts.

the answer is that there are different degrees of legality you can take.
for example
1. do it, don't register the engine to the chasis, drive around a car that is p-plate legal with an engine that is not. if you get caught, you fcked. i personally doubt you will, but then again, depends where you drive.
2. do it, register the engine to the chasis, drive around a car that is no longer p-plate legal but if you get caught you're not that fcked, just some points and a fine.

regardless, you will not get insurance. so if daddy has final say in this he will tell you to go fck yourself. if you do any of the two, and run into the back of an e class amg mercedes, you are in a woooooooooooooorld of trouble. keep that in mind.

[vampzzz]

justcar insurance will insure you no problems.

[quangsuke]

+1 for just car insurance

[Giraffe]

so i'm not allowed to drive a mod plated car ? is that it.. :(

[pure_na]

just car will insure a k20 dc2 for a p-plater? fair enough, i didn't know that.

[vampzzz]

don't see why not, they will insure my ej8 with b18c.

[pure_na]

lol i'm not disagreeing. if you were to ask me, "do you think just car would insure a k20 dc2 for a p-plater" i would say "fck no." but, if you say they do, then i'll take your word for it. i haven't tried.

[Giraffe]

sigh* so you think k20 is worth it or not .. if i get dicked for driving a k20 might as well go hard or go home and get a turbo car on my p's LOL

just need someone to verify if you can drive a k20 on your p's

[Red_EG4]

This question comes up pretty often, my interpretation of the P plate laws is any modification to increase the engine performance is illegal and well putting in a more powerful engine seems to fit that category.
If you want to know for sure, ring up VicRoads at a couple of their different offices and see what answer you get.

[pure_na]

sigh*a k20 will attract a lot less attention than a turbo. i really cbf expanding on that.

sigh2* no matter how you do it, you will need modifications that do not coincide with the whole 'no performance increasing modifications' mantra. from your original question, i take it you would like to respect the law? if so, and if you still believe that a k20 is roughly the same as having a turbo, then yes, you are correct, you may as well "go hard" and get a turbo.

rofl, i just read what i wrote, you think that you will be able to get a boosted system that out-performs a k20...that will attract less attention than a k20....lol

now,

to go back to your original question, it is a grey area. it completely depends on how you want to argue it,which is probably why you are seemingly a bit disgruntled by the responses. taken from vic roads:
you cannot drive a vehicle that "has an engine that has been modified to increase the vehicle's performance (other than a modification made by the manufacturer in the course of the manufacture of the vehicle."

1. some people would say that putting a completely new engine in a vehicle is modifying the engine to increase the vehicles performance.
2. when you do your k swap, you will have to run custom parts, ie: headers, full exhaust i THINK, etc. these are parts that will increase the performance of the engine.
however, you could argue
1b. the new engine is completely stock and therefore not modified
2b. i will simply get the custom parts to perform the same or worse than the original parts.

hence, the grey fcking area.

at the end of the day, for it to be legal in the strictest sense, it will be completely pointless as you will have almost exactly the same kind of performance as you would get from a b18cr. and that's still only if you don't follow point 1 and you think an engine swap is not an engine mod. if you piss of a cop who for some reason knows a lot about hondas, he will be able to prove that your car is modified. and you will have to go to court if you want to argue with him.

so no, for you it's not legal and therefore not worth it.

[Giraffe]

LOL thanks pure_na you answered my question very well, just the fact it ..
i got a dc2 shell and was planning on doing a engine swap and drive it around on my P's, NOW what is the point of doing all this fus when i can't enjoy what i have built. All this effort in paying so much for a k-swap plus parts plus to get it engineered and rego'd, seems to be too much effort now, i would love to build the k-swap integra, but i guess it doesn't work out that way .. since im restricted.. and in the end all this trouble when i can just simply get a turbo car, if i wanted to same consequences.
Now if i did i b20 swap this doesn't require a engineer's am i right ? and will kinda push a power and reliablity i can live with.
SIGH TO THE MAXXX ! D: