MG MGB and MGB GT Tech Talk
I was looking forward to my 5 speed gearbox arriving. Had a message from UPS saying they were going to deliver the box last Monday. Next message the gearbox has been frozen by Customs in Austria (???) as it did not pass the xray test! There is no oil in the gearbox just a lot of metal. WTF?
Keith WTF indeed. I hope that's just the usual confusion some COUSINS have between Australia and Austria and it's not really in Austria. Perhaps Oz customs are really thinking about should they charge you duty etc or did you have to pay that upfront?
Why not Austria, who knows where freight is staged these days ?
If you paid over $1000 they will want to charge you GST, and possibly 15% car parts tax. Tell them its a car part for a car greater than 30 years old. Don't tell them it is not an original part. You might get away with that. Good luck
Myself and folks I deal with have been hung in customs for just about everything you could imagine, dock worker strikes, was the last one for VTO. Years ago, an order of A series engine parts I had coming from the UK got hung up in US customs due to there were piston rings in the order and the shipping labels, I got numerous calls from US customs and I had to explain to them what a piston ring was, they thought it was some sort of jewelry :). I'm sure Kelvin Dodds could tell some stories about this subject as well, as much as company like Moss gets brought in.
My bet is that someone has been sneaking stuff into your country inside built components, and recently got discovered, think about it, stuffing something inside a built assembly like a gearbox would be a clever way to smuggle something, and now these types of times are getting looked at more clever.
Weired , funny story, I collect rocks of places that I go to, and last year in my trip to Italy, I got a rock from Monza, Italy while I was ther attending the Italian F1 Gran Prix, as momento to take back home. Well I forgot to put the rock in my check luggage and it was in my carry on, Italian airport security was not amused, but after going into private room and telling them why I had the rock, they took my rock and sent me on my way.
Long story, short, bad people make it tougher on the ones of us trying to be good. I hope you get your new tranny soon.
Bummer Hap - you're going to have to go back to Monza this year and get another rock (but put it in your hold baggage) who knows what those italians would think the way their economy is - perhaps they'd jail you for stealing their country it's about all they've got left!
I will never never ever understand customs mentality. When I use to import English shotguns into the USA 70% of the time they ended at customs for me to collect just as I wanted but once I had a £20,000 Holland & Holland left on my doorstep by the local postman.
Received a parcel today with a sticker on it saying it was opened by Aust. Customs. Note inside saying that sniffer dogs had reacted to the package. Those rubber quarter light seals fetch big money on the black market!
I've had loads of fun when getting motorcycle parts from China. The last batch was held up, in the port of Oakland, for over three months. Needless to say, the owner was not overjoyed. RAY