URGENT HELP required

[59 hearse]

Hi,
our 1964 Cadillac hearse has landed in port in Western Australia. We have just got a phonecall from the quarantine service. They have detected a substantial amount of soil under the floor section in the back and need access to assess it for quarantine purposes. They have requested that we attend tomorrow morning ( Perth time ) to aid and assist in the removal of side sections and floor to minimise damage to the vehicle so that it can be removed safely. One good thing is we were asked first instead of them just trying to do it themselves....they said it was too nice car to try and do it themselves and maybe wreck things.
We really have no idea where to start in the removal process as it will be the first time we see the hearse tomorrow morning. Here are some photos







So, If anyone can advise how we go about this, I would be extremely grateful.

Cheers Karen in Ozzie

[LMS]

Try removing just the rollers and see if there is enough access.
You probably won't be able to remove the floor without destroying it.

[59 hearse]

Thankyou, but we have been asked to remove the floor and side section for inspection. Being as its imported and they wont release it until quarantine is happy it carries no insects, vermin or greeblies. We have no choice.
I really just needed to know where to start unscrewing everything.

[Guest]

suggest that they remove the rollers and look under there with a flash light. as David said, you probably can't remove it without destroying it.

there is a metal frame which the table is screwed down on. however, the screws are probably hidden under the veneer.

the interior side panels should come off relatively easy. mine were just screwed into place

[59 hearse]

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like we are going to be made to violate her in a big way then to satisfy import requirements. Will advise the outcome.

[59 hearse]

We just got back from the port.....the story is...they found some dirt and dust under one or two of the rollers that feed the coffin into the hearse. So they demanded the floor be removed to visibly see what was there underneath. We showed that there was no way anything could get past the little section where the dirt and dust was but they insisted it would. So they said the floor had to be removed, preferably by us.
If they did the work it would cost us a minimum of 2 weeks labour at $65 per hour. If we did the work it would all happen faster....passing the vehicle.
The only way to lift the floor was to virtually destroy it as you all know. It was put together in 1964 to stay together and not be pulled apart in this way.
It was pouring with rain and we were out in the open. We got soaked to the skin over 4 hours....cuts and grazes, knocked off a few knuckles etc. Good thing I took the bandaids as we were bleeding all over the car. We had tools with us just in case and we had to use them all.
What did we find under the floor ??????????????????????????????
NOTHING, ZILCH, NADA, ZERO, NIL

The fluff and dirt that bugged them so much was like lint in a belly button...thats all there was and could have been vacuumed up in a second. The fluff and dirt was a reason they said they they could refuse entry into Australia and could have forced us to send it back at our cost. Another vehicle there was found to have dead possums in it and cleaning it and passing it for quarantine had taken that car from a $2000 purchase into an additional $10000 in costs just to pass it for entry !!

Now the hearse is a wreck from the front seats back and will need rebuilding much sooner than we thought we would have to do anything to her.
If she gets passed at next inspection we can bring her home....and thats if she starts or drives after all that time on the ocean in a container.
Pictures of our day in the rain.....
our first view of the car





disassembling the car






We did more than that too....we had to remove ALL the floor down to the steel struts and base. BUT is was raining so hard at the end and we were saturated so I didnt get the last photos.

and the view out into the rain






What a day !!

[Boogeyman Con Carne]

That really sucks... I hope putting it back together goes as easily as possible...

[Vampirate_Maiden]

Couldn't they have just used one of those dogs trained to sniff things out to see if there was anything in it that shouldn't be? I guess not. That would've just made things easy, so of course not! Sory to hear that you had to go through all that.

[59 hearse]

The drug sniffer dogs would have already been through. I dont know how sinister they seemed to decide the dust and dirt was...there was barely half a cupful in evidence....like something you would pull out of your vacuum cleaner

[Tulsa Guy]

Man, thats shitty.......
I sold a '58 Brookwood wagon to a guy from Queensland a few years back, as rough as it was, I bet he had to go through the same thing.

[59 hearse]

Man, thats shitty.......
I sold a '58 Brookwood wagon to a guy from Queensland a few years back, as rough as it was, I bet he had to go through the same thing.

Some ports are worse than others

Wet weathe for days and we have been told that quarantine will not ispect in the rain nor will they inspect a wet car from washing. So we wait. The longer we wait the more the fees to keep her there acrue.

[doug7488]

No wonder people in uniform make good targets...

[59 hearse]

We got the 64 released yesterday and she is home. Much damage done to the car in the shipping yard...care was not their strong point. But as my husband says its all fixable. Petrol poured from the gasket under the carbie initially but settled upon driving so we took the chance and drove her home...an hour trip. My husband says she drives well and has way more power than our 59.

Photos from yesterday.
Jump starting with the 59



The first time driving off



In traffic

[Boogeyman Con Carne]

Was the rear bumper already that bad? Now that you have it safe off the lot, you could release 1,000 rats in the harbor...

[59 hearse]

Was the rear bumper already that bad? Now that you have it safe off the lot, you could release 1,000 rats in the harbor...

No. They swear they just pushed the car around the lot....5-6 men and women.....so they say
But damage to bumper and other areas at the back shows they have used a forklift.............






There is other damage besides the bumper