moving to england(Lakenheath) should i take he car?

okinawa japan was the same way only one car per member, so only 2 for me and the wife, and say if you had a family with 5 kids you could only have 1 car fore all 5 of them. so i'm glad i'm not going back there

 

i know Dave, but i couldn't resist it! US Bud is better than UK Bud.

back on-topic, bring it over, we would love to see it ans as Ernie as said, there is a good scene over here, and you'll certainly be made welcome.

 

Take the car... you will have a blast there with it. If you don't you will regret it.

Fit a heater to keep the windshield clear in the rain.

Been there done that with out the heater....sucks

 

Take the car with you! You'll not regret it, and you will have a great time, trust me!

I was in Germany about 20 years ago, and brought my then-new '85 Dodge Ram 1/2-ton over, and it was black and chrome and dark tinted windows - definitely NOT the normal vehicle in the road in northern Germany! Went to lots of shows in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and even one in EAST Germany with it! We even drove to England with it twice, via the ferry to Dover, and drove on the wrong side of the road there!

If you keep this in mind, you'll never screw up in England with a LHD vehicle - if you look out your door window and see the curb, you are fine. If you look out your door window and see the road centerline, you are in some deep shit if you don't change lanes right now!

 

Bring it over, it ain't that wet over here. As for driving on the wrong side its not that bad, I've driven my 67 C10 for years with no problems and regularly take my RHD daily over to France nd drive on "your" side of the road in it. One tip I would give you for over-taking is that you learn to hold back a bit and look up the inside rather than the outside, its much safer that way!

 

I always say to myself "drive in the gutter"
but also think when turning right or left at a stop, that you get in the correct lane ,

Also if you are tired you pretty much go back to driving instinct , which for us is USA driving , so be extra alert when tired.....

Have fun, once you get off the main roads its really fun just driving around.

Beaulieu

 

I left Mildenhall in '03, and shipped an '85 Toyota 4x4 back. They weren't going to let me bring it back, as it did not have a CATALYST sticker under the hood. I found a newer Toy, and made one, BUT...I have NO idea if that will even be of concern on your ride. Good luck over there, I miss it! Except the weather...hahahah

 

I like the Mildenhall weather much better than Navarre!

 

Hey Bobcat5o,

Bring your car & you will be made very welcome by the many traditional Hot Rod Car Clubs over here. Do as we do & run your car as God intended, Loud, Fast & Fender less. Some extra glass in those empty spaces might be a good idea to keep out the UK rain you Americans are so obsessive about - we get rain anytime of the year but it AIN'T THAT BAD!! The Pacific NW is as bad or wetter!
The cops generally leave us alone but they can write you up for not having fenders but the paperwork involved is more a pain in the butt for them so they just look the other way. You can drive over here 12 months before needing to register & run your car on UK plates - after that you will need to do as we do & get a MOT. This is easy if you know where/who to go to if you catch my drift!
The Roaches CC will be happy to hook up & ride with you anytime. We are in Essex/East London 2 hours drive from Lakenheath - just hit us up anytime you need help/advice or to go to a show. The Hot Rod Hayride in August is the biggest & best show for traditional Rods, the Nostalgia Drags at the Shakespeare County Raceway is a great place to go a couple of times a year & also the Executioners CC nights at the Ace Cafe in North London in May & September is a must go.
There are many Rod Shops & CC's that will help you to keep your car on the road & on the right side of the road....we all drive left hand drive cars on the right side of the road & we don't have a problem!!

Enjoy your time in the UK & let us know if you need anything or want to hang.

 

I do too, I race motocross..it's WAY too hot here. Right now, it's 85 outside. At least its not humid.

Make sure you take that car touring over there! You can go damn near anywhere your mind can imagine, for dirt cheap. Make sure you go to the Bury St Edmunds gardens, get some pics of it next to te old ruins and stuff.

 

bring your car and fill it with bottles of jack!!!!!,,if you want great beer drink extra cold guinness

 

can the roads handle something so low

 

thanks again for all of the great advice, i'm really leaning more now on taking it with me. also that is a good questions how are the roads over there? i maybe have 5 inches of clearance

 

You'll be fine with ground clearance. We do have pretty good roads! The only thing to watch for is in some suburban areas we have 'humps' to slow you down. If running low we just creep over them no problem. Some of the VW guys over here get away with minimal clearance.

 

Bring the car lots of people willing to show you where the parties are, pm me when you arrive i live 3/4 hour away. It does rain but i bet you swim in deeper, roads are no diff to yours loads of ground clearance. Thanks for the good comments on the Hayride guys. When are we going to see Ernie again ? Terry. Executioners Car Club London

 

yes dude youve gotta bring that thing over here.there is a really good traditional hot rod scene in the norfolk/suffolk area plenty of guys to have some drinks and cruises with.

like everyone says the roads aint to bad,my volksrod has about 1" ground clearence,cant say ive drove it yet but im gunna.

yeh what terry said!when ya coming back over for a holiday ernie?would be great to see you again mate.

 

Consider any issues that may arise getting it back to the states, others will be driving it on to the boat and in and out of various storage areas. The folks thy have doing that are not always as respectful of your vehicle as you would be. I went to get my son-in-laws car and they the staff had trouble fiquiring out which screws went to the front tag, (sheet metal screws 1 1/2 long) and rear tag (mach screws (1/2 long). Not a big deal but brought up some larger concerns.

Thanks for your service!!!

 

Take it, you will be a hero.

 

I had a blast while passing through TDY back in the day.

Thanks for serving & Godspeed,

____________
"Mo"
MSgt, USAF Retired

 

don`t worry about ground clearance too much...take a look at the opening shots on the video..that car get driven on the roads a lot.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LNcJfSajrb8
as for the beer....the light beers like Bud etc are freezing cold, the bitters are slightly warmer and the "real Ale" is kept at around 52 deg. farenhiet...plenty of different varieties, try `em all .lol...weather is pretty mild in winter, we almost never see snow, it does rain, but not as bad as portrayed by Hollywood....I think you`ll find people really keen to help you out and as for being only 2 hours from London...jeez, your nearly only 2 hours or so from anywhere on the Island.

The driving on the left should take about 10 minutes to sort, ..I find that when I pick up my renter from the airport in Florida it becomes natural pretty quickly...5 o clock on a friday from Sandford airport to Kissimmee is pretty hectic to say the least..

It`ll be good to have a member of the US forces over...give Ernie a call ,he`ll fill you in properly.

here`s a bit of what driving on the other side is like for you....
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zFO8cxyXlXc

 

This is only true if he is a regular visiting foreigner. As part of the US Forces, he's subject to the Status Of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between US Mil & UK Mil. He can only drive home from the vehicle delivery station (in Brandon) and then only TO an appointed MOT (should carry proof of appointment to be truly legal - nobody ever does).

The Flathead Meltdown is another must-see that I never did. Also, don't forget to go on the Brass Monkey run on boxing day and any of monkeybiker's wonderfully muddy tours of East Anglia!

Not humid in Navarre? YGBSM?! I still own a house there...lived there for a while. If you want no humidity, come out here to ABQ!

Well, not quite - it's nearly 2hrs to get out of E. Anglia!! There are no straight roads anywhere. The rule of thumb I used to give folks is take the mileage and double it - that's your travel time in minutes until you get to the 2hr point - after that, just figure no better than 45mph avg anywhere unless you're totally on motorways (then don't forget to factor in closures & backlogs) - the M25 London Orbital Parking Lot doesn't count as a motorway!

True - once done & mastered.
When you think you've got driving on the left all figured out, take a trip to Swindon & visit the magic roundabout!

Careful how you use those types of terms - two people separated by a common language and all that!

 

Lived in the UK for twelve years with USAF. A lot of nice folks are trying to help you here, but the only posts in this thread that I consider spot on for your situation (USAF) are Flat Ernie's. I would only add the suggestion that you go over without the car, settle in, educate yourself, then make your decision to have the car shipped. You can use your orders at anytime during your tour to ship a car. My wife and I went over in '83 to Germany, and I shipped my VW bus. We moved to England in '87 and she used her original orders from 1983 to ship my TR4 from New Orleans to the UK. You could do it while home on leave, or perhaps on a TDY to CONUS.

MOT is tough. They will put your car on a rolling road and test all four brakes. They will test for emmisions...they will take a screwdriver and probe your frame for soft spots...your headlights will have to be changed over to left dip vs right dip...you will need a horn, windshield wipers, seat belts...full exhaust...etc. Unless of course you find a shady MOT station as has been suggested. That is something I would not recommend.

The beer. I used to buy Newcastle Brown Ale on base at Lakenheath. It was brewed in the UK...exported to the US..surgeon general's warning and all...then shipped back to the UK to be sold to us. Just thought that was stupid, and I wasn't convinced it was the real deal, so I just started buying mine at Tesco Grocery. My pub brew was Brown and Bitter. Brown Ale and Bitter mix. It will knock your dick in the dirt.

Watch out for deer. I hit three of them on three different occasions on the road between Lakenheath and Brandon. The Thetford Forest is full of them.

 

Spent many hours in the Bird in the Hand pub, right off base there at MoldyHole. I actually drank Tequila and Guinness Stout there - together. I do not recommend doing that.

 

Don't be too scared off by MOT. Get in touch with the UK rodders in the area & they will help you find an MOT station that understands old cars - the rules are very different.

Most of the MOT is common sense stuff, it's how the rules are interpreted and the fact they have you over a barrel that bugged the shit out of me. Each MOT station will find something different your car "needs" based on their intepretation and us Yanks are taken advantage of a bit in the local area. I bought my wife a US Spec daily driver from the AAFES car sales folks there at Mildenhall. They took it to the local garage where it was modified and SVAed. When it was due the first MOT, we took it back to the same garage who then said the lights were not modified correctly. When I told her to point out that they were the ones who did the work, they couldn't care less - got charged for a whole other light mod. They also said bushings were bad - made them give them to my wife. When I inspected them, they were in perfect shape. But whatcha gonna do? I was TDY & she needed to drive (and she couldn't drive my '34!).

 

if his US paperwork matches the car and is correct, then some of the above will not apply. The MOT is specific to the age of the vehicle, if that makes sense, i.e. a 1950 car will not need airbags, hazard warning lights etc).
emmisions will be a visual check for clouds of smoke, not metered or anything
the chassis will also be visually inspected, if there are any rusty or damaged sections these may be probed harder.
you will need to change over toUK spec lights, but these are about £12 brand new (for the sealed beam units that we al use in our rods)
horn, yes, windscreen wipers only if your screen can't be "opened"
seat belts are not required on cars of that age
your exhaust wil need to be quiet enough to satisfy the Mot tester, so this may or may not need a full system, i don't know as I have never heard your car running!
I agree with the shady MOT statement, your only foolong yourself, however there are lots of testers here who appreciatte old cars and know how to interpret the rules CORRECTLY.

also agree about the deer, i hit one once on the way home from the paint shop.......

 

Those aren't real deer - they're smaller than Florida Key Deer! What did they call them - Monk-Jack Deer or something like that?

...still like hitting a big dog - will do in fenders and such!

 

Bring the rod over and enjoy your stay all the more.

I'm only about an hour away from Lakenheath, and don't worry about an mot, there's plenty of local rodders , with some real cool cars, so getting an mot is not a problem.
So long as the brakes are good, tyres have tread and are not perished, the chassis/body is of sound construction , has a horn ,and it has head lights with both high and low beam, and tail/stop lights then you have no worries.
Wipers and windscreen washers are not a problem if you leave the screen out (still mot-able), fenders are not required for an mot (they are required for road use though), I have run fenderless for over 6 years now on a dailly basis without a problem).
Give me a shout if you need help.

Paul.