Been helping out a pal with the same old car as me, who lives in
California.

He's been doing some engine work on it, and wants to replace the exhaust
manifold bolts with stainless steel. They are available on UK Ebay at
about a tenner a set - 16 bolts, plain and locking washers. But the
supplier won't send to the US.

It does seem odd to me he can't source them in the US. They are 5/16ths
UNC, and threaded all their length so not even a normal bolt which might
be a bit more difficult. IIRC 5/16ths UNC is as near as dammit the same as
american coarse.

Whatever. I've ordered them up to be sent here. What would be the best way
to send them there reasonably quickly and at the best price? Given the low
value, could they be sent as a gift to avoid the delay of duty having to
be paid? I'd guess they will arrive here in a jiffy bag.

--
*If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 02/01/2021 12:15, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Been helping out a pal with the same old car as me, who lives in
California.

He's been doing some engine work on it, and wants to replace the exhaust
manifold bolts with stainless steel. They are available on UK Ebay at
about a tenner a set - 16 bolts, plain and locking washers. But the
supplier won't send to the US.

It does seem odd to me he can't source them in the US. They are 5/16ths
UNC, and threaded all their length so not even a normal bolt which might
be a bit more difficult. IIRC 5/16ths UNC is as near as dammit the same as
american coarse.

Whatever. I've ordered them up to be sent here. What would be the best way
to send them there reasonably quickly and at the best price? Given the low
value, could they be sent as a gift to avoid the delay of duty having to
be paid? I'd guess they will arrive here in a jiffy bag.

Just don't add a covering note saying "This should make it go like a bomb"

:-)

On 02/01/2021 12:44, newshound wrote:
On 02/01/2021 12:15, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Been helping out a pal with the same old car as me, who lives in
California.

He's been doing some engine work on it, and wants to replace the exhaust
manifold bolts with stainless steel. They are available on UK Ebay at
about a tenner a set - 16 bolts, plain and locking washers. But the
supplier won't send to the US.

It does seem odd to me he can't source them in the US. They are 5/16ths
UNC, and threaded all their length so not even a normal bolt which might
be a bit more difficult. IIRC 5/16ths UNC is as near as dammit the
same as
american coarse.

Whatever. I've ordered them up to be sent here. What would be the best
way
to send them there reasonably quickly and at the best price? Given the
low
value, could they be sent as a gift to avoid the delay of duty having to
be paid?Â* I'd guess they will arrive here in a jiffy bag.

Just don't add a covering note saying "This should make it go like a bomb"

:-)
I found them within seconds on ebay.com


--
€œit should be clear by now to everyone that activist environmentalism
(or environmental activism) is becoming a general ideology about humans,
about their freedom, about the relationship between the individual and
the state, and about the manipulation of people under the guise of a
'noble' idea. It is not an honest pursuit of 'sustainable development,'
a matter of elementary environmental protection, or a search for
rational mechanisms designed to achieve a healthy environment. Yet
things do occur that make you shake your head and remind yourself that
you live neither in Joseph Stalins Communist era, nor in the Orwellian
utopia of 1984.€�

Vaclav Klaus

On 02/01/2021 12:15, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Been helping out a pal with the same old car as me, who lives in
California.

He's been doing some engine work on it, and wants to replace the exhaust
manifold bolts with stainless steel. They are available on UK Ebay at
about a tenner a set - 16 bolts, plain and locking washers. But the
supplier won't send to the US.

It does seem odd to me he can't source them in the US. They are 5/16ths
UNC, and threaded all their length so not even a normal bolt which might
be a bit more difficult. IIRC 5/16ths UNC is as near as dammit the same as
american coarse.

Whatever. I've ordered them up to be sent here. What would be the best way
to send them there reasonably quickly and at the best price? Given the low
value, could they be sent as a gift to avoid the delay of duty having to
be paid? I'd guess they will arrive here in a jiffy bag.


Send as samples. £10 is below duty payable.
https://www.simplyduty.com/import-calculator/

On Sat, 02 Jan 2021 12:15:09 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Been helping out a pal with the same old car as me, who lives in
California.

He's been doing some engine work on it, and wants to replace the exhaust
manifold bolts with stainless steel. They are available on UK Ebay at
about a tenner a set - 16 bolts, plain and locking washers. But the
supplier won't send to the US.

It does seem odd to me he can't source them in the US. They are 5/16ths
UNC, and threaded all their length so not even a normal bolt which might
be a bit more difficult. IIRC 5/16ths UNC is as near as dammit the same as
american coarse.

Whatever. I've ordered them up to be sent here. What would be the best way
to send them there reasonably quickly and at the best price? Given the low
value, could they be sent as a gift to avoid the delay of duty having to
be paid? I'd guess they will arrive here in a jiffy bag.

Coming from the US to UK I've found the combination of USPS +
Parcelforce to be rather unpredictable in 2020. I had one parcel from
Denver that went to San Francisco then down the bay to San Jose and
back to San Francisco from where it was "exported". Two weeks later it
was exported again from Atlanta and it took Parcelforce several days
to acknowledge the UK arrival but after that the usual trip to
Coventry followed by a demand for tax etc and payment it arrived next
day. That took almost exactly one month.

I buy things quite often in the USA and I have an address who will
collect things for me and then put them all in one package. Almost
everything I buy is shipped via USPS in the US but I tend to use Fedex
to get it across the Atlantic (the consolidator has good rates with
them).

Almost every carrier in the US is suffering delays; USPS tracking says
"Alert: USPS is experiencing unprecedented volume increases and
limited employee availability due to the impacts of COVID-19. We
appreciate your patience." The consolidator I use says "Carrier
delays: Your shipments are being processed and leaving our facility on
time. However, Fedex is experiencing delays scanning shipments at
their respective locations." and those Fedex delays have affected a
couple of US domestic items where vendors have used them instead of
USPS. UPS carried an item for me into the UK from the USA recently and
it sat at Stansted for about a week before delivery even though I paid
dues before it actually arrived in the UK.

In many ways I don't think it matters who you send it with - they are
all suffering at the moment. Parcelforce/USPS is probably cheapest but
slowest. Fedex and UPS expensive but quicker. Might be worth asking
DHL.

Whatever you do, don't try and cheat customs. Whilst it is possibly
true that bolts are not high on their list of things to stop being
imported that doesn't mean they will ignore them. Most of the stuff I
import to the UK is model railroad related and the consolidator is
very careful to ensure everything is accurately declared but that
doesn't stop UK customs having a rummage occasionally and I can't see
US customs being any less rigorous.

On 02/01/2021 15:58, Graham Harrison wrote:

Coming from the US to UK I've found the combination of USPS +
Parcelforce to be rather unpredictable in 2020. I had one parcel from
Denver that went to San Francisco then down the bay to San Jose and
back to San Francisco from where it was "exported". Two weeks later it
was exported again from Atlanta and it took Parcelforce several days
to acknowledge the UK arrival but after that the usual trip to
Coventry followed by a demand for tax etc and payment it arrived next
day. That took almost exactly one month.

My daughter-in-law in New Jersey, sent a parcel to me on the 15th of
December, First Class postage. I'm in Scotland. The parcel was sent to
_Canada_, bypassing JFK, which is where that stuff is generally
processed. It cleared Canadian Customs (Why? It's just passing through,
and it shouldn't have been sent to Canada, anyway), and was then sent on
- to another location in Canada.

I have never known shipments from NJ to be sent through Canada.
It's been sitting there for days, and when I check the Royal Mail site
it claims they've been told it will be with them soon.

Hah.

A clue is that the current supplier cannot send to the us. You may find it
very expensive and slow unless you have a friend who can get to the us like
a pilot or flight crew and post it there. I've heard a lot of horror stories
which i won't bore you with.
Your friend may, in the future find it easier to pay one of those companies
who allows you to have delivery addresses in various countries and then they
do the onward shipping and usually manage to find the best way of doing ti
at the lowest cost. I find it hard to imagine that such hardware was not
around in the US. Maybe its the qty which is the problem?
Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"newshound" wrote in message
...
On 02/01/2021 12:15, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Been helping out a pal with the same old car as me, who lives in
California.

He's been doing some engine work on it, and wants to replace the exhaust
manifold bolts with stainless steel. They are available on UK Ebay at
about a tenner a set - 16 bolts, plain and locking washers. But the
supplier won't send to the US.

It does seem odd to me he can't source them in the US. They are 5/16ths
UNC, and threaded all their length so not even a normal bolt which might
be a bit more difficult. IIRC 5/16ths UNC is as near as dammit the same
as
american coarse.

Whatever. I've ordered them up to be sent here. What would be the best
way
to send them there reasonably quickly and at the best price? Given the
low
value, could they be sent as a gift to avoid the delay of duty having to
be paid? I'd guess they will arrive here in a jiffy bag.

Just don't add a covering note saying "This should make it go like a bomb"

:-)

On 02/01/2021 12:15, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Been helping out a pal with the same old car as me, who lives in
California.

He's been doing some engine work on it, and wants to replace the exhaust
manifold bolts with stainless steel. They are available on UK Ebay at
about a tenner a set - 16 bolts, plain and locking washers. But the
supplier won't send to the US.

It does seem odd to me he can't source them in the US. They are 5/16ths
UNC, and threaded all their length so not even a normal bolt which might
be a bit more difficult. IIRC 5/16ths UNC is as near as dammit the same as
american coarse.

Whatever. I've ordered them up to be sent here. What would be the best way
to send them there reasonably quickly and at the best price? Given the low
value, could they be sent as a gift to avoid the delay of duty having to
be paid? I'd guess they will arrive here in a jiffy bag.


I think your friend could have got these from another source. Even China
ships UNC bolts.

The best way of playing the carrier market is with a site like this:
https://www.parcel2go.com/parcel-delivery/usa

There are others but I doubt there's going to be much difference in
price. It's not going to be cheap.
Just make sure the details of the contents and declaration of value is
made visible on the package.

On 3 Jan 2021 at 09:45:54 GMT, ""Brian Gaff \" Sofa\)"
wrote:

A clue is that the current supplier cannot send to the us. You may find it
very expensive and slow unless you have a friend who can get to the us like
a pilot or flight crew and post it there. I've heard a lot of horror stories
which i won't bore you with.
Your friend may, in the future find it easier to pay one of those companies
who allows you to have delivery addresses in various countries and then they
do the onward shipping and usually manage to find the best way of doing ti
at the lowest cost. I find it hard to imagine that such hardware was not
around in the US. Maybe its the qty which is the problem?
Brian

Are US rules on pattern car parts different from EU ones? That should be
irrelevant if you just specify the screws' dimensions and the material they
are made of rather than any specific car-related purpose. But how available
are metric screws in the US?

--
Roger Hayter

On 03/01/2021 11:22, Roger Hayter wrote:
On 3 Jan 2021 at 09:45:54 GMT, ""Brian Gaff \" Sofa\)"
wrote:

A clue is that the current supplier cannot send to the us. You may find it
very expensive and slow unless you have a friend who can get to the us like
a pilot or flight crew and post it there. I've heard a lot of horror stories
which i won't bore you with.
Your friend may, in the future find it easier to pay one of those companies
who allows you to have delivery addresses in various countries and then they
do the onward shipping and usually manage to find the best way of doing ti
at the lowest cost. I find it hard to imagine that such hardware was not
around in the US. Maybe its the qty which is the problem?
Brian

Are US rules on pattern car parts different from EU ones? That should be
irrelevant if you just specify the screws' dimensions and the material they
are made of rather than any specific car-related purpose. But how available
are metric screws in the US?


The V8 rover engine is/was a US engine though, so maybe the
nuts and bolts are still USA-type

On 3 Jan 2021 at 12:11:53 GMT, "Andrew"
wrote:

On 03/01/2021 11:22, Roger Hayter wrote:
On 3 Jan 2021 at 09:45:54 GMT, ""Brian Gaff \" Sofa\)"
wrote:

A clue is that the current supplier cannot send to the us. You may find it
very expensive and slow unless you have a friend who can get to the us like
a pilot or flight crew and post it there. I've heard a lot of horror stories
which i won't bore you with.
Your friend may, in the future find it easier to pay one of those companies
who allows you to have delivery addresses in various countries and then they
do the onward shipping and usually manage to find the best way of doing ti
at the lowest cost. I find it hard to imagine that such hardware was not
around in the US. Maybe its the qty which is the problem?
Brian

Are US rules on pattern car parts different from EU ones? That should be
irrelevant if you just specify the screws' dimensions and the material they
are made of rather than any specific car-related purpose. But how available
are metric screws in the US?


The V8 rover engine is/was a US engine though, so maybe the
nuts and bolts are still USA-type

All the more reason one should be able to get the bolts from any American
engineering supplier, including Ebay. Just not with the car's description
attached to them.

--
Roger Hayter

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
On 3 Jan 2021 at 09:45:54 GMT, ""Brian Gaff \" Sofa\)"
wrote:

A clue is that the current supplier cannot send to the us. You may
find it very expensive and slow unless you have a friend who can get
to the us like a pilot or flight crew and post it there. I've heard a
lot of horror stories which i won't bore you with. Your friend may, in
the future find it easier to pay one of those companies who allows you
to have delivery addresses in various countries and then they do the
onward shipping and usually manage to find the best way of doing ti at
the lowest cost. I find it hard to imagine that such hardware was not
around in the US. Maybe its the qty which is the problem? Brian

Are US rules on pattern car parts different from EU ones? That should
be irrelevant if you just specify the screws' dimensions and the
material they are made of rather than any specific car-related purpose.
But how available are metric screws in the US?


It's for a Rover V8. Originally a Buick engine. When made in the UK, the
treads are all Unified - mid 60s. And mostly UNC - which in some sizes is
as near as dammit AC.

--
*I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
The V8 rover engine is/was a US engine though, so maybe the
nuts and bolts are still USA-type

All the more reason one should be able to get the bolts from any
American engineering supplier, including Ebay. Just not with the car's
description attached to them.

Did anyone actually read the original post? ;-)

--
*Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Graham Harrison wrote:
Whatever you do, don't try and cheat customs. Whilst it is possibly
true that bolts are not high on their list of things to stop being
imported that doesn't mean they will ignore them. Most of the stuff I
import to the UK is model railroad related and the consolidator is
very careful to ensure everything is accurately declared but that
doesn't stop UK customs having a rummage occasionally and I can't see
US customs being any less rigorous.

Not really trying to cheat customs. In the reverse direction there is
quite a delay while you pay the duty owed. And a high 'paperwork' fee.
What I was looking for was the most cost effective and quickest way to
send them - without paying silly money for a courier, etc.

--
*When I'm not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 03/01/2021 13:40, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
The V8 rover engine is/was a US engine though, so maybe the
nuts and bolts are still USA-type

All the more reason one should be able to get the bolts from any
American engineering supplier, including Ebay. Just not with the car's
description attached to them.

Did anyone actually read the original post? ;-)

Maybe.

On Sunday, January 3, 2021 at 1:52:01 PM UTC, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Graham Harrison wrote:
Whatever you do, don't try and cheat customs. Whilst it is possibly
true that bolts are not high on their list of things to stop being
imported that doesn't mean they will ignore them. Most of the stuff I
import to the UK is model railroad related and the consolidator is
very careful to ensure everything is accurately declared but that
doesn't stop UK customs having a rummage occasionally and I can't see
US customs being any less rigorous.
Not really trying to cheat customs. In the reverse direction there is
quite a delay while you pay the duty owed. And a high 'paperwork' fee.
What I was looking for was the most cost effective and quickest way to
send them - without paying silly money for a courier, etc.

--
*When I'm not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded *
Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Many years ago there was an import tax on pairs of glove being bought into Ireland. A wholesaler had a brilliant idea. As there was no duty on single gloves he would import a consignment of left hand only gloves and a separate delivery of right hand gloves. Bingo, he had pairs of gloves with no duty on them.

On 02/01/2021 16:38, S Viemeister wrote:
My daughter-in-law in New Jersey, sent a parcel to me on the 15th of
December, First Class postage. I'm in Scotland. The parcel was sent to
_Canada_, bypassing JFK, which is where that stuff is generally
processed. It cleared Canadian Customs (Why? It's just passing through,
and it shouldn't have been sent to Canada, anyway), and was then sent on
- to another location in Canada.

I have never known shipments from NJ to be sent through Canada.
It's been sitting there for days, and when I check the Royal Mail site
it claims they've been told it will be with them soon.

Hah.

You don't say where you are in Scotland. Perhaps it's gone to Aberdeen,
Saskatchewan or Stirling, Alberta. Or anywhere in Nova Scotia.

--
Phil
Liverpool, UK

On 04/01/2021 00:30, Phil wrote:
On 02/01/2021 16:38, S Viemeister wrote:
My daughter-in-law in New Jersey, sent a parcel to me on the 15th of
December, First Class postage. I'm in Scotland. The parcel was sent to
_Canada_, bypassing JFK, which is where that stuff is generally
processed. It cleared Canadian Customs (Why? It's just passing
through, and it shouldn't have been sent to Canada, anyway), and was
then sent on - to another location in Canada.

I have never known shipments from NJ to be sent through Canada.
It's been sitting there for days, and when I check the Royal Mail site
it claims they've been told it will be with them soon.

Hah.

You don't say where you are in Scotland.Â* Perhaps it's gone to Aberdeen,
Saskatchewan or Stirling, Alberta.Â* Or anywhere in Nova Scotia.

Sutherland.
I did wonder about Nova Scotia.
The parcel is still sitting somewhere in Canada.

On 3 Jan 2021 at 13:40:23 GMT, ""Dave Plowman" News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
The V8 rover engine is/was a US engine though, so maybe the
nuts and bolts are still USA-type

All the more reason one should be able to get the bolts from any
American engineering supplier, including Ebay. Just not with the car's
description attached to them.

Did anyone actually read the original post? ;-)

Yes, but he should be able to buy them in the US for a lot less than it would
cost you to post them.

--
Roger Hayter

Dave Plowman wrote:

Did anyone actually read the original post? ;-)

Try a different supplier? This one will ship to USA, presuming it's
easy to identify correct bolt set

https://www.wrightsautosupplies.co.uk/product-category/land-rover/engine-manifold-bolts/

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
On 3 Jan 2021 at 13:40:23 GMT, ""Dave Plowman" News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
The V8 rover engine is/was a US engine though, so maybe the nuts
and bolts are still USA-type

All the more reason one should be able to get the bolts from any
American engineering supplier, including Ebay. Just not with the
car's description attached to them.

Did anyone actually read the original post? ;-)

Yes, but he should be able to buy them in the US for a lot less than it
would cost you to post them.

Did you read the original post? ;-)

--
*I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Andy Burns wrote:
Dave Plowman wrote:

Did anyone actually read the original post? ;-)

Try a different supplier? This one will ship to USA, presuming it's
easy to identify correct bolt set

https://www.wrightsautosupplies.co.uk/product-category/land-rover/engine-manifold-bolts/


Thanks Andy - have asked them for a total price to send there. Sadly I've
already ordered them from the Ebay source my US pal found. And my car
already has them. ;-)

--
*I brake for no apparent reason.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 4 Jan 2021 at 13:18:56 GMT, ""Dave Plowman" News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
On 3 Jan 2021 at 13:40:23 GMT, ""Dave Plowman" News)"

wrote:

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
The V8 rover engine is/was a US engine though, so maybe the nuts
and bolts are still USA-type

All the more reason one should be able to get the bolts from any
American engineering supplier, including Ebay. Just not with the
car's description attached to them.

Did anyone actually read the original post? ;-)

Yes, but he should be able to buy them in the US for a lot less than it
would cost you to post them.

Did you read the original post? ;-)

Yes. But I think your friend should try harder. There must be engineering
supplies places that would have common screws such as you describe,

--
Roger Hayter

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
On 4 Jan 2021 at 13:18:56 GMT, ""Dave Plowman" News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
On 3 Jan 2021 at 13:40:23 GMT, ""Dave Plowman" News)"

wrote:

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
The V8 rover engine is/was a US engine though, so maybe the
nuts and bolts are still USA-type

All the more reason one should be able to get the bolts from any
American engineering supplier, including Ebay. Just not with
the car's description attached to them.

Did anyone actually read the original post? ;-)

Yes, but he should be able to buy them in the US for a lot less than
it would cost you to post them.

Did you read the original post? ;-)

Yes. But I think your friend should try harder. There must be
engineering supplies places that would have common screws such as you
describe,

I totally agree. He doesn't. ;-)

--
*If work is so terrific, how come they have to pay you to do it?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Andy Burns wrote:
Dave Plowman wrote:

Did anyone actually read the original post? ;-)

Try a different supplier? This one will ship to USA, presuming it's
easy to identify correct bolt set

https://www.wrightsautosupplies.co.uk/product-category/land-rover/engine-manifold-bolts/


Thanks Andy - have asked them for a total price to send there. Sadly I've
already ordered them from the Ebay source my US pal found. And my car
already has them. ;-)

They have a standard shipping charge to the US - £25. Not sure if I can
find cheaper.

--
*Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 2021-01-04, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
On 3 Jan 2021 at 13:40:23 GMT, ""Dave Plowman" News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
The V8 rover engine is/was a US engine though, so maybe the nuts
and bolts are still USA-type

All the more reason one should be able to get the bolts from any
American engineering supplier, including Ebay. Just not with the
car's description attached to them.

Did anyone actually read the original post? ;-)

Yes, but he should be able to buy them in the US for a lot less than it
would cost you to post them.

Did you read the original post? ;-)

Roger did say "should"! ;-)

On 04/01/2021 14:13, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Andy Burns wrote:
Dave Plowman wrote:

Did anyone actually read the original post? ;-)

Try a different supplier? This one will ship to USA, presuming it's
easy to identify correct bolt set

https://www.wrightsautosupplies.co.uk/product-category/land-rover/engine-manifold-bolts/


Thanks Andy - have asked them for a total price to send there. Sadly I've
already ordered them from the Ebay source my US pal found. And my car
already has them. ;-)

They have a standard shipping charge to the US - £25. Not sure if I can
find cheaper.


Dimensions and weight?