then sell your car and import another. and opinions are always going to come when you ask advice on how to do something whether you want it or not

 

If there is an issue with street legality then you'll have even bigger issues doing a conversion yourself since, as I pointed out, you'd have to tamper with the car's safety equipment to get it done.

To each his own but you'd be blowing several thousand dollars if not more to get it done. There's no kit or conversion process because I doubt anyone has seen the benefit.

However, if you have the cash I'm sure you can find a shop that would build you a space shuttle provided you can afford it.

 

^ yup i mean theres ALOt OF work involved and it will have to be done right as any little mistake could mean disaster if you know what i mean

 

So back to a question i asked earlier, can i import one to the states from japan and get it licensed?

 

Good question. Since there is crash data for the RX8 I don't see any reason you would have problems getting it licensed or insurance.

There are companies on the west coast that handle importing vehicles. I would search for a couple and give them a call.

 

Hey,
Registering a Right Hand Drive is less than simple. The law varies from state to state, and since you put your location as "Baghdad" I can't really help you out. Most states have laws stating which side of the car the steering wheel must be on.
In Canada, right hand drives are not allowed unless they are 15 years old, at which time they qualify for an import exemption (save government vehicles and Quebec is being stupid about it right now).
So, even if there are crash tests with the LHD equivalent, it might still not be a car you can register.
In all (most?) states there is the same exemption rule, but it's a 25 year rule.
Check your state laws, talk to an insurance agent and tell us what they say!
rob
http://www.righthanddrive.ca

 

I am from texas, serving in iraq right now, sorry about that.

 

Some definitions: Any car not designed for the US (RHD or LHD) and imported into the us are 'grey imports'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_im...#United_States
Some info there, but it's a bit legalese. By the sounds of it, it has to qualify for 'legal import'.... whatever that means.
It's depressingly hard to find any info about the state's rules for RHDs.
From what I can tell, if you're vehicle is on this list, you're ok
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...elig123109.pdf
But, I may be wrong
rob
http://www.righthanddrive.ca

 

There are no legal issues with having a RHD vehicle, there are many many RHD vehicles you can buy from the mfg right off the dealership floor. There are also no DOT rules as far as which side the steering wheel has to be on that I've ever heard of. Unless you are in a city almost all mail carriers are driving there own purchased RHD vehicles. I've seen everything from Jeeps (most common) to Toyota's, Honda's ect... out on the road delivering mail.

I also know of no reason why insurance would be an issue. I'm an insurance appraiser and would care less if the vehicle is RHD or not.

It would involve massive modifications to do this however it could be done. Most of it is bolt on replacement parts, the biggie would probably be the firewall and wiring harness's. The LHD firewall has holes for the steering, and brake system and mounting for the brake booster, and steering shaft. Problem is most mfg's do not even offer firewalls for sale, reason being is if the firewall needs to be replaced there is about a 99.9% chance the car is a total loss either through wreck damage, or deterioration.

Bolt on parts would be steering rack, brake booster, master cylinder, pedals, possibly steering column and shafts, and then the dash board. You are looking at thousands of dollars in parts alone to convert the vehicle, plus to replace the firewall if you can in fact buy one for these is basically taking the whole front end sheet metal off including the aprons and upper frame rails, the engine and transmission out, the dash off, the doors off, the windshield out, center console, seats, and carpet. Then you would have to drill out and cut probably a couple hundred spot welds and seam welds to get the firewall out. Then weld the new one back in, corrosion protect it, seam seal it, prime and paint it. Then reinstall all the RHD specific components. The other way to do this which would be just about the same procedure is fab the rt side of the existing firewall up, close up all the holes on the lt side but this would be almost a hack job. Third choice is to fab your own firewall up to support the steering and brakes.

I'm a ASE certified master technician, Land Rover master tech, Rolls-Royce factory trained tech, Ford master tech, I-Car platinum certified body and paint tech, and a Chief structural repair master tech. I've been working on (professionally), restoring, repairing, and welding/fabbing on cars since 1995 and I would not do this for just about any amount of money (anyone can be persuaded to do anything).

 

No there is no kit, and its going to take a ton of work, I hope your not going to be driving it in a LHD country the inconvenience of being on the wrong side of the road would be enough to out weigh any benefit regardless of whether or not you had all the money in the world.

 

There are rules as to the 'handedness' of a car. But only when importing. If you convert a car it's.... 'ok'. That's one of the loopholes in the system. Basically, you have a LHD's vin number on your franken-RHD car.

Evidence: from the link above http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...elig123109.pdf
"All eligibility numbers are for left-hand drive motor vehicles except where the initials “RHD,”
signifying right-hand drive, appear in the model type column. While there is no specific restriction on importing a right-hand drive vehicle, these may not be imported under eligibility decisions based on the existence of substantially similar U.S.-certified left-hand drive vehicles."

So, if it's here it's ok. If it's in the list it's ok. Otherwise, you need to find a loophole.

rob

 

Random thought here, how about getting an rx-8 front clip? A friend of mine got his Infini FC from Canada, so maybe check what they have there?

 

If you want RHD, import something worth while. Skyline, Cosmo, S15, etc etc.

Yes it can be done and very easily if a front clip is available.

Personally I think you are a moron for wanting to do this.

 

I agree with your first comment, I'd go for some other worthwhile cars if I were to try and import something.

But if the OP has an excess amount of money and time, why not? lol come on, be honest. Your telling me, that if he did that to his car, and saw him at a meet, you wouldn't gawk at it?

I personally say go for it, it be pretty cool.

 

/thread no I would not gawk @ it unless it was a true rhd car. + has anyone thought about having to go through a drive thru for food or pay at a toll road? Unless it's a fully kitted8 with turbo, 3 rotor, 4 rotor, or something on the same. "WOW" factor I wouldn't care..

 

^ lol that's what I was talking about in terms of inconvenience it'd be way too much of a hassle

 

it'd be like lamborghini doors, something that is sweet on a lamborghini, but not on an rx8.

 

with a lot of work and a lot of money and rhd drive parts and the right hsop youur good
your gravy

 

You're going about this all wrong. Let me show you the true path to JDM greatness:

 

^^^

 

While I don't know how the various loopholes work, I know there are some for importing RHD cars as I checked the list and the Lotus Esprit is not listed; but I nearly bought an early S1 Esprit a number of years ago (it needed a new windshield and I could not find anyone who would even tell me if they could get it or not, so I went with a '91 RX-7 instead).