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How do you feel about swapping a left hand drive vehicle to a right hand drive one? I am 25-50% serious on the issue right now, and am curious to find out what others think about such a task. This probably will not be done until a good long while, but how would you feel about driving a right hand drive 3000gt? How much would you guess-timate the total cost would be for a stock swap of parts. (A non modified vehicle) Why would you or would you not want to do this to your vehicle personally?
It's a bad idea for cars driven in America.
No drive-thrus can be used properly. Passing is made much more dangerous. Hell even learning how to shift left handed, hit the turn signal with your right hand, etc add difficulty just to driving it.
There are other factors as well. Mirrors on a 3s are offset for lhd. Cost to convert it is more than the car is worth.
There is not one good reason to do it, other than to be "different"
It's really an easy swap if you have a jdm donor clip. The biggest issue is the stock rear view mirror does not adjust enough to be used from the other side. The jdm rear view mirrors never come up for sale so the swap is nearly impossible.
RHD is fun, my brother swapped one of his GTIs to RHD. It sucks for daily driving, but it's fun to play with.
1st world problem, those that would really want a RHD wouldn't care that they can'tQuote:
Originally Posted by stealthee
Adding a camera in the housing of the side mirror would solve this solution.Quote:
Originally Posted by stealthee
If the determination is there you can learn, I shift with my left hand in my Stealth now (I will let you ponder that for a moment ;)).Quote:
Originally Posted by stealthee
Again If the determination is there you would get used to using your right hand to hit the turn signals.Quote:
Originally Posted by stealthee
Acquiring a RHD front clip would solve this issueQuote:
Originally Posted by stealthee
Without a doubt the cost would be worth more than the car, most that MOD their car realize that the cost involved would be more than the car is worth....a person doesn't NEED to give other a rational reason as to why.Quote:
Originally Posted by stealthee
I currently have a RHD front clip in his front yard on a trailer, Still wouldn't touch doing a RHD swap. After pulling this thing apart to salvage parts, there is a lot more to the RHD version than just swapping the steering wheel over.
Let me go over the various things I have found that are specific to a RHD.
- Steering column - Not only is it on the RH side, it is also specific for the Turn/Wiper but the Ignition/lock controls are different that LHD.
- Steering rack and subframe are different.
- Gas pedal - Same as LHD, but the cabling is different going to the cruise control module. Vacuum control for the Cruise control is located where the Clutch reservoir would be on LHD.
- Clutch - Clutch Master is located on the RH side with the Clutch booster inside the engine bay. Vacuum assist is also routed differently with specific hoses and check valve.
- Brake pedal - This is lovely, So the brake pedal is on the RH side, but the Brake Master is still in the LH original spot. So they ran a pivot bar along the inside of the firewall, under the dash from the pedal to the master.
- Dash, Center console and all mounting brackets are RHD specific. they angle everything towards the driver
- The main tube inside that the dash mounts to is also RHD specific
- Firewall is RHD specific
- Heater/AC are all RHD specific they are completely mirrored and on the opposite side from the LHD cars. A/C lines are also RHD specific
- Hatch/Trunk release is RHD specific
- There are a couple random odds and ends, bracket wise that were made to mount RHD specific components.
So to do a proper RHD conversion, you're looking at a shit ton of work to get everything to bolt in like it should. You'd almost have better luck just welding the front of the clip back to the rear....
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