RHD Conversion. Yeah I Know!

[brianglawson]

I know im gonna get kind of flamed for this, but, i wanna convert the 72 to RHD, i have always wanted a rhd, and well when my sr blows in the 240sx,(hopefully not soon) im gonna make rhd too:), i love rhd cars, for the sheer wow factor, the ease of shifting, and being on the outside line of the car, instead of on the inside line(safety!!!)

things i would need?

* firewall from rhd z

* steering rack

* steering coumn???(dunno about that one

* dash

* console

* i suppose misc pedal mounts, and such?

the car is getting an rb20det, leaving it pretty much stock bodied, though, short of zg flares and euro bumpers. what else would i need? keep adding on to my list, im seriously thinking of doing this...any input on process, and other things, please share?

good day

brian

[abas]

LHD to RHd is quite common in UK and I presume Oz/Nz as well. Not so common in the US I would have thought.

As someone who was seriuosly going to convert my LHD 70 and went into it pretty deep here goes:

1) RHD firewall - only need RHD steering plate from firewall only, you can leave the LHD steering plate there as well - no need to take it out.

2) Steering rack yes

3) Steering column no - but the turn and headlamp switches are transposed so you would need those from a RHD car

4) dash - yes and uncracked RHD dashes are easier to get than LHD

5) - console no, they are the same on RH and LH cars

6) - the pedal box and pedals are all different LH to RH due to the offset on the car, you will also need the throttle linkage that is different, unless you are going for cable throttle. ( ie webers)

7) heater box and blower fan housing is transposed so you would need one from a RH car.

8) Wiper linkage/scuttle panel is different( but I suppose you could leave the linkage as it is on a LHD car)

9) brake/clutch pipes in engine bay all need to be changed: master cylinders and servo are the same LH to RH. The brake line that runs to the rear of the car can be bent round to fit on RH cars.

10) Engine wiring loom is different but not so significantly that a LH one couldn't be extended to fit.

11) You also need to cut off and reweld a whole load of heater/steering and sundry brackets, including the battery tray from a RHD car.

Not surprisingly this conversion is ususally only done with a complete rhd donor car to hand.

But the biggest problem and the one that made me drop the idea is the relocating of the heater duct from the rh side to the LH side of the car. This is under the dash, behind the firewall. There is quite a bit of skilled cutting and welding needed to resite this correctly so that the heater will work and all the brackets line up. But it can be done as long as you have a good welder.

Phew!!! Hope it helps

Andrew

[240znz]

You'll need a passenger to be your on coming traffic eyes, or risk getting the LHS sliced off, as you overtake that 18 wheeler.

[Bambikiller240]

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[brianglawson]

abas, thank you for such detailed info, i do have nice little lincoln welder:), know of any good write ups online about this, be it form the uk or whatever? the wiring harness will be changed alot anyway, and im planning on trying to use a r32 skyline ac/heat controller, so some wiring will be different, i suppose the heater box thing wouldnt be so bad:), but yeah if you know of a good writeup please do share:)

bambikiller: this is a technical question, about the procedure of converting to right hand drive, i suppose it could belong in both though, but i saw more fit in tech

[Inf]

Aren't there a lot of legal issues with this? Although i'm sure that would vary by state.

[brianglawson]

its a 72, in otherwords antique, so its exempt from it, and technically, i dunno if they could really do anyhting about it, on a newer car...

[MikeW]

Nevermind what I said earlier; thanks to whoever moved this thread to the appropriate forum.

[abas]

abas, thank you for such detailed info, i do have nice little lincoln welder:), know of any good write ups online about this, be it form the uk or whatever?

Brian

no problem, glad to be of help. Best thing about this forum is someone has nearly always done it before.

I don't know of any write ups on the conversion, which is why I ended up going into it heavily myself.

I do know a couple of people who have done a 'home' conversion, and so it is probably not so bad as long as you have a donor car/or pictures to see what you are aiming for.

I can let you have some pictures of the relevant bits of a stripped RHD shell if you don't have access to this. Just let me know.

Andrew

[Ed]

Here is an idea. Buy this poor soul off of E-bay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7912855949

I bet there is quite a few parts you could use.

FWIW this car has been on e-bay for a while it keeps getting relisted and the price has dropped drastically.

Good luck

Ed

[brianglawson]

wow ed, thanks for the lookout, thats kinda close to me too:)

[Victor Laury]

But you'll never remove the "L" from the VIN