RHD conversion stateside

freetoskate124 · Post by **freetoskate124** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:37 am

Hey I'm new to this forum but I got a 1987 Starion widebody shell a couple of months ago with plans to build a g54b for it. Seeing as how it's a bare shell (cut harness, no interior, ect.), I began entertaining the idea of doing a RHD and rack and pinion steering conversion on it. I know there are RHD versions out there (JDM, Australian, and Britain), so I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I would need to do to the wiring harness, firewall, ect. and where i could find those parts.

thanks

freetoskate124 · Post by **freetoskate124** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:32 am

bump. cmon guys, i could really use the input

MrBishi · Post by **MrBishi** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:10 pm

One of us could supply all the bits you need and it wouldn't cost you much for the parts HOWEVER;
-We don't have black RHD dashes. Very rare here and you won't get one from Aus. Blue grey or maroon.
-The shipping will cost you a motza. I don't know how much, but add up the bulk and weight of steering box, idler arm, RHD power steer lines, steering column brace, dash panel, accell cable, pedal box (I think different), wiring loom, wiper arms & actuators, plenum grille, power window switches, rear view mirrors. Even if you ignore some of the luxuries (switches, mirrors etc) and steering components if you are serious about a rack there is alot of stuff. Will you need a RHD rack from a donor car? Even with sea shipping (3 months) I could see it costing $500+.

If the money doesn't scare you then get in contact with redzone or starionVr4 (two people I know who will have the bits you want) and get serious. Good luck.

thrash · Post by **thrash** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:42 pm

MrBishi wrote: -We don't have black RHD dashes. Very rare here and you won't get one from Aus. Blue grey or maroon.

That's the least of your concerns.. the dashes can be spray painted black pretty easily :beer

I painted my centre console and my roof lining black.. looks like new - very shiny, , and hasn't faded yet :D

Thanks to starion4me for the tip on painting!

JD_Stazza_Brendan · Post by **JD_Stazza_Brendan** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:52 pm

wouldnt some JB and a large number of JD (lol large number of JD) have black dash.

I know i kept the dash from mine.

redzone · Post by **redzone** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:02 pm

no JB, and prob 20 or so JD would have had black dashes. and you'd be pretty silly to sell one if you had one. unless you wanted to sell it to me :D (so i had a spare for my widey)

basically what anthony said. shipping will be horrendous, as the dash is over 110cms. one option would be cutting the dash in half, then welding it back together when it got there, and recovering it. would be cheaper to do that than ship a whole intact one.

freetoskate124 · Post by **freetoskate124** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 4:46 am

thanks, it'll probably be a longer time then before i start gathering parts and whatnot

livestarquest · Post by **livestarquest** » Tue May 05, 2009 9:30 pm

I am also in the U.S. and was thinking of doing this to once upon a time. Wouldn't it be easier to just find a shell someone is selling in Aus or somewhere else and ship the whole car? If you could get a good deal on a shell over there then all you would have to worry about is shipping it right? Also, how rare are the widebodies over there? It seems like most of yall have flatties. I have been looking for a widebody shell if anybody has one?

redzone · Post by **redzone** » Tue May 05, 2009 9:44 pm

only about 20 widebodies in australia and they're all worth $$$$$.. none imported by mitsubishi.

livestarquest · Post by **livestarquest** » Tue May 05, 2009 10:55 pm

Hmm, so I guess my next question is where would be the best place to find a RHD widebody???

iXNAY · Post by **iXNAY** » Wed May 06, 2009 5:15 am

JAPAN!!

livestarquest · Post by **livestarquest** » Wed May 06, 2009 7:24 am

How does everyone else find one? Craigslist? Whats the best way to do local searches in japan?

livestarquest · Post by **livestarquest** » Fri May 08, 2009 11:44 am

Guess it was a dumb question then lol

Lunacy · Post by **Lunacy** » Fri May 08, 2009 2:54 pm

A few of the japanese export websites have them occassionally but as has been said its about $12-$15000 NZD ($8000USD) to have one landed here so they are not at all cheap.
Sure itd prob be cheaper to just do a conversion.

Station · Post by **Station** » Sat May 09, 2009 4:57 am

Doesn't Australia have RHD cars? Do you have a LHD Starion?

Are you after one of these?

You could only get black dashes over here.

Austarion

RHD conversion stateside

RHD conversion stateside

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