im looking up japanese cars becuase i want a right hand drive honda. What all work would need to be done to get a car legalized in the usa. I looked up about an r32 skyline and they said a bunch of **** like add 3 cats, switch it from kmh to mph, add side impact bags etc. well what all would need to be done to make a honda civic or crx legal?

 

pick up the a recent mag of Honda Tunning 5-8 pages article about it. Also there is another import mag that has a Silvia on the cover and it has a big write up about this topic...also SEARCH is a GOD on this top.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRX Toad &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">pick up the a recent mag of Honda Tunning 5-8 pages article about it. Also there is another import mag that has a Silvia on the cover and it has a big write up about this topic...also SEARCH is a GOD on this top.</TD></TR></TABLE>
beat me to it.

StraightCivic how can you have 94% and be an 05?

 

making huge arguements and being an *** lol

 

now what about this.

Buying a wrecked car that is the same model and year and take vins from the wrecked and put them on the car i shipped in?

 

very illegal, and you'll prolly get busted if you have any paperwork on the import. that aside, it's going to depend on where you live. in any case, it wouldn't be that hard to get away with. you'd have to decide if it is worth the risk. remember that the chassis is stamped with the vin- not just plates.

 

Import a car that's 25+ years old... then you're ok. Otherwise I think there are *huge* hoops to jump through to get it certified. That's why an R32...33...34 Skyline is like $80K in the US.

 

what about buying the japanese integra (91) and get the wrecked 91 american integra (same car ) and taking all stuff i need off that to make it legal in us. would that work? like **** to get it to pass emmisions and take the cluster out and make the japanese car read mph.

 

You could try asking somebody who owns a RHD vehicle.

 

bump

 

The Honda Tuning mag was very insightfull...I strongly suggest you pick up
a copy or google their website. Heck while your at it google the R1 importers
( I belive the mag listed only 3 who were qualified ). Yeah its cool to have a RHD
car..and you could prob swap the smog and safety goodies over to it...but why
risk it. Think about it..its a RHD !!!...nah it won't be that obvious. You
couldnt attract more attention if it was neon orange and shot flares when you drove. just look into it...legally. Nothing hurts worse than spending 8-10 grand
and untold man hours...only to have it siezed by the govt and turned into a huge
paper wieght.

 

you'd prolly have to get a car that isnt wrecked to steal the vin # from, because theres a real good chance that it has a salvage titile, in which case, I dont think you could ever register or insure it again... Correct me if im wrong on that one, but thats what ive heard. It would work if you bought like an integra that was still running and had like a clear carfax and stuff.

 

i own a rhd vehicle, but its more than 25 years old. there are still some hoops- not because it it rhd, but because it is not usdm- but over 25 yrs is pretty easy.

about bringing in a shell and parts- that is legal and there are ways to do it, which is how the landrover community has been getting by for quite a few years. you are still going to have to deal with the things that don't meet inspection. i'm not sure how hondas work as far as this goes, and i'm reall nt sure where to look. a good case study might be motorex. theyre the ones importing skylines, and theyre pretty open about the different processes.

i will say that while it is really fun to drive a rhd car here, it can be a huge pain in the *** as a dd, especially if it is a low sports car and you are in traffic. looking under/around trucks to pass gets annoying.

 

All you need to do is find someone willing to send you a complete car (dissembled). When it gets to the states just reassemble it and title it as a "kit car" That will work. Alot on work too!!

 

Or you could have the engine pulled. Have them shipped serperate, then when they get here just put them back together.

 

there's a few dealer's around my neck of the woods that get away w/ this. they import these RHD cars, and them around w/ dealer plates. no registration/inspection to worry about. i'm envious.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fujii13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">there's a few dealer's around my neck of the woods that get away w/ this. they import these RHD cars, and them around w/ dealer plates. no registration/inspection to worry about. i'm envious.</TD></TR></TABLE> Seems like that wouldn't work forever...

 

someone did this a few years back. basically, they brought over a JDM car as a parts car, and did the conversion on a US spec honda. they had to cut out parts of the JDM car (like firewall), and weld them on to the USDM car, being carefull that they retained all the US VINs in the proper places. then they transferred over the RHD parts to the modified USDM chassis.

 

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/

Do your homework there.

 

thanks a lot man this helps. and my old teg was wrecked and since no one was hurt in the wreck the title stayed clean and i sold the car as parts car. so wudnt i be ble to get a wrecked one, take parts off of it to make mine pass emissions. dont they all have the same **** except ones japanese cuz ppl get jspec motors and they pass emmisions on there cars.

 

i was gonna say just have someone weld the front clip on but mike-y beat me to it

thats ur best bet because ur gonna be spending alot of dough just to get noticed and be able to say you brought it over from japan

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by doitdub &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Seems like that wouldn't work forever...</TD></TR></TABLE>
obviously they don't do it for a daily driver. but for bring it to shows or taking it out every once in a while it works fine.

 

If you want to be an RHD stunna, just do a firewall swap.

http://www.jarcoinc.com sells half cuts.

 

what is involved with a firewall swap?

 

if you have to ask what that takes, you most likely cant do it yourself.