Couple of quick notes:

* Anyone who says a firewall swap is "better" is flat out wrong, after you look closely at the EG A pillar base, you'll understand that it's strength lies within. Multiple layers of steel make up the door jam and windshield base.

* Re-alignment of the clip is easier than a FW swap.

* Electronics are easier with a clip swap.

* If your jigs are designed correctly, a clip chop is not a big deal.

* I had the car on the alignment rack before the cut then after the cut, I re-aligned it......the rear toe did not change.

* Company that installed the windshield said "This screen fits better than some new cars"

* ***** the haters, cost to fix the car with OEM LHD sheet metal and headlights was almost 1.4 times the cost of clipping it. Plus, GheyDM value-add for re-sell is a plus.

* ***** the haters.

* Will take many years to competently drive on track, at speed again....

* ***** the haters, was cheaper to fix this way.

* Over 80 hours in the job.

* Over 6 hours in the floor-board jig alone.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------







I decided to make the cut under the front seat mounts to aid against horizontal shear






Note: floorboard jig
























Rattle can ownz all


Vertical plates were added to aid against vertical shear






Modified by B18CXr at 11:13 PM 3/24/2008

 

Looks like a job well done. I like your jig. Did you sleeve it at all? I think the hardest part clipping was getting the rocker/pillar sleeves to evenly slide in without getting jammed up somewhere.

 

Did you sleeve it at all?

yes, all 2-D planes were internally sleeved.

 

looks good more pics!

 

With the jigs already made, I suppose you could probably do multiple swaps with this method. for being precise.

 

damn that looks nice

 

idk much about the chassis but isent there a seam that goes through there that you could have drilled outand over lap the material rather then just makeing the seam, dont get me wrong you did a nice job. The last rhd conversion that i did on a s13 I did the upper and lower firewall, then the seam over the tranny tunnel. Im thinking i might do it how you did next time on the seam across the whole car. but idk yet.

 

wow thats ballzy looks great though!

 

dude..................stop what you're doing.

i got an idea.

cut the car in half again, take the back half, make a stand so it sits level........add beer keg mount in hatch area.

place plasma TV in front of half shell.........watch the game

 

wow!i remember you talking to me about this last year,but didn't think you'd actually do it.love how precisely you did everything ..no "look at mah mad JDM conversion i did in mah basement" type ****.

will this be your track-only car,or also a daily?will you have it at Expo?catching you at your first RHD track-day would be my only chance in hell to ever roll you!and just remember-you'll have to use the right hand now to give the middle finger out the window.

as a testament that doing it right will present no problems,my coupe was rear clipped,and it's given me no problems for over ten years now.
Chris





Modified by TeamNextGenChris at 5:06 PM 3/25/2008

 

Looks nice...at first glance, i was a bit skeptical, but it looks perfect in the end

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 91jdmhatchback &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">damn that looks nice
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Almost gives you an idea huh?? Hint Hint!!

 

Looks good as stated above, but why didn't you remove the paint where you tacked it together.

 

i would have also welded plates on the floor seams......

but i would not have had the skill or determination to do this at all

 

nice job

 

very interesting.. will this car be caged at all. i would think that would be best.. just thinking out loud here.

 

but why didn't you remove the paint where you tacked it together.



weldable primer

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18CXr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">but why didn't you remove the paint where you tacked it together.



weldable primer</TD></TR></TABLE>

i was thinking about using that on my project car, was it hard starting an arc on that ****? i was sitting in the store reading all of the brand's cans LOL and i always though i would've been better off with grinding my old paint off, welding then hitting it with some cheap black primer

 

if the cost to repair the car was so high, then why not get another shell?

 

if the cost to repair the car was so high, then why not get another shell?


never said it was "so high"

.................???


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was it hard starting an arc on that ****?

just like bare metal....zero issues

 

Very nicely done!

 

Props, looks nice. I like the...what looks like, a bolt in jig. Makes for 0 worries of improper cutting/matching up. Good thinking.

 

Nice work, it must've taken quite a bit of patience to fab that floorboard jig. Very impressive.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .john. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if the cost to repair the car was so high, then why not get another shell?</TD></TR></TABLE>

try finding a straight rust free eg shell or complete on the east coast for less than $5000. I've pretty much given up on my car because shells are so hard to come by.

oh yea, yack =

 

try finding a straight rust free eg shell or complete on the east coast for less than $5000.

ditto

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 743power &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

try finding a straight rust free eg shell or complete on the east coast for less than $5000. I've pretty much given up on my car because shells are so hard to come by.

oh yea, yack = </TD></TR></TABLE>
i've bought a couple in the past year for WAY less than that.just passed one up the other day for $1100.it's nice living somewhere that old men sell their commuter cars not knowing what they're worth
Chris