Ok, I asked in the EF forum, but not 1 response. So here it goes...

I know about the hate of talk with importing cars from other countries, but I'm so far into the works please help me out....

~ I'm currently in a discussion with a local company willing to bring the car to the US.
~ I'm currently in a discussion with the NHTSA.
~ I'm currently in a discussion with the EPA.

Yes, it's somewhat expensive, but I've gone so far to get what I want, I'm not stopping right now.

The only Civic listed to bring to the states w/o problems, and will make it cheaper, is a 89 Civic DX Hatchback. I just want ot be sure about a few thing on the car before I buy one, bring it over, and register it, to find out it's not what I was expecting.

1.5 non-VTEC SOHC motor?
RHD (right hand drive)?

Just want to make sure of the two things above. I'm not as familiar with 4th Gen Civics. I'm also not concerned with power either. I've also racked up quite the driving record and finally got it down to one ticket, my tabs were 3 days expired, but still in a current month...what a mean cop. My goal now is "show". RHD would be a nice start I think.

All I have to do is swap to a USDM ECU and USDM full exhaust system (exhaust manifold-to-muffler tip), according to the rules, but I know the rest of the mods required to go full USDM. I have a nice paint job and Mugen rims in mind. Maybe the HKS Sport cat-back after inspections are done.

Thanks for helping out with the 2 main concerns/questions HTers.

EDIT below :

CivicFerioSiR made a good point/question about the front end...

...will a DX come with the bumper that has wrap around bumper lenses on the SiR?


Modified by D16Z6racing at 6:03 PM 10/30/2003

 

why dont you just buy my rhd front clip for your eg? bump

 

you cannot import a JDM vehicle and drive it on the roads what so ever. It is illegal no matter what they tell ya. There are exceptions and if you want me to list them i will. However i see that you want to "show" the car. You can import any JDM vehicle for show purposes. The importer will just register it as a kit car. Just remember you cannot drive it on the roads. Why get a 89 hatch that looks like crap, sorry 4G ppl but it's true. if you're going to import something make it worth while.

 

i think it'd be easier to import it to canada, then to the US. i know thats how they get a # of european imports into the US. Canada has more relaxed car importing laws, they dont have to get epa/dot certs, etc. and u can import a car from canada to the US pretty easily.

 

you're going through all this trouble just for rhd?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Del_Slowest &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you cannot import a JDM vehicle and drive it on the roads what so ever. It is illegal no matter what they tell ya. There are exceptions and if you want me to list them i will. However i see that you want to "show" the car. You can import any JDM vehicle for show purposes. The importer will just register it as a kit car. Just remember you cannot drive it on the roads. Why get a 89 hatch that looks like crap, sorry 4G ppl but it's true. if you're going to import something make it worth while.</TD></TR></TABLE>

you are completely wrong, but thats ok.

 

your best chance is trying to register is in some po dunk town, once its registered there, you can transfer the registration anywhere. get a PO box or something, that what has worked best for my friends

 

Really. Thanks for clearing that up. perhaps you would like to enlighten me a little bit more. People like you seem to aggrivate me a little. And living in Wooster ohio is no excuse

Here are the facts....just for you Hatchy-Ownzjo0....i reposted this from my other post on another forum that i visit a lot

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/imports/ is the gov webiste that tells you everything about importing cars. Which ones you can and cannot import.

To import it without going through the 12 special importers the car must be:

If the car is over 25 yrs old then you can import it.
If it is EXACTLY like the usdm one you can import it
If you get a written letter by the OEM saying it is very very close to the usdm one you can import it
If it is a work truck you can import it

You can import specific models and brands through special importers, there are only about 12 of these in the united states. Each of these special importers only deal with specific OEM's and models If anyone else imports them the gov't will impound and crush your car on site if you are driving on public roads.

As far as zerolift ( a local company in dayton ohio) and others importing them as kit cars and what not i haven't read about so i can't say anything about them. Zerolift seems to be a cool company and is legit so i won't say anything.

Also if you're thinking about putting a front clip on your car i read that it is also illegal b/c you will be tampering with the vin numbers on the dash and they will not match the ones on the bumper support/ firewall vin numbers. I would love it if Zerolift would reply to my post and straighten me out if i have anything incorrect.

It's just a good thing to be wary of import companys that you do not know or have not personal experience with. A lot of import companys will import the cars and sell them to customers without going through the proccess of registering them. this is where you find those 5 grand silvia's and what not. They are cheap b/c the company illegally imported them and they cannot be registered.

I would like to know more about this registering as a kit car though. so if zerolift or anyone else has links to the info please tell me ( Zerolift later admited that registering the car as a kit car means that you cannot drive it on the public roads.)

Although there are exceptions to this rule that i have seen. In cincinnati one of our buddies has a skyline r34 GT-R . He imported at a cost of 48k on top of the 30 he bought it for in japan. He had to replace so much stuff in the car including all the windows. He says that it is legal however i cannot confirm as much b/c i haven't seen his registration papers.

http://forums.northwestnissans...=9368 is another good thread for info as well as https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=656421

Modified by Del_Slowest at 5:56 PM 10/30/2003


Modified by Del_Slowest at 5:57 PM 10/30/2003

 

im damn near positive your dead wrong. ill just wait for someone else to prove it i've read countless threads on the cans and can nots of importing cars. and it HAS been done.

 

Opps, i made corrections in Bold. Sorry if i confused anyone. The main thing i forgot to add in the first post is that you can imort foreign models through these 12 or so specific importers only. thats how you can get the car legally into the U.S. The GT-R guy did this and he had no problem. It's just that you don't want to be fooled by the smaller unofficial importers. This is because if they import the car for you then you're fucked majorly. Just remember, only go through the specific importers that are sanctioned by the gov't. The list for them is on that website that i gave on my previous post.

 

why not just build a usdm equivalent to look just as good, go just as fast, handle just as nice? what is it? the thought of driving on the other side? its just a mirror image. the little different tidbits the cars dont share? you could add those easily. Unless its some car like a skyline in which there is no stateside "equivalent", seems like a whole lot of trouble for no reason at all.

 

converting a 92 CX hatch to be a 94 JDM EG6 would cost WAYYYY more than Eg6 is worth.

 

right hand drive cars are sweet. plus not many people have them so theres that special thing about your car I'd buy a JDM del sol if i had the money to convert and legalize it over here. Automated drop top del sol's are sweet

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Del_Slowest &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">right hand drive cars are sweet. plus not many people have them so theres that special thing about your car I'd buy a JDM del sol if i had the money to convert and legalize it over here. Automated drop top del sol's are sweet </TD></TR></TABLE>

Why is a rhd car sweet?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Del_Slowest &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">right hand drive cars are sweet. plus not many people have them so theres that special thing about your car I'd buy a JDM del sol if i had the money to convert and legalize it over here. Automated drop top del sol's are sweet </TD></TR></TABLE>

that **** adds like 300 lbs to your car.
and u can convert it if you want. but it would take a lot of time and money.

i just saw a gunmetal JDM del sol on ebay going for 8 grand not too long ago

 

RHD is cool b/c it's different. Plus my fav. thing about the JDM del sol is the fact that the hardtop is electronically retracted into the trunk. Hence RHD and JDM are top notch in my book

 

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

Why is a rhd car sweet?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Rhd is definately sweet. We spend lots of time doing little stuff to "customize" our cars to set them apart from everyone else's. Rhd is definately different. Some people like paint, some like wheels, some like race seats, some like body kits or a shaved antenna. If it makes you like the car more then do it. If you saw a rhd civic somewhere, I guarantee you would do a double take (unless you are Japanese or in Japan). Thus the point of customizing.

 

impound : I'm selling my EH. $3000 to anyone interested.

Del_Slowest : From the information I've gathered; USDM ECU (they prefer OBD2, but it's gotta be USDM), USDM catalytic converter, and the biggest thing is, the car must have records of it showing it can pass the same crash test as do USDM cars of it's same kind.

JaeOne3345 : Just my preference to do a JDM car. To much work is involved in a RHD conversion to a US car. And I'm not concerned about a big motor. This car will get a sweet paint job, Mugen Rims, body work if needed, rear disc conversion w/ upgraded brakes, and a top notch suspension job. Not to mention Sparco interior (my preferred choice).

I think we all can agree that we are all willing to pay for what we want. From OBX to JDM. From cheapest to most expensive. As long as we're all happy with our finished piece(s) of work, isn't that the biggest point?

When someone ask, "what "x product" would be best for my car?"...I think the biggest response is, "get what you want, not what others want you to get."

 

dont the 4th gen DXs in japan have the same front end as the usdm 4th gens and not the nicer Si front end??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CivicFerioSiR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dont the 4th gen DXs in japan have the same front end as the usdm 4th gens and not the nicer Si front end??</TD></TR></TABLE>

Great question!

And I just noticed none of my questions have even been mentioned in any replies.

1) The DX will be RHD?
2) It will have a non-VTEC 1.5L?
3) It will have the SiR front end?

The RHD and front end are what I'd really like the car to come with. I don't give a **** what motor comes in it. Hopefully I can find one w/o a motor, so I can have a whole USDM set up under the hood.

 

1. yes it will be RHD
2. if it's the Vti it will have a D15B 130hp VTEC engine, if it's the base model it will have a D15B 92hp non vtec
3. not sure about your last ?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Del_Slowest &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">1. yes it will be RHD
2. if it's the Vti it will have a D15B 130hp VTEC engine, if it's the base model it will have a D15B 92hp non vtec
3. not sure about your last ?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks. I'm sure I can live w/o the front for a while. I can always aquire one form hmotorsonline before a paint job is done. It'll probably be a 92hp junker. Not a VTi for sure, lil' o' DX.

 

the JDM versions of the 88-91 civic hB lineup

EF9 SiR Civic 160 hp B16 motor
Si Extra Civic with 130 hp ZC motor
Si Civic with 120 SOHC ZC motor
among the other line up u can see here
http://www.honda.co.jp/HOT/Mod....html


compared to USA
Si 108 hp SOHC D16A6 motor
DX with 92 hp D15B2 motor
STD with 70hp D15B1 motor

 

thank you for replying.....Finally !

( i listed the European models, oops ! )