LHD 911 convert to RHD

[nine11speedster]

Hi guys, i have a question for you. If i can choose any year 911 to convert it into a Right hand drive, what year 911 would be the simplest / easiest? That said, of course the car would be a Left hand drive to begin with.
Thanks.

[Fishcop]

1st - Why? Are you moving to a RHD country? Most RHD countries will still let you register and drive LHD in most circumstances...

2nd - The 911 body-shell is pretty much identical in the front from 64>93. Youll need the scuttle deck, dash panel, floor panel and RHD pedals. Although not overly complicated, it requires extensive stripping at the front to do it properly and you'll have over a thousand spot welds to deal with.

Go to the Aussie/NZ forum on this board and you'll find a couple of guys who've done this. Almost without exception they say they wouldn't bother doing it again.

Cheers

[andyjboy]

If you decide to go ahead & do this conversion your biggest problem will be finding the RHD donor parts...

[MBEngineering]

HI nine11speedster
The early the 911 the less work to do, basically you will need;
1x R/H/D donor car, as the dash panels are no longer available from Porsche!
2x If the donor car is complete and the same car, you are $$ in as most of the parts you require you will now have.

PARTS list for basic change;

dash panel+ front baulk head/trunk floor to the fuel tank.
R/H/D steering shaft.
wiper linkage and moter.
front wiring loom for R/H/D.
clutch,brake, throttle assembly.
door mirror's.
door cards and pull handles.
carpets, trim.

a later car will have more to change;

electric door mirror's+ position on door's (wiring will swap side to side)
seats,
door cards and window switches/top door trim and mirror switch.
dash top trim.
door handels R/H/D

on top of this lot you really need the car on a JIG to hold the car in the correct place to remove the floor/dash and to re-fit, there is a small amount of floor to mod for the R/H/D pedals.

aparently the above should read as below, (haveing converted quite a few cars I do NOT know what I am talking about )

FROM the saintz

"Oh yeah, with all due respect MB Engineering, the jig theory is a load of crap, I did my homework talking to various professionals who have done dozens of conversions and they laughed at this statement"

apart from that lot above some paint.

I have some paper work (when I find it) I will post it up for you.

Ho, you may need to get on this thread ASAP for the last thing you need, if there is any left??

I will take them

regards mike

[spuggy]

I thought I needed a dash vent control. I brought my LHD US car to the UK, which is a LHT/RHD country.

I spotted a couple of dash vent controls on Ebay - but when I checked PET, there's a different part # for the LHD and RHD vent controls. My guess was that the cables exit on the other side. I mention it because I don't see anyone mentioning it above.

Again, why bother? Everyone says the 911 LHD conversion is a PITA. When it's done, even if done to factory standards, it still leaves the petrol cap release and the decklid release on the passenger side, and apparently the gear shift is still biased towards someone sitting on the left side of the car.

Purists will likely consider that the car has reduced value over a factory RHD, and probably less value than a LHD as well.

Sourcing RHD parts in the USA has to be next to impossible. And they won't be cheap in RHD countries, because, well, Porsches aren't cheap in RHD countries...

The "hit" on resale value is generally only 10% anyway, for a LHD car in a RHD country.

I was really suprised how little of an issue it was driving a LHD car in a LHT traffic country, I had expected it to be much more of a problem. Leave 10 ft extra behind a bus or a big truck in town, and there's no problem pulling round if they stop unexpectedly.

Drive-throughs and car parks are the biggest issue - and the latter are easily dealt with by rolling down the passenger window and grabbing the ticket

[saintz]

I might suggest you check this old post out.

Australian project. left to right 3.2

I was the one who did it, enjoyed it, don't regret one minute and am very happy with the results one year down the track and the door cards and door handles part puzzles me though I do agree with the other parts required. As stated in my post. Total cost to me to convert (Australian dollars) $7,000

Each to his own but driving a lhd car on rhd roads sucks big time. It is a huge compromise.

Oh yeah, with all due respect MB Engineering, the jig theory is a load of crap, I did my homework talking to various professionals who have done dozens of conversions and they laughed at this statement

[nine11speedster]

thanks for everyone's input.
to clear up the reasons behind my question : I am moving to Hong Kong and they won't allow you to register a LHD car.

thanks again, happy new year!

[davidppp]

Hello all.

The only person who will do this off a jig is the guy who does not have one.

Anything is possible, of course..(BTDT most things)..but as MB Engineering says, its a big enough job without making it even harder.

The jig is a great time saver and any shop which does not use one is to be avoided.

I'd strongly advise agin this conversion BTW..except [perjaps as a very quick and dirty rough job for rally competition..it will certainly devalue any early car massively..

Kind regards
David

[saintz]

As I noted each to his own.

I probably wouldn't have done this to an early car either but this was in the only way for me to get into an 89 3.2 in this country other than putting a second mortgage on the house.

[Fishcop]

Cars are relatively cheap in Hong Kong. Have you thought of just buying a RHD 911 for the duration that you're there? Maybe you can store your LHD for the period you're away?

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by saintz

but this was in the only way for me to get into an 89 3.2 in this country other than putting a second mortgage on the house.

Yeh, I think I saw some Porsche prices in Oz. Scary, IIRC.

Do they not let you register cars there with the wheel on the "wrong" side either?

[nine11speedster]

Originally Posted by Fishcop

Cars are relatively cheap in Hong Kong. Have you thought of just buying a RHD 911 for the duration that you're there? Maybe you can store your LHD for the period you're away?

Dear John :
Cars are NOT relatively cheap in HK, if anything, they are about 100% to 250% more than what you can get in the US.
All new cars are subject to 110% tax so just add that to the suggested retail price.
Used 964 are in the 50k USD range.
anyway, thanks again. I will give this conversion a very careful thought before proceeding.
Cheers and happy new year to you all!

[MBEngineering]

HI nine11speedster
The info sheet is from the company I use to work for in the 80s, and converted quite a lot of 911's to R/H/D.








regards mike

[johntyboy]

That’s a bit strong!!!!

Oh yeah, with all due respect MB Engineering, the jig theory is a load of crap, I did my homework talking to various professionals who have done dozens of conversions and they laughed at this statement

Some guys on this and other forums are not home mechanics and tinkers like most of us, but are professionals who have spent decades working with these car's, its these people who contribute and pass on advice and tips that they have discovered the hard way, free of charge that add a great depth of knowledge. Forums are a great place for advice but sometimes its very difficult to know just who to listen too. I know us poms are crap at football, cricket, rugby, swimming, running, jumping and most other sports but the UK is the hub for most motor sports and this little island has some very knowledgeable engine, gearbox and competition car builders. As you can see from the date on the pics perhaps MBEngineering was doing this sort of thing while you were crawling around in your diapers.

Kind Regards John

[Fishcop]

Originally Posted by nine11speedster

Dear John :
Cars are NOT relatively cheap in HK, if anything, they are about 100% to 250% more than what you can get in the US.
All new cars are subject to 110% tax so just add that to the suggested retail price.
Used 964 are in the 50k USD range.
anyway, thanks again. I will give this conversion a very careful thought before proceeding.
Cheers and happy new year to you all!

I probably should have qualified my statement with; "Comparatively speaking with reference to Australian RHD prices..."

I think in general, RHD cars are more expensive as they ended up in semi-remote countries that chose to stick to the British Commonwealth's "We drive on the left Chaps". As a result, there's just not that many factory RHD cars out there; and coincidently a lot of the RHD countries (Australia included) have created very heavy excises and taxes to protect local markets from grey imports. The easiest measure is to restrict vehicle registration to RHD only (Hong Kong and Australia). Though a LHD car can be registered in Australia once it's 30 years old.

I guess what I'm suggesting is that, if you can stretch your budget, you may be better off buying (and later selling) in the local market.

Cheers

[AUS911SC]

FISHCOP, How do i find the Aussie/NZ forum..

[dagriff]

I have a RHD (UK) in a LHD country (Canada).
I find it no problem at all........ however....... a LHD in the UK would be a royal PITA because of the smaller twisty roads.

My point being unless you have to by law, converting from one to the other should be weighed by the type of roads you will be using.

BTW, just got back from a trip over & enjoyed bashing the rental car around the back roads. Also picked up a MotoLita wheel, bloody fantastic. So apart from the visit to Emergncy with kidney stones... a good trip!

[Fishcop]

AUS911SC - I've PM'd you

Hey Dagriff, how do you go about getting RHD specific parts/spares (or haven't you needed to)? And you're post on with operating a car from the opposite side to normal in concentrated traffic and narrow roads (as I suspect HK is), It's a nightmare unless you have a passenger you TRUST!

[dagriff]

Originally Posted by Fishcop

AUS911SC - I've PM'd you

Hey Dagriff, how do you go about getting RHD specific parts/spares (or haven't you needed to)? And you're post on with operating a car from the opposite side to normal in concentrated traffic and narrow roads (as I suspect HK is), It's a nightmare unless you have a passenger you TRUST!

Well, (touch wood) I have not needed anything RHD specific. However, I have just got back from the UK with some spare parts from Roger Bray Restorations near Exeter.
He has an "on-line" catalog if you need to look something up.
Very nice chaps down there & before I shipped the car over a few months ago, did a great job on checking it out and finishing the resto after it had been sat for 11 years! (if you check their web site, the red 911 on the hoist in some of the pictures is mine).
The occasional problem I have with RHD is driver brain-fade. Very occasionally if there is no other traffic in sight for reference, I will pull out on to the wrong side of the road. Even after 16 years of driving on the right, the previous 20 years of driving on the left seems to kick in when sitting on the right with no visual indicators of what side of the road to drive on. (or maybe I am just an old fart now, who only thinks he can still drive ......).

[JV911SYDNEY]

Originally Posted by spuggy

Purists will likely consider that the car has reduced value over a factory RHD

+1

there are quite a few cars here that have been converted and they dont fetch the same $ as a factory RHD. Even when done well they are just not the same

Originally Posted by nine11speedster

I am moving to Hong Kong and they won't allow you to register a LHD car.

i'd get a 2nd opinion - i know at least here in AUS you can register LHD if the car is 30+ years