911 LHD to RHD conversion

[gimar31]

Can anybody give information on the complexity of such a conversion. Why even consider such a conversion you may ask? simple I live in the UK and there seems to be a better range of cars outside the UK. I am looking at a project, so it would not be a case of buying a car in a usable condition and stripping it down to do the conversion.

[Britwrench]

It's not worth starting this type of conversion. If you need a RHD car buy one, LHD are usable in the UK. Your end result will be a Porsche costing more than a real RHD and worth less if you can sell it. I have driven several lhd to rhd conversions, they vary from being dangerous to very dangerous..


Some, but not all the things you need;

RHD bulkhead
dashboard
modify wiring harness
modify pedal box
change wiper park
power door mirror and window switches on wrong door
etc...........

[rob911]

Touche Britwrench.

Get a left hooker and live with it. See www.mcpmotorsport.co.uk to get an idea about LHD ownership.

All your "buddies" will say "ooh you won't get much for it when you sell it". Of course you won't you'll get roughly what you paid for it.

In the UK LHD = better car for same money as RHD

or

Great car and £0000's saved (imagine a briefcase with the £5000 you saved on the passenger seat - quoted Martin at www.mcpmotorsport.co.uk).

The cars were all designed as LHD so might even be better?!

Unless it is an everyday driver you will forget you are on the wrong side when you're alone on a trackday/deserted country road.

Am looking for a good one my self.

[Keith S]

DON'T EVEN CONSIDER IT! OK, now that's out of the way.... The only time it is vaguely even worth thinking about is if you manage to buy a late-model car in Germany VERY cheap and then keep it for ever. There was a story in 911 & Porsceh World a year or two back about a guy doing this conversion and the general feeling is that it is not worth the effort.

I have two Porsches, both Left hookers (the 914/6 was, of course, never made RHD) and love them. It's true, you get a better car for less money. OK, so you may not get such a high trade-in at the end of your ownership but, there again, it cost you less in the first place.

Driving a left-hooker in the UK is easy and comes in very useful when you head across the Channel....

Buy an enjoy the savings...

[nick-moss]

Looks like it's unamimous!

I drive a LHD VW Sharan diesel, and even with only 110 BHP it's no problem at all. Keep it LHD and keep the 25% saving on an equivalent right hooker.

The other benefits are that you may well find a rust free left hooker from the States, and that will save you even more money. Take a look at my web site (link below) to see what I thought was a farly rust-free '74 car turned out to be!

[Saffs]

As an owner of the a LHD 911 in the UK - and now one in the US too! - all I can say that it's fine and easy driving a LHD car in the UK. A 911 is small, excellent visability, easy to park, etc. It's really easy and you get used to it quick. The only problem is parking ticket machines!
I find it strange to drive a 911 (LHD) on the right in the US, and get back to the UK, and drive a LHD one on the left....

[dickster]

i agree.

i bought my left hooker in april and i love it. you soon get used to driving it on the wrong side. insurance is no more expensive either.

you can buy a euro import (german/swiss etc) and they should be better serviced because its cheaper - thats the theory!

there are plenty of good dealers importing them.

buy a lefty - you won't want to sell it anyway so resale won't be an issue!

and after all they were designed to be left hookers!

richard (kent, uk)

[Matt Smith]

I drive a left hooker in New Zealand, the reasoning being that you can't get RHD early cars here that have spent all their life in a desert, and I loathe rust more than anything.
I was initially sceptical- mostly from listening to other people here, but it turns out that none of these people had actually driven a leftie, let alone a 911, and had based their judgement on how they thought it would be like.
Well after about.....three minutes behind the wheel it was as natural as could be. Far more scary for the passenger, but isn't that half the fun? ;-)
I really enjoy it. It makes the whole experience more fun, as you really know you are stepping into something a bit different. It's such a small car anyway, and visability is no problem.
Besides, I will eventually be able to sell it back to the states when you guys have ruined all your decent T's by turning them into track cars and original ones will be rare as hen's teeth
T/EWDP.........

Oh, and for the record, one of the last bastions of New Zealand RHD prejudice himself- Cam Baudinet- can now be seen in an ex Italian LHD slot car with a very large grin on his face and an overly developed right bicep muscle from a season of 901 power-slotting.

[CamB]

Add a vote for me for LHD in a RHD country (I drive one every day). It is good because it is cheaper, they really were designed that way (you can open the petrol flap from the driver's seat ) and no cost for conversion (which you definitely won't recoup). "You will get less when you sell it" is a ridiculous reason - of course you will - you paid less in the first place. Driving LHD only takes a few weeks to get accustomed to - no problems.

Negatives are: sometimes hard to see around traffic, and parking buildings (for me, 4x swipe card every day!) and drive-through . I also have a concern that I may end up getting all confused in a LHD country in a LHD car.

Go LHD if you can't find a nice RHD, or want to save $$$$.

(edit) Ooops, Matt beat me to it, and hath spoken the truth. I have seen the light and no longer preach of RHD superiority.

Actually, I still think RHD is slightly more convenient in a RHD country, but also think LHD has a lot of merit (may even be, shock horror, better).