# LHD conversion finally finished!



## TurboAWD (May 6, 2002)

The conversion of my GTR R34 to left hand drive is finally finished.

I got some pictures up on my website if anyone is interested.  

Pictures were taken by a low res camera though so the pictures are kinda fuzzy. I will post some high res ones when the car gets to me.

Next step is the power department. 

~Manuel~


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

Hi Manuel,

That is an impressive conversion. Best I've seen so far and very detailed (even the L/R dooor covers done!)

Was the conversion carried out in the Philippines?

What do you plan to do with the car?


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## TurboAWD (May 6, 2002)

*Thanks*

Hello Dino,

Conversion was done in California by Skyline Motors. Took them long enough though.  

Next step is to modify the engine. Looking at Jun engine, twin 3240s and a Hollinger.

Wish me luck!  

~Manuel~


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

Wow that sounds like a real monster! 

Make sure you keep us updated!


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## MattPayne (Apr 11, 2002)

blimy... some work has gone into that!! looks almost like it was supposed to look like it! 

very nicely done... top job!


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## Fuggles (Jul 3, 2001)

Excellent piece of work.


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## Perra (Jan 6, 2002)

Great news, Manuel! The conversion is by far the best I've seen, just shows that it's really possible to get a great result if you have the time, money and the right people to do the job! 

Dino, look at Manuels homepage to se his plans with the engine. It's   

Bet you just can't wait to get the car back home now, Manuel?  Well, all good things to those who wait!  

Thanks for the mail BTW, Manuel! You've got mail, too!
/P


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## BBD (May 30, 2002)

where the pictures ?

Nm found it was still asleep.. you have a finished photo on yet ?


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## SimonSays (Jun 11, 2003)

Looks very nice indeed ! 

Very rude question, but could you give us a ballpark figure of what this conversion costs?


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## hipogtr (Feb 17, 2002)

Great job on the conversion. Looks very neat. The car is shaping up to be quite the beast. Keep it up!

Cya O!


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## LSR (Jun 4, 2003)

manuel

Your Evo 6 TME looks awesome, with some nice specs. If your Evo is that good, then your GT-R will be awesome! How much does your Evo weigh? If it weighs 1200kg or less, then expect credit from me and, well, some other Evo owners....


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## Perra (Jan 6, 2002)

SimonSays said:


> *Very rude question, but could you give us a ballpark figure of what this conversion costs? *


Since I think Manuel is probably sleeping by now,   I can tell you that he's written in another tread that the cost will be around the $15,000 mark... And that's not including the freight. Nobody said it's cheap to be on top, right?!  

/P


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## Rupert (Jun 28, 2001)

*I've got a question...*

Forgive my ignorance, but is there a specific reason that the car had to be converted (legal issues etc), or was it simply to do with the wishes of Manuel?


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## Richie (Oct 18, 2001)

Looks awesome Manuel!!
Keep us posted on your progress.


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

*Re: I've got a question...*



Rupert said:


> *Forgive my ignorance, but is there a specific reason that the car had to be converted (legal issues etc), or was it simply to do with the wishes of Manuel? *


Cars have to be LHD if you want to use/register them in the Philippines


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## Rupert (Jun 28, 2001)

*That explains it then...*

What commitment eh? Well done! I guess this will mean Manuel's Skyline will be the only one in the Philippines?

Rupert


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## Big Mark (Nov 27, 2002)

Bloody good effort that man.
A big (and costly) thing to take on.....must be a great feeling having seen how well it's turned out.

Well done   :smokin:


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## TurboAWD (May 6, 2002)

*G'morning all!*

First off, a big thanks for all who likes the conversion. I had lots of sleepless nights while it was being done  

BBD, photos are in the Gallery page. Sorry for the fuzzy resolution. I will post clearer pics once I get the car back from it's 2nd destination.

SimonSays, $15,000 for the complete conversion. And this time it won't take a year. A month is all it takes now, or so they say.  

LSR, the weight is not that light. It is my everyday car. The only lightening I did was carbon bonnet and boot and magnesium wheels. It still has the creature comforts of A/C and such.  

Rupert, yup! Illegal for RHD in Manila. There is one R32 GTS that was converted to LHD and also made to look like a GTR and an R33 which was shabily converted with no A/C, airbags and such.

I love this forum. Lots of nice guys.  I posted the same thread in Skylinesdownunder and no one commented on it. Maybe they don't need to know about LHDs since they can drive RHD.  

Cheers all and many thanks.
~Manuel~


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

Manuel...I just had another look at your pictures and saw the picture of the Hollinger......ahhhhhhh.....I need tissues


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## Richie (Oct 18, 2001)

Manuel, do you know if the cost is the same for the conversion of a R33 or 32?


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## Big Mark (Nov 27, 2002)

Richie said:


> *Manuel, do you know if the cost is the same for the conversion of a R33 or 32? *


Do I sense a plan coming together in the lowlands ?


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## Richie (Oct 18, 2001)

Big Mark said:


> *Do I sense a plan coming together in the lowlands ?     *


Hope so, but having some HUGE problems at the moment we need to settle first.
PM me or email me, we have to talk Mark.


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## Big Mark (Nov 27, 2002)

Richie, consider yourself PM'd


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## TurboAWD (May 6, 2002)

*Cheaper*

Hello Mark,

The conversion for the R33 is cheaper. I think $10-12,000.

The local guy who had an R32 converted to LHD had his done not by Skyline Motors but by a shop in Japan.

Hope this helps.

~Manuel~


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## Richie (Oct 18, 2001)

*Re: Cheaper*



TurboAWD said:


> *Hello Mark,
> 
> The conversion for the R33 is cheaper. I think $10-12,000.
> 
> ...


Manuel, the name is Richie, LOL  .
That is good info to hear, thanks!!


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## Andybond (Jul 24, 2003)

*Result !*

Manuel ! Result ! 

I am still fetching in cars for Bahrain , is it possible you could pm or email me the url of the company you have been dealing with ? 

 
~Andy


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## TurboAWD (May 6, 2002)

*Ooops!*

Quite sorry, Richie  

Sorry to Mark too.  

Andy, you have PM

~Manuel~


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## PietKeizer (Mar 7, 2007)

hi Manuel, I want to go through the very same thing: my 1995 RHD Nissan Gloria Ultima VIP, here in Netherlands, to be converted to LHD.. already figured out that the 1994-1998 Infiniti Q45 has exactly the same dash> the Gloria dash mirrored, that is..

probably the 2way shipping to *Japan* & have the Gloria converted over there will be less costly than having the conversion done in USA
do I understand you have the name of a shop over there/*Japan*? I contacted some people over there, yet no result..

if so, pls PM me  thanks, mate


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## arnout (Oct 29, 2003)

hi Piet,
I've also done two RHD to LHD conversions over here in the Netherlands. Not skylines, but a supra and a celica. Your nissan we can convert as well


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## Perra (Jan 6, 2002)

Wow! I think this must be the deepest thread-digging I´ve seen on this forum!  Almost 5 years since Manuel last posted!

FYI, Manuel converted his car in the US but it seems you can get the job done in the Netherlands so I guess you don´t need to ship your car anywhere. Good luck with the conversion! Please post some pics if you manage to get it done!

/P


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## PietKeizer (Mar 7, 2007)

wow, Arnout, that would be great! Haarlem, so you live around the corner  
gimme a PM with yr phone nr and let's sort this 1 out, OK?

for almost 100%, the Infiniti Q45 2nd gen should bear all the parts for the LHD conversion, maybe Mark that sold me his Gloria will help me to get stuff from salvage yards. Or some1 might part out aQ45..
Mark is a great bloke to deal with, very helpful .. hi to ya, Mark, still postin' here huh .. tell us about considering a Y33 Infiniti Q45 4wheel-drive or a Y32 Cima 

hey Per, were you on a RHD LHD conversion job yourself, or am I mistaking Sverig for Suomi?


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## Perra (Jan 6, 2002)

PietKeizer said:


> hey Per, were you on a RHD LHD conversion job yourself, or am I mistaking Sverig for Suomi?


I thought about it before I bought the R34 but since I got it I´ve never really considered it.

Sverige is Sweden and Suomi is Finland. 

/P


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## arnout (Oct 29, 2003)

Manual!
I have a GTR R34 chassis in my shop and I couldn't resist checking out how much work it is to convert it to LHD (We're LHD country as well). So far I got the dash and the heater of the S14 in the chassis, that was a one evening job. Today I checked the steering rack and was adviced by numerous internet resources that you can bolt on a 300ZX rack. This is not the case with the R34 (it might be with the R32/R33). Do you have good documentation on what is done with your car exactly? What steering rack did they use to go LHD? So far I found out the following:
Dash - make it custom or get the S14 or similar dash fit in the car
Heater - any can be made to fit, S14 dash is S14 heater
Steering column - Move the RHD steering column over to the left
steering rack - mate up something that fits, R32/33 might be S14 or 300ZX, R34 I don't know.

Are your indicators on the left or the right of your steering wheel?


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## 1990BNR32 (May 22, 2003)

arnout, you should buy the book by alex gorodji:

Amazon.com: Nissan GT-R: Legendary Performance, Engineering Marvel: Alex Gorodji: Books

he either owns Skyline motoring or was working there when they converted an R33 to LHD and his shop is the one that did the conversion on the R34 also. custom firewall, custom wiring harnesses, custom molded dash covered in leather, etc... the book provides a fairly exhaustive description of what parts were used and how involved the process was.


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## TurboAWD (May 6, 2002)

arnout said:


> Manual!
> I have a GTR R34 chassis in my shop and I couldn't resist checking out how much work it is to convert it to LHD (We're LHD country as well). So far I got the dash and the heater of the S14 in the chassis, that was a one evening job. Today I checked the steering rack and was adviced by numerous internet resources that you can bolt on a 300ZX rack. This is not the case with the R34 (it might be with the R32/R33). Do you have good documentation on what is done with your car exactly? What steering rack did they use to go LHD? So far I found out the following:
> Dash - make it custom or get the S14 or similar dash fit in the car
> Heater - any can be made to fit, S14 dash is S14 heater
> ...


Hi Arnout,

It's been awhile, but I believe that the steering rack was from the 350Z. And the signal indicators are on the left and wiper switches are on the right.

To be sure, please buy the book that 1990BNR32 mentioned. The conversion done on the R34 is my car.


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## arnout (Oct 29, 2003)

I ordered the book, will check that first and let you guys know. In the mean time I swapped the R34 subframe for one from an R33 which accepts 300zx or 200sx steering racks (I hope)


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## arnout (Oct 29, 2003)

got the book. There are only three pages in the book about this conversion. Bottom line is that the 350Z rack might be the best option but back in that time it was difficult and not really available so they went with a 300zx steering rack.


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## Heku (Feb 7, 2002)

1990BNR32 said:


> arnout, you should buy the book by alex gorodji:
> [...]
> he either owns Skyline motoring or was working there when they converted an R33 to LHD


Hmm. I know this is an old thread now, but from my personal point of view, this is quite interesting and the very first time I hear about Alex's book.

Back in July 2000 I flew over to Los Angeles and spent a while there, helping the Gorodji family at Skyline Motors to start the LHD conversion on the white R33. The conversion was based on the principles learned from my own R32 LHD conversion, which was an 18-month trial-and-error -project we did on our own between 1994 and 1996. It's great to see that what I thought to be an one-off job has eventually lead to a number of LHD Skylines all over the world.


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