How hard is a left to right conversion?
Posted by Pitch-Curious@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 24 comments
I love american muscle cars. Dodge dart is my favorite. I want to buy and restore one.
Only problem is that I live in a country that drives on the left side of the road. Is it possible to transfer everything to the right? Would it be expensive?
ImGonnaBeAPicle@reddit
I recently bought a RHD car while every other car here is LHD. A week of driving and I’m completely accustomed to it.
VW-MB-AMC@reddit
It is possible, but may be very expensive. The Australian Chrysler Valiant shared a lot of parts with the Dart. Parts from them may be possible to use, but may also be difficult and expensive to find.
LieLevel7361@reddit
If you can't get dash from RHD car you want do that.
IUsedToLikeLimericks@reddit
Just drive the LHD car.
I'm currently in Spain in my UK car and it's absolutely fine.
Automatic toll passes are a godsend.
Equana@reddit
This only works if there was a right hand drive version of the car. Then you need to collect all the parts, remove the LHD parts and install the RHD parts. So yes, this is.expensive.
If you are talking about a Dart from the 60s or 70s there might be an Austalian version that is RHD.... not sure.
Is it illegal the drive a LHD car in your country? If not, you could just live with the LHD.
ScaryfatkidGT@reddit
Yeah, if illegal this sounds like the best deal, Dodge Phoenix
MeyersonAdam@reddit
I’ve seen a lot of cars converted to RHD for postal routes. Usually they still had the LHD controls as well, so if you have front seat passengers, don’t get in an argument.
Pitch-Curious@reddit (OP)
😂
AlexSPb88@reddit
In Russia and some ExUSSR countries (with right side road traffic so left handed cars suit better for it) old Japanese cars are used extensively, to the east of Ural Mountains its more right handed cars than left handed ones and there is no problem in general. Some folks feel uncomfortable with overtaking on narrow roads, but there are cameras and mirrors are designed for this case. So why not using American muscle car in your region???
Realistic-Feature997@reddit
Technically possible, but incredibly laborious and expensive.
It's much easier to just drive on the "wrong" side of the car. Assuming your country doesn't have specific regulations around that.
Pleasant_Pen8744@reddit
Maybe you could get one where a driving instructor had a second set installed.
mortalcrawad66@reddit
Depending on the car, you might be able to find an Australian version. I know for a fact the Dart was sold in Australia, as the Dodge Phoenix.
AKADriver@reddit
The early full size Dart. The later compact Dart was very similar to the VE/VF/VG Chrysler Valiant
lunchbox651@reddit
I thought they were totally different cars - explains a lot though!
lunchbox651@reddit
So it's doable - tons of people did it in Australia but my understanding is that it's a prick of a job and can cause a whole bunch of headaches because cars that weren't made to be RHD often have things where a RHD steering rack would go etc etc.
If you're Australian I think there's 3 Darts currently for sale but all are LHD so the best option would be to just live with it (sadly).
Winstonoil@reddit
It would be unnecessary. I live in Canada where we drive on what’s left of the road. Many people by right hand Drive vehicles from Japan because they think they are cool. The majority of these people are not motorheads one bit. And they drive as badly as they would in a left-hand drive car. You should just be able to buy an American car and drive it as is.
AttSvcs@reddit
Maybe just drive in reverse everywhere?
Seriously though. In USA the mail truck are RHD. Its not a big deal being opposite.
pm-me-racecars@reddit
I live in Canada, a LHD country, and I used to daily a RHD car. The inly real downside is drive throughs.
RedditBeginAgain@reddit
If the car was built both ways it's possible but crazy expensive. People do it for valuable cars, or rare cars where there are rust free examples in only one configuration. You'll be buying a lot of parts and paying for 50 hours of labor at whatever that costs locally.
If the car was only sold one way, it's effectively impossible to do well unless you have a broad set of the skills and are doing it as a passion project. Nobody is paying skilled fabricators to spend 1000 hours creating and installing the pieces needed to make a factory looking dash, firewall and controls.
jckipps@reddit
Building the dash from scratch would be the hardest part. That's going to be a lot of sheet-metal fabrication and custom upholstery. Hobbyist skills, but definitely advanced.
The steering gearbox will likely need to be swapped out with one that bolts up on the opposite side. For example, if the car in question has a gearbox that bolts to the outside of the chassis, then it will need to bolt to the outside of the chassis on other side of the vehicle. This will either require a bit of fabrication, or a different gearbox altogether.
The steering column and pedal assembly can be moved easily enough, but again there will be some fabrication required.
There's plenty of videos out there about RHD conversions. Find several that are the most similar to cars you're looking for, and see whether that process is one you want to tackle or not.
reidft@reddit
It's not worth it unless there was a comparable car from the same platform that you can use as a donor. Then you just have to put in a bunch of work.
FlyingJess@reddit
It's not to hard IF the car was sold in a country driving on the same side as yours.
Buf having a rwd in France, it's really only a problem when I want to overtake in a situation with not much visibility. (so most of the time for me as I live in the countryside)
FartZuggerberg@reddit
Very complicated, unless the car was specifically built in both right and left hand drive configurations, in which case it’s still complicated
ramooage1@reddit
The actual answer is you don't do that. You just are just driving weird. Plenty of people important to and from the US. You just end up with a left hand drive cars.
The dreaming answer? It's possible but it's improbable. But you can do whatever you want with enough money