JDM legacy to LHD anyone actually done it?

[waren]

Has anyone done this conversion? I suppose that it should be very similar to going from LHD->RHD, but there may be some differences that I am not considering.

Although having a heated garage is a luxury in the winter I think it is accelerating the rust on my vehicles. I am looking for a way to turn back the clock.

Factors;
1) I have been wanting to do a JDM turbo swap for years
2) I need to replace both quarters (paint etc. due to rust)
3) I want JDM seats
4) It would be nice to have better glass

Obviously it would be much smarter to simply buy a newer car, but for some reason I like the 90's JDM style of the legacy. Turbo LGT's (around MY2006) with lowish miles are going for $10,000-15,000 now.

There are also a number of 96-98 JDM legacy wagons for sale locally for which are very affordable with low low miles. Automatics are more common.

The simplest solution would be to keep it RHD but its gonna be a daily family hauler and I cant ignor the extra risks associated with left hand turns.

What I think I will have to do RHD->LHD
1) twin turbo to single turbo swap
2) dash from my USDM legacy
3) flip harness somehow? (hopefully not replace)
4) swap firewalls (labour by me)
5) swap in my 5spd (if auto car)

If I keep my car
1) v7 turbo swap (maybe a 6spd)
2) replace quarters, bumpers, and paint (labour by others)
3) JDM seats

Obviously the v7 has more potential, and I would prefer not to have the extra weight of the wagon, but there are some practical advantages to the wagon as well.

I have enough skill to weld in the firewall if needed but truthfully I am nervous about cutting the quarters off my car, and I would not attempt to paint the car, my cost for paint (materials) is too high to risk an error. I can handle the mechanical and electrical aspects ... but time is a precious commodity.

Thoughts on this insanity? I'd love to hear them.

[Zangado1]

There is a shop that i use near me that specializes in Subaru's and i take my car there often since he is so good with these cars for performance applications and he is currently doing a LHD to RHD conversion as we speak. He would probably be more then happy to walk you through some things over the phone. He has taken me out in his shop and shown me the whole project and transformation of his 2cnd generation Legacy,here is the link: http://www.fastofwestchester.com/

[Dead91silvia]

Well, I thought about doing this with My JDM Pulsar, but the work would be crazy hard, but a Legacy is not bad.

1. You "might" be able to make a TT motor work with LHD with slight modifications.
2. If you look at the fire wall of the 2nd gen close, you will see that they have stamps for LHD and RHD. So there is no need to cut out and weld in a new fire wall. Just weld up the old holes and drill new ones.

It's not as hard as you would think. You might want a LHD a parts car if you can get one, but it's not completely necessary.

Parts you will need:
-Dash and related plastics
-Dash cross bar and related brackets
-Possibly some wiring, but I dont think you would need it.
-Rack and Pinion
-Possibly a crossmember
-Driver door panel and wiring (if you have power doors)
-LHD wiper setup

When it comes to wiring, some things will need to be extended and some will be too short, but it's not as hard as you would think.

This is all off the top of my head. I think this could be pretty cool.

[waren]

thanks guys.

dead91silva: you got me thinking about the firewall, I went out to the garage to have a look. The shape of the stamping looks pretty similar on both sides except for the holes. Then I found this post https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=26462 that dude is a machine! Cutting out a small area around each pass through or mounting location is wayy easier and much less potential for reducing the structural integrity of the shell.

[Dead91silvia]

Oh, I did forget that you will need to ether fabricate some new brake/clutch hard lines or get then from a LHD car.

And yeah, slavik did some crazy work! His was to accommodate a full WRX drivetrain and dash swap.

[waren]

Probably wasn't clear from my 1st post but I have a LHD 2nd gen that would be a donor. The debate was engine swap and body work on it OR buy a JDM BG5 and LHD it OR turn my back on 2nd gen luv and get a LGT, LHD, turbo, no rust (yet).

Thanks for the info

[Raghza]

I have a JDM '96 GT-B that is converted to LHD. And I still have the twin turbo setup, although I am thinking of going single :)

[TyrWagon]

In my country, it is very usual that transformation. They wheel conversion but you lose the digital climate control. Install the manual air conditioning system which is typical for the rest of the world. with respect to the master cylinder, is left on the right side, but installing a brake pedal system that is used by a Hiunday Elantra, where the wheel goes left, but the master cylinder goes right . This does not remove the left Turbocharger.
Conversion is a relatively simple.

Hope you understand me because I do not speak English.