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RH drive conversion

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John_Worthington

John_Worthington

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I'm moving home to Australia and RH drive requirements. If I could source the parts (or a shop) to do the conversion on my '98 XJ8 from LHD to RHD, I will take her with me because sea-freight is really cheap right now and my XJ8 has asymetric chassis options within the engine bay and firewall. Has anyone done this conversion either way? Are there any euro parts places or US shops that anyone would recommend to replace the steering and break components, dash, ducts etc? I can potentially reuse certain items but I have some pretty tight federal inspection requirements on entry in Australia that recommend OE components to gain registration.
I know this is a big undertaking but I have 3 months to make it happen. Obviously, if the cost is too much then I'll have to sell her but I want to do the research anyway. Cheers,

John W
 
I can tell you on a MK2, as I researched doing it the other way, but decided to keep mine RHD.

Your best bet is to find a breaker in Oz or UK, see if you can get the rack, dash, wiring for said dash, pedals, have it shipped stateside, and get it swapped here.

Don't you have a time period to get an import car to meet Oz regs?
I had asked a friend in Melbourne once, I thought it was 3 months.

If so, get it swapped there.

Or, import it to NT, which used to not require RHD, license it, and then transfer down to where you will live (until you get caught, right?)

Not going to be cheap no matter how you do it.
But, yours is new enough breakers should have the bits needed.

https://www.communityguide.com.au/community.cfm?/australia/cat/automotive/wreckers/
 
Cheers TOC - I have reached out to almost all of the links you provided and now am waiting to hear back. I am really hoping to get the conversion done here stateside because I have the next three months off before leaving. I'm imagining my biggest expense is finding a RH steering rack and box due to the complicated PAS setup. It would be wonderful if I could just flip it around but that would be fanciful dreaming because of the LH biased geometry! I'd need to re-route the fluid lines for the PAS and break master cylinder (once moved). The next big expense is going to be finding a full RH dash because the only things I can re-use are the steering wheel & column, glove compartment, instrument panel and clock panel. I am going to have to figure out the ducting and harnesses as well as the pedals & linkage plus relocate the park break. The driver door controls will be much easier once the dash is out but I am sure they will put up a fight.
Thanks again!

John W
 

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That's why I said rack and dash.
If you can get all, including P/S lines and hoses along with the rack, and you may need the instrument cluster, if yours tapers off to the left.
If it's perfectly mirrored down the centre, great!

You will need probably a different throttle cable, gauge wire extensions (depending on where the loom enters), speedo cable (if not electronic), maybe a floor shift lever at some point IF it has a park release button on the left side.
Operating said release with your pinkie is not on.

I know on a MK2, it isn't only swaping out dash pieces, column, box, throttle linkage, brake lines, but flopping the e-brake over AND....every gauge has to come out and swapped to the opposite position.

To wit:

LHD MK2's have ammeter far right.
RHD is far left.

Not sure by looking whether the wiring will stretch, but I could have cut off the wrapping and MADE it work.

Do you have any master controls on the LH inner door armrest?

Best be looking for that, and the harness.
 
have you considered selling yours and buying a rhd in the uk? surely a much cheaper and easier way to sort it?or buying one in australia ,as converting lhd to rhd is quite a task and open to many problems
 
Hi Mike,
I have looked at prices for my Jag in the UK for the comparable model and miles and the average price is a little higher than here in the US. For example, the UK has them about 5,000 pounds (about $8,000 to 10,000 in the US). I could sell mine here in the US for about US$6,000 if I was lucky.

The same Jag in Australia averages AS$25,000 to 30,000 (ouch). That equates to US$20,000 to 25,000 with the exchange rate as it stands right now.

My estimates of costs to convert and ship my car to Australia could be US$5,000 to $6,000 (US$2,500 to 3,000 for shipping (confirmed quotes) and the balance on the conversion). This based on me finding the necessary used parts and doing the labor myself (and having a shop check all my steering geometry).

Sell the car: = gain US$6,000 = AS$7,500 = deposit on a RHD car in Australia
Convert&Ship: = lose US$6,000 = RHD XJ8 in Australia (fully paid for).

I know I will face unexpected additional costs along the line but at the moment the economics point in favor of converting and shipping the car. The main factor in this is the extreme cost of vehicles (especially imported foreign models)in Australia. This car will give me many more miles considering the condition of the engine, transmission and overall vehicle so if I ever get sick of her I could still sell her for AS$10,000 to 15,000 in Australia even if she had 200k miles on the clock!

My main focus right now is confirming the availability and cost of the necessary parts which I will probably have to find in the UK.

What do you reckon so far? Am I out of my mind?

John W
 
Thinking about it ,to import a car into australia do you have to have owned it for a certain length of time?if so then buying one in the uk might not be an economical option,if not then counting the cost of the parts required to do the conversion and the hassle of carrying it out then the 2-3000 dollar difference might be your better option.If so then it has to be -work out all the parts required,steering components ,dash ,complete front and dash wiring harness, cables, pipe runs(brakes ,power steering etc)possible brake master cylinder(outlets on opposite side for rhd),possible exhaust differences,possible linkage differences,etc etc and get a quote from a uk breakers +shipping and an australian breakers quote,just think it is quite a mammoth task thwart with possible problems-brave man
 
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