cost to do a RHD to LHD conversion?

[JFENG]

Guys,
In my search for an E9, I ended up seeing a couple interesting coupes in England last fall.
I feel the prices there are generally softer than the USA, particularly for the CSL's.

The obvious thing that came to mind is to buy a restorable CSL in the UK, bring it back, have someone like Mario L. convert to LHD and get rid of that suave vinyl roof, and have a bastardized CSL to drive around for not more than restoring a CSi.

John

 

[rsporsche]

i am uniformed - how much softer is it really? i may be in London in 2 weeks. my quick guess is that i hope you aren't surprised (in the wrong way).

Mario does beautiful work - if you haven't seen the 2002 w/ S14 engine (M2) that he built, you should see it. i guess restoration cost doesn't vary too much between a CSL + a CSi if all of the expensive bits are in good shape. although, the conversion from RHD to LHD could be a significant expense. finding a LHD csl dashboard? (aren't they different from the CS / CSi? - or was that just the race cars) but then again, you would have a CSL ... which is a lot rarer over here.

there used to be a shop in Houston that imported CSL's (spring branch area). in the late 80's i saw 5 or so in their place. they would sell them and get another bunch ... usually from Italy. and back then you could buy one (from them) for 12k to 15k.

 

[Paul02]

Don't forget about the rust that come with cars from this climate. Good cars are expensive here as well although projects may be cheaper .
Paul

 

[x_atlas0]

If you are going to cut it up, why would you get a CSL? The originality (and therefore the value) would be shot, as based on the various part diagrams you'd need a new firewall( PN 41131832996 for RHD, 41131832995 for LHD) which would require pretty much breaking down the car. Then there's the other differences, like braking packages and steering problems.

If you want a fast E9, just pick up a rolling chassis and drop in a M30B35 or S38 and a Getrag 265. It will be significantly faster than the CSL and sell for about as much as a irreparably-hacked CSL would be worth.