Simonk Posted 19November, 2014 Report Share Posted 19November, 2014 I'm interested to know if there is a noticeable difference in the driving experience between the two. I've heard people say they wouldn't touch a converted 911 because there are too many dodgy jobs out there but I thought it might be a good topic for the forum. There's been a few converted long hoods on the market that people don't seem to want to touch but they're half the price of an Aus delivered version. It would seem to me that if you wanted the long hood experience, then these would be a great option. You could insure for less, drive it more without worrying about adding precious kms to it, hot rod it if that's your thing and so on. If you can get your mentality past the whole Aus delivered thing,why wouldn't you spend half the money on a converted US car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Posted 19November, 2014 Report Share Posted 19November, 2014 the difference is between a good job and a bad job if they drill out the welds on the panel in the boot under the fuel tank, as well as setup the smugglers box properly spot weld them back in, avoid cutting any of the important wiring going into the tunnel, and setup the steering correctly using factory mounts, i'd have no problem in buying one i've seen a car using some weird frame of RHS to hold the steering column in, it was scary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZ930 Posted 19November, 2014 Report Share Posted 19November, 2014 http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/272316-australian-project-left-right-3-2-a.html This article is is about how to do it right. Its long and involved but worth the read. I went for a drive in this car and it was really tight. The finished job was excellent. This car, I nearly bought but it was the first one I had looked at and wanted to "sample" more…..and missed it. You will see that none of steering geometry needs to be removed or altered, other than the steering shaft and wheel, so the car should feel the same. The balance / feel may alter because you are now sitting on the other side. ….but I have seen some horrors too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Harold Posted 19November, 2014 Report Share Posted 19November, 2014 Caveat emptor and good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter M Posted 19November, 2014 Report Share Posted 19November, 2014 Brian, Thanks for posting that link. It's cured me of any aspiration to do a conversion myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 19November, 2014 Report Share Posted 19November, 2014 All else being equal I'd just lump for a LHD car over a converted RHD. They still avoid the Oz-del tax. If the job was done properly...but it's a big if. To me, converted cars are in the category of repaired write-offs. Major surgery has been done, and if the surgery was well done, no problem. If it was badly done, it'll never be right. The key is in being able to determine the difference. For most of us going in cold it would be very difficult to tell. If you knew the car, knew who converted it and it was all photo documented, then you'd mitigate that risk - same as if you bought a damaged car that had the repair documented correctly. To me it's not so much the steering geometry, but little things like ; are the pedals set up correctly , is the dash full of wiring demons, did they put the mirrors back into the right position, did they do welding without getting paint onto the welded spots, potentially causing a future rust problem, did they put the windows switches on the drivers side...and on and on. All the little things that would drive me batty if I had to work around them which are probably not an issue on an unconverted car. I agree it's smart buying to get into a car you might not otherwise have got. But then in many cases there are LHD versions with a similar discount and less question marks. Caveat Emptor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Posted 19November, 2014 Report Share Posted 19November, 2014 Some people would say to buy a converted LHD to RHD 911 you would have to be on drugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzieman Posted 19November, 2014 Report Share Posted 19November, 2014 I've said it before , but I absolutely love LHD! The foot ergonomics are so much better , as is the vision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugh Posted 19November, 2014 Report Share Posted 19November, 2014 I don't mind either. So long as the price is right and you know what your getting that's the main thing. I'm more interested in condition regardless of origin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 19November, 2014 Report Share Posted 19November, 2014 I've said it before , but I absolutely love LHD! The foot ergonomics are so much better , as is the vision. I don't get this. Is it because of the position of the accelerator? The pedals are still offset towards the centre of the car. What do you mean about vision? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonk Posted 19November, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 19November, 2014 I would have thought vision would be worse driving in the gutter? Harder to see ahead when overtaking, harder to see around traffic when making a right turn, harder to collect your meal at the drive through... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBGr4 Posted 19November, 2014 Report Share Posted 19November, 2014 A good 911 is a good 911 no matter if its left or right hand drive. The whole "delivery" phobia is seemingly unique to Australia. I have never seen anything from an Italian or French owner commenting on their car being delivered to their home country. Think of this.....they all came from the same factory........... go figure. Having owned both I would never go through the hassle of "converting" a Porsche to RHD. With the world market being what it is, there is a far greater demand for LHD cars than RHD so why limit your potential sale options. Yes there are obviously times when sitting "on the wrong side" of the car is a hassle (love the reference to drive throughs) and its embarrassing when you walk up to the wrong side (trust me it happens and nearly always at the mechanics !) Yes I agree that overtaking can be more challenging due to vision or point of view from within the car but personally thats the only difference I notice. Take a passenger, weave left (look) then duck right whatever you find works for you with overtaking. So my answer to your initial question Simonk is with an early LHD car, just buy it (the best you can afford) drive it, enjoy it, love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzieman Posted 20November, 2014 Report Share Posted 20November, 2014 I don't get this. Is it because of the position of the accelerator? The pedals are still offset towards the centre of the car. What do you mean about vision? LHD pedal ergonomics are just "perfect" , as you would expect given these are "race cars for the road" . RHD the trans tunnel gets in the way , no dead pedal to push hard against in corners I learnt not to drive RHD 911 with boots on. Gearshift in the dominant hand is more precise, the 915 requires a deft hand , not an issue with the idiotproofed G50 box Getting out into traffic there is no blind spot. Overtaking is an issue if you not very good at overtaking. Much safer getting out of the car e.g. in CBD. Passenger's mileage may vary though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 20November, 2014 Report Share Posted 20November, 2014 Yeah I guess....not completely sold on the superior pedal position. I think the LHD needs a dead pedal as well. I've never had an issue with overtaking...you can start far enough back so you can see. The difference between left and right in a 911 is a matter of centimetres...at a distance the vision parallax doesn't make a ton of difference. The technique is that you can't get up the jacksie of at truck or SUV and peer down the edge of the windscreen. You've got to hang four car lengths back and observe. Then you commit and nail it and fly past at full speed......which is all part of the fun, reallly. I don't know about anyone else but I'm not grinding down the newell and trying to jump past b-doubles As for takeaway....getting burgers, chips and coke inside a 911. Are you crazy! Greasy fingers...dried up chips....coke stains on the carpet ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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