Author |
Message |
Plaid Otter Samba Member
Joined: March 10, 2013 Posts: 9 Location: United States
|
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 7:09 am Post subject: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
I am going to convert an American LHD 1977 Type 2 to RHD for Ireland. Like all projects, I start with reckless optimism about how uncomplicated this will be. Experience, however, says to consult with those who actually know what they are doing. RHD parts are impossible to find in the USA, so I know I will be importing those. The main concerns are about steering and the pedals and whatever brake-line issues there might be. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
notchboy Samba Member
Joined: April 27, 2002 Posts: 22461 Location: Escondido CA
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
AshC Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2021 Posts: 59 Location: N. Essex, UK
|
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 7:44 am Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
I guess it has been already decided that the conversion must be done, but... I drive a LHD bus in the UK and while its interesting for a passenger on narrow roads, being on the side of oncoming traffic with no control, its overall no bother with plenty of visibility. That especially as you aren't doing a lot of overtaking in a bus!
Otherwise, sorry, no useful details on this. _________________ - 79 CA FI Bay Window Bus
- 92 Mk1 Golf Cabriolet |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Globespotter Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2012 Posts: 1770 Location: Newmarket, ON
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
skills@eurocarsplus Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007 Posts: 16879 Location: sticksville, ct.
|
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 10:26 am Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
it's ALL different...
steering box, pedals, cables, master cyl linakge etc. plus extending all your wiring.
UK folks buy up USA buses all the time so i think souring all the bits is going to be a huge challenge.
iirc there are tubes/linkage brackets welded to the frame as well _________________
gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
Jake Raby wrote: |
Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
Brian wrote: |
Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
vwwestyman Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004 Posts: 5688 Location: Manhattan, Kansas, USA
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
notchboy Samba Member
Joined: April 27, 2002 Posts: 22461 Location: Escondido CA
|
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 11:40 am Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
vwwestyman wrote: |
Seems like it might be easier to just import a RHD bus to the states and register it. |
Dude, they cant find RHD buses in Europe. Why do you think hes going through all the trouble of building one here.
Or when you find one, you get an ID tag and a rotted out pile and/or its a very expensive preposition for anything else. _________________
t3kg wrote: |
OK, this thread is over. You win. |
Jason "notchboy" Weigel
1964 1500 S
1964 T34 S Convertible
1977 Westfalia Camper pop-top |
|
Back to top |
|
|
TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12856 Location: North Carolina
|
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 12:02 pm Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/search.php...words=RHD+
Guaranteed that any of these would be cheaper than what it takes to swap one. _________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
vwwestyman Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004 Posts: 5688 Location: Manhattan, Kansas, USA
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
MorkC68 Samba Member
Joined: December 23, 2015 Posts: 610 Location: Nottingham, England
|
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 1:21 pm Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
A fair few of us brits here in the UK have LHD buses (we have a 1973 and a 1977) and love them.
I for one dont mind being on the left just a bit more careful thinking after switching from my daily driver and thats about it. Never been a problem.
We head into countryside with narrow lanes but Michelle keeps lookout for me, especially with high hedgerows. Again, no problem.
Its all about enjoying the bus for me, never drove a RHD bus though but I dont feel like I need to.
Thats just my experience mind _________________ Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System
My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/ |
|
Back to top |
|
|
notchboy Samba Member
Joined: April 27, 2002 Posts: 22461 Location: Escondido CA
|
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 1:37 pm Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
25k is cheaper than to find the parts in the UK, ship them over, modify your bus?? _________________
t3kg wrote: |
OK, this thread is over. You win. |
Jason "notchboy" Weigel
1964 1500 S
1964 T34 S Convertible
1977 Westfalia Camper pop-top |
|
Back to top |
|
|
TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12856 Location: North Carolina
|
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 1:47 pm Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
notchboy wrote: |
25k is cheaper than to find the parts in the UK, ship them over, modify your bus?? |
If the OP has a bus that’s in fairly close condition to any one of the ones for sale, it could be sold to recoup a majority of the entry fee if not all of it. Trying to source ALL of the parts, and then paying someone else to do it (if they aren’t able to do it themselves) is gonna cost a lot. And then you still have a LHD bus that’s been hacked into a RHD, how does that factor into overall value not to mention the fact that, by my understanding, he wants to import it into another country.
Let’s also take into consideration the very strong possibility that this gets hacked apart & never sees the road again.
Buy the RHD, sell the LHD.
Having owned & driven dozens of RHD cars in the US, I’d just drive the LHD bus. _________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
jakokombi Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2010 Posts: 779 Location: Milwaukee
|
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 2:27 pm Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
To the O.P. : Does Ireland require that the car be RHD?
If not, I would forget the whole thing. If they do, I think there were posted some nice busses you could drive (and boat) to Ireland from the UK. _________________ 70 Sunroof Kombi
85 Motherfukinvanagon
73 Thing
72 Baja |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22668 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
|
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 2:33 pm Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
Once Op figures out he importing the car into the EU, this will die On the vine _________________ .ssS! |
|
Back to top |
|
|
NASkeet Samba Member
Joined: April 29, 2006 Posts: 2958 Location: South Benfleet, Essex, UK
|
Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2021 12:12 pm Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
One can obtain forward-facing periscopes or small video cameras with remote-mounted monitor, to position on the passenger side, to see forward when driving a LHD vehicle in a RHD country and vice versa. That way, one doesn't need a co-pilot!
https://www.4kam.com/continental_cam_lhd_rhd_car_camera.htm _________________ Regards.
Nigel A. Skeet
Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.
Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper
Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)
http://www.vwt2oc.net |
|
Back to top |
|
|
jtauxe Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 5780 Location: Los Alamos, New Mexico
|
Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 1:35 pm Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
I can provide a good bit of resources (photographs, etc.) of the Irish RHD setup, as I own an Irish RHD 1978 Type 2. It happens to be a double cab pickup, but all the relevant things are the same. Note that mine never had a brake booster.
I would say that if you want to do it right, this will be quite the daunting task, unless you love fiddling with mechanical bits.
There are many RHD-only parts, including the mirror-image steering gear box, pedal and linkage, brake cables, accelerator cable, speedo cable, floor cut-out section, ... I think you can get it all from Just Kampers and VW Heritage, though you'll be lucky to find a RHD steering gear box.
Then there is the RHD instrument panel, and dashboard. Oh, and heater cables. And the wiring will be different, so you get to redo all that.
And the seat mounts. And the controls for the airbox vents in front. As I think of things, the list goes on... but you get the idea.
If you really want to do this, browse these photo archives of the restoration for the ones pertinent to the RHD business. You will also notice that this pickup got a nose grafted from a 1977 Type 2. It was LHD, so you can also see what modifications were needed for it to work for RHD.
The actual full names of these are as follows (with a space inserted after the // to keep The Samba from recognizing it as a URL -- BE SURE TO REMOVE THE SPACE AFTER PASTING THE URL INTO YOUR BROWSER)
https:// photos.google.com/u/1/share/AF1QipOoxd39vlRZO1cXEH-yA8MHWkVQlbwU05o9rI6X2L5wafjtXtJDuGyRWgP7TMWXkQ
and part 2:
https:// photos.google.com/u/1/share/AF1QipPrNGr1s3PGlq_kCbBu5q_4Hr6qxRhcZOREddpH__nLCVNz9zG72z2sP33DTnnubQ
Warning: There are over 2000 photos in these archives. I realize that these should all be uploaded to TheSamba, but that is a major chore. Maybe someone knows a quick way to do that? I have all the photos on my own drive, too.
Also note that the file names are all over the place, so it is best to sort by date if you can. _________________ John
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
NASkeet Samba Member
Joined: April 29, 2006 Posts: 2958 Location: South Benfleet, Essex, UK
|
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 10:36 am Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
Don't forget that unless the LHD vehicle is of the double sliding-door variety, the sliding door will open onto the live roadway rather than the pedestrian pavement.
This is one of the disadvantages of the Brazilian-built, 1997~2012ish, LHD, "bay-window" VW 1600 (air-cooled flat-four | Bosch Digifant fuel injection) & 1400 (water-cooled in-line-four) Type 2s that were imported into the UK; some of which were converted to RHD by the importers Beetles (UK) Ltd. _________________ Regards.
Nigel A. Skeet
Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.
Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper
Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)
http://www.vwt2oc.net |
|
Back to top |
|
|
jtauxe Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 5780 Location: Los Alamos, New Mexico
|
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:23 am Post subject: Re: LHD to RHD and taking sides |
|
|
On the plus side, the driver gets to simply step out onto the curb. That is the only advantage to driving a RHD vehicle in a drive-on-the-right location. _________________ John
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|