well i was looking to import an EF9 over here to the states as a parts car and strip it out since i like the interior and they come stock with b16's......but i haven't found one yet just an 89 EF8 that's gray with a dohc ZC....itz an automatic...but itz only $1500 and itz $900 for shipping which is only $2400. here's my question...a friend said that he'd buy the shell if i got it and since he's gonna have to put a new engine and exhaust system on it...would that make it street legal since the emissions have been changed?? i know the main thing was emissions and the crash standards. but since the style was shipped to the states and resembles the ED6s and ED7s (88-91 civic hatchbacks) that we drive around do u think it would be a problem getting it legalized in the U.S.

 

so nobody know anything i presume

 

well, there are a few ways to do this
1. go through the tons of paperwork stating that the shell will be used only for off-road purposes and never used on road
2. find a rhd model and pull the vin plates off it and put it on the import and call it a day. once you put a cat and ect. on it i am sure that the inspection people will be more concerned with how cool it looks than weather or not the bumpers have the metal bumper underneath. it will most likely have a salvage title too...and as long as your insurance company doesnt want to look at the car, they wont know(or care).

basically it is all under table stuff and if your friend wants to drive it illegally as a rhd model. i am pretty sure that the car can never be legalized for onroad use.

 

There was a guy around here somewhere who got nailed for this exact same thing, he got a few cars imported as parts cars and then drove them, big importation legal trouble apparently..

 

i'm not gonna do it illegally....but those seem like the only things that would stop the car from getting registered....someone on another site said that i would also need DOT approved shatterpross windows....i dunno.....just found an '89 EF9 SiR crx for $2300.....

 

i dont know if i could handle shifting with my left hand.....

 

me and you both! YIKES! No lefty left for me!

 

id have to practice "batting switch" for a while to get a little more agility with my non-dominant side....

 

i'm sure if i tried it i'd have to do it in a big huge empty parking lot and have a spare tranny

 

the shifting is the easy part...( i had a RHD GT4 in the states last year) the hard part is
1.remembering that the turn signal and wiper switches are on opposite sides of the column
2. looking up to the LEFT to see the rear view mirror
3. remember what side of the car to get in
4. drivethroughs/toll boths=pain in the ass
5. the damn conversion factor for the kmh->mph
6. the radio doesnt get but the elvis station
here are some pics with my IS3oo inthe back ground!