I recently bought an 05rs as a daily driver to get me threw one more year of school. Once I'm done with school and my 30k service contracts up,this car will become a toy. Im against trading it in for double the payment and triple the insurance payment to get something else "like STI" That im just gonna strip down and mod like crazy anyways.This leaves me with a swap or a RS/T set-up as options and the RS/T idea just seems to time consuming and backyard for my liking.RHD is a must if im doing the conversion I'm doing it right,right hand drive that is :lol: :rolleyes: OK bad joke!

I have done conversions on a few GM's "Monza,3 S10's" and a Gen II Rx-7.These swaps were fairly easy other than the mild wiring nightmares "I still have at night".Ive been reading a bit about the JDM STI ver 7/8? swap and from what I've seen/read Its mostly Plug/Play wiring. Id like to do a full swap "6-speed gearset,gauges interior....less all external STI looks" Whats a JDM clip going to run me on average with RHD still intact,and the 6 speed gear-set? Is there anything Im missing? Ill have all my suspension, STI Interior,wheels and Borla Hush "for 05 STI custom installed untill swap"Installed before I start the swap. Im basiclly tring to get a ruff idea of what the swap will cost?,Can it be done within say a weeks time? and is this a better/cheaper :confused: option then an RS/T even if im able to rebuild the engine and do all the work myself?

Thanks for any feed,
S.Pete :)

why do that to a ugly 05? buy an old L or even an old RS and swap it. They are lighter and they look better.

why do that to a ugly 05? buy an old L or even an old RS and swap it. They are lighter and they look better.

+1, I understand wanting to go newer but the old school rides are just a better way to go, I'm looking for one too. Cheaper front clips, more knowledge and the just look better!

I didnt post this to have to explain my actions,just to get advice and dollar figures on the swap.Since your so curious I will tell you.I dont have the room for a project car,If its my toy, It needs to be running and movable 90% of the time.I've noticed the 04-05 RS's arn't so popular and with the change of the body style they will be few and far between.I like diffrent,I like sleeper. I beleive this body style RS will be a hard to find car in the near future and im proud to own such a fine car.I really cant wait to see the look on the cops face when he pulls me over"5 window limo black tint"and finds me in the passenger seat! :lol: :lol: :p

Thing about this swap is that it's not a simple weekend job, I know you have experiance with other cars but to do a complete interior and engine/drivetrain? swap is not simple, yeah it might be out of the same chassis but it's a big deal, so that's something else to think about. Need Supermoose to chime in on this thread, or anyone else with this swap experiance.

i have a 97 brighton 2 door with a ver 2 sti rhd conversion(motor, driveline and interior) and believe me this is no picnic. i bought my car in july and been working on it since and my car still isnt running. i mean it will start up and idle but i still have some kinks to work out. but if you say that you had wiring nightmares with the other cars then here comes more nightmares if you plan to do this. but if you are really lookin to do this you need to realize that a ver2/3 front clip goes for about 5gs and for the ver7/8 you are guaranteed to spend much more.
brad

pm supermoose hes got the subies on lock.
and i know that he was here in houston last weekend gettin my friends 00rs with ver7 swap back up and running. (the wiring on that thing! i did all my wiring on my car and i dont even know where to begin with that one)

hahah.

a full version 8 clip will cost you a cool 15K or so. basically buying a complete car and scrappign it for the bits.

if you have the experiance, the swap can be done quite fast. its about 55 hours of labor or so-

i'm going to gather a team and have go for a 24hour complete RHD swap. SERIOUSLY. the 94 L is just waitng for its clip to arrive.....:P

i could do a full RHD conversion in a week easily, mine took 2 and i was severly distracted by girl both weeks......

IMO RS-T is never a good idea. can be pulled off, but why bother when theres JDM.
if you got the blingage, i say go for it. if you want a normal JDM WRX, i can hoook that up for dirt in comparison.

h let me get on that team for the 24hr rhd conversion
we'll knock that out wicked fast

my thoughts exactally. me, u, braden, ryan. 24 hour RHD conversion will be on vid.

then take it to track and time attack. that willb e on tape toot.

cant wait

WoW, 15k is a bit to much for me to spend on a wet dream. Im also saving up for a house and the wife would S&^% if I spent that kinda flow in one shot.You say WRX clip "dirt in comparison" what we talking? If I decide to go the cheaper RS/T route,What would just the RHD set-up run me? I really dont love the whole RS/T idea,Its just somthing I know I can handle and even with a lower compression rebuild I can still pull it off for under 7-8k. This is a smaller pill for wifey to swallow. Things do change over time though. The price off a clip could go down. I could get a better job then expected out of school. Maybe I'll realize the RS/T is going to be ruffly the same price just more problems and scrap that idea all together. Would it be easier to do the RHD with the engine out, or is it the same either way?

Again Thanks a Ton,
S.Pete

I have a RS-T with 90K turbo mile(rare that they last that long) but I was using stock motor and tranny. I spent as much as I'm spending on my swap just replaceing head gaskets in the ****ty 98. I would go swap right off the bat it I could do it again.

sneeky pete

just go find your self a donor chasis(some L with a shot motor or something) you will spend something like $300-$2000 depending on quality.

Then go get your self a gc8 or gf8 clip for like $3-5g's.

If you do that RHD conversion then the only wiring that you have to do is the 3 connectors for the rear of the car(fuel pump, lights, signals, that stuff) the rest is just mechanically swapping every part you can from the clip to you donor chasis.

Next thing you know your going to town in a rhd sti gc8 and man is that dope.

This route you may wind up spending like 5-8g's but you will have a hella tighter car as well as the daily 05rs.

brad

word. if you want a normal JDM RHD GDA wrx front clip, hit me a PM. i might know somone who can hook u up with one.

Well, after speaking to the wifey about what id like to do, and the ruff idea of prices on such. She reminded me of the real reason we decided to buy an RS as oposed to a wrx/sti "insurance". Im saving ruffly 500 bucks a month because I didnt let my need for hp get the best of me. If the full ver.8 w/ dccd and intact rhd is going to run about 15k,That and the OTD price of my RS is only about 3-4k over STI sticker price, And thats for a sleeper JDM RHD ver 8 "thats hot". Im still left with a 30k rounded stock unmolested ej251 w/ complete powertrain,So what will I be able to get for this as a good deal to another NASIOC member?

S.Pete

The only down side is,my 92 Sonoma GT w/ 425hp 68 vette motor "project truck" has gotta go!....."PM e-mail for pics and info"

honestly, i dont think your EJ25 na is worth taht much. a EJ20G motor alone from a legacy makes about 230PS and costs a cheap $900. it obviously costs more than just that to run, but still its pretty frekin cheap.

most people are willing to pay about $500 bux +/- for a EJ25 swap. perhaps a little more, but not much. a RS gearbox is worth about $500 at most too.

why dont you take the 15K you'd spend on a Version 8 driveline and slit it into 2. throw 7.5 in the stock market, and then buy a 94L for $1200 bux. then give me a call and i'll set u up with everythign you need to make a 2600lb 300 hp car. efor less than 7.5K total including your $1200 l.

then you'll have a crazy fast L, and your daily driver RS. your RS wont drop in valuie, and your crazy fast REAL WRX will cost you NIL in insurance. honestly, how much does it cost to insure a 10 year old $1200 car.....

hhonestly, how much does it cost to insure a 10 year old $1200 car.....

Hah, this made me laugh. It's true, but then you need to realize that if you crash, there goes all the time and money spent on the swap.

edit: silly me forgetting that this was an old thread that i was reading.

"and then buy a 94L for $1200 bux. then give me a call and i'll set u up with everythign you need to make a 2600lb 300 hp car. efor less than 7.5K total including your $1200 l."

this is my plan, moose is hookin it up w/a ver4 clip! definately less than 7.5k! ;)