im thinking of imorting an evo 7 within the next 2-3 years, but im doing some reaserch first. i got a shipping quote of about 1.8k from japan to california, then 1k from cali to ny. the evo 7's im looking at are automatic, and are abouth half the price of the manual versions. my question is can i swap the auto tranny from the jdm 7 with an usdm 8/9 tranny? they have the same 4g63 motor. also, anyone with importing experience pm me with your story. for those who are curious heres the link:
http://www.tradecarview.com/used_car...n%20vii/?ps=25

the evos are for sale like civics over there

 

you will most prob need an new harness possibly, ecu, tranny mounts, tranny cluch, clutch lines, pedals, shifter cables and shifter assembly and shifter cover, and a different cluster as well...possibly different axles drive shaft and transfer cae

 

why all of that? i plan to keep it rhd. inst it the same thing but on another side?

 

u will need all that cuz ur going from auto to manual and all of it is diff it will stayright hand drive and the trans is on the same side as a usdm evo

 

why, when perfectly good evos are sold here?

between the shipping, the swap, and registration(which will be illegal) it will be about the same price.

but if you must have RHD go for it.

 

its better just to get 8 9 or X :P

 

too much of hassle to go through all that when you can just buy a USDM one and if you want the RHD you can just buy that clip/cluster...

 

Load up a container with an assortment of cars, THEN we'll really have something to talk about


It's been my experience that importing a car from Japan with the intention of driving it on public roads has many challenges, but the last thing I'd do is discourage anyone from figuring out how it's done. Regardless of speculation and nay-saying, it HAS been done before so I say go for it and for the love of god post everything you learn!!!

 

I'd love to import a car like that from Japan and from what i read on gov't websites is not that hard to do that to an Evo, now when i was looking into importing a GT-R i figured it would be very costly to bring a car that's already about 10 years old

 

the automatic evo 7s are different. they are known as GT-As and i think come with a smaller turbo and different mapping (not certain).

the gearbox should be a direct swap though.

 

and registration(which will be illegal) = totally false u dont know what your talkin about, u can have a car in the states and it be registered LEGAL!!!!

 

well if you can get a evo 7 resistered like a normal person not knowing somebody in the dmv you let me know . I figure there are a couple urban areas that will do it but i know here in LA thats not going down at all. I asked and tried already.

 

Voice of reason, thanks for helping shed some optimism in this thread!

 

imma go for it, but not yet. once i save up enough money then ill get started

 

anyone know exactly what u have to do to get it regestered and were can u get clips that are right hand drive