RRS RHD Conversion kit

[WASP]

 
This is my first post and I admit that I am naive to most things MUSTANG, however I have a good working knowledge of early Australian Fords from XR to XE
I am contemplating buying my first MUSTANG which will be a model from around 1967. However it must be RHD, I am too long in the tooth to go LHD. Does anyone have experience or knowledge of the RRS conversion kit complete with rack and pinion, it appears to quite comprehensive.
Any feed back would be appreciated
Cheers
Steven

[soc123_au]

We have fitted them, there is a bit more to it than the kit though. You have

1) Sheet metal kit (includes Firewall, Dash frame, inner plenum, outer plenum, R/H/R skirt section) wiper linkage I cant remember.

2) Steering Rack. Not sure if it includes tie rods. AOI does TCP doesnt. You also need to confirm it it will suit your column & if it comes with all borgonson/rag joints & shafts to suit your application.

3) Dash bezel kit ( An often overlooked piece of the puzzle)

4) Brake Booster & Master Cylinder & clutch master if Manual. (They also do a kit for this but it aint cheap)

5) Pedal box

6) Heater/A/C box & blower, brake lines, p/steer lines, a/c pipes etc.

Then you need to fit it, paint it, do the wiring etc. Also their firewall is flat & needs to be modified to suit the booster, heater box & anything else you want to mount to it.

The quality of the stuff is pretty good, but it is an expensive way of doing it. I am not a big fan of their rack though. I prefer the TCP one.

[HEVEN67]

Or if you got 65k you can buy one ready to rock! luvhev

[68Coupe]

I'm not sure if you've ever driven a left hand drive car before, but it was also my major concern when I was buying my Mustang, however it really doesn't make that much difference. After the first couple of minutes it just seems normal and adds to whole fun experience. In saying that, mines an auto and I would imagine a manual would take a bit more getting used to from the left hand drive angle. 

[soc123_au]

Or if you got 65k you can buy one ready to rock! luvhev

Are you selling? If so, that is a lot of car for 65k.

[JadeMach1]

The RRS product for right-hand conversion is a good kit but be-aware that RRS customer service is not always the best. In total cost of conversion was a little less then $11,000 dollars taking into consideration purchase of the steering kit, manufacture of power-steering hoses, pump and reservoir. In addition the dash, firewall and exhaust system need modification plus relocation of pedals, aircon and wiring.

If you are going to go down the right hand drive conversion path a lot of work is required to do it correctly.

Good luck....

[66 Hertz]

dont want to piss you off or anything but why not just buy a Falcon.....RHD , v8 ford ready to drive, no hassles.
On the other hand you could buy an American car.........LHD, great fun to drive, everyone wants to chat with you about it because its lhd.........dont knock it till you try it. after a few drives you wont think nothing of it. Most of the guys that buy a Mustang think RHD conversion is a must but its not and it is great fun to drive. Why not test drive a few cars first.

[JadeMach1]

I drove my car left hand drive for 3 years.....

Left hand drive may be novel experience but..... visibility on the road driving on the right hand side makes a lot of sense.... especially when overtaking on single lane roads and merging left at major intersections....

I found that with the 1970 fastback that I did not feel comfortable with the increased blind spot sitting on the left hand side of the car especially when driving it around town in heavy traffic.

I am sure that a well presented mustang no matter what the driving position is will get attention on road

[soc123_au]

Personally I believe if you are not 100 percent comfortable piloting 1500kgs of metal at 110kph while sitting in the passengers seat then conversion is the way to go. Anytime a conversion is mentioned you will get people trying to talk you out of it, do what suits you. If the novelty of left hook appeals to you then that is ok, if you want to set it up to suit Australian driving conditions then great as well.

This will cause some howling among the ranks, but I think SA has the right idea. The common argument for leaving them left hook is for the sake of originality. If you want it original then cop it original AM radio, Drum Brakes, the lot. It amuses me that people argue that safety upgrades, electronic ignitions, exhausts etc should be able to be upgraded for safety & convenience when the safest thing you can do is move the steering wheel to the correct side.

Just my opinions

[68pony]

Personally I believe if you are not 100 percent comfortable piloting 1500kgs of metal at 110kph while sitting in the passengers seat then conversion is the way to go. Anytime a conversion is mentioned you will get people trying to talk you out of it, do what suits you. If the novelty of left hook appeals to you then that is ok, if you want to set it up to suit Australian driving conditions then great as well.

This will cause some howling among the ranks, but I think SA has the right idea. The common argument for leaving them left hook is for the sake of originality. If you want it original then cop it original AM radio, Drum Brakes, the lot. It amuses me that people argue that safety upgrades, electronic ignitions, exhausts etc should be able to be upgraded for safety & convenience when the safest thing you can do is move the steering wheel to the correct side.

Just my opinions

Realy, i thought up grading with those things makes the driving experience more enjoyable, doesnt matter what you do to these 40+ year old cars they will never be as safe as a modern car, i have electronic ignition cause it has a high performance engine and will run better and will never have to worry about points, i have 4 wheel disc brakes so i can brake with confidence with out locking up like drum brakes would and heat up like drum brakes would, i have rack and pinion power steer cause it makes driving and parking more easier, i have coil over strut suspension so it can handle better,exhaust, well i want my mustang to sound mean, sound, i love listening to good qualiy tunes with my 12 inch sub in the boot again makes the driving experience more fun,all these things have nothing to do with safety, but will give more performance a better and more comfortable driving experience, so if right hand drive makes you feel comfortable and increase's your driving pleasure go for it, but it wont make it safer, please lets get real here.
cheers chris

[scedd1]

so if right hand drive makes you feel comfortable and increase's your driving pleasure go for it, but it wont make it safer, please lets get real here.
cheers chris

If you feel safer, then you are safer, simple as that.
Everyday i see nervous drivers on the road. They are not safe drivers when they are scared of trucks or rain or V8's or monster 4wd's or Red "P" platers, etc.
The safest driver is the calm confident operator of his/her machine and whatever it takes to achieve that is the right thing to do.

[soc123_au]

I think your missing my point Chris. Scedd summed it up pretty well I think, if it makes you more confident then it's safer. My response is due to every thread that raises the rhd issue in most cases the replies are "leave it lhd" if someone is asking the question on the options to convert, it is a fair assumption that they feel more comfortable driving from the right. In my opinion trying to talk them out of it no different to telling them not to worry about seat belts. It's just my point of view & I don't expect everyone to agree with it.

I imagine all the mods on your car are for similar reasons as the mods on mine. We like the convenience of electronic ignition, efi , modern brakes etc etc. For me rhd makes sence as I feel more comfortable & therefore safer. The safety of the (hopefully) 600hp big block is another story:-)

In saying all of that, to all that like them left hook for whatever the reasons power to you. My point about modifying lhd cars is directed at people that would have a car like your vert and claim with a straight face that they didn't convert it because they wanted to keep it "original"

[68pony]

My point is whether the steering wheel is on the right or left if you get rear ended, t boned or cop it front on , your goooooooone in one of these compared to a new car, you guys are talking safety, there is no such thing in one of these, we just have to look out for the morons out there and thats the risk we take.

[soc123_au]

No argument there Chris I agree 100%. I just mean the safety aspect that the more comfortable you are the less likely you are to cause an accident. If someone cleans you up then the seating position isnt going to change anything. To be completely honest I have only driven a lhd car a short distance (around the block) & I didnt like it. I know other guys that love it & to them it is part of the appeal of owning a classic US car. If I gave it more of a go, who knows I would most likely get used to it. In my situation there are a few other factors at play. 

[HEVEN67]

Are you selling? If so, that is a lot of car for 65k.

Spend 65K on a resto and see what you get...not a lot of car!
30k on a paint job, 25k on a drive line and 15k on fiddly bits, then you still gotta put it together and sort it.
luvhev

[scedd1]

Spend 65K on a resto and see what you get...not a lot of car!
30k on a paint job, 25k on a drive line and 15k on fiddly bits, then you still gotta put it together and sort it.
luvhev

Then again, there are a lot of people out there who spent more than that and only ended up with a fartback!

[soc123_au]

Spend 65K on a resto and see what you get...not a lot of car!
30k on a paint job, 25k on a drive line and 15k on fiddly bits, then you still gotta put it together and sort it.
luvhev

I know, that is what I meant 65k for your car is a bargain. Add in that it is already rhd (and done correctly) another 10 to 15k. Then add in whatever the cost of the base car would be if you tried to do the same thing from scratch.

[HEVEN67]

Not that im trying to sell ...but everything is for sale 
luvHev

[shaunp]

Here is my car done with Falcon parts. My personal view is poeple don't convert them cause they don't want to spend the money, I reckon that's the main reason, and there has been some dodgy jobs in the past. I don't think there is any question that a properly converted car is safer than left hook. It simply has to be, particulary of our single carrige way highways.
 I can understand why people want to to leave them left hook, for originallity sake though. Build them how you want them, at the end of the day they are just old cars, if you get a buzz out of LHD, leave it, if not convert it.

http://www.mustang.org.au/forum/index.php/topic,4261.0.html

[booah]

I spent half of my life in Canada and when it came time to buy my car here, RHD was the way for me.
 I have driven a mates LHD C10 pickup and it was easy.
 I prefer to shift with the right hand, thats still natural to me. But to enjoy the ride, RHD,

[renjar]

I installed an AOI rack because the RRS was to expensive.  In the end the product support was crap and there was nothing but issues because of the cheap components used.

I love my RHD.

[67fasty.sm]

npd have rhd firewall complete $950  upper cowl $648  lower cowl $648 so that is a major time saver and would look factory , the reason i left mine lhd was simple, cost, my mate has a 61 thunderbird that is lhd and i have driven that and for me it felt natural as i am left handed but anyway just go with what you feel comfortable with and your budget will go

[shaunp]

The Dyna corn RHD firewalls aren't much good, they are just flat, makes it hard to run AC, particulary factory, 67 on type AC, etc don't look correct either. You don't need to replace the cowl, it's not hard to convert the wiper mounts in situe, you would only buy the cowl if yours was rusted out. You really want to set them up so you can run XA -XF falcon pedal box, and brake booster etc, cause it's meant to be RHD drive, so the pedals end up being in the correct spot, also allow for an easy hydrualic clutch set up. The Dyna corn dash is ok. It's hard to go past an XA/XB dual diaphram booster, they work extreamly well.

[Horselover]

I'm with Steve, Hev and scedd.   

I have driven LHD cars in the US when I was younger.

Both my 65 convertible and 66 coupe were RHD when I bought them (both were converted in Victoria). 

Our drive on the left roads require the driver to be on the RHS of the car.
 
It's quite simple really, it IS safer to be on the same side of the car as 99% of the rest of the drivers in Australia.

That's why Ford converted the ones it imported and sold here.

It's also easier at the Macca's drive through!

My cars have an XF Falcon Power steering box, one has an RRS strut front end with their disc brakes and rear disc brake kit, the other is original with a Hopper Stoppers front disc brake kit up front, and the original drums on the back.  I'll probably put rear discs on it as well as one of the drums likes to lock up. 

I've also fitted a ZJ Fairlane steering column to the convertible to give me stalk controls for the wipers, horn and dip switch.

If you want to convert it because YOU think it's better and YOU will feel safer and more comfortable driving it the DO it.

Leaving it LHD only matters IF you think you can sell it back to a yank who wants to take it back to the US in the future. Those who think leaving it LHD for originality are kidding themselves, it only matters for concours, and then only a few points.

Cheers,
Warwick
3 RHD Mustangs and proud of it!

[Ash]

Ok, I'll take the bait 

LHD vs RHD, it's about as pointless as a discussion of which religion is better. None, if you ask me but that is my decision and arguing over it isn't going to change anyone else's beliefs. If driving LHD suits you, do it. If RHD makes you feel safer, do it. I get the concept of feeling safe and if that is your cup of tea, then go for it. If sitting two feet to the opposite side of the "normal" position makes you enjoy your car all that more, then do it.

Get out of the Macca's drive though and hit the open road, enjoy what ever car you have. I do!