42 minutes ago, ionelmc said:

It's just a bit of banter. If you can't filter it out there's always that communist romanian vw forum that censors everything that ain't serious.

 

You just lost yourself an order and 40 Lei buddy… I had no idea you were joking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Edited 20 July, 20187 yr by Alan_P

36 minutes ago, langers2k said:

That'll buff out ;-)

Yep, it will for sure ))

 

On 19/07/2018 at 20:02, cristianene said:

Hi Everyone, 

I just bought a beautiful Superb L&K from the UK, but unfortunately the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car. :))

Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to change from RHD to LHD? I really love this car and I would like to see it happen.  

 

based on the image - u should've started with - "I just bought a beautiful WRECKED Superb L&K from the UK.........."

would've saved us from all those keystrokes that we wasted!!! 

 

it is true wat they say - "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

 

Okay, I'll start a genuine list of parts/needs off the top of my head. There'll be other stuff I'm sure so be prepared for further expense.

 

1. Headlights.
2. Complete dash assembly including (but not limited to) fuseboxes, wiring loom, dash binnacle, airbags, aircon/heating/cooling system etc. and be prepared to either change the complete car loom or adapt/modify the existing to suit the new dash.
3. Centre console.
4. Steering rack assembly.
5. You'll need to consider changing the wipers so that they work on the correct side for the driver.
6. Door cards so that the window switches etc are in the correct place for the driver. You'll need the looms for the doors too, and the door controllers so probably easier to just get new doors.
7. Braking pedal system and related ABS pump/wiring/plumbing will need to be moved, as will clutch and related hydraulics, accelerator pedal and related wiring.
8. Then you'll undoubtedly hit on issues with various ecu and controllers complaining about components changed which are not as they should be, and will need to change/recode all sorts of stuff.

After you've managed to source all this and been relieved of the small amount of cash it's going to cost, you're probably going to need to have access to a full workshop facility and ramp, diagnostics equipment, various specialist tools, a good grounding of mechanics and electronics, and probably a day or two to actually complete the changeover. I'd book a weeks holiday just to be on the safe side myself...

 

Then when it's completed, you'll have a car whose value will be somewhat limited. It's never going to be worth the sum of the parts and labour cost in either left or right hand drive markets.

11 hours ago, cristianene said:

OH,

When I said it needs a little bodywork, I meant this:

 

 

 

In that case you better find yourself a donor LHD car that has heavy damage on the rear end but front is intact. You would still need rear lights though but then you can get all other parts from that donor car. 

 

You seems like a hands on guy who is not afraid to do some hard work (the fact that you even consider such project) so there is a good chance that you can earn most of the money back by stripping the donor LHD car and selling parts that you do not need. You can also sell RHD car parts that you need to replace. For example list them with reasonable prices at eBay.co.uk. Mirrors, lights and other various item can sell fast. Dashboard could be problematic.

 

And if you really plan to go forward with it, then make a build thread at briskoda. It would be fun to keep an eye on. 

Why would you need to change the centre console?

I think Skoda use the same one for both LHD and RHD, most manufacturers do, that's why the buttons you want to use most often are usually on the wrong side for RHD!

Edited 21 July, 20187 yr by philsmith

The cross member which supports and holds the complete dash unit is different for LHD and RHD (this will also need to be changed). On the Octavia the centre of the dash is offset towards the passenger side to allow more space for the drivers legs, therefore the centre console for a RHD car won't marry up to a LHD dashboard by about 4cms. It may be a different setup in the Superb, but I wouldn't bank on it.

1 hour ago, philsmith said:

Why would you need to change the centre console?

I think Skoda use the same one for both LHD and RHD, most manufacturers do, that's why the buttons you want to use most often are usually on the wrong side for RHD!

 

Exactly as @Rustynuts wrote. Superbs center console gives driver more space and that space comes from passenger. That means center consoles are different for RHD and LHD. 

Center console buttons layout is also different. Not sure about DSG gearknob though. In RHD do you have to push gearknob away from you or pull closer to you to put it in +/- mode?

oh yea, just had a look at mine and you can plainly see that it is offset slightly, never noticed before.

If the airbags deployed and the seat belt tensioner fired then you will also need a new floor pan as the streets damages the floors - one reason cars are written off in that event.

 

There is a good chance that you will also need a new front firewall as the mounting holes and reinforcements will be the wrong side too.

 

An interesting project for sure, but it would have been far cheaper to buy one made the right way to begin with.

 

As for the Brits driving on the side we do, it’s because Napoleon never beat us and he forced the change in the rest of Europe due to his being left-handed.

Judging by the number of damaged cars you see on transporters heading east in Europe, you'd probably make a healthy profit shipping the car back home, fixing it at eastern European labour rates then taking it back to the UK to sell on again.  Rinse and repeat until you have enough for a LHD car!

4 hours ago, D402 said:

Judging by the number of damaged cars you see on transporters heading east in Europe, you'd probably make a healthy profit shipping the car back home, fixing it at eastern European labour rates then taking it back to the UK to sell on again.  Rinse and repeat until you have enough for a LHD car!

 

The business model actually seems sound and I think that if this L&K is fully fixed and sold in UK, one could buy a decent LHD L&K with same price.

 

But, about those damaged RHD cars heading to easter parts of Europe, I kinda feel like most of them are not going to be fixed but sold for parts. I know atleast two scrapyards who bring RHD cars, strip them and sell the used parts. I have always wondered how on earth it can be proffitable but seems like they get those RHD dirty cheap somehow.

On 20/07/2018 at 20:26, cristianene said:

OH,

When I said it needs a little bodywork, I meant this:

 

 

Meh that's nothing, have you not seen Matt Armstrongs videos on YT ;o)

As one that spent some time in the trade, albeit not dealing with this aspect of the business, I add to the above that it is very, very profitable. Now, not hugegly profitable as it was before you guys jumped ship (or so it seems), but is still. There is a tremendous value in parts in a modern car.

Latest trend from few years back is to get written off cars from US/CDN, which come here at virtually gift prices, fixed up (with various degress of quality), and then sold off at magical market prices. Considering the lack of regulation on the matter, it should come at no suprise that there is a sub-world living off on this ...

 

What the OP has done is a classic at these latitudes, as it would be super cheap in labor terms to buy something written off and fix it. Personally, I've always considered 'mainstream' RHD cars should be banned in LHD countries, and viceversa. They are a very dangerous item, a moving bomb, literally.

Luckily, over recent years the influx from the Kingdom has reduced itself substantially, and for example here, while you can still import and register a RHD car, is no longer possible to do the conversion "yourself" but it has to be legalized/certified by a dealer or authorized mechanic from the manufacturer.

 

To the list of parts suggested above, there is also all the ancillaries that live "behind" the dash, in case they are asymmetrical, like the A/C piping, HVAC piping, fan and its box, but before anything gets started, I would look very carefully that the firewall is symmetric enough to allow the swap of the pass-through components.

Some cars "look like" symmetric, but are not. Even in my Range Rover (British car! Lord!), which I've stripped enough to the bone, is not that immediate a swap of sorts.

Even a more primitive car like a Landy Series, still requires dedicated work to make the swap happen, like welding the gussets for the steering box ...

 

Last crazy guy I've heard that wanted to do this with an A4 B7 DTM edition (also purchased for few peanuts) abandoned the project when he heard the wiring looms could not be "extended" but had to be replaced entirely. Crazy prices. Better as suggested, get a LHD donor car ... and lots of time.