TVR Griffith LHD modification

TVR Griffith LHD modification

Author
Discussion

Vincent_Vega

Original Poster:

8 posts

179 months

Thursday 16th April 2009
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Have anybody here done, or know of somebody who have done a conversion of an TVR Griffith from RHD to LHD?

Someone with some technical knowhow on these cars, plese chim in and tell me what you think..

I have tried to ask some TVR shops but they tell me some parts are no longer available and that´s an almost impossible modification to do. I also know that LHD modifications have been done in the past.

Does anyone know the parts that are needed for this modification? or where could this be done?

Please write me if you know anything about this.

kostaja

5 posts

183 months

Thursday 16th April 2009
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Ask from sportmotive.com

Vincent_Vega

Original Poster:

8 posts

179 months

Thursday 16th April 2009
quotequote all
Thank you, I´ll have a look

AntonyJ

5,254 posts

280 months

Thursday 16th April 2009
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kostaja said:
Something...
wavey

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 17th April 2009
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Many years ago, these guys used to be able to organise a conversion..

http://www.tvr-mads.co.uk/

JazzyO

1,125 posts

180 months

Sunday 19th April 2009
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I finally buckled and just paid the close-to-100% premium for an original LHD car. It's a crazy price compared to the UK Griffs, but the one comfort you do have is that the resale value is guaranteed. Even in this bad market, value are not dropping, although cars are for sale for a long period.


Onno

dmax

178 posts

235 months

Sunday 19th April 2009
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Have u ever had a try at driving a RHd car?

it s matter of 10 minutes to get used to change gears wit the left hand, and if not a daily car there is really absolutly no issue to drive a RHD on european road.

I have 2 RHD car, including the Griffith, and i would never pay the premium to buy a LHD (not even talking about the very limited choice of colors etc...), and the idea to transform my RHD to LHD never even came to my mind.

I gently start to think about a Vantage V8, and at about 30.000 euros less in UK for a car of the same year, that's no brainer, my futur aston will be RHD too...


Vincent_Vega

Original Poster:

8 posts

179 months

Sunday 19th April 2009
quotequote all
thanks for all the answers!!
I´m not sure if I should make the LHD modification and probably some parts are not available.

JazzyO

1,125 posts

180 months

Saturday 25th April 2009
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dmax, I've owned quite a few RHD cars and I own a RHD Ferrari Boxer at the moment. But for me, that will be it, no additional RHD cars for me. Contrary to your opinion, I think RHD cars are quite a hindrance in Europe. Having to get out the car at toll booths and parking lots is irritating, but the thing that really clinches it for me is driving in the mountains. I love taking my cars to the Alps but if you're by yourself behind a truck going up a mountain pass in RHD car, not being able to overtake simply because you can't see, then you're going to think twice about buying another one. Resale value is also through the floor - people in Holland won't buy a RHD car.

The premium you buy LHD Griffs at is actually not much of a problem (provided you have the cash) as these cars just do not go down in value. My Griff was just evaluated for insurance and comes to 37.5k Euro (33k GBP!!!). I have no doubt I'll be able to sell it for that in a couple of years time, if I wanted to.


Onno

wintrader

44 posts

179 months

Sunday 26th April 2009
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I own a right hand drive griffith in Amsterdam and i think too it can be a problem. Not a big problem but sometimes bit of a problem. I live most in the time in Russia and here 80% of the people drive a right hand drive car imported from Japan.

people here got used to it and do not see it as a problem. But i would prefer lhd though. But converting to left hand drive i would not do. Much too much work if you want to do it properly and too expensive.

By the way old classic ferrari's sometimes also had right hand drive. And not specially made for left hand drive countries but to make racing more easy in the mountains.

I own a left hand drive 512 BB with carbs though.

But i would spend some money on the handling of the griff. Because that can really be dangerous.

900T-R

20,404 posts

256 months

Sunday 26th April 2009
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No problems whatsoever with RHD here. TBH if it's such a hindrance that you 'can't' overtake where you'd have had no qualms doing it in a LHD car, the overtake is a bit too marginal for me, anyway as the diffrence in visibility isn't that great - being sat low down and all. smile

Edited by 900T-R on Sunday 26th April 10:51

VanosLoco

84 posts

180 months

Wednesday 27th May 2009
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To convert from RHD to LHD also depends on the availabilty of parts of course. When these are rare it becomes a problem (like dash, headlights, maybe even wiring loom). Was thinking of doing a RHD-->LHD with a relative cheap BMW (M3 or M5) just to see what I am overlooking with the conversion.

@wintrader; I hope you're not driving that BB in Amsterdam, that must be like dusting the porcelain in the dark (a bit tricky if you know what I mean)

JazzyO

1,125 posts

180 months

Thursday 28th May 2009
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BB's are tricky in town, my 365 even more so. Really a caged beast - it snarls and jerks at the chain and is difficult to keep under control.

My biggest problem is that in order to control the heavy throttle at slow speeds, which has a lot of initial resistance, you need to slip the single plate clutch. particularly because the car doesn't like load at low revs. The clutch is woefully inadequate, and so it quickly burns through. It's not a cheap item to replace! So all in all, best to avoid taking BB's into cities.


Onno


Supercharged5

95 posts

76 months

Monday 16th May 2022
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Try this company:

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064089487...

https://vtautomotive.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/1...

I don’t know if they still do conversions but they have the parts for it - and it is a surprisingly big bunch of parts, you wouldn’t believe how many parts of the car was affected.

5.0ltr

2,750 posts

198 months

Monday 16th May 2022
quotequote all
Supercharged5 said:
Try this company:

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064089487...

https://vtautomotive.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/1...

I don’t know if they still do conversions but they have the parts for it - and it is a surprisingly big bunch of parts, you wouldn’t believe how many parts of the car was affected.
13 years later I guess it has or hasn’t been done? wink

Vincent_Vega

Original Poster:

8 posts

179 months

Monday 16th May 2022
quotequote all
Supercharged5 said:
Try this company:

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064089487...

https://vtautomotive.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/1...

I don’t know if they still do conversions but they have the parts for it - and it is a surprisingly big bunch of parts, you wouldn’t believe how many parts of the car was affected.
Will take a look! Thank you! I still haven’t done the conversion yet…

mk1fan

10,507 posts

224 months

Monday 16th May 2022
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Vincent_Vega said:
Will take a look! Thank you! I still haven’t done the conversion yet…
That is excellent lurking. 6 posts in 14-years biggrin

Vincent_Vega

Original Poster:

8 posts

179 months

Monday 16th May 2022
quotequote all
😃😃😃😃

Supercharged5

95 posts

76 months

Tuesday 17th May 2022
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Vincent_Vega said:
Will take a look! Thank you! I still haven’t done the conversion yet…
Wait Vincet! Give some time to yourself before looking in it! Life is long if you leave time for thinking about starting to think about things!

Polly Grigora

11,209 posts

108 months

Tuesday 17th May 2022
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Due to there being no rush, if you slowly remove all the tape from the dashboard wiring harness, the instrument cluster may well now move over from the RH side to the LH side without you needing to lengthen more than a few cables