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Mr.Martin

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Well, figured I'd join this forum and see how things are across the pond ;) I love the S15, but America has the stupid rule that an imported car has to be a minimum 25 years old, so for me to own a S15 would be highly illegal here. I do have an s13 that is stripped down and ready for an LS2. And, I bought an S14 last year, but it's a base, auto model (thumbs down) that I'm currently hunting kouki parts down so I can change the front end. It's my DD so I want to keep it simple and comfortable to drive.
 
S

S15 SILVIA

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Welcome mate. Gutting that law you have over there! Doesn't make sense.
Got any pics of your 13 or 14.
13 sounds interesting! How easy does an LS2 fit?
Mike
 
M

Mr.Martin

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Yea, we have to wait 25 years and Canada has to wait 15 years. They make swap kits that make the LSx engines pretty much a complete drop in. There are a few companies that do this. Here are a few pics of my cars, and the last pic is the mount kit I have for the LS2.



Right after the Sr swap




LOL the bottom of the barrel S14


Daft LSx kit
 

meddler

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Welcome,

Nice S13 and even though the S14 is stock, it has plenty of possibilities :)

The conversion kit is a nice bit of gear. How much so they charge for that? What gearbox do you use?
 
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Mr.Martin

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That mount kit runs right at 600 dollars. You would still need a lot more stuff to complete the swap like driveshaft, custom headers, etc...

I have a fully built t-56 that will be mated with the engine.
 
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Welcome :)

So, is the 25 year rule widespread across America, or does it vary by state? How have other people over there got around the rule, as there are a few others from the USA on here with S15's?

When I was in Florida recently I called in at Mazworx, and the dude there seemed to think the laws weren't too bad there. He reckoned he'd have been able to get their drag S15 on the road if he wanted to :)
 
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Mr.Martin

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People figure out ways to get around everything here, it may not be legal, but most don't care. People have tried putting them on the road as kit cars, others are for track use only and drive it on the roads anyway. What you see the most of here is people getting a 240sx shell and pulling the vin number off the dash and the firewall and scrapping the car. They put the vins on the imported car and there is really not a way to catch it. There was a scare about 6 months ago where some grey market imported cars were being confiscated and crushed. LOL there were skylines everywhere on the east coast going up for sale. Motorex actually got r33's legal, but they got busted bringing in r32's and had a multi-million dollar lawsuit pressed on them. The r32's they brought in were allowed to stay here under a grandfather clause so those are safe here.

As for mazworx, if your talking about the green s15 they have there would be no way to make it legal. It has a tube chassis, airbags or anything safety wise. But, then again if they knew the right people they could get by with it. (as in paying the inspectors off)
 
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As for mazworx, if your talking about the green s15 they have there would be no way to make it legal. It has a tube chassis, airbags or anything safety wise. But, then again if they knew the right people they could get by with it. (as in paying the inspectors off)
Yeah, that's the one. They said it is sold now though.
He didn't say he wanted to get it on the road, but if he did want to, he probably could have. In the link you posted it said that they didn't care about it much in Florida and Arizona, so that's probably how it was possible.

Would you be allowed to register a car in another state where they were a bit more lax on import laws, or do they need to be registered to the state where you live?
 
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Mr.Martin

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I've never messed with it. Some states like SC and GA are easier to work with, but either way, its still illegal. So, if it does get caught you loose it. :(

I can't spend 30k and take the risk of it getting crush and loosing all that money.
 
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