Converting a Shelby GT350 to RHD

[marks]

At the end of the day I'd just upgrade my 17 gt with whipple, uprated brakes etc, just sayin.

you could upgrade it with a jet turbine engine, still wouldn't be a gt350

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[Twin Turbo]

Honestly, just import a LHD GT350............I drive LHD daily and it really is not a problem at all. Well, having to jump out to get a ticket for a carpark is, but that's about it. Overtaking? Just hold back and give yourself enough room. Besides, with traffic today overtaking hardly ever happens!

I honestly believe a RHD GT350 would be hard to sell on. For years, Mustangs have been converted to RHD over here. Even the Fox, which was sold here officially for a while (no, the S550 wasn't the first!). However, trying to find info on who converted it and what parts they used is now a nightmare for RHD Fox owners. Likewise, a few S197s were converted, and some of the were bloody deathtraps. Again, even those that were done well, the process and parts list was never documented.

In my opinion, a RHD conversion would never add value to the car and, in all likelyhood, would actually make it less desirable to some. Add in insurance/parts/support issues and, unless you have money to burn, it's just not cost effective.

Take this S197 for example. A absolute beauty in my eyes and, if I were looking for another, it rings all the right bells. Until, that is, I see the steering wheel on the right. Even if I could be convinced the conversion was a high quality one (first thing that jumps out at me is that they didn't both to convert the windshield wipers).......a RHD S197 just doesn't sit well with me. Pardon the pun

 

[marks]

Yes completely agree. Once you start modding, even to turn it into RHD, you'll affect its desirability. Like you say not much overtaking in UK anyway as we've allowed our roads to get so overcrowded.

 

[Harebear72]

I have a 2016 GT car and when this was on order a friend of mine who has property in the USA had on order a LHD 350 and had a price from someone in the UK to change from LHD to RHD and it was going to cost him approx £5k. Now he was in the Motor Trade so I dont doubt for one moment he was paying for price on this.

I was really interested in him doing this only to be as gutted as he was as when he went to the US garage to pay, they then told him he had to pay $15k Over and above the retail cost as there was such a demand the dealers could charge what they wanted !!!! Needless to say he walked away without the purchase of the car.

Looking at the price of the cars now and what Clive Sutton's are charging wish he had stuck with it !!!

 

[Bullitt66]

Definitely buy it! but stick with the LHD.

Technically it can be done, but why would you? This is not like converting a classic E type Jag. It’s a tech filled marvel with a finely honed driving experience. you’d risk chucking away all the work put into things like brake and steering feel, just so you can park it an NCP a bit easier.

It’s been developed to meet durability and crash tests to the strictest standards. Even with the very best workmanship, no independent conversion will have undergone the rigours of testing. I work in vehicle development and the number of development countermeasures put in place before a new car reaches you is staggering. We’re talking 1000s...

Messing about with something so structurally fundamental (bulkhead changes for steering column and pedal box etc) has implications. Even welding over the redundant LHD holes would affect the way the shell deforms on impact.

Then there’s the issues of getting all the ecus talking to each other when it was never designed to work that way.

Personally I would never buy a car where the dash panel has been out for any reason. It will rattle like a can of bolts! You will spend your life chasing niggly rattles.

I totally get that it’s a dream. But I think if you kept it LHD as uncle Henry intended, it would still be a dream come true.

 

[Liam O]

Mustang Motorsport in Austrailia have done it. Not a lot of information on how they achieved it thought, also I dread to think how much it cost! Presumably RHD GT steering rack, dash etc. My concern would be if the headers have to be different to the LHD version to accommodate for the RHD steering column as they have been on the RHD GT.

As much as i'd want a RHD GT350 I think being LHD adds to the specialness of it.

 

[svfinnishline]

Definitely buy it! but stick with the LHD.

Technically it can be done, but why would you? This is not like converting a classic E type Jag. It’s a tech filled marvel with a finely honed driving experience. you’d risk chucking away all the work put into things like brake and steering feel, just so you can park it an NCP a bit easier.

OK to be devils advocate - how about starting with an UK spec RHD S550 Mustang. Transplant the GT350 engine, gearbox, brakes, front & rear suspension, diff included, as well as the front fenders, valance etc. Leave the original wiring harness in place, simply replace all the control units from a wrecked US spec GT350. Tyres. wheels, front rear splitters, diffusers etc. Assuming as good if not better build quality than in Detroit - what could be wrong with this approach. It's not a GT350, but how about a 'clone?' What needs to be considered here that I haven't thought of?

 

[Bullitt66]

Much better approach. I’m sure there’s contacts in this forum stateside which could tell you all the necessary part numbers, us car guys can get pretty obsessive...

It is a fabulous idea, please try it! but its not for me as:
1) how rare/how expensive is a wrecked GR350? Add shipping and duty etc is it even cost feasible? Add uk labour costs & I fear it could spiral out of control unless you have the skills and facilities to do it yourself.
2) it’s never going to be a pukka GT350, just a well executed clone.

So I guess it depends why you want it and what you want to do with it.

I think it would be possibly THE coolest S550 stang in the UK and RHD. I think you would always find a buyer when eventually you decide to flip it.

and what a track day car...

but equally I think all the shelbys will become collector cars. We’re nearing the end of the ICE and these beasts are the probably its last hurrah. However a clone will never appreciate like a genuine thoroughbred

choices, choices...

 

[svfinnishline]

Much better approach. I’m sure there’s contacts in this forum stateside which could tell you all the necessary part numbers, us car guys can get pretty obsessive... choices, choices...

I'm thinking hard about it! There's a breaker in the states called 'the parts farm' that specialise in Mustangs and have numerous wrecked GT350's. Engine, transmission, dash and all ECU's from LHD GT350 for $17.5K (22K miles, running 'crank a pallet'), rear end ca. $500, 4 wheel GT350 brakes plus hubs ca $2K. Bonnet, front wings, rear wing, diffuser, seats etc all available - on a routine basis. Beyond the powertrain, suspension & brakes - how much do you want to spend on the Shelby branded parts?

Combing the Shelby powertrain, with the Bullitt's digital dash and auto throttle blip on downshift would be better than stock.

You would be importing used car parts into the UK - not a new car. The values and import duties less. So combine that with the lowest price UK spec RHD car (ca. 18K GBP?), paint it like a Shelby HE and you can say I 'built' it.

Why do it? It's RHD. It's a Shelby in all but SN. You buy to own, not for resale value i.e. enjoy it. It should be a far less expensive way to get to the end goal (owning a RHD Shelby) without paying all the taxes, import duties and cost of conversion (i.e. lights etc).

Bench racing here..

 

[Bullitt66]

This did get me thinking...

However just looked at fleabay US site and the cheapest (LHD) GT350 went for 40k, plenty listed there less than 45k.

Your parts + donor RHD car would cost more than that.

So it would be a labour of love. But a pretty special one.

 

[GT 550]

I work in vehicle development and the number of development countermeasures put in place before a new car reaches you is staggering. We’re talking 1000s....

Hi Dave this is interesting, can you elaborate a bit please on 'development countermeasures'?

 

[Supersolo]

It’s been developed to meet durability and crash tests to the strictest standards. Even with the very best workmanship, no independent conversion will have undergone the rigours of testing. I work in vehicle development and the number of development countermeasures put in place before a new car reaches you is staggering. We’re talking 1000s...

Curious term. I've worked as a component and assembly design Engineer, body-in-white and interior trim, for over 25 years, for numerous OEMs, tier 1s, etc, and I've never been aware of "development counter measures".
Usually we're far too busy designing panels and parts to meet several targets, packaging, manufacturing, safety, cost, etc, but I don't recall ever being party to discussions in meetings about "development counter measures" beyond making sure some disgruntled employee on the line can't fit the door switches in the trim panel, the wrong way around. We include "Pokey-Okey" features to prevent that, but as far as I recall, that's about it.

Typically the dash panel will be handed, which would be a considerable factor in choosing the direction of conversion, ie, would the GT350 parts migrate to a RHD body or do the RHD parts migrate to the GT350 body.
Without conducting an indepth analysis, I'd suspect it would be the former.

 

[Bullitt66]

By ‘development countermeasures’ I mean any revision to a part after it’s intent is originally set. This could be a bench test failure where a component won’t meet the target (like the robot opening & closing drawers you see in Ikea), endurance test failure of a component or assembly in a finished vehicle, legal test failure like emissions or crash test, workability ‘poke yoke‘ where the parts simply don’t fit as intended. The list goes on & on right down to marketing who’s expert with a calibrated arse may decide the seat isn’t comfortable enough or is not quite The right shade of grey. As the car evolves from digital to prototype to pilot builds, every problem needs fixing, and my comment ref DIY LHD relates to this missing piece of the jigsaw

 

[Bullitt66]

GT550 there’s an interesting documentary about S550 development on Netflix called ‘a faster horse’. Worth a look

Supersolo - I guess we probably have different terms for the same thing, You know stuff like how to get front end fit right when the tolerances on the hood, fender, headlight and grille are not nominal. but if you can get it right 1st time every time, you’re a better man than me!

 

[Supersolo]

@Bullitt66
I was just curious about that phrase, was all.

Ref your example, yes, panel gap and alignment can be challenges to any OEM which cares...
Evidently Ford wasn't too fussed about any of the panels on my Mustang, aligning though, lol.
Cheers.

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