Like I said alot depends on on how much you can do your self. However as other have mentioned where you live also has alot to do with how difficult this kind of thing is to do. I am lucky as where I live on a car as old as a mk3 supra you only need "A cleen title" to get it registered and some one to look at the car in the parking lot of there garage, kick the tires have you flash the lights and turn signals to get inspected. I often have to ask to have it looked over any more closely than that and then they just tell me if they found any problems, stick a sticker on and I pay and go. I know of more that one person around me who realized that as far as any one cares there no real difference between a JDM or euro car with a couple of key bits swaped on from a USDM rust bucket in a afternoon and spending big money and tons of time cuting up a JDM car and replaceing 90% of a USDM cars parts.
As an example let's use a RHD MK3 supra. There are USDM MK3 supras and where I live you can have a RHD car. So you buy a nice cleen usdm shell and a complete JDM parts car. You then strip them both down and weld the fire wall from RHD to LHD shell. You swap the dash and because the JDM cars interor is mint you swap the doors and complete interor. Then you swap the hood and hatch because they are in better shape. Then the shell get media blasted and painted a non factory color. Then you swap all the harness, both the engine and body and the JZ subframe and engine get swaped in. You happen to like the 89+ body so you swap the front bumper and front and rear lights. The brakes are replaced with willwoods and the suspention with coilovers and other after market parts. You go single turbo and are running on stand alone engine management. SO... what is realy left of the USDM LHD car? Not much, just a bit of unidentifiable sheet metal, and the car your left with has no matching vin tags to the title and has a weeker frame due to being cut and welded. So why bother if the car is FOR YOU? Buy a JDM car and a USDM rust bucket and behold, was that not the fastest and cleenst JDM swap your buddys have ever seen, it looks so cleen they would sware its a JDM car. Through any good parts from the USDM car in you shed so you can always say "look hear are the parts left from the swap". Rent a chop saw and cut up the useless rusted out USDM shell into small pieces and make a run to the metal scrap yard and get a few hundred bucks back. This car is safer due to not have to been welded back togeather and as long as ITS ONLY FOR YOU and you don't lie and try to sell it as something its not your fine. Don't try to say your new R34 skyline was your old Maxima, it wont work. But your Mistubishi GTO could have been your old 3000GT, get it. Wink Wink
This will not work every where and don't be a stupid dick and start selling JDM converted cars on ebay. This is a little loop hole that might help you to get the car you have wanted for years for your own enjoyment. And if you do this and do something sutpid and it blows up in your face don't blame me for it, I am just posting info I have learned from people I know. This is also helpfull if you are buying a suposidly legaly Inported JDM car as it would be something to watch out for so you don't pay big bucks for something you may or may not be able to use.
