Newbie from the Dominican Republic!!!! attention mates!

tasty · Post by **tasty** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:04 pm

Hello everyone, i'm an avid fan of the FTO cars, got an interest at first by Gran Turismo in Playstation, after that i got an even more interest because i saw the first one...live, here in my country...btw i live in the Dominican Republic...in the imports scene (pretty much the only scene here jejeje) reigns two groups, little peasants (civics, integras, crx, trueno, preludes, etc etc) and big boys (supras, skylines, silvias, 240sx, altezzas, IS, celica gt4, evolutions, sti, etc etc) yet somehow in the country there's only "a couple" (8 to be exact) FTO's that i've laid my eyes on, pretty much pre-facelift versions....but about three days ago, a miracle has happened....a GP Version R Facelift version has arrived!!!!!, GORGEOUS CAR! AMAZING POWER, i had a chance to test drive it because the owner is selling it (in here we have to do RHD to LHD conversions by law no matter what or they will impound your car... )....anyways that was one of the best experiences of my life, that baby has everything!, Mivec V6 engine, clutch kit, suspension, 18" wheels, strut braces front and back, HID, LSD!, the interior is off the hook, clean clean!!! i just pretty much fell in love with the car so i managed to "do my homework" and search for info about these rare cars, i pretty much know everything in theory and thank god i found a page and a forum like yours, mad props to the administrators!! it has helped like you have no idea.....now that you know the story of my life, lets see how y'all can help me with a couple of things here

1 - Is it too hard to do a RHD to LHD conversion (i need as flawless as possible) and what things do i need to have in mind like do i need to weld stuff or make some special part to fit or create a new harness, you know, little (bu very important) stuff to keep in mind...

2 - how about the spare parts, i bet in your country you have a lot wich eventually if i get the car and something gets damaged i will have to import it but i want to know if i can get pretty much everything from the UK or AU and specially for maintenance of the car!

3- this car as i recall has ALMOST 100k kilometers in it, (its what the odo says...), what things do i need to have in mind if im going to buy it, like switching timing belts and all thats stuff (im new to the mitsubishi world )

4- i beleive the tranny its making some "squishing" sounds, it reminds me of my integra when the clutch went bad, it sounded like shhhh shhhh shhhh shhhh everytime a gear grapped....you think it can be that?

5- there's also and odd "somethings loose in the trunk" sound but its hard to determine, sounds like bushings or some suspension issue, in any case, is it too expensive?

6- since i work either in dollars or PESOS and you guys i think use Australian Dollars or something, can anyone post the current exchange rate from your currency to a dollar to see how expensive its going to be to import some clutch kit or bearings or bushings kit (so i can reduce it from the actual price:p)

7- sorry if its too long but im dying here! i don't want the car to be sold...I WANT IT!!!

8- Thank you FTO Australia, you've been really helpful!

lwrida · Post by **lwrida** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:56 pm

Hey Champ,

heres the exchange rate from australian dollars to dominican republic pesos.

1.00 AUD = 26.2821 DOP
Australia Dollars - Dominican Republic Pesos

Sourced from http://www.xe.com/

Cheers

Christos

Post by **dstocks** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 1:16 pm

And as to parts, they are not hard too come across. Would imagine the postage would be a bit of a killer though.

FtoSam · Post by **FtoSam** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:01 pm

As far as the conversion i have only seen one LHD FTO.
In the USA. Looked seamless. You might be best looking on an American site or talking to a Conversion Shop. As none of us here have actually done the conversion (Australia is RHD). So i dont know how much luck you'll have there.. but someone here might know something...
Good luck with the purchase... i know i love my FTO...

Post by **Supplanter** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:33 pm

About a month or 2 ago someone here posted a link to a LHD FTO on CarDomain. Give the search a go.

Post by **dstocks** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:35 pm

I think thats the same one as Sam is referring to

Post by **Supplanter** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:47 pm

Supplanter wrote:About a month or 2 ago someone here posted a link to a LHD FTO on CarDomain. Give the search a go.

Here it is: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2544864

It is in Bolivia, so closer to you than we are