LHD conversion

Post by **Pascal** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:17 am

Hi,

After a long spell in the UK I'm planning to return to my home country but wouldn't contemplate leaving my beloved moggy behind. Hence I'm looking into LHD conversion.

First thing, I've realised I'll have to swap my 4-door saloon for a 2-door one, as apparently there's no such thing as a LH side door handle with external lock on 4-door models.

What's involved in converting a RHD into a LHD?
- new steering rack or turn it around?
- how do you move the pedals to the other side (master cylinder relocation, clutch relay shaft)?
- anything else to think about?

Regards

Post by **PSL184** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 1:38 pm

I know 2 doors cars didn't have a passenger door lock until about 1964 - Did 4 door cars not change then also?

Post by **rayofleamington** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 2:10 pm

I'm not sure about the later 4-door cars but I never found a LH external door lock for mine.
Certainly if you convert an early 4 door to LHD it will be the same as the LHD export models = no external lock on the drivers door!

Anyway =- steering rack for LHD minor is same as RHD midget so easily / cheaply available second hand

Brake master cylinder will move across with no hassle except to re-make one brake pipe and move some of the others.
Accelerator pedal can be moved across but you need to weld some newmounting points OR find a correct LHD accelerator pedal.
Clutch pedal - there are 2 basic ways
1) convert to hydraulic clutch and make a pipe pipe between LHD master cuylinder position and RHD slave position. The Minor 1000 clutch pedal and shaft need to be cut and re-welded. On series 2 the pedal and shaft bolt together so it can be modified with a grinder.

2) keep the mechanical linkage but you need to replace the gearbox front plate to have a LHD clutch pivot (the clutch arm needs to come out in a different place). You have the same issues with clutch pedal and shaft as per hydraulic set up.
The cost of gearbox front plate and the hassle of removing the engine or gearbox for access may make the hydraulic a better idea.

For the drivers door you may be able to find a clever person to make an external quarterlight lock - On my 4 door converted to LHD I used to open the quarterlight and put my arm in to unlock the door.