Driving from the other side is no real problem, I've had my fourteen for getting on for 12 years now and I have never had any problems. A converted car will always be worth a lot less and frankly I can't see any benfit at all in doing the conversion. Keep it LHD and enjoy it.
Had the same worrys myself and its taken the lads here nearly 2+ years to talk me into trying a LHD car..
thanks to Drummerboytom for throwing me the keys of his yellow 914 keys and saying go for it....brave man.
i am now the proud owner of a 914, its only been a few weeks and im still getting a stiff arm from changeing gear with my right arm...but have to admit that being on the left when driving is not at all difficult, its amazing how quickly you adjust...
member#1182
Currently Porscheless but on the look out for my 30th
I have only just got my 914 and getting used to LHD is easy. You will have more difficulty getting used to the dog leg gearbox.
Half the fun of these cars is that they are different. A conversion to RHD would be an expense that will do nothing for the value of the car (you also have the problem of sourcing or fabricating a RHD dash).
Firstly, thank you to everybody who has replied so far!
Such a quick response - what an excellent web site / forum.
Secondly, I still am not sufficiently convinced that LHD is best in this country as a daily driver.
I have a Lotus Elan +2 as my occasional use family car (RHD), so the 914 was to be my RELIABLE everyday car for the summer. If making the car right hand drive will not decrease its value and I can carry out a sympathetic conversion, I still feel that I should go ahead.
Steve C wrote:
Thirdly, are the gearchanges REALLY that bad?????
They're not that bad Steve, but they do take a bit of getting used to. When I first drove mine I could barely find any gear, I was crunching and grinding all over the place Adding the factor that I'd never driven a dog leg box before everytime I wanted to change down I had to think about where the gearstick needed to go.
But... after a few hours of driving it's all second nature now and it doesn't concern me at all.
RHD cars are fine, there are a few 'home' conversions around and all the owners enjoy them. Pricewise I don't think that there is a premium or a lowering of price for RHD cars (although some may feel that they are worth more). Whereabouts are you based - there is an owner in the north who had his 914-6 converted and one down in Berkshire (I think) that also has a RHD car. May be worth speaking to one of them.
The gear change is not too bad, it just takes time to get used to it.
LHD is not difficult to get used to and neither is the gearbox. I perasonaly found that it was easier to get used to LHD than it was to get used to the gearbox, but even then gearbox was easy enough.
All you do is you adapt your driving style accordingly. When overtaking make sure you look up the inside of the traffic (where possible) as opposed to the outside and leave plenty of room for the manoever/overtake.
I agree with abm914 and Defianty. Dont write off a conversion due to others opinions as at the end of the day you will be driving it. Check out some of the RHD converted cars if you can, then make an informed decision.
The guys on this forum are very helpfull and I believe most would be happy to offer help in any capacity they can.
on a lighter note....i drive a lhd roadsweeper everyday , for years now....no probs , just seems everyone else on road that on wrong side....plus lots of people s**t themselves cos they think theres no-one driving .........arrived late too
Last edited by mrbenn007uk on Fri Oct 27, 2006 5:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Don't despair Steve - I'm planning a RHD conversion as well although must admit I'm surprised at the strength of feeling about not bothering.
I agree with those above who say left hookers aren't a problem. I've regularly driven lefts and rights on a daily basis and apart from walking round to the wrong door, and trying to change gear with the window winder the problems are minor. But my reasoning is that if I'm going to use the car regularly then it's the logical thing to do plus I'm doing a complete resto anyway so whilst everything is totally stripped out - why not ? If my car was a minter I probably wouldn't bother. I think another thing that motivates me is that will be an interesting exercise in doing it properly and making it look and feel as if it was an original factory build.
Now about those gearchanges - that worries me as well. I've never driven a 14 and from comments above they all vary anyway - presumably dependant on wear in the bushings ? VW type 2s were always bad for this reason. This is another raeson why I'm thinking of putting something else (and its gearbox) in place of the VW 4.
Are the side shift boxes any better than the tail shifters or do they still have problems ?
Adding the factor that I'd never driven a dog leg box before everytime I wanted to change down I had to think about where the gearstick needed to go.
(arrives shockingly late to the thread 
)