where to get a jdm shell?

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stmotorsports

stmotorsports

Senior Member
I know there are countless engine/part importers out there, but far fewer deal in clips and/or entire vehicles. Where/how does one go about getting a shell imported?
 
You don't want a whole shell.. It will be hellishly expensive to title and register. Get a USDM car, a JDM front clip, and swap everything from the firewall forward.

Hmotorsonline.com does front clips. Great people.
 
its not anything that I would be looking to title and/or register as-is just for the sake of jdm hotness or anything like that, just need it for parts like the floorpan and more of the rear clip than the front. Its not so much the engine swap that I'm concerned with

just seems like it would be easier if I could get a complete shell and rebuild it with all usdm parts and vin than to have to hack 2 cars essentially in half just to put one back together
 
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importing a car whole is a huge PITA, and that's why you see front clips almost exclusivesly.

if the car is driveable from the boat, it's a customs nightmare.


perhaps there may be someone who can get a 'rear clip'. i don't know. try one of our jdm importer sponsors.
 
yeah I knew about the whole driveable from the boat thing, but I always heard as long as its just a shell w no driveline its still considered "parts", but maybe not...

I'll call around to some of the sponsors tomorrow or monday, most I've spoken with so far don't want to get involved in custom requests for some reason
 
stmotorsports said:
get a complete shell and rebuild it with all usdm parts and vin than to have to hack 2 cars essentially in half just to put one back together
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If youre meaning slap a USDM VIN on the JDM shell then that's completely illegal.

Could you just seperate the engine/drivetrain from the car and bring them both over as parts. Then presto change-o show up at the BMV with it all in working order on a trailer asking to get it registered.
 
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yes if you get it the a shell shipped out here it is considered just a part. A company does this with the Skylines (dont know if they are even in buiness anymore). But in their case those cars became a KIT car, and was registered with the companys name and not as a nissan the hole price for that process came out to the same price for a new GTR, its registration is done kinda like all the kit Shelby Cobra's

for you to Reg it with DMV as a Honda, it would be a huge freaking headace with US Customs. Safety Equipment, DOT glass, motor, etc. has to be checked and changed.

It would be easlier, and legal to just get a front end cut, or just be on the look out for a JDM car that is already gone through all of this, they are rare but you can find them, you cant just look in your neck of the woods. Few months ago on a Bay Area Craigs list had for sale a JDM CRX Si-R for sale that was able to be legal driven on the streets, listed at $12,000; for a 20 year old car yea right!!
 
you can import a whole shell as long as it has no engine trans or suspension. i have a friend that has done it many times. there are disassenblers that will take the car apart and carefully pack every thing then you can put it back together when you get it
 
it's not illegal to put a usdm vin on a jdm shell, as long as you can show that the vehicle was rebuilt using mostly parts from the vehicle with the original vin. What do you think collision shops and rebuilders do with rollover wrecks where the cabin is completely demolished? You can legally replace a shell/cab/etc. I used to work in the collision business and I saw it done several times. You just have to be able to show that you legally own both vehicles (both vins). Thats how peeps get busted switching legit vins onto stolen vehicles, the stolen car usually still has vin/serial/build codes that were missed and correspond with a stolen vehicle.

but back on topic, again I have no desire to title the vehicle/shell/cut/clip/whatever being shipped here. I only need basically the REAR clip, suspension and related parts. This is the problem. I'm still in the process of calling around to different importers but obviously nobody has REAR clips and few are willing to take custom requests- they get what they get in and that's it.

Domi31- yeah I know what company you're talking about, I forget the name too but I remember they're the ones that laid out all that $$$$ to have sample skylines brought over & crash tested to get them legal over here, then something about all kinds of peeps were getting busted racing them, there was all kinds of lawsuits and legal mess and now they're allegedly not legal over here anymore?

97hatch- is your friend on here or could I contact him about it?
 
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It is totally illegal. Completely and totally. There is no gray area.

If you've seen it done several times, you've seen the law broken several times. Doesn't make it right.
 
phyregod after thes cars have been imported as parts then reassembled they were registered with a custom vehicle vin# thru the bmv you have to show many reciepts for parts and things have a police officer check the car out and all kinds of bs then the BMV will issue a M-Vin (manactufactured vin #) after this the car is totaly legit to drive.
 
exactly. you can't just stick a USDM VIN on a JDM chassis just because you own them both or whatever. You get a totally different tag like you would for a kit car. AFTER you have it inspected. Otherwise its the same as snagging one from a junkyard and misrepresenting your restored car as the other one. Illegal plain and simple.
 
what is so diffrent between the suspension of jdm cars and floorpan? thaught just about everything on the rear was the same except some cosmetic parts?
 
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