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Hi John,
Reproduction RHD dashes and dash components are still available, so that didn't seem to be a problem when i'd first considered the project. My concerns began when i delved into the parts catalogue and noticed significant differences in the battery box, firewall, and pedal box sheetmetal between RHD and LHD versions, as you've pointed out.
It appears it's not as straigtforward as converting something like a 140, which (IIRC) used a common firewall pressing and where they already had the sheetmetal appeared to be pressed to accomodate either LHD or RHD, from what I remember of the 140 I had over 10 years ago. I'd imagine that conversion would be far simpler. Much of the mechanical side of the conversion would be a matter of pulling out the rubber plugs already in the firewall and moving things over, but the 1800 is a totally different beastie in that regard.
For the steering box, I'd considered using a power assisted unit out of a 164E which sold in good numbers in Australia and would seem to have reasonable parts availability. The column itself seems to have common componentry insofar as what I've seen in the parts catalogue.
But the typical price of an 1800E in Australia is generally around AU $12k - $14K for a rough unit needing a lot of work... that is, if and when you can find one. Finding wrecks is even harder.
I've managed to purchase this car in the US and import it for less than half of that figure. With most of the mechanical and electrical work being done by me, I figured the cost of buying the thing, importing it and the conversion wouldn't exceed the $12K figure - in fact, I figured i'd be in front to the tune of $2-3K with a good, solid car.
However this issue of significant sheetmetal differences that you've mentioned has me a bit concerned, and so i figure the good folks on here may have had some experience with a similar type of conversion.
Cheers.
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