I recently bought a Nissan Skyline R33 1997, im stationed in England. To anyone who has ANY idea on what i have to do to convert it to pass standards in the US you will be of great help. I know it wont pass emission but that can be fixed but what else would i have to do?

 

MotoRex or something was the only company I am aware of which could import them, but I believe they are out of business now...

i think emissions are the least of your worries, you need to get DOT approval and some other stuff just to get it through customs. It's prob gonna be more money than it's worth.

Probably enough money to just go get a new GTR for 70k...

 

Just enjoy the best of the car while you're there and sell it when you leave.

 

Where are you moving to? Some places do not have emission checks.

 

I remember you being from MA, forget about getting it registered in MA since MA is very tough on emissions and safety auto inspections. My suggestion is to get it registered it in NH, I know there is a company in Hudson, NH that does Skyline and Silvia conversions, get in touch with them and see how they can help you .

http://www.jnrmotorsports.biz/index.html

 

first you must meet all the emission and safety feature in the US that got approved by DOT then they will inspect the car and give you a number kinda like our VIN.

 

thanks for all the responses, and again, im not worried about importing it because Air Force i already know will take care of that, im just curiuos of whats after that when it arrives in the states.

 

 

Federalizing a Skyline like that is not easy, and definitely not cheap.

 

any idea on how much it would run me?

 

Found this link on the D.O.T. Website.

http://ntl.bts.gov/faq/import.html

 

i dont know if this helps but it gave me a good idea http://www.foreignborn.com/visas_imm...ingyourcar.htm

 

The problem with the car is if it has not been granted exemption by DOT, the company doing the work has to do a lot of converting (costing a lot of $$$), plus there is crash testing.

Crash testing is the biggest hurdle. Now, the smart thing is to get an old R30 (think 25 years old), then you are exempt.

Being here in Japan, a lot of military guys think they can afford to bring their Skyline back. Think tens of thousands, $3K for the catalytic converter and other small stuff, then a huge amount for crash testing. One thing you could do is import it for race purposes (which means it could never be street legal), then part it out to recreate an R33 on another Nissan platform (180 / 240 SX).

Just my

 

so they literally crash it multiple times?

 

As a general rule, a new to the US vehicle has to undergo crash testing, and that involves front, side, and rear impacts. This means 10 new vehicles are needed for the tests. And those, of course, are wrecked just for testing. Someone has to pay for it.

That is where Motorex went wrong, was they had to import the cars (lots of $$$), then crash test others. They were using customer money to do this. Now, a nice R34 over here costs about $40G's and up, but customers were paying nearly $100K, and they got nothing to show for it.

I think there is an exception for the R33, certain ones. I would say Google it and find out.

 

thats rediculous. sell the skyline and buy a supra

 

 

i knwo i know...no comparison. but its the closest thing when it comes to mod potential

 

I think you can import it for "show purposes" and be exempt from certain things

 

seriously, i'm not trying to be a dick or anything, but nobody has yet suggested that you go over to the skyline forums? i never read them but there are some out there and this has come up before. heck, it's come up more than once on this forum alone.

i ran into one of the guys from motorex on the street in 2004 in northridge when i pulled up next to his skyline. i think one of the reasons they went out of business is because they crash tested one model skyline, declared that test good for all of the models they were importing, and the us government found out. there's some other controversy with the guy that ran that company also.

 

Motorex messed up in more ways than one. The owner was involved in some shady business practices which eventually led to IRS and FBI involvement, the result was the company had to be closed. As for their legalization practices, they went through the proper channels and legalized R33 models but were "legalizing" R32 and R34 models claiming they were R33 models.

As a result, the NHTSA does not allow any R32 and R34 skylines to be imported. The company that Motorex was working with to comply with EPA and DOT standards is still in business and thanks to the confidentiality agreement that Motorex had with them expiring, this year they successfully petitioned the NHTSA to allow R33 models to be imported as long as they bring them up to code. If you are serious about importing it contacting them is your best bet, they are RI and ICI legal.

J.K. Motors/J.K Technologies
3500 Sweet Air Street
Baltimore, MD 21211
(410) 366-6332

You can find all the info you may need on www.nicoclub.com

 

yea i already read the article at nicoclub but it doesn't tell me shit it just tells me about importing it and finding an RI but i already have an RI i just need to know what exact changes need to be done and a really close estimate to what it will cost me. and i cant find that anywhere.

 

i can tell you get your money up now...it's about $15k to get one shipped from here, and that's with all the paperwork, granted i live in Japan but you get the drift.

there is another way where basically you pull the engine and transmission, so now you have a shell...it's not a car without an engine, go figure. then you ship the shell "drivetrain delete" and get it put back together in the states. but i think when you do that you have to register it as a kit car, i'd have to dig for more specifics on it.

i actually own a R33 too, and i'm going to ship mine back to the states when i come back but i don't leave for another 3 years. so i got some time to figure out all the loopholes.

bottom line if you really want to do that, get ready for a grip of hoops to jump through

 

can u post pics of your car? I always drool over skylines ... so sexy!

 

it'd have to be later...underway at the moment...no pics...i'll be home soon tho

 

i couldnt give you specific figures...

but no doubt, be prepared to spend $$ = or > price of car

Motorex is the only company that has taken on the risk of expenditure hits for compliance. meaning that the only reasonable way, financially, of having these vehicles compliant is to do it in bulk, and learn the most efficient procedure.

so on a personal level, i could imagine the compliance process could be quite pricey.

 

spelling ownz you.

i would suggest something similar, unless you are a die hard skyline enthusiast.

 

http://www.nicoclub.com/articles/NHTSA-update.pdf

took me all of a few minutes to find this. hope your RI can get it done. as for a price range, $35000 is about the most you can expect to pay. most people i have talked to have paid in the mid to high 20's.