Legalizing a Nissan GT-R or GT-S to US standards

:rocket: Does anyone know specifically what must be done to legalize a GT-R or GT-S for importation into the us? I already know who sells them. I know that you have to go through a registered importer. I just want to know what must be modified and possibly parts are needed to do it. This is just for my own sanity
:what:

different doors bumpers windows the bumpers have to be 5mph bumpers and emmisions shit , all the safety stuff and emmsiosns

:newburn: specifics man!!! I NEED specifics!!!:help:

Pm TYNDAGO he's got tons of good info on changing up skylines close to U.S. standards. Plus importing.... Still have to go through Motorex.

also I believe catalytic converters need to be modified, i will post more on the converting as I think it should be public and free for all to play around with, but there are too many small bolt ons and tweaks to list in full, as most are secret and hard to find (try detangling a motorex skyline)! lol

peace,
alex

thanx for your help. But what I just dont understand is if the GT-R and GT-S-t (rhd) is eligable, according to the nhtsa vehicle eligablity list they are, why is it so damn hard to get the info to do tha mods!!! I mean do they expect every RI to get the crash testing data for themselves? Or do you just have to find an "annointed by God":thumbup: mechanic who also has the ability of a supreme court justice to understand all the rules and regulations? And Then somehow know how and where to find all the parts needed??? Within 120 days????? You gotta be kiddin' me man! Will the DOT give the info? or possiobly the NHTSA? DMV??? SOMEBODY???? ANYBODY?????:newburn:..huf...huf...huf.... ok.....I think... im ok now....maby....or is it "mabe" I reele sukc @ speliang!!!!

to answer more questions...

check this link to motorex for legalization cost...

http://motorex.net/conversion.html

there's a link to the gov't there as well..

Okay.. So let me see if I got all this info right.. btw I'm new Hey guys! okay.. So.. I can import a skyline through.. lets say Omega for lets use their figures.. 11,995 shipped.. And have them legalize it for their price of 15,000 bucks.. and it's legal.. but for me to legalize it myself.. I have to 1) Find out what even has to be changed on some magical website that doesn't appear to be real.. 2) crash the car to pieces to prove that it will pass crash tests.. are these like 5mph crashes or 120mph crashes? Because I honestly don't see the what the hell would cost 15,000 to make a car legal.. I understand that it's probably not a drop in the bucket.. but if they're shipping and selling skylines for 12,000 dollars. .they have to be making their profit on legalization..

Okay next part of my rant.. lets say I buy the aformentioned skyline.. and drive to the dock and put it on a trailer and try to drive it home? am I going to be ambushed and shot by army guys at the US/Canada border? Will I be able to get through if I fill out the whatever form to use it for racing purposes? Also someone in another thread or maybe it was this one said you can drive the car for a certain amount of miles without it being registered.. is this true? I'm extremely interested and have the money to do this.. I'm just at a loss at the total process.. a year ago I checked into importing one myself and got a headache from the list of paperwork and the process I had to go through.. i'd much rather just go through an RI that will deal with everything for me.. I'm sure I have other questions that i'm sure have been answered before.. but I can't think of them right now..

Because I honestly don't see the what the hell would cost 15,000 to make a car legal

first off, the car isn't guaranteed to pass the legalization/emissions test the first time around.
second, it's not a cheap test to pass by any means...
third, that's a flat rate from motorex. it may end up costing more, it may end up costing less.
4th. it's motorex. the company that actually went through the crash testing, etc. to get the cars able to be legalized. they're pretty much god when it comes to legalizing a skyline.
if they say it costs that much, i'm gonna have to go with it.

Will I be able to get through if I fill out the whatever form to use it for racing purposes?

if you go that route, you'll not be able to drive it on the street.
it's not street legal at that point. so you'd not be allowed to drive it anywhere but for "show or race purposes".

next question?

Okay.. I've noticed most people are motorex fans around here.. so explain to me why I would choose motorex if omega is cheaper? Are they a PITA to work with? or what?

And I pretty much understood if I went the second route I wouldn't be able to drive it period except at a track.. so in all essense.. I could buy a cheap skyline.. have it shipped.. and NOT have to title it at all.. nifty =) But i'm sure if I did drive it on the street and got caught.. that would be some baaaaaad stuff..

Another question..and I may sound like a total tool for asking this.. is there a difference between a skyline R32 GT-R and a skyline BNR32? I'm basically curious about all the letters they use.. BNC BNR blah blah.. any help there would be greatly appreciated. . I ask because when I go to order parts.. it's MUCH easier to know what your asking for in the first place ;) especially when ordering from japan..haha i've had problems with that in the past with a few cars..

Also.. here's another dilmea.. I personally have never really liked the R34's.. no offense to anyone .. they're awesome.. just not for me.. I've also really dug the 32's and 33's.. And I THINK really the only difference between the 2 is torque and weight (I could be wrong and probably forgot something) but that's the biggest factor.. so in YOUR opinions.. what would you rather have? considering price isn't a factor.. just going on your own personal preferances.. I pretty much have my mind set on a 32 already.. I just want to make sure someone doesn't say something I might've overlooked..

post removed because of double post.

BNR32 is the model designation for R32 GTR Same thing.

R32 and R33 have essentially the same out put while the R33 is slightly heavier and more rounded.
Also the R33 Vspecs have a better ATTESSA system and slight stronger drive train.

I own an R32 and love it.

Originally posted by Sadistic
Okay.. I've noticed most people are motorex fans around here..
Not fans of them, we just realize the facts. Also I have to say I'm grateful to Motorex for making it possible to own a street legal Skyline in the States.
Originally posted by Sadistic
so explain to me why I would choose motorex if omega is cheaper? Are they a PITA to work with? or what?

The answer to that is quite simple, Omega doesn't sell street legal Skylines. You can get a street legal Skyline only from Motorex or RB Motoring and even the latter is going through Motorex to get them legalized.

But they say on their webpage that they will make your skyline legal for street use.. http://www.omegaskylines.com/Legalizing.html?1051320710140 They don't even list RBmotoring.. They just sound flaky to me.. if you add up their pricing they can be about 10 thousand dollars cheaper than MotoRex and that just sounds flaky..

I knew the body style difference between the R32 and 33.. but that's what I figured was weight..and the traction system.. I thought maybe the torque would be a tad different also.. but HP and torque really don't mean a whole lot stock since the car won't stay that way.. and btw this forum is great.. it's so much easier to talk to people about this that have actually GONE through the process instead of people that just dream about it.. thanks alot..heh

Originally posted by Sadistic
But they say on their webpage that they will make your skyline legal for street use..
It's a scam. If you read their "Legalizing (http://www.omegaskylines.com/Legalizing.html?1051320710140) " section, you get quite a few giveaways:

"We will be teamed up with 2 now made annonymous companies in the USA to legalize skylines. You will have..."

Notice the use of will. They are not selling you legalized Skylines, they are selling you ones that are not legalized, but they promise to legalize them for you LATER. How do you know they won't, this pretty much tells you it:

"If you have your own skyline already we can't cut you this deal-sorry."

So what they want you to do is buy a Skyline from them, for inflated price, and promise to later legalize it for you. Of course they never will and you're stuck with non-street legal Skyline you can't use, nor import to USA. Notice that they ship it to Canada.

See that's kind of what I thought.. they just didn't seem right to me.. Well that fixes that..haha RB or MotoRex it is.. Will RB or MR find you a skyline? or do you only get to choose from their stocklist?

Originally posted by Sadistic
See that's kind of what I thought.. they just didn't seem right to me.. Well that fixes that..haha RB or MotoRex it is.. Will RB or MR find you a skyline? or do you only get to choose from their stocklist?
I believe you can tell them what year and colour you want and they'll try to find you one. RB Motoring I'm not sure about, they might be just selling the cars on their stocklist. Sean will propably answer this with more accuracy soon.

I've been reading all the posts but I'm still not getting the point. Let's say for instance I can come up with a Skyline, shipped over via an outside party, so now I have a nonmodified Skyline. You're telling me there's no way I can get it modified? In this day and age? I'm finding this hard to believe. That not just any Nissan dealership can or will do it I can believe but in this country today I have trouble believing that they allow one maybe 2 companies to charge a fortune for something like this with no chance for competition. Hell, and adventurous entreprenour could do simply what you said and crash up a skyline, and one from motorex and simply find the extra or missing parts. simple. There has to be a way to modify a Skyline without going through Motorex and being bled to death.

Here's a link for what was done to make a GTR conform to DOT.

Since the other thread has been closed the other importer no longer does importation of Skylines.

NHTSA (http://frwebgate4.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=16259422126+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve)

Originally posted by nave_in_nc
I've been reading all the posts but I'm still not getting the point. Let's say for instance I can come up with a Skyline, shipped over via an outside party, so now I have a nonmodified Skyline. You're telling me there's no way I can get it modified? In this day and age? I'm finding this hard to believe. That not just any Nissan dealership can or will do it I can believe but in this country today I have trouble believing that they allow one maybe 2 companies to charge a fortune for something like this with no chance for competition. Hell, and adventurous entreprenour could do simply what you said and crash up a skyline, and one from motorex and simply find the extra or missing parts. simple. There has to be a way to modify a Skyline without going through Motorex and being bled to death.

You're assuming that there's a market for $100k cars in the US. With the way the laws of supply and demand work, if there were a market for these vehicles, other companies would pop up...but there's no market. You can't get these cars repaired at a Nissan dealer...they don't come with warranties...the factory claims no responsibility for them. That sounds like a car I want to pay 100 large for.

Originally posted by jas4811
Here's a link for what was done to make a GTR conform to DOT.

Since the other thread has been closed the other importer no longer does importation of Skylines.

NHTSA (http://frwebgate4.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=16259422126+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve)

#1 Your link doesnt work.
#2 Your thread was closes as you have not provided substantial proof.
#3 Continue down this roas without proof and you and I are going to have a major problem.
#4 There has been far too much crap on this subject over the past years and until someone can show me ABSOLUTE proof it is a dead subject and will remain that way. If other companies were or individuals were legalizing the Skyline for the States they sure as shit would advertising it!

Don't make me come back here again and correct you becuase honestly I am tiring of it quickly mate.

Since this maybe my last post or this may be deleted by RazorGTR

the link address is
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html

click on advance
check off volumes 1999-2003
type in GTR in the search box and enter

It was the 15th one down says
fr19ja00N Decision that Nonconforming 1990-1999 Nissan GTS and GTR

Good luck with everyone

I really want to see what you're talking about but couldn't find fr19ja00N. If someone does post a direct link to it please.

He was a tad wrong on the name.. http://frwebgate6.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=440611522805+2+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

You're telling me there's no way I can get it modified? In this day and age? I'm finding this hard to believe.

simple answer.

nope, no one but motorex.

rb motoring gets skylines from the JDM, but motorex legalizes them.
motorex gets them legalized. you don't need to buy it from motorex, but they can still help you legalize it.

a nissan dealer wouldn't touch it. why would they want to legalize a used car?

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-99-5507; Notice 2]


Decision that Nonconforming 1990-1999 Nissan GTS and GTR
Passenger Cars Are Eligible for Importation

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of decision by NHTSA that nonconforming 1990-1999
Nissan GTS and GTR passenger cars are eligible for importation.

btw- links to the page won't work, the link has a session id so it won't work after about 10 minutes.

Final Decision

"Accordingly, on the basis of the foregoing, NHTSA hereby decides
that 1990-1999 Nissan GTS and GTR Passenger cars are eligible for
importation into the United States because they have safety features
that comply with, or are capable of being altered to comply with, all
applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards."

Skylines can be legal in America with SEVERAL "alterations" to the vehicle to make it comply with US standards; everything is listed in the document. All of those mods are the reasons why only one company in america performs the needed mods. Several custom made parts need to be fabricated and not too many companies are willing to put resources into making these parts and alterations to legalize a car in america that has no market. Motorex charges so much because they have to put so much into making all of the modifications.

In the end, if you want a skyline you can either pay ~$30,000-$90,000 to have a street legal car or find a decent r32 gt-s for ~$7,000 and use it as a race or show pony.
(Don't forget about insurance and annual registration costs either.)

So if you can afford a legal Skyline, awesome! If not; having a Skyline that is just a racer and or show girl, is better than having no Skyline at all.

Hey, thats old news. :smile:

Originally posted by sami

I believe you can tell them what year and colour you want and they'll try to find you one. RB Motoring I'm not sure about, they might be just selling the cars on their stocklist. Sean will propably answer this with more accuracy soon.

Having sat down and had dinner with the owner of Motorex no less than two nights ago....I can tell you they aren't making hand over fist money for converting GTR's.....

This myth that they are jacking up the price because they can is rediculous. Everyone seems to forget there are a number other operating costs besides just making the car legal.....

like paying each employee 200 grand a year to jack up prices :)

Originally posted by spooleffect
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-99-5507; Notice 2]


Decision that Nonconforming 1990-1999 Nissan GTS and GTR
Passenger Cars Are Eligible for Importation

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of decision by NHTSA that nonconforming 1990-1999
Nissan GTS and GTR passenger cars are eligible for importation.

btw- links to the page won't work, the link has a session id so it won't work after about 10 minutes.

Final Decision

"Accordingly, on the basis of the foregoing, NHTSA hereby decides
that 1990-1999 Nissan GTS and GTR Passenger cars are eligible for
importation into the United States because they have safety features
that comply with, or are capable of being altered to comply with, all
applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards."

Skylines can be legal in America with SEVERAL "alterations" to the vehicle to make it comply with US standards; everything is listed in the document. All of those mods are the reasons why only one company in america performs the needed mods. Several custom made parts need to be fabricated and not too many companies are willing to put resources into making these parts and alterations to legalize a car in america that has no market. Motorex charges so much because they have to put so much into making all of the modifications.

In the end, if you want a skyline you can either pay ~$30,000-$90,000 to have a street legal car or find a decent r32 gt-s for ~$7,000 and use it as a race or show pony.
(Don't forget about insurance and annual registration costs either.)

So if you can afford a legal Skyline, awesome! If not; having a Skyline that is just a racer and or show girl, is better than having no Skyline at all.
as skylineusa said that's old news!!
ah, i posted that a long time ago on SDU, probably found the thread:redface: .

gtr2.7l, mind me asking what you ate with hiro:icon16: , hope it wasn't calamari.:cwm27:

Well I've researched this up the yin yang and got a completed list of the needed modifications, and unless you are a body shop and have thousands to waste as it is, you aren't getting one converted

The main component to getting a conversion is a replacement of the entire chassis, an expensive AND lengthy process even by itself

Well I've researched this up the yin yang and got a completed list of the needed modifications, and unless you are a body shop and have thousands to waste as it is, you aren't getting one converted

The main component to getting a conversion is a replacement of the entire chassis, an expensive AND lengthy process even by itself


***cough***bullshit***cough***

replace the chassis?

riiight.

where'd you find that at exactly?

b/c i know that's not the case at all.

the main deal is getting it legal to pass emissions, which is not always easy, as well as other mod's, but nothing near as full on as replacing the chassis.

keep in mind that the skyline is unibody, so you'd have to replace, hmm... the whole thing, if you were replacing the chassis.

Well I've researched this up the yin yang and got a completed list of the needed modifications, and unless you are a body shop and have thousands to waste as it is, you aren't getting one converted

The main component to getting a conversion is a replacement of the entire chassis, an expensive AND lengthy process even by itself

I don't suppose you could humor us and post this list of modifications?

I don't suppose you could humor us and post this list of modifications?
yes, i would like to see this "up the ying-yang spec list" also?

It's not listed like A,B,C, it's a lengthy document that I'll just post as a list once I get the time

And I stand corrected on the chassis part, it appears it was only chassis modification, apparently the japanese make it out of weaker materials and they have to body weld in joint braces or something to that effect

I kinda read the document and said "f that" so I have to dig it up because I decided not to legalize and try to get a buddy in cali to just find out the requirements to register it as a show car straight off of the dock

It's not listed like A,B,C, it's a lengthy document that I'll just post as a list once I get the time

***cough***bullshit***cough***
bro you can't b.s. on here okay:nono: , we don't need all these excuses, i saw you were online for some 30mins. you gonna tell me you can't show a doc. in that period of time, oh please, stop with these pathetic excuses, you'll do us a favor and you'll do yurself a favor

I can't seem to find it, but this forum has the entire list as well as a link to teh crash test results and other legal things

You're gonna have to dig though...

http://forums.freshalloy.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB4

weld the chassis? really?

don't belive that one either.

the main difference b/n vehicles sold in the US and outside the US (say, a civic) is in the bumper reinforcements, and the door crash bars, etc.

so... no welding of the chassis.

i doubt that something like a skyline, gt-r specifically, would have a weak chassis.

keep in mind that if you wanted to weld your unibody to strengthen it, you'd need to remove your entire interior and most of the stuff on/in the car to stitch weld everything.

don't think that's happening.

and come on, if you want to show us the list, just do it, don't leave it to other people to dig it out for you, since you claim it exists...

that's just bad form.

I seriously can't find it

I was watching some movies not even 2 days ago about the legalization process and modification process of a gtr

They had just the skeleton of the car and a few other tidbits and were welding in reinforment bars, I swear to god, I can't find them in my cached internet files either

I'll try to find them later, but I know for certain that most of the crash test results are already public domain, but then again I was being told that if a shipment of cars was less than 50, they don't have to do crash tests (correct me if I am wrong)

I'll keep searching, I know I can find that stuff again

oh please, listen you can do this, you can pm me the info, if it's bogus youre done. :sunglasse

ok, i'm new here and a few of my friends and i are trying to figure out how to do this without going through motorex, a lot of you will tell me it's not possible.

but, i have just saved all the documents listed in this topic to my hd, i'm gonna sift through them later.

from what i've heard the biggest modification is the front and rear bumpers and side impact bars in the doors. and a new windshield. this makes sence because of the US's tight safety requirements.

i know for a fact that japanese emissions requirements are tighter than the US's, and definately tighter than my home state of CO. i know if they aren't i can pass the emissions test with the help of a gas additive that make your car burn cleaner (with loss of power, fine for a emissions test).

then there are some trivial modifications motorex decided to tell us about like the speedometer, which personally, i don't need to change (i've got the big benchmarks memorized 40mph = 60kph, 60mph = 100kph).

so, if i bought myself a $5500 R33 GTS-T, shipped it to california for $1000, payed quaraintine costs, taxes, and then shipped it to CO for $500. Spent $200 on a windshield, welded some reinforcments on the bumpers for peace of mind. i could theoretically drive it to the emissions and safety test center, give em my title and registration, they test it, it passes because they assume it already passes safety, they just check for gas cap leakage and a cracked windshield. i could get license plates and drive it legally for under $10k, right.

correct the costs if i've made any mistakes.


i know for a fact people get cars licenced here that couldn't have passes any type of crash test requirements, such as buggies, stripped down and lifted jeeps etc. and they actually have legal plates.

:banghead: ....ohhhh...kay.try and bear with me here, all you should know is that you should stop trying to "do-it-yourself" because it won't work, save up money, stash it in your piggy bank and when you're ready you can buy yourself a r32 gtr or something.
also "what you hear" is only but mere b.s., it's of no importance.
talk wih dj ("USLEGAL GTRS 4 SALE...") on here and ask him what gtr's he got, he'll hook you up, he's a trustworthy guy.

i'm sorry but i'm a do-it-yourself kinda guy. i just wanna know if it would be possible. would i be able to meet the DOT and EPA requirements without going through motorex, no matter how much time and work it would be?

and even if you don't think it's possible without going through motorex, could someone please tell me the tariffs, taxes, and quarantine costs? so far that's the only piece i'm missing.

well, let me tell you that you still need to do some homework, just read all the thread's you can on here, i'm really bored of saying the same thing again, just read thread's or somethng, i've said it to many times, anything more enteraining then trying to "go the easy route as to importing a gtr yourself" these day's? :frown: