How To: Modify RHD Door Sills to fit LHD Cars.

canadam · 03-02-2009, 10:50 PM

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING YOU DO TO YOUR OWN PARTS, USE THIS WRITE-UP ONLY AS A GUIDE.

Background: There are two possible reasons you may want to modify a set of RHD Door Sill plastics to fit your LHD car (or vice versa!).

Your original door sills are scratched beyond belief, and you've found a cheap set of RHD sills you'd like to make use of.
You've acquired a set of door sills specifically designed to accept a pair of Stainless Steel 10th Anniversary Sill Plates, but realized that because they're designed for a RHD car, they won't work in yours and you're too picky to settle on hacking up a set of LHD sills to work.

FAQs:
Question: "But the holes for the clips on the sill are in the same spots on either side of the car, why can't I just clip them in and go?"
Answer: The hood release lever is located in the kick panel. Just like the driver, the release is located on the other side of the car in a RHD unit vs. a LHD one.

What you need for "tools":

Set of R + L door sill plastics from your LHD car that you no longer wish to use (for most people's interests, these are your original ones).
Set of R+L door sill plastics from a RHD car that you wish to put into use (for most people's interests, these are your new ones).
A soldering iron (or other tool you've found to use, ex: Dremel)
A utility knife
A strong adhesive
A beer or cola

What you need to do:

You need to remove the kick panels from all four door sills you have (2 old ones, and two new ones). After separating all of the pieces, you need to reattach your old kick panels to your new door sills. The old door sills, and WrongHandDrive kick panels can be thrown in the trash, or you might want to sell them on eBay or MR2.com/MR2Trader.com to someone with a RHD car. Make sure your buyer understands the remaining parts will only fit a RHD car.

Do this to all four door sills/kick panels you have in front of you!

Flip over the first sill and check to see how the kick panel is attached to the door sill plastic.

The parts are attached by these plastic spot welds. The kick panel and door sill were originally separate parts, plastic welded together at the factory. There are pins on the kick panel that fit through holes on the door sill that were melted over to create one piece.

I chose beer.

Heat your soldering iron until hot. Make sure you use a tip that you're not fussy about, because it's going to get covered in melted and burnt plastic.
Rub the hot soldering tip in a circular motion on the spot weld. Don't push too hard, just enough to get the plastic to soften. Start on the highest weld and lightly pry the parts apart with your free hand. (Don't pry too hard, because if you bend the plastic too much it will discolour) If you melt too deeply into the plastic, you will melt through the front of your kick panel, and it won't look good anymore, so just melt until it pops. You may find that using a Dremel tool to cut away the plastic works better, but I found the soldering iron worked just fine.

Once the plastic pops apart, stick some cardboard from your beer/pop box between the parts so the hot plastic doesn't melt back together.

Continue to pry the pieces apart and break all 7 plastic welds on the door sill.

Separate your two pieces.

Clean up the welds on the kick panel by heating and smoothing them with the soldering iron. You might want to sand them down or cut them with the utility knife. I found that melting them worked well.

Also smooth down the face of the sill plastic.

Now they're apart! After you've done this to all of them, decide which ones you're going to put back together

The new ones that accept the stainless sills should be pretty obvious, and the proper kick panels should too. Whether you decide to reattach the other pieces is up to you!

Put a light line of glue along the sill plastic where it will meet the kick panel (I'm going to try Krazy Glue but I haven't tested it yet so don't blame me if it doesn't work well or melts through your plastic. I'm going to test it on some old door sills I have first). Line it up right the first time, this is your only shot! Then stick the parts together, hold them until the glue sets and you're done!

If you do not feel comfortable with this, I will do it for you for $40US/set not including shipping and I will guarantee that it's done right and looks great!

Hopefully this helps someone

charto911 · 03-02-2009, 11:15 PM

probably the best post ever, I was lucky enough to get my plastics and hope to have this done soon, will take pics of the final result!!

conor · 03-03-2009, 12:39 AM

Sweet! Wish I could afford the sills and plastics

PearlJammzz · 03-03-2009, 12:56 AM

Can I get a "about god-damn time"? haha

.

Very nice, aren't you able to put them in the car and it all pretty much lines up w/o having to glue the 2 pieces together (don't see why you wouldn't glue them together but ya...)?

canadam · 03-03-2009, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PearlJammzz

Very nice, aren't you able to put them in the car and it all pretty much lines up w/o having to glue the 2 pieces together (don't see why you wouldn't glue them together but ya...)?

wat? Read FAQ.

If you mean don't glue it so you have 2 pieces, go ahead, but I'd rather have one piece like OEM, either glued or plastic welded together.

PearlJammzz · 03-03-2009, 08:16 AM

Right, which is what I'll do (glue). I just posed that as an alternative for people doing this themselfs. If you're worried about lining it up correctly or anything (again, shouldn't be hard, if I remember correctly from mine they are obvious how they sit when you put them together) this is another option I believe.

canadam · 03-04-2009, 10:15 AM

While you've got it all out, you might as well just reattach the parts. You've gone this far, why turn it into a hack job now?

PearlJammzz · 03-04-2009, 12:07 PM

I dunno why someone would?

Once I finish my motor upgrades that have been adding up over the winter I'll be doing mine and I'll take some installed pics. These should clean the interior up a lot

. You have installed pics?

eckoman_pdx · 03-04-2009, 05:47 PM

Please post up how you're glue holds up after awhile

If it doesn't, I'd probably spring for some structural adhesive make for plastic from an autobody/paint supply store, or I'd rivet them back together and wrap the sill in thin suede before I put the SS pieces onto the RHD sills.

If your glue holds up it'll be easier (and cost me less) than either of those options.

canadam · 03-04-2009, 06:21 PM

Sure, no problem. There really shouldn't be any concern over the glue, however. The two parts don't receive any stresses pulling them apart.

If you're going to go through the hassle of riveting then covering the sills with suede, I really don't know why anyone would fork out the extra dollars for the specific JDM parts that the sills clip into. If you're not concerned with how the plastics look when complete, just go ahead and do the hack-job on your USDM sills to make the stainless parts clip on like people have been doing for years, then cover them in the fabric.

I'm also going to try and take it a step further by melting some ABS plastic in acetone and using it as a bonding agent, but that won't be for a while when I have another sill to practice on.

MANDALAY · 03-04-2009, 06:31 PM

Nice write up.
Just one thing to note that plastic will not glue at all. If you melt a bit of plastic and it smells like wax = trouble to bond.
I like the soldering iron and use it all the time especially to melt out clips from bodies so as to not damage the metal or paint and just replace with a new clip.
Now you can try a reactive urethane , sikaflex ( that is a windscreen urethane ) .
The only way to glue is to arc it first.
In the melting process you could always leave the springy bit on without cutting it off so as to remelt it.

The SS panel are a very tight fit if you use the plastic sill designed for it. Covering them up will cause a problem in such that it will be impossible to snap the SS plate in

MANDALAY · 03-04-2009, 06:36 PM

BTW when i had to modify my previous car sills all i did was drill a small hole on the tab used a fine screw and washer,
Those tabs are generally 7 mm in diameter and well supported

canadam · 03-04-2009, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MANDALAY

BTW when i had to modify my previous car sills all i did was drill a small hole on the tab used a fine screw and washer,
Those tabs are generally 7 mm in diameter and well supported

Excellent idea. One could easily screw into the plastic posts on the kickpanel with a small screw and washer.

Carlos Chan · 03-11-2009, 08:57 AM

got one question , does the LHD mr2 parts like tie rod end , rack end etc , fits on a RHD mr2??? Please PM me , cause i drive a RHDmr2 and i cant find parts for it

MANDALAY · 03-12-2009, 10:41 AM

Look for a rhd country like ours Australia. All parts available but only new

stealth · 03-12-2009, 01:32 PM

Adam, can I still get these from somewhere? I want to properly install my JDM Stainless sills.

canadam · 06-18-2009, 01:20 AM

Sorry Sam, I missed this post. You're going to have to find a contact in Japan, I think. Dave is now back in the states.

canadam · 03-01-2010, 12:50 AM

Bump for anyone that picked these up

PCx188 · 03-01-2010, 01:29 AM

nice write up! now i just need to find me some RHD door sills.

Mister2.2 · 03-01-2010, 06:24 AM

Great write up Adam!

03-02-2009, 10:50 PM	#1 (permalink)
canadam MidshipExpress Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Beautiful British Columbia Posts: 10,399 Thanks: 120 Thanked 142 Times in 121 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (34/100% )	How To: Modify RHD Door Sills to fit LHD Cars. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING YOU DO TO YOUR OWN PARTS, USE THIS WRITE-UP ONLY AS A GUIDE. Background: There are two possible reasons you may want to modify a set of RHD Door Sill plastics to fit your LHD car (or vice versa!). Your original door sills are scratched beyond belief, and you've found a cheap set of RHD sills you'd like to make use of. You've acquired a set of door sills specifically designed to accept a pair of Stainless Steel 10th Anniversary Sill Plates, but realized that because they're designed for a RHD car, they won't work in yours and you're too picky to settle on hacking up a set of LHD sills to work. FAQs: Question: "But the holes for the clips on the sill are in the same spots on either side of the car, why can't I just clip them in and go?" Answer: The hood release lever is located in the kick panel. Just like the driver, the release is located on the other side of the car in a RHD unit vs. a LHD one. What you need for "tools": Set of R + L door sill plastics from your LHD car that you no longer wish to use (for most people's interests, these are your original ones). Set of R+L door sill plastics from a RHD car that you wish to put into use (for most people's interests, these are your new ones). A soldering iron (or other tool you've found to use, ex: Dremel) A utility knife A strong adhesive A beer or cola What you need to do: You need to remove the kick panels from all four door sills you have (2 old ones, and two new ones). After separating all of the pieces, you need to reattach your old kick panels to your new door sills. The old door sills, and WrongHandDrive kick panels can be thrown in the trash, or you might want to sell them on eBay or MR2.com/MR2Trader.com to someone with a RHD car. Make sure your buyer understands the remaining parts will only fit a RHD car. Do this to all four door sills/kick panels you have in front of you! Flip over the first sill and check to see how the kick panel is attached to the door sill plastic. The parts are attached by these plastic spot welds. The kick panel and door sill were originally separate parts, plastic welded together at the factory. There are pins on the kick panel that fit through holes on the door sill that were melted over to create one piece. I chose beer. Heat your soldering iron until hot. Make sure you use a tip that you're not fussy about, because it's going to get covered in melted and burnt plastic. Rub the hot soldering tip in a circular motion on the spot weld. Don't push too hard, just enough to get the plastic to soften. Start on the highest weld and lightly pry the parts apart with your free hand. (Don't pry too hard, because if you bend the plastic too much it will discolour) If you melt too deeply into the plastic, you will melt through the front of your kick panel, and it won't look good anymore, so just melt until it pops. You may find that using a Dremel tool to cut away the plastic works better, but I found the soldering iron worked just fine. Once the plastic pops apart, stick some cardboard from your beer/pop box between the parts so the hot plastic doesn't melt back together. Continue to pry the pieces apart and break all 7 plastic welds on the door sill. Separate your two pieces. Clean up the welds on the kick panel by heating and smoothing them with the soldering iron. You might want to sand them down or cut them with the utility knife. I found that melting them worked well. Also smooth down the face of the sill plastic. Now they're apart! After you've done this to all of them, decide which ones you're going to put back together The new ones that accept the stainless sills should be pretty obvious, and the proper kick panels should too. Whether you decide to reattach the other pieces is up to you! Put a light line of glue along the sill plastic where it will meet the kick panel (I'm going to try Krazy Glue but I haven't tested it yet so don't blame me if it doesn't work well or melts through your plastic. I'm going to test it on some old door sills I have first). Line it up right the first time, this is your only shot! Then stick the parts together, hold them until the glue sets and you're done! If you do not feel comfortable with this, I will do it for you for $40US/set not including shipping and I will guarantee that it's done right and looks great! Hopefully this helps someone __________________

03-01-2010, 06:24 AM	#20 (permalink)
Mister2.2 Cheese it! Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,561 Thanks: 121 Thanked 115 Times in 99 Posts Blog Entries: 1 My Google Map iTrader Rating: (3/100% )	Great write up Adam! __________________ --Josh MR2Trader.com Free to Buy and Sell your MR2 Parts!

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03-02-2009, 11:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
charto911 Cage Fighter Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: West Palm Beach Posts: 379 Thanks: 7 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts iTrader Rating: (3/100% )	probably the best post ever, I was lucky enough to get my plastics and hope to have this done soon, will take pics of the final result!!

03-03-2009, 12:39 AM	#3 (permalink)
conor Lord Anti-Rice Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Roseville, CA Posts: 987 Thanks: 22 Thanked 32 Times in 28 Posts Blog Entries: 1 My Google Map iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	Sweet! Wish I could afford the sills and plastics

03-03-2009, 12:56 AM	#4 (permalink)
PearlJammzz Cage Fighter Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 2,115 Thanks: 9 Thanked 74 Times in 69 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (7/100% )	Can I get a "about god-damn time"? haha . Very nice, aren't you able to put them in the car and it all pretty much lines up w/o having to glue the 2 pieces together (don't see why you wouldn't glue them together but ya...)?

03-03-2009, 08:16 AM	#6 (permalink)
PearlJammzz Cage Fighter Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 2,115 Thanks: 9 Thanked 74 Times in 69 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (7/100% )	Right, which is what I'll do (glue). I just posed that as an alternative for people doing this themselfs. If you're worried about lining it up correctly or anything (again, shouldn't be hard, if I remember correctly from mine they are obvious how they sit when you put them together) this is another option I believe.

03-04-2009, 10:15 AM	#7 (permalink)
canadam MidshipExpress Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Beautiful British Columbia Posts: 10,399 Thanks: 120 Thanked 142 Times in 121 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (34/100% )	While you've got it all out, you might as well just reattach the parts. You've gone this far, why turn it into a hack job now?

03-04-2009, 12:07 PM	#8 (permalink)
PearlJammzz Cage Fighter Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 2,115 Thanks: 9 Thanked 74 Times in 69 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (7/100% )	I dunno why someone would? Once I finish my motor upgrades that have been adding up over the winter I'll be doing mine and I'll take some installed pics. These should clean the interior up a lot . You have installed pics?

03-04-2009, 05:47 PM	#9 (permalink)
eckoman_pdx Rev 6 Install Expert Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 2,792 Thanks: 65 Thanked 177 Times in 149 Posts iTrader Rating: (4/100% )	Please post up how you're glue holds up after awhile If it doesn't, I'd probably spring for some structural adhesive make for plastic from an autobody/paint supply store, or I'd rivet them back together and wrap the sill in thin suede before I put the SS pieces onto the RHD sills. If your glue holds up it'll be easier (and cost me less) than either of those options.

03-04-2009, 06:21 PM	#10 (permalink)
canadam MidshipExpress Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Beautiful British Columbia Posts: 10,399 Thanks: 120 Thanked 142 Times in 121 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (34/100% )	Sure, no problem. There really shouldn't be any concern over the glue, however. The two parts don't receive any stresses pulling them apart. If you're going to go through the hassle of riveting then covering the sills with suede, I really don't know why anyone would fork out the extra dollars for the specific JDM parts that the sills clip into. If you're not concerned with how the plastics look when complete, just go ahead and do the hack-job on your USDM sills to make the stainless parts clip on like people have been doing for years, then cover them in the fabric. I'm also going to try and take it a step further by melting some ABS plastic in acetone and using it as a bonding agent, but that won't be for a while when I have another sill to practice on.

03-04-2009, 06:31 PM	#11 (permalink)
MANDALAY Beams Owners Group Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: victoria AUSTRALIA Posts: 4,201 Thanks: 136 Thanked 112 Times in 107 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (6/100% )	Nice write up. Just one thing to note that plastic will not glue at all. If you melt a bit of plastic and it smells like wax = trouble to bond. I like the soldering iron and use it all the time especially to melt out clips from bodies so as to not damage the metal or paint and just replace with a new clip. Now you can try a reactive urethane , sikaflex ( that is a windscreen urethane ) . The only way to glue is to arc it first. In the melting process you could always leave the springy bit on without cutting it off so as to remelt it. The SS panel are a very tight fit if you use the plastic sill designed for it. Covering them up will cause a problem in such that it will be impossible to snap the SS plate in

03-04-2009, 06:36 PM	#12 (permalink)
MANDALAY Beams Owners Group Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: victoria AUSTRALIA Posts: 4,201 Thanks: 136 Thanked 112 Times in 107 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (6/100% )	BTW when i had to modify my previous car sills all i did was drill a small hole on the tab used a fine screw and washer, Those tabs are generally 7 mm in diameter and well supported

03-11-2009, 08:57 AM	#14 (permalink)
Carlos Chan No Skills Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Blog Entries: 1 iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	got one question , does the LHD mr2 parts like tie rod end , rack end etc , fits on a RHD mr2??? Please PM me , cause i drive a RHDmr2 and i cant find parts for it

03-12-2009, 10:41 AM	#15 (permalink)
MANDALAY Beams Owners Group Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: victoria AUSTRALIA Posts: 4,201 Thanks: 136 Thanked 112 Times in 107 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (6/100% )	Look for a rhd country like ours Australia. All parts available but only new

03-12-2009, 01:32 PM	#16 (permalink)
stealth Boostin Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Posts: 220 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	Adam, can I still get these from somewhere? I want to properly install my JDM Stainless sills.

06-18-2009, 01:20 AM	#17 (permalink)
canadam MidshipExpress Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Beautiful British Columbia Posts: 10,399 Thanks: 120 Thanked 142 Times in 121 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (34/100% )	Sorry Sam, I missed this post. You're going to have to find a contact in Japan, I think. Dave is now back in the states.

03-01-2010, 12:50 AM	#18 (permalink)
canadam MidshipExpress Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Beautiful British Columbia Posts: 10,399 Thanks: 120 Thanked 142 Times in 121 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (34/100% )	Bump for anyone that picked these up

03-01-2010, 01:29 AM	#19 (permalink)
PCx188 PCFIVEZ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New York City Posts: 801 Thanks: 24 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts iTrader Rating: (7/100% )	nice write up! now i just need to find me some RHD door sills.