Hello,

I currently live in Japan and recently purchased 1997 FD3S, thinking it will be legal in the stateside by the time I go home. My concern is how different would my JDM FD3S be from those of the USDM. I'm worried if I won't be able to get help or find parts I would need. Does anyone here have an imported JDM RX7?

Thanks in advance.

V/R

 

There are a bunch of us in the US and Canada with JDM FD's. I haven't had much trouble. There are very few things that could break and leave you waiting on something specific from japan that you might not be able to find here. The ECU would be the big thing since they were updated in 96 or so. Biggest difference between lhd and rhd is the dash layout so all the trim pieces are different, wiring, etc. They made a lot more RHD cars than LHD cars so those trim pieces seem easier to find than the LHD counterparts.

There's also a thread in the 3rd gen section with people detailing their findings of the differences in the two.

 

I don't think you'll have any trouble finding parts for it mate.

I have a RHD here in Australia and just recently finished a full engine and suspension rebuild.

Besides the engine harness, upper and lower rubber heater hoses and a couple of RHD trim pieces, all the parts I purchased actually came from the states (Pettit Racing and a majority came from Atkins Rotary).

Apparently there is also a difference with the headlights between LHD and RHD lenses. Other than that, all interchangeable.

Anyone else that can weigh in on anything I may have missed?

 

Thanks for your reply!

It's great to hear that!

Very Respectfully,

 

Thank you gentlemen!

You have given me so much relief. Also, it's awesome to know that this forum is very active. I used to have 2007 nismo Z33 and unfortunately last time I checked, the forum was dying. It's awesome how the rotary scene is still active and I get to conversate with people from various countries.

Thanks again!

Very Respectfully,

 

Same as everyone else... no problem finding parts but troubleshooting may become a hassle. When everything switched over to the 16bit stuff, things got different electrically. Idk if there are any problems that would be THAT difficult to troubleshoot where it would matter but something to keep in mind...

 

Many more RHD showing up in the states. Canada could start importing at car age 15 years. So we ran up a good supply. Costs were C$5000 - 10,000 landed. Accordingly a lot of cars were (driven until) trashed.

Parts situation is rapidly changing. In Vancouver, say 2016, there was a car being parted out about once a month. Now it is rare.

LHD parts are getting very expensive, especially if there is no RHD substitute.

I recently priced out an entire RHD interior (not including seats, belts, dash and instruments). Total was 65 pieces. At recent local prices for "good" quality (not excellent or mint) the cost would have been C$3900 before shipping. LHD would be considerably more than that.

Some of the RHD coming into the US seem to be going straight to parts. There are several active sellers on ebay. The used parts market may have moved substantially to other platforms such as Facebook though.

More RHD are likely coming in, but this will eventually peter out. Some parts could be 3D printed but, right now, not many are.

Prices on Yahoo Japan can often be favorable, even after shipping. Collect the parts you need, before coming back. Buy up parts that will attract high prices when you get back. There is a movement back toward "Stock plus" so folks may be looking for replacement parts, including unique original option parts.

Series 7 and 8 cars continue to be very rare in North America. Australia is an RHD country, and has been importing Series 7 and 8 for some time. There were quite a few part-outs of such series in Australia a few years back (I have not looked lately). Scams seem more frequent though.

More people seem to be rebuilding their cars, rather than scrapping, and it seems people are driving their cars more carefully (or not driving them at all).

This trend seems to be affecting parts prices. But could (hopefully) spur Mazda on to doing new runs of popular parts (like Nissan has done).

Probably best to be nimble.

Watch out for local emission requirements, when heading back to US.