First off, hi, one of the guys on this board (JackDHammer) sent me along after I spotted his FD sitting in the parking lot of my prom and I immediately abandoned my prom date and stole the disposable camera and snapped a couple shots before going inside.



Yes, I know, but I think some of you may understand my emotion for this car.



Anyway, I've currently got myself an 86 junker, and I'm just sitting on it waiting for my stint in the Navy to start up (August 23rd == Basic), and I was wondering if you guys in Japan have bought a Jspec FD, and if you plan on returning to the states with it. If you are, have you figured out how to get it home, etc? I mean it's kinda confusing to me, since one, I'm not yet familiar with the inner workings of the military, and two, I'm not stationed in Japan and capable of asking these kinda questions (but in that hood post, someone said something about being army in japan, so I figured I'd ask). If so, how was the price compared to states, part availability, year availability, etc etc.? Right now my plan is to save my *** off until I pick up my hottness 94 R2 (If I can), and rebuild just about everything on it I can, and barter my junked 86 off to whoever wants to help me rebuild it, but this is just a plan, I had not thought about actually going to japan for these things.



Anyway, if you can actually get a clear question out of that paragraph of jumble, go ahead and answer them, if not, just ask me what I'm trying to ask and I'll respond, I think I'll be purchasing a nopistons shirt here soon, because that rotary logo == the best (any way I could get that in like a HUGE psd format? That would so be thrown up everywhere I have the ability to post it)



Thanks in advance - wishful highschool guy named Clay

 

Belongs in the Japan forum...*shakes magic wand*

 

Be aware that being stationed in Okinawa does NOT mean being able to own/drive a car. The military has set certain restrictions on who can drive a vehicle based on rank. If your an E-1/E-2, don't even think about it if your Navy/Marine Corps.

 

*waves magic wand* already an E3, so it's cool, any other information?

 

Navy has easier time than army or jar heads...you can drive as an E3 in the navy...Jar heads No dice. and to send a car home is not to hard...list it as you POV (privatly owned vehic.) ...you can get a print out of what the DOT requires the car to conform to for it to be legal in the US. the military will ship it home for free..hahahah then you have to pay for the DOT work if any..the big thing is smog regs a safty crap. depending on what state your in you could get a cretain amount of time to have the work done then get inspected to make sure its cool. the easy way is to get with DOT and the transportation officer where your baised at. hope that helps

 

Actually, it's not that easy. Almost everyone you talk to with tranportation will tell you that you can't do it. Is it possible? Yes. BUT, you have to be prepared, and informed. If you don't know everything, they'll BS you and tell you anything under the sun to convince you that yer wrong.

 

word

 

speedwagon got any good videos from okinawa

 

Well then speedwagon, if you can, I emplore you - tell me everything you need to know. If we can figure up a guide to getting sevens back to the states... well, I think you can see the cash opportunity in that.

 

I looked into it before I left.. the only rx-7's you can bring back.. are ones that are totally stock. now thats not a big deal.. except my car was far from stock. So saying that you do go to Japan... and you do get an RX-7. You wont be able to modify it with out keeping all your stock parts. Hope your not single, because storage space there is non-exsistant.. but I've heard storys of single Navy people getting to live off base. So back to the importing... so you take your STOCK 7 and have a regesterd importer(RI) start the paper work to bring the car back.. now most RI wont mess with shipping the car. they only deal with the car after its in the states.. and you have to get it to there shop. So now you have to deal with someone else to get your car off the docks... and only certain people can go on the docks to move stuff. So its not like you can have your brother/friend go pick up your car. And since your cars not regersterd.. you have to have it trucked to the RI. Now once the RI has your car they take it and have it tested by a government labratory.. this is where it gets real expensive.. not only are you paying out the *** for the tests if you fail emisions( you probably will) they will requre you to get a new exahust.. I've never priced one of those.. but I know one for a Nissan 180SX was over $1400 so I can imagine how much an RX-7 cost. Now if the government Lab dosnt pass your car.. you have to destroy it within a certain amount of days. Now if they do pass your car.. and after all this money and hassle you still might not even be able to get your registerd. Each state has differant laws on regirstering foriegn vehicles.



Look up Registerd Importers online. Importing cars.. thats where I got some of my info..



I called a couple of Importers and all of them said that its not worth bringing a car back. The only importer that I can see helping you might be Motorex...