Hey Import Tuner.

Here's my plan.  I was inspired by a friend of mine and a link that he gave me to start a project.  He showed me how you can **basically** turn a mirage into an evo.  All I need to do is some custom machining to switch from FWD to AWD, and, needless to say, ENGINE SWAP.  I was wondering if I would be able to import an Evo from japan **considerably less than buying one here** and not driving it; Just using it for parts.  That would get my project rolling much quicker.  Any help/responses will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,
Aske  

They don't read the forums at all, my friend. And as novel as your idea sounds, forget it. Unless you've got *** near endless pockets, you won't have the money for it. Besides, if you had enough money to pull off something so asinine, why would you? Spend your money on something else great right out of the box.

Trust me on this one. The other regs will back me.  

importing a car will cost a looot of money.  it wouldnt be worth it if you are just going to be using the car for parts.  you should just import an older EVO and work on that rather than making your own.  it shouldnt be too difficult to register (* i think *) i've seen EVO V's / VI's on the roads in SoCal (right hand drive, not just mirage conversions)

if your mind is made up, it would cost less to just get parts from japan - (motor and drivetrain) and be prepared to spend A LOT on labor.

on a side note (maybe nothing what youre looking for) you should look into a 1998-ish Impreza (before the wrx) with a wrx/sti motor. they are already all wheel drive and the wrx/sti motors mate right up.  just pick up an ej20 for cheap, its plenty for a small 2door awd impreza.  it will be cheaper and easier than an old evo conversion.

good luck, definately keep us posted, i Love older EVOs  

importing a car like an EVO is way way more than buying a used or even new EVO here, if you go through all that trouble to import it why wouldnt you just use the EVO instead
ive heard Austrailians importing V6 Mustangs (they dont have Mustangs there), it cost about $80,000AUD which is about $60,000USD for a $19,000 car (not sure its worth that much to begin with)

i have not heard one person say they made a FWD into a AWD, except for a few Subaru Impreza guys, the parts of all Subarus 1990 and newer bolt together, if they dont you can slighlty modify them to fit, but all engines and transmissions will bolt to any other car, its a little different with the suspension but its mostly bolt in and slight modifacation to turn a FWD Impreza to AWD if you have the parts from the right donor car
though, it will take lots of work, maybe not to hard but extremely time consuming if your an average person with full time job