Importing JDMs

[Joe (G8)]

Hi folks. My name's Joe and I've lived over half my life in Japan. I just moved (back) to Minnesota last Summer, and purchased my 8G a little over 3 months ago. I've mostly just been lurking on the boards, getting a feel for the Galant, and reading up on all the mods and whatnot. It's come to my attention that there's a high demand for JDM parts, which got me thinking. I called my father up and he's agreed to check out some local dealers for me.
I'm planning on getting a pair of 3rd gen tails and headlights for myself, but I'd also be willing to help some members out. We'll get to that later.

First things first. I need to know the model numbers and whatnot. What year lights are the 3rd gens, and if they come with a harness, will it just be plug and play? For the headlights, I've seen a lot of "JDM Black Crystal Headlights" on eBay. Do those go well only with JDM bodykits, and are they they the common headlights that I see on everyone's Galants here? My apologies if these questions have been answered before. I can do a search tomorrow.

I'm not making any guarantees, but anything's possible. If you're interested in some parts, let me know so I can make a list and get some estimates. It's a start, and hopefully we'll get some good results and import some JDM parts.

Edit: Heh, whoops. I just noticed I have my name as G8 rather than 8G :P

[n3oAcid24]

http://www.galantforums.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=9

that is a link for a tutorial to the JDM taillights. i am not sure if you buy the tails in Japan that they will give you a harness. if they dont, use the tutorial to make one. its pretty easy. i did it this weekend and it took like 30 minutes.

[alexvr]

welcome...yea everyone has the JDM VR4 headlights but the ones on ebay somtimes are stock looking but only in black, the real ones have a hi beam and separate low beam. as for the 3 gen tails, its off a 97 VR4 galant i think but that year is the same body as the one over here which is 99-03...usually the harness does not come but people have modified the stock harness to fit .....i would proby be interested in 3gen tails and also fender flares

[o1naturalhigh]

as for the part numbers...i think you can hit up triggermauve...he is in japan also...good hookup right there

[zobgel]

welcome to TGC...

mmmm....sounds like familiar :?:

[njjfudge]

JDM tails are not plug and play you have to change the plug. The "JDM Black Crystal Headlights" you see on e-bay are not JDM they are black USDM headlights, so you will have gaps if you use them with a JDM body kit.

[Reelax]

welcome...yea everyone has the JDM VR4 headlights but the ones on ebay somtimes are stock looking but only in black, the real ones have a hi beam and separate low beam. as for the 3 gen tails, its off a 97 VR4 galant i think but that year is the same body as the one over here which is 99-03...usually the harness does not come but people have modified the stock harness to fit .....i would proby be interested in 3gen tails and also fender flares

"3rd" gen tails are really 2nd gen JDM (we made a mistake back around 2000? identifying them and the error stuck... "2nd" gens are really 1st gen JDM and the "1st" gen were from taiwan (amber signal lens). anyways, the taillight with red on top and clear on bottom for the 8G are with a straight line (really 1st gen JDM) are for the '96-'97 JDM galant. the red on top w/ the clear circle reverse are the 2nd gen JDM for the '98+ JDM upadate/facelift model galant. the naming standard stuck but whatever, if we identify them by the JDM model years, the part numbers and catalog match. the "diamond" or "crystal" black clear headlights on EBAY are simply USDM headlights from the aftermarket with clear reflectors on the corners instead of the OE amber; they are not JDM at all and will not fit a JDM galant w/o modification.

[Koncept]

the "diamond" or "crystal" black clear headlights on EBAY are simply USDM headlights from the aftermarket with clear reflectors on the corners instead of the OE amber; they are not JDM at all and will not fit a JDM galant w/o modification.

One thing to note about these ebay headlights - that the ones that say Black Diamond or Black Crystal aren't always with clear reflectors. I did buy a set a couple years ago that did have clear reflectors, but the ones I've seen on ebay for at least the last couple months are simply the black USDM heads, and do still have the amber reflector.

[dknight3]

yea they are just the stock 02-03 heads i think.

[Joe (G8)]

Thanks for clearing that up about the headlights.

I found exactly what I was looking for this morning.

http://www.goo-net.com/catalog/MITSUBISHI/GALANT/index.html#199808
*scroll to the top to search by model year and month

I added English translations in this picture:
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/4948/englishtranslationll5.jpg

There isn't much of a differnce between EC-5A, EA-1A, so on and so forth as, as long as it's within a range of years, correct?
If so, what year range would the 8G fall under, and would there be any fitment issues between the models within that range?

[Danger DANJ]

welcome...yea everyone has the JDM VR4 headlights but the ones on ebay somtimes are stock looking but only in black, the real ones have a hi beam and separate low beam. as for the 3 gen tails, its off a 97 VR4 galant i think but that year is the same body as the one over here which is 99-03...usually the harness does not come but people have modified the stock harness to fit .....i would proby be interested in 3gen tails and also fender flares

"3rd" gen tails are really 2nd gen JDM (we made a mistake back around 2000? identifying them and the error stuck... "2nd" gens are really 1st gen JDM and the "1st" gen were from taiwan (amber signal lens). anyways, the taillight with red on top and clear on bottom for the 8G are with a straight line (really 1st gen JDM) are for the '96-'97 JDM galant. the red on top w/ the clear circle reverse are the 2nd gen JDM for the '98+ JDM upadate/facelift model galant. the naming standard stuck but whatever, if we identify them by the JDM model years, the part numbers and catalog match. the "diamond" or "crystal" black clear headlights on EBAY are simply USDM headlights from the aftermarket with clear reflectors on the corners instead of the OE amber; they are not JDM at all and will not fit a JDM galant w/o modification.
It's funny how the JDM tails were identified wrong back in the day. I think the best way is to refer to them as Zenki tails (red and clear) and Kohki tails (clear circle reverse).


There isn't much of a differnce between EC-5A, EA-1A, so on and so forth as, as long as it's within a range of years, correct?
If so, what year range would the 8G fall under, and would there be any fitment issues between the models within that range?
For JDM, the 8G is from '96 and on. The only fitment issues would be with getting JDM parts to fit USDM galants. Fitment issues would vary depending on which parts you use. If you are swapping parts from one JDM 8G to another, there shouldn't be any fitment issues unless you are swapping to or from a Legnum.

[Sillyasianz]

Cool link.