96 Eclipse RS FWD Swap

[MyProject2G]

Yeah it would be cool. Someone told me all i need to do is basically find a front end (front clip) off a GST or GSX and put it on my RS. Then just find the engine, connect everything and find the AWD drivetrain (if possible) . Yeah i guess thats right

 

[taylor hindman]

If you want AWD and spend a crap load of money buy a wrecked evo8 or 9 and tear the drivetrain off it. Then you will have a 4g and awd plus the 290 hp.

 

[starfish]

96 Eclipse RS AWD Swap? I am wondering if this is possible. I had a friend tell me that the GST and GSX chassis' are longer which will fit the AWD platform and the RS is not. Im wondering what my options are and whether it is even worth putting money into a FWD 2G. Atleast my car is a 5 Speed but still im wondering what my options are. Let me know thanks...

I bought my car as a $500 wreck.I should of taken some pictures, the whole front was smashed in up to the strut towers.So I ripped off the fenders and torched off the whole front of the car right up to the fire wall.I then went to the scrap yard and did the samething to another GS.My car is a 96 and the doner front end came off a 95,hence the front bumper.They charged me $50 per side including all the polution control shit that was still attached to the frame.6 hours later I had every thing all measured up and grinded smooth and welded back.I even beefed it up and gave it alittle extra support were needed.If you look at my engine pic there is only one weld that can be seen,right along side of the upper radiator support on the passenger side. Thats the only weld that can be seen.I gotta admit I was kinda proud of myself for saving this car.Your probably wondering why I didnt just weld on a gst or gsx front end.Well when I bought the car I didnt know that it came with 2 different motors.I thought I could just swap a turbo from one to another.Anyhow I'm proud of how I got the car to where it is today.And I think that the 420A is a great motor to turbo if youy dont mind gettin you hands dirty and doing alot of work.Any body can go out and buy a factory turbo car,but unless you bought a 420A eclipse and turboed it yourself,you will never understand how good it feels to make something out of nothing! When guys pull up next to me and ask me if my car is a gs-t or a gs-x,I'm proud to tell them its a 420A!

Yeah i see what your saying. As far as internals i need to learn how that all works. Im going to start with simple bolt ons like headers, downpipes, etc. I hope it will not cost more than a couple thousand dollars for a nice setup.

I would suggest fix your car up so that its reliable and you can drive it around every day without having any problems.Then buy a cheap 2nd motor,put it on a stand and slowly build it right for a turbo.It will turn out much better if you take your time and do it right!I just happen to have a 420A motor and 5sp for$500 that I was gonna rebuild.Since I broke my wrist and I wont be working for at least another 6months I just cant afford to do it anymore.If interested,I have it in ad here on the site. Now I've been trying to figure out how I can mount a low mile 93 vette engine somewere in the back seat of a 95 eclipse rollin shell!

 

[MyProject2G]

Nice yeah i see what your saying. I wish i had the money and i would buy that engine from you . Yeah it would be cool to build a motor and boost it.. i just hope i can get some nice hp and tq numbers. (Atleast 250hp). AWD is what i would like to do someday i worry about the power to weight ratio and whether i will still be able to take some nice turns. Im trying to build a well rounded car

 

[BoostedBen]

I live in Atlanta and finding an AWD Talon or Eclipse is next to impossible

Atlanta is a big freaking place. But let me just hit your craigslist and I bet I find at least one gsx. You wait a few months and you will see several come up for sale in atlanta and the surrounding areas.

The cars are the same size, but the inner frame rails and strut towers are different between the 2 cars. To swap the engines you will have to cut the frame rails and strut towers from a turbo car and weld them into your car. Imagine removing the fenders and bumper than cutting everything from the firewall forward and welding in the whole front part on to your car.

LMFAO... It is seriously not anywhere near that hard. Yes you need to weld in brackets for the engine mounts. But there is absolutly no need to swap the frame rails.

 

[MyProject2G]

^

Okay yeah that guy was making it way more complicated than it sounds. I might just stick with my RS and swap it. It would be fun to do some custom work. I dont have 8k to drop on a GSX

 

[NWHTanK]

Atlanta is a big freaking place. But let me just hit your craigslist and I bet I find at least one gsx. You wait a few months and you will see several come up for sale in atlanta and the surrounding areas.



LMFAO... It is seriously not anywhere near that hard. Yes you need to weld in brackets for the engine mounts. But there is absolutly no need to swap the frame rails.

LMFAO!!! U still end up with a boat load of work and a fuged up rails and strut towers if u were to use existing 420a rails.

 

[starfish]

LMFAO!!! U still end up with a boat load of work and a fuged up rails and strut towers if u were to use existing 420a rails.

It actually was pretty easy cuttin it at the fire wall.Once I cleaned up all the edges.lined it all up, measured 10 times, tact everything together, measured another 10 times,then I was ready to weld everything up.It took like 3 hours to prep and tac everything, and another 3hrs to weld and reinforce every thing up.Once I bolted everthing back on the car, the only weld that you can see is next to the upper rad support.If I ever sold the car,no one would ever no it was 2 cars welded together unless I told them.OH SH*T maybe now everybody will know

 

[NWHTanK]

It actually was pretty easy cuttin it at the fire wall.Once I cleaned up all the edges.lined it all up, measured 10 times, tact everything together, measured another 10 times,then I was ready to weld everything up.It took like 3 hours to prep and tac everything, and another 3hrs to weld and reinforce every thing up.Once I bolted everthing back on the car, the only weld that you can see is next to the upper rad support.If I ever sold the car,no one would ever no it was 2 cars welded together unless I told them.OH SH*T maybe now everybody will know

Actualy thier is no problem with what u did but u could have made it a gst or gsx, doh. Since u went that far.As the gst and gsx get older and surcumb to rust, crashes and neglect. It seams that in capable hands that it could be swaped to the gs and rs
Since thier were more produced them. So as to make the swap easier the complete front clip would need to be swaped.To put the gst gsx engine and trans between the 420a frame rails would be more work see that u would have to make mounts making sure that u had proper clearance and drive line angles right. If u wanted power stearing and ac, u then run into more problems because of rail,apron,and strut tower diffrences. Oh the kicker while trying to get said stuff to work u will be removing and reinstaling the driveterain untold times to modify and make things fit. So worst case, transplant upper rails,strut towers,aprons, radiator support as a assembly. Then the gst gsx stuff will bolt up.

 

[Anubis_4_99]

Atlanta is a big freaking place. But let me just hit your craigslist and I bet I find at least one gsx. You wait a few months and you will see several come up for sale in atlanta and the surrounding areas.



LMFAO... It is seriously not anywhere near that hard. Yes you need to weld in brackets for the engine mounts. But there is absolutly no need to swap the frame rails.

Yeah absolutely no reason, the hump in the frame rail for the transmission being on the wrong side doesn't matter at all.

 

[NWHTanK]

Also the strut towers and aprons!

 

[necrotopsy]

there is a lot of mis-information in this thread. (and also a lot of complete stupidity)

different strut towers? wtf? no. not true at all.
the main differences in the engine bay are the engine/trans mounts.

Why is it not smart to AWD swap an N/T?
Because you need a running driving AWD car, and if you have that, why the hell would you go through all the word of making your N/T AWD?? for a couple dollars in insurance savings? that's just not smart IMO.

 

[NWHTanK]

there is a lot of mis-information in this thread. (and also a lot of complete stupidity)

different strut towers? wtf? no. not true at all.
the main differences in the engine bay are the engine/trans mounts.

Why is it not smart to AWD swap an N/T?
Because you need a running driving AWD car, and if you have that, why the hell would you go through all the word of making your N/T AWD?? for a couple dollars in insurance savings? that's just not smart IMO.

Wow u mean if u were just to swap the rails that thier wouldnt be any gaps along the area were the frame meets the tower? And were the towers meet the aprons u mean to tell me that thier not difrent from gs To gst gsx? I can get u pics if u need them.

 

[DSM IN MN]

^

Okay yeah that guy was making it way more complicated than it sounds. I might just stick with my RS and swap it. It would be fun to do some custom work. I dont have 8k to drop on a GSX

Who spends $8k on a stock GSX? I know I sure as hell would not/have not.

I say stick with the conversion I posted. Best bet by far.

 

[necrotopsy]

read this:
How To: Perform a 4g63 AWD or FWD Swap in your A/S - ASEClub

just ignore the part about lengthening the driveshaft. (avengers are slightly longer then a 2g E/T so we have to lengthen the drive shaft to do a AWD swap.)

EDIT*
the frame rails are different yes, but the strut towers are not.(which what i said was the MAIN difference was the engine mounts. meaning their locations.)