97 GST Spyder (AWD Swapped)

[spyderdrifter]

I got my clutch master cylinder replaced yesterday. It was a simple parts swap, but I still have to re-adjust the clutch pedal. It engages, but the pedal is still soft during gear changes, so I'll be messing with it until it's good.








I also swapped the wheels from my GSX onto the spyder. They look pretty good too. I'm not a fan of 18" wheels, but they are good enough. Once I get the 17" wheels I want, they'll go back on the GSX.

 

[kasumax]

I really should have bookmarked this a year ago. I know im late. but yeah clutch master/slave sucks.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Lol, and I still haven't gotten the pedal adjustment fixed.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Been a few long months since my last post here, so I guess I'll take the time to catch it up.

I'm still having issues with my clutch master cylinder. I bought a rebuild kit for the oem one and got it reinstalled. Got it adjusted, and although it felt better, it still hasn't returned to normal. Gears still grind a bit.

Back when I bought this car, I noticed that the fuel tank was dented in and assumed that was the reason why it has had crappy fuel mileage since I can't fill it up as much. Well recently, my wife and now me, have noticed fuel seepage on the outside of the tank.

I also replaced the water pump about a month ago and welded the turbo oil return pipe since it cracked somehow. Did both at the same time, and now I've noticed I still have little coolant and oil leaks.



I've also noticed that the engine wants to stall on occasion while parking. Sometimes in 1st gear, sometimes in reverse. It does it a lot to my wife, but luckily I can save it when it happens to me.

I've mentioned all these issues now for one simple reason. The gsx needs a lot of body work to fix the strut tower, the driver door hinge mount rail, and the driver side wheel well area due to the extreme rust. So I decided to try to convince my wife that I need to do the awd swap to the spyder in order to fix the drivetrain problems. She said yes while I was going on about it and didn't even notice until my friend that was with us looked at me like I was retarded for not hearing her.

So the gsx has all the parts I need to fix problems on my spyder, as well as I'm going back to a 7 bolt engine for now. It may clear up idle problems and the exhaust smoke too. Thankfully my friend who's held on to our gsx is wanting to do the swap with me, so I have a garage to do it in. Now I just need to buy a welding machine, and clear up a good amount of time so I can get this done. It's already getting cold here in Colorado and it'd be awesome to have this done before it snows. Will throw up some pictures later.

 

[Albanator]

Wish I was still there. The awd swap would take a weekend if everything went well. Now that I have done it I think I could do it all again in a week by myself. It is really not difficult at all. Just follow the wiring for the fuel pump and everything else just bolts into place. You can bolt up the drive shaft hanger bearing to keep it in place and just take it to jacks to have them spot weld it in there.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Thankfully I won't need Jack's for spot welding, as I now know how to do all the welding myself thanks to school. Would definitely be helpful if you were still here, but it's all good. As long as I can have this done by the end of the year, I'll be happy.

 

[spyderdrifter]

I started stripping down the GSX this weekend so I could set aside everything I need for the awd swap, and put everything else away in storage.

Got the steering rack pulled. It was easier than the last steering rack I pulled out, which was a Toyota minivan. It looked great and has no leaks. I’ve cleaned it up and it’s ready to go in the spyder. I haven’t had power steering on the spyder for nearly three years, will be nice to have it back.







Here's the GSX's exhaust. Someone thought it was okay to weld the entire system together into one piece. Sadly I'll have to use it for now, but I'll eventually get a proper setup. I just hope it doesn't sound like a Honda fart-can.

The biggest accomplishment though was getting the rear subframe assembly dropped down and pulled out.

http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/Spyderdrifter/media/Spyder/20151114_154614_zpshrmvqxpf.jpg.html

It didn't take as long as I had assumed and went quite smooth, even for doing it alone. Thankfully I had a couple friends handy to help me pull it out from under the body.

http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/Spyderdrifter/media/Spyder/20151114_183326_zpshfqlmwcw.jpg.html

Next weekend I’ll be dropping the fuel tank and removing the hanger bearing mounts and hopefully the bolts that I’ll need to weld into the spyder.


Just for viewing pleasure, the gutted shell…

And most of the parts...

 

[spyderdrifter]

Steering works again. Nice to have it back, mainly for my wife
Should be dropping the gsx fuel tank this weekend and maybe get the shell taken away for scrap.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Got the fuel tank removed this weekend with all four floating bolts for the subframe, and the rear hanger bearing mount. Will work on the other mount next time.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Quick update: over the last two months since my last update, my spyder's transmission issues have gotten a little worse, and it now pops out of 1st gear all the time. Most likely the syncro is going out. So this coming weekend, I'll be starting the awd swap by getting the fuel tank and hopefully the rear subframe swapped. I got a 3-day weekend, so this should be able to be completed. Since my wife and I both need our cars during the week, I have to get it done in time.

And here are two things I've been needing to know, can I use a 1g CAS on a 2g 7 bolt in place of the 2g cam sensor? If I can, do I need to keep the 2g crank sensor installed? Is there a way to pull the last rear subframe bolt WITHOUT cutting the X-brace? I have read that there is a way, but have not found it.

More to come...

 

[spyderdrifter]

AWD Swap Part 1: Rear Subframe Assembly and Fuel System

So my 3-day weekend turned 4 & 1/2 day weekend ended this morning around 2. I got the entire rear section of the car completed. I had a hard time getting the fuel tank to fit right all because of one of the old fuel tank mounting bolts was in the way, but couldn't see it, and over looked it until my friend happened to feel around and felt it. Cut it off, and the tank fit good enough to be strapped on. Brakes work, fuel pump works, everything works. I didn't have high hopes for my fuel gauge to work since so many who have done this swap have issues with it working afterward. I got probably a gallon of fuel out of my old tank and put it in the car, and she started pretty well, low fuel light on (obviously) so I knew that at least worked. I later drove to the gas station and fueled up. As soon as I started it, the gauge started moving. Was so happy to see it work and know I didn't need to redo the wiring. Next up is dropping in the newer engine, trans, t-case, and driveshaft.

FWD tank out.




FWD subframe dropped.


Fitting the AWD rear assembly.


Fitting AWD tank and straps.








Pump wiring and 2nd sender hole cut.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Well after a long weekend of building my car, it was attacked by a rogue shopping cart yesterday afternoon. Luckily there's only cosmetic damage to the hood. This was caused by high winds and the store's insurance won't cover damages since it was wind related.





Luckily it missed my intercooler....

 

[spyderdrifter]

AWD Swap Part 2: 7 Bolt and Transmission

New 7 bolt:


Pulling 6 bolt:






6 bolt FWD on left/ 7 bolt AWD on right


7 bolt dropped:

 

[spyderdrifter]

AWD Swap Part 3: T-Case, Driveshaft, and Completion

Had a long weekend finishing this, but it's done. I have a few bugs to evaluate and fix, but it's at least driveable now.

 

[spyderdrifter]

After finishing my swap, I learned I needed to shim the pivot ball for the clutch fork. The fork would hit the inside of the bell housing and not disengage the clutch. I didn't feel like pulling the transmission all over again after getting the car running, so I got a suitable band-aide fix in place until I was able to ge the time to drop it again. Got it done yesterday night. Got a friend who let me use his shop and lift to fix everything and it shifts so much better now. I also, no longer have the clutch issues I had with the old fwd transmission.









Also got another exhaust to put on. It's not anything special, but it's better than the pos single piece that came with the donor.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Once my awd swap was complete, I had a weird clicking noise coming from what I thought was the clutch. Turns out that idea was wrong. It's emanating from the timing area of my engine. After some research, the diagnosis doesn't look good. Crankwalk isn't a problem I prefer to assume, or even think about when I have an engine problem. I know it's not a curse to only these engines. However, the proof in the video I posted elsewhere is hard to ignore and most likely, shows it is in deed crankwalk at the early stages. I still have to get under the car while it's running and have the clutch pressed while I got the harmonic balancer off to view the crank plate and cps. If this is what I'm hoping it's not, it'll make me kind of mad. This engine is actually a pretty strong engine. No oil leaks, boost leaks, coolant leaks, nothing. Leak down tests showed great sealing. Only haven't done a compression test. Will update more as I get more info available.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Well...... today is the sad day, I just confirmed my crankwalk. This engine is a victim of it. Just took this video and you can see the small amount of travel when the clicking starts.

 

[spyderdrifter]

For what ever reason, I put the cps on before dropping this engine in my car. However, it is unplugged since I've been using my 1g CAS because I couldn't find my 2g CAS. So I'm in no immediate danger of the cps breaking and then shutting off the car. It'll still end up breaking if I don't get it removed, but the car will still be driveable for now. Now I need to get my old 6 bolt back in shape to drop back in when I get the opportunity.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Always seems like a long time between updates... anyway, my fuel pump went out about a week ago. Called around to the usual parts stores just to get a pricing idea. Everywhere but one, wanted $140 for some knock-off brand I had never heard of, plus an additional $20 for the install kit. I didn't want to do that. Called another place that usually deals with foreign car brands and they had a Denzo unit for $120 including the install kit. So I had to decide between that, or going on ExtremePSi to get a 255 Walbro for $85, but wait longer for delivery. I ended up going for the local one that I had to wait 1 day for. Turned out they ordered me the 420a fuel pump, so in the end, I'm still waiting on delivery of the Walbro pump.

 

[Talon96fwd]

What you do about the crankwalk?

 

[spyderdrifter]

So far, nothing. I have a '94 CAS on my car instead of the 2g crank sensor. So at least for now, there's no sensor for the crank to break and cut off the engine. I will be putting my old 6 bolt back in once I get the time to do it. Until then, this 7 bolt should hopefully hold up.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Got my Walbro pump today.

 

[spyderdrifter]

I guess I never updated the fuel pump issue. I replaced the pump and it runs just fine now. No more issues there. Next issue up, replacing my leaking top. More later...
Enjoy the pictures...

 

[spyderdrifter]

New addition to the Spyder:

Came from a 2002 Diamante VRX. No modifications were needed to make this wheel fit, and everything functions properly. The only change I did to it was swap out the cruise control switches.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Had some time for a good wash... with free child labor









And a good reward for helping wash the Paperweight: