AWD Spyders - Check in here! [Merged 12-7] Spyder

[DSMunknown]

The original poster of the thread below used to have one, but it was damaged by some garbage truck.



http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/hangout/268339-parked-awd-spyder-totaled-garbage-truck.html

 

[blkwidow]

I want to do it to my Spyder, but I don't have the skills or tools.

 

[99gst_racer]

I swapped my car, but I'm a hardtop, not a Spyder.

Dig through this thread. There is a handful of Spyder guys in there.

 

[CatchMe]

Swapped mine myself...

Documented the entire process with pictures, see my photobucket account.

CatchMe450 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[leet]

Looks beautiful, CatchMe.

 

[matthewdesigns]

Here's a recent conversion running around my town. Guessing he's not a member, so I thought I'd throw it up here.
Colorado DSM Club Forums

 

[jcurcillo]

I am in the middle of converting my 98 Spyder. I'm from Ohio. Here is the link to my photos.

Spyder AWD Conversion

 

[gorf]

I'm working on my spyder right now - have the gst stuff stripped off and most of the bolts/mods done to put back together. I still need to weld in the drive shaft carriers, but have the original bracket out.

Just curious what others have done to get the front gsx bolt dropped into location on the spyder. Here is how I approached it:

 

[turbo1307]

Like laserspeeddemon said, mine has been completed for almost a year. Wiseman 92awddsm helped me with it. We did a full build, AWD conversion, 6 bolt swap, brakes, built trans and a few other things.

All my cutting and welding for the bolts was done on the inside of the car and look completely stock from the outside. Peopple still dont believe it is AWD.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Located in Northern Virginia.

 

[FenixTX717]

I've been wanting to do this swap with my 99 spyder....but really looking for someone around here to help out with it....i've never done something this major and have no clue on what to do....of course i need to find a good AWD and what not but where to go and get this done?

or who to help me do this....?

how long did this take most of you guys....time wise? right now my Spyder is all i have to drive so i can't go long without her...

 

[Nvisabl]

I have heard of a TON of people who want to do this and may have. I want to know who actually has is done. I know just around me here in MN there are 4 for sure including mine. I would like to know who else has an AWD Spyder and where are you from.

We have 2 awd spyders Bill's which I would put against anyones for clean and Eric's which is umm not as clean. swap was done right but he doesn't take as good of care as he should.

Bills is a 20g car fmic dsm link wilwood brakes white and nice. the only pictures I have on a website I can't link too I got banned last week for it . Very innocent but oh well.

DJ

I will try to get a picture on photo bucket

 

[CatchMe]

I've been wanting to do this swap with my 99 spyder....but really looking for someone around here to help out with it....i've never done something this major and have no clue on what to do....of course i need to find a good AWD and what not but where to go and get this done?

or who to help me do this....?

how long did this take most of you guys....time wise? right now my Spyder is all i have to drive so i can't go long without her...

Took me 1 week of real work, pretty much working on it every day. It's not that hard, and I did it on jack stands in my garage with basic hand tools in the middle of winter, believe it or not.

 

[turbo1307]

I say if you had a good shop to work on it in with room to move and all the right tools to get it done, you could knock it out in a llong weekend. Just make sure you have a list of everything, make sure you collect all the parts. I'm sure you will be making a few trips to a local parts shop to pick up some things. You will also need a few people around to help you lift and move things. Based on what I have seen on this thread it look like everyone went about doing this conversion in different ways so I'm sure it went quick for some peopple and longer for others. Let us know how the conversion goes when you do it.

 

[Blageo23]

Just curious what others have done to get the front gsx bolt dropped into location on the spyder. Here is how I approached it:

See that hole on the left, I drilled it to a 1/4"(1/4" is the perfect size to let the socket I had to use for the other bolts in) and dropped the bolt in(took a min ### its off to the side but I didnt add any holes). Then I used a cap from the underbody of the donar car to plug the hole. I also used the bolts from the hardware store and welded them at the bottom so they didnt spin(just a tack weld).

 

[98gsspy]

Is there any welding involved for the spyder swap?

 

[turbo1307]

Is there any welding involved for the spyder swap?

Yes.

 

[slvrstingray]

Just as a thought, I've been toying with converting my 97 Spyder to AWD. Right now its just a rolling shell with plans for a 6 bolt conversion. The original plan for the project was to go big with the FWD, but AWD sounds so enticing! What steps have you guys taken to reinforce the chassis to prevent it from twisting? Sub frame connectors, or roll cage? If i recall correctly, was it Road Race that twisted the chassis of one by launching it real hard? One more question... what is an AWD Spyder worth?

 

[mlopez]

Just as a thought, I've been toying with converting my 97 Spyder to AWD. Right now its just a rolling shell with plans for a 6 bolt conversion. The original plan for the project was to go big with the FWD, but AWD sounds so enticing! What steps have you guys taken to reinforce the chassis to prevent it from twisting? Sub frame connectors, or roll cage? If i recall correctly, was it Road Race that twisted the chassis of one by launching it real hard? One more question... what is an AWD Spyder worth?

The body already has reinforcing from the factory cause it's a vert to begin with. Although a cage would be very helpful. I have over 600awhp on mine and launched it with no problems to the chassis. Not sure what its worth but you can always hire an appraiser.

 

[thegchild04]

The body already has reinforcing from the factory cause it's a vert to begin with. Although a cage would be very helpful. I have over 600awhp on mine and launched it with no problems to the chassis. Not sure what its worth but you can always hire an appraiser.

Hey do you have any videos of your car in action floating around anywhere?

I never have seen a awd spyder launch off the line before.

Violent 600hp launches at that

 

[91laserrsnt]

I did my conversion about a year ago. I dont post forums much but im bored tonight.. I have many extras, but whatever.

<a href="http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/1fastgst/?action=view&current=DSCN0319.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/1fastgst/DSCN0319.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/1fastgst/?action=view&current=DSCN0318.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/1fastgst/DSCN0318.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/1fastgst/?action=view&current=DSCN0317.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/1fastgst/DSCN0317.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/1fastgst/?action=view&current=DSCN0316.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/1fastgst/DSCN0316.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/1fastgst/?action=view&current=DSCN0315.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/1fastgst/DSCN0315.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/1fastgst/?action=view&current=my8.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/1fastgst/my8.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[91laserrsnt]

I started the swap at 6pm one night, and ended at 1 am. That was including stripping the other car of parts, and minus the trans. I already had an awd trans installed for a while in fwd mode anticipating the swap. The next night I reassembled the donor car to fwd, so it can go to the auto auction to get some cash back out of the pos. Didnt cost me 1 dime. I drove around rwd for a while but axles got expensive from showing off. Took the vce out and put the one axle back in and have been awd for about a year now. I daily drive this car with no problems. This car does feel really heavy in the ass, and you cannot even do a bounce test on it. I think im the only one in Philadelphia PA with an awd spyder. If not, im at least the first one.