FWD GST swap to a AWD GSX? Basic [Merged 2-07]

[Xain10229]

POST ALL OF YOUR BASIC QUESTIONS HERE.

1) Yes, it's possible.
2) Yes, it requires some basic cutting and welding.
3) Read through this thread before asking any questions. And read through this article written by Jacob Isaac-Lowry.
4) If you're serious about specific parts of the swap, and/or you're in the process of the swap and you have specific questions other than "is it possible", then please post in this thread.

-99gst_racer

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

I was just wondering how hard it would be to convert my 1999 GST into an AWD GSX or if its even possible. What all do I need to swap and how hard is it?

 

[AW4G63]

I didnt even read that whole last 30 post part but after 10 replies I must say - If you have to ask , you will never do it

If you really had the know how/ time/ money & everything you claim you would have done it or known what needed to be done.

 

[AW4G63]

Originally posted by Todd95TSi
IBsomeonegetshurt

There is no reason to start fighting over stupid crap, its his car and he can do whatever he wants to it. If he wants to make it AWD then that is his decision......he|| he could make it an all out 4X4, jack it up 15 inches, put it on a truck frame, and put 40inch tires on that mutha. But what difference does it make to anyone else? Its his cash, he worked for it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is put down the coffee and spend more time modding your own car rather than arguing with someone else about theirs.

If he really planned on doing this, Or new anything about his car and an AWD he would know how stupid of an idea it is. The AWD and a FWD are very different. You cant just take parts off of the donor and slap them on your car. Your going to be making brackets. Fabricating parts left & right.

There is a thread like this once a month. So its obvious the search feature was not good enough for him.

Slap on a wing and call it a day man.
:laugh:

Contact RRE, they have done an articall on this with there cost.

 

[umiami80]

I agree with AW4G63 entirely. And if he wanted to make a lifted 4*4 in a DSM, well that would just be an original project and will encourage the best of mechanics. But Doing this swap defeats the purpose entirely based on $$$$$$$$$$$$$$. and $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Matters.

 

[Defiant]

Actually, that buffalo is quite tame. Go ahead, blow in his face!

Oh, and to add Chris to the whizzed-off list, IBTL.

 

[Todd95TSi]

I know that there is tons of fabrication, and way too much work to seem worth it, however it is HIS car, HIS time, and HIS money. I hate when people dont search too, esp on something like this that has been covered 1000s of times. Oh well.......... I still feel it necessary to try to help people out, but I am still relatively new and patient. Maybe I will become bitter and hateful later on.........


(not calling anyone hateful, just saying i might be)

 

[raped]

here is a list of parts from somebody who has done it (yes it can be done)

NEW PARTS :

EVO tranny $2300
Quaife front LSD $975
RM swaybars $300
Front and rear axles $500
ACT 2600 - $390(wouldn't need one if my Clutchbastards wasn't slippin')
New nuts and bolts for rear suspension, etc. from the dealer: $100-150?
Fluids for tranny,rear did, etc.: $75
SS 3" O2 housing and downpipe $550
40MM Tial gate $350

USED PARTS:

Aluminum flywheel: $350
Fuel tank including sender unit, filler neck, shielding: $250
Drive shaft: $150
Transfer case: $200
LSD rear carrier: $200-300
Rear crossmember w/ suspension arms and hubs: $300-400

Labor:
$2500-$3000 for swap
$200 to rework current exhaust or $500 for new AWD exhaust.

 

[Staged]

Okay, this is one of the craziest threads I have seen in a while. Ever since the C5 Corvette spouted to the Turbo Civic, and then was SLAMMED by turbocivic on the street in Dallas, and it was posted like EVERYWHERE!
Here's the deal...
1. We ALL have the right to mod our vehicles ANY WAY WE LIKE! And it costs money regardless. So beef up and figure YOUR budget for YOUR car. I am doing mods that make NO sense and have done the opposite conversion to my AWD. And it costs money just like anything else. Wanna hear about AWD to FWD and dropping 1/4 times while raising 60 foot times on the GST tranny? Lighter load... slower start. So buck up.
2. A question was asked. How many people actually made an attempt to answer? My GOD, how many posts are there about the argument of who's Mom did whos Dad with the dog watching? I was glad to see some real answers to the question later on, and a couple in the beginning and would hope that he GOES FOR IT ON THE SPYDER AWD CONVERSION!! Even though he says he is just taking the EASY WAY and buying one.
3. Reminder: Chevy brother's raced with modified Ford engines before the Chevrolet business ever started. Bugatti is now made by Volkswagon, and the EB16 special is boasting over 635hp. Without TRYING things and changing things, and DOING things, and then figuring out with others how to MAKE IT WORK, we wouldn't have mods, or tuners, or Skyline conversions into 240SX's, or blown 454 big blocks in 1975 Beetles, or AMC Gremlins that run 7-second 1/4's. We wouldn't have this forum. We would be discussing how MY AWD is EXACTLY like YOUR AWD. More power to the people that TRY!
4. This is long, but I have to say it. Being the first to place 279hp to the wheels on a NA(No Turbo/Nitrous) 1.8lt LS(Non VTEC Honda) block, and then running 13.1 with it's automatic tranny, I had to try it and I did all I could to do something different. Now I am doing a chop for 1 1/2" and suiciding the passenger side door while lambo on the left, with a split directional hood on a DSM...
umiami80 and kevingst, do your cars how you want, but don't knock the other for modding a DSM, that makes less sense than anything else you guys have posted here in a FORUM for TUNING AND MODDING YOUR DSM...
5. ...and meanwhile, I can't figure out why my starter won't engage after doing the swap to FWD to lighten the load. Is there anyone that can help ME? Because I want this until I figure something better for the car or find something else considered stupid to do. Because I will do it. But the car has to run... and I am tired of pushing the damn thing, and jumping in the car to pop the clutch, and praying I don't have to push again. I am ready for any questions to help you understand what is involved, and what has been done.
6. Screw the length of this... I'm allowed 100,000 characters. My last word is number 2873 with a period.

 

[its_hey_ma]

Ok, I've got a fwd laser that I've got all the motor work done to it I want and was looking into an awd conversion. Now would it be easier/cheaper to just get an awd with bad motor and put mine in it or to put the awd system in my car. I wan't to know before i put the interior and exterior of the car back together. I know thier are posts on awd conversions too, but i just want to know if its easier/cheaper to swap motors or drivetrains. And also, Its a 5-speed 6-bolt if that helps

 

[nutshot]

It is far easier to swap the engine.

 

[TimG]

Ok, I've got a fwd laser that I've got all the motor work done to it I want and was looking into an awd conversion. Now would it be easier/cheaper to just get an awd with bad motor and put mine in it or to put the awd system in my car. I wan't to know before i put the interior and exterior of the car back together. I know thier are posts on awd conversions too, but i just want to know if its easier/cheaper to swap motors or drivetrains. And also, Its a 5-speed 6-bolt if that helps

The rear-ends of the AWDs car chassis is different than the FWD. It's not interchangeable. Buy a AWD shell and drop your interior/body and engine into it. That is what I am doing as we speak.

 

[kyledykstra]

Far far far simpler to swap the motor, on a 1G, the bottom of the car is different from about the back-seats rearward.

 

[August72283]

Alright first off I have never owned a DSM, but have always liked the look of them and had freinds tell me they wouldnt trade theirs for anything. That being said I'm looking at buying a '95 Talon TSi fwd with about 100k miles on it for $2,000 with a few minors mods( A-Pillar boost and pressure guages, aftermarket wheels, BOV, and boost controller). My question is, is it possible to convert the car from FWD to AWD and if so how hard/expensive would it be to do. The car is in great mechanical shape so I'll probably buy it anyway I was just really hoping to find a AWD in my price range that was in as good shape. Anyway if anyone can give me any idea's on this I'd appreciate it, thanks for your time in advance.

 

[trbotaln]

yah you can convert a FWD to an AWD but it takes a lot of time and money. You would be better off buying an AWD.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

That is really cheap, I would definatly buy it. Fwd isnt that bad.. You get useto it.

All's you need is an awd parts car. If you know how to do it.

There is an awd spyder on this forum. Mlopez I believe.

 

[totalburnout]

Its not incredibley hard if you have access to the parts.


I dont know how much you're going to find the parts for but a wrecked parts car is probably the best idea.


There may be some cost of custom fabrication as well, unless you can do that yourself.

It could very well cost you another 2k

 

[Game Over]

Starting with a coupe model, it would not be worth the conversion cost and custom fabrication. The Sypders and the GSX share the same general body, and the other coupes are different, so it wouldn't be worth it to convert a coupe to AWD. I hope I made sense, maybe someone will explain it better.

 

[doug]

We have one local guy just finishing up his AWD GS-T conversion (hardtop). I haven't talked with him too much about what all is involved, but it is doable. Not a one-weekend project, though.

 

[oddrob]

We have done several conversions, both Spyder and hardtop. Again, the biggest thing will be how much a parts car will cost. They seem to be an average of ~$3k or so. But then again, I love my FWD, you may find you like it as well.

 

[VRC Racing]

I have done one of these conversions and all I can say is its a dirty, nasty job. The only thing that really needed to be fabricated was a rear carrier bearing mount. Other than that it was just cutting access holes to install the mounting bolts. Here are a few pictures of the project .

http://www.gvr4.com/gallery/after

-Russ

 

[98eclipseRS]

yes, we just finished one of these swaps as well. Its really not that hard just alot of work, if the car in question is in as good as condition and it sounds buy it and don't look back. You one might like FWD and two are getting a really good deal so why not, hell even if you turn around and sell it you could get more than 2k for it. As for the awd swap let's see, you will need all the awd parts and then its just a matter of removing all the fwd suspension/tranny/etc.. and then bolting up the awd. The hardest part is, just like VRC said, creating some sort of access points to the mounting bolts on the rear subframe. Other than that it is a complete bolt on project.

 

[S Bizzy]

I hope i'm posting this in the right forum, you guys seem pritty strict about things being out of place :-( I have a 97 GS-T Spyder that I am looking to convert to AWD. I work for a living and usually cant put aside more than $100 or $200 a week for my car. What I would like to get is an estimate of how much I would be spending for the parts and labor for a job of this magnitude. Any advice from someone who has done this before is very welcome.

 

[aves911]

I don't know what you would be able to get the parts for. If you could find a deal on them locally, or what shipping would be. But I have seen busted 95 AWD for as low as $1500 on the trader. Figure ~2000 for parts.

Labor is a little bit trickier. There are several different ways that the AWD parts can be fit to a FWD. The correct parts from an AWD parts car will reduce labor time, but not everyone can get a whole parts car.

I'd say if you had someone charging $50 an hour to do it, you'd be looking at around another ~2000 in labor. (Someone who works at a shop that has done one might be able to give you a more accurate labor estimate)

My suggestion to you is to do it yourself, its really pretty simple. Spend a lot of time and do a lot of other things while you are at it. Such as bushings, sway bars, clutch, ball joints, suspension work, hubs, whatever, it all needs to come apart anyway.

Oh yeah, and you will be 1000 times better off with a whole AWD parts car.

-Jacob

 

[S Bizzy]

I am still very new to the world of DSM's. Ive had mine for less than a year so when it comes to geting under it and taking stuff apart, I'm liable to screw something up unless im following step by step instructions w/ pictures. I may save up to buy an AWD scrap car with all the parts I need on it and then pay someone on this site to work on it. I'm sure ill be able to find a flat rate instead of that pay by the hour crap. IMO they can do 20 mins of work and say that it was 6 hours and charge you out the wazoo.

 

[aves911]

If you havent done very much work to your car, then you are much better off just selling it and buying an AWD. That's the truth of the matter.

I converted my FWD because I had installed and FMIC, redone a lot of the interior, removed a lot of things from the engine bay, and done a motor swap. At that point it was more efficient to change to AWD than revert my FWD back to stock and buy an AWD and do all the work all over again.

 

[Attack Eagle]

amen... and a spyder just isn't as strong a chassis as the hardtop.

I would NOT be doing this at this point in your DSM career.