RWD Conversion?

[maxsideburn]

I know that it is "possible", but what I'm wondering is what are the benefits and drawbacks of doing such a conversion. Also what parts would be needed? And what would be the effect on reliability?

I know that being RWD would make the car more "fun" to drive, but would probably hurt the acceleration quite a bit. As far as reliability I would imagine that at least you'd have two less CV axles to worry about, but any other concerns?

 

[1990talon]

Well to me it is pointless but if you did rear wheel conversion it depends if you left the stock rear end then you would have more of a reliability problem because you would have something that is supossed to take only half the power now taking all the power and you would have a tendancy to snap the axles. also if you do it correctly it will cost alot because you have to buy a rear end the have it installed assuming you could even find someone to touch it if you can't do it yourself then you would have to have a coustom driveline made then new motor mounts and a coustom install on that then redo the exhaust buy a ney tranny create a new tranny hump in the floor board redo the carpet then you will have to probably move the radiator because it is in the way of the engine and I think you get the point if you really want a rear wheel drive car turbo car with a 4g63 in it you should just do the starion conversion.



Good luck,
Brandon

 

[RayPeters]

Max,
While my status listed here is new today I've been preparing and modifing 1G DSM's for 15 years now. While I agree with the previous post on some points, others I do not.
The rear diff is plenty strong to deal with the limited traction available, so if this is a street car, it is my opinion that traction will be your limiting factor. With drag slicks and big hp (read 500+) the rear axles are an issue, be sure to have a 4 bolt rear end.
The transfer case again should hold up to most abuse, and there are upgrade parts available ( the Driveshaft Shop).
The transmission is where all the magic needs to happen. The testing I did on a 91 awd proved reliable and fun for 15,000 miles plus @ ~350 rwhp. My mods to the tranny were as follows;
Remove center diff and install a spool.
Remove front axles, install the inner axles in the tranny to keep oil and front diff happy.
Install outer joint cups in front hubs to hold wheel bearings together.
And before anyone flames me for a "hack job" please bear in mind I was curious as max is here what this conversion would be like, and I hade the time and iniative to try this. Given more time/budget I would have done several things differently. In the end, while it was fun to slide around, the car was faster everywhere as an awd, and the reduced drivetrain stress made parts last much better. Good luck with your decision...

Ray

 

[olmytsi]

This subject has been beat to death.

The only way to do a rwd conversion reliably is the expensive way: flip the motor, use a mighty max trans, fab up a new intake manifold that opens the other way, modify the water neck etc.

Getting rid of the front and sending everything to the rear on the awd configuration will kill the rear in a few days. It's been done and proven that it will not last. Look on the internet for the video of a blue 1g awd converted to rwd doing burnouts and stuff. His rear let go a few days later.

 

[1990talon]

This subject has been beat to death.

The only way to do a rwd conversion reliably is the expensive way: flip the motor, use a mighty max trans, fab up a new intake manifold that opens the other way, modify the water neck etc.

Getting rid of the front and sending everything to the rear on the awd configuration will kill the rear in a few days. It's been done and proven that it will not last. Look on the internet for the video of a blue 1g awd converted to rwd doing burnouts and stuff. His rear let go a few days later.

Thank you!

 

[maxsideburn]

ah ok, thanks for enlightening me.

just for curiousity sake (as I wouldn't want to do it) what would be involved in converting the AWD to FWD only?

 

[1990talon]

not sure but a FWD tranny, spindles, axles

 

[VTRICCO]

you would just need to swap a tranny from a turbo fwd and get a rear end suspension from a fwd.

 

[Defiant]

Oh, god, make it stop.