How difficult do you think it would be to get from Fwd to Rwd? Options

[dudeofchaos]

I really love my car and plan on keeping it. I don't wanna sell it, never.
It's not something that I plan on doing soon cause I'm broke, but in a few years I will have my real job and I will probably work as a mecanical engineer and I may also have my mecanic's diploma.

I was wondering how difficult it would be to get from Fwd to Rwd? Could I just take the transmition and rear differencial from an Mr2 (which has the same engine which is good!) and I guess probably the cv axles and probably the suspention/steering-related parts like the tie rod ends and stuff and make them fit together and Voila?

I'm not good enoght right now to know what I shall do to do this conversion, but I will eventually go to school after I get my engineer diploma to learn all about mecanics.

(I plan on having a Rwd Celica and a 4wd Gt-Four later. I don't wanna buy a gt-four and convert it to rwd cause this way I would have to buy 2 gt-fours in the end. I'd rather get my Fwd Gts to rwd and then, later, buy a Gt-Four. So please don't tell me to buy a Gt-Four because ''it would be easier to swap'' )

Do you think it would be this ''simple'' or would I need to do a lot more things to get the rear wheels spinning?
I guess a celica would be easier than other cars to convert since there are a lot of bolt-on parts between the celica-mr2-gt4, am I right?

Well, thanks to those who answer me!

This post has been edited by dudeofchaos: Sep 25, 2010 - 5:53 PM

[coldbluesteel]

Well, I understand exactly where your coming from. I had planned and started to implement a RWD conversion on my 94GT. You can look up my old post if you want some more info. Basically the plan was gut and rebuild. I wanted some real power so I was building a twin turbo LS1. If your going to go through all the trouble of a conversion, why put a 200-300 HP motor in? You could do a Lexus 1uzfe and build that to about 400HP if you want to save some money( that has been installed a 5th gen alltrac before)
As said before you'll have to make room for a transmission. There is already room for a drive shaft because of the shared chassis with GT4. You'll have to figure out a custom suspension and steering set-up. Of course you'll have to reinforce all the cutting your doing, and to support the increase in power and torque forces.

You could order up a rear end from a GT4, which is nice because it pretty much bolts in with a little fab work and it has a Torsen differential. Should be good to about 400HP, maybe more. You would need a custom drive shaft regardless. Another good option is to use the suspension from a Mustang Cobra, because its more robust and the dimensions are pretty close. You'll need a custom fuel tank, as the one you have now is in the way. Fuel cell in the trunk is a good option.

If that sounds like more than your ready to tackle you could take it to a shop that specializes in custom fab vehicles. Most quotes I got were in the 20K-30K range.

Hit me with any questions you have.

[dudeofchaos]

Well, I understand exactly where your coming from. I had planned and started to implement a RWD conversion on my 94GT. You can look up my old post if you want some more info. Basically the plan was gut and rebuild. I wanted some real power so I was building a twin turbo LS1. If your going to go through all the trouble of a conversion, why put a 200-300 HP motor in? You could do a Lexus 1uzfe and build that to about 400HP if you want to save some money( that has been installed a 5th gen alltrac before)
As said before you'll have to make room for a transmission. There is already room for a drive shaft because of the shared chassis with GT4. You'll have to figure out a custom suspension and steering set-up. Of course you'll have to reinforce all the cutting your doing, and to support the increase in power and torque forces.

You could order up a rear end from a GT4, which is nice because it pretty much bolts in with a little fab work and it has a Torsen differential. Should be good to about 400HP, maybe more. You would need a custom drive shaft regardless. Another good option is to use the suspension from a Mustang Cobra, because its more robust and the dimensions are pretty close. You'll need a custom fuel tank, as the one you have now is in the way. Fuel cell in the trunk is a good option.

If that sounds like more than your ready to tackle you could take it to a shop that specializes in custom fab vehicles. Most quotes I got were in the 20K-30K range.

Hit me with any questions you have.

Hmm, thanks man, I sure will come to you if I have questions! But I'm looking to stay as close to OEM as possible (ironical don't you think? lol) so I'm just going to stick with the 3sgte.