Actually, that is a good question. The reason is this: the original (think 80's square GL boxes) 4WD sibues were just that, 4WD, part-time. They also had a limited run of full-time 4WD cars at the time (on their turbo models, such as the GL-10), which used a viscous coupling, and were 50/50. However, when they came out with the first gen legacies (1990-1994), they had fulltime AWD, but I am not sure about the arrangment. I believe that they were the same as is now (the difference between the auto's and the 5SPD), but I am not totally sure. I guess I just assumed that if someone was going to do this project, they would use a 94+ donor car, but I suppose they could try to go older.

 

since you ignored that the 323 has a transverse engine layout.....

 

alright so the 323 is out... what other can i use for cheap?

 

that is an easy one :
MONEY

(oh yeah and time)
....did i mention the money

 

instead of building a 4wd FC, just buy an awd eclipse/laser/talon.....

 

An act of God.

 

IF and i say IF
you could get it working. and working properly it would be a very very mean and frightening machine. Cornering would be even better. I think it would rock.

BUT THATS IF you could get it to work properly.

Nice idea. but there may be a reason Mazda didnt make a AWD version. the engine would have to be raised a bit for proper drive train layout. thus raising the CG. hmmmm........

 

I'm curious what you have in mind? Are you wanting to make a rally car?

 

why stop there? since were on a fantasy topic here, just go import a skyline, have it crash tested (meaning, you buy 3 more to be wrecked by the government), and licensed for legal us driving. and voila! you have the only $300,000 awd import! ;D

 

You'd also have to move the engine in front of the front wheels. Look at ANY AWD car and the engine will be much farther to the front of the car than in any rx-7. The drive shafts for the front wheels have to go out more or less straight out from the tranny, and ours are WAY to far back. I know my mom's Subaru engine sticks way out in front of the wheels. Doing an AWD conversion would destroy the balanced weight distribution.

 

the skylines and 3000gt's manage a balance though...
although the 3000gt's are heavy, I'm not sure about the sklyines.

 

Plus you will need some extra power to lug all that extra weight around..

Maybe just cut an FC body loose & weld it to a Jeep..

 

I know I saw an AWD FC in a magazine that was in a rally race, I dunno if this is the same one that was mentioned before, but that is all I know of. And AWD seems rather hard to do in a car that has the engine behind the front axels.

 

if you don't mind what it looks like find a talonTSI, eclipseGSX, or laser...ahh ahh...yano the awd one


and scrap or sell the motor and mitsubishi stuff from that and only keep what you need to install a 13BT.....or better yet a 20B......yumm.....someone needs a sponser....."get NBC on the fone"....haha


too bad that wouldn't fit either..........oh well i'd be sweet if it did!

 

About the price of a Skyline... A company called MotoRex in California imports many Japanese cars, mainly Skylines. They have already done all the gov crash testing and stuff, so they are actually legal. I believe you can get them for 85,000-90,000. You can get used ones for cheaper.

 

nothing about making a AWD fc is going to be bolt on, you'le probobly have to fabricate front uprights that will accomidate the curent suspension geometry while allowing for drive axels thrugh the hubs.

hope you have access to autocad and a CNC.

 

people do have street legal skylines in the states some company imports them on a loophole in the crash laws.
i dont know the name of the company but i've read a few articles about street driven skylines in the US

 

What about a B2600 tranny and transfer case?

 

Who says AWD will handle better?

 

they're not exactly feathers.
i believe Cartunes in Irving Texas does it for cheaper. i think..

 

As long as this is sort of off-the-wall. I read an article about an AWD Saab 900T. They took a second engine/transmission and mounted it in the trunk/passenger compartment. So, if you could bolt the 13B to a front wheel drive transaxle x 2, and mount one in the back and one in the front, you could have a 400 hp AWD car for a few bucks less that a new lamborghini.....

 

The motor doesn't have to be in front of the wheels.
To mount the diff in front of the motor in an FC it will probably have to go up and back. Install a remote dry sump so you can get rid of the oil pan all together. 626 front struts (+modifications). What ever front diff you use will have to have the same ratio as the back. Maybe using a stock FC rear end with a modified housing would work. Just use a transfer case out of one of the 4wd trucks. Be prepared to modify the floor of the car for clearance.
Basically, just copy what Millen did.
Good luck

 

Had a few friends try this, with a talon platform. It almost worked. Cut bodies off, and got motors swapped, (LOTS of fabrication, and $ to CNC) But the car looked funny. everything fit right but something was different, and the motor never really worked the same after the swap.

If you tried to just get a front trans axle, you better be sure of your rear ratio and get them too match. Had that problem with a friends monster truck, and learned it was much cheaper to buy the more expense matched ratio diff, than fix everything from the two different ones fighting each other. It would be a difficult swap, but cool to do since you would be the only one to have the AWD 7
peace,
Charles