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Shooter83's 100% Complete AWD Conversion (pic heavy)
it is clear that many have benefited from my info on the AWD conversion process, yet nobody has been kind enough to give credit where it's due..
with that said:
If any of my AWD conversion threads have helped you on your journey to converting your FWD car to accept the AWD rear subframe. then please give credit where it is due, and share the info that helped you become AWD, by adding a simple link to this thread, in your thread. if not, i will forever frown upon you...
Z11A-FWD
Z16A-AWD with AWS
Z15A-AWD w/o AWS
Now obviously nobody has to go as far as I did just to go AWD on a FWD Z11A car. This method is a 100% Z11A to Z15A chassis conversion, but 75% of what i did is not required to simply install the Z15/6A AWD rear end to a Z11A chassis. My "One day AWD conversion" thread will show you the quickest way to go AWD. If you have the money, or can save up for an AWD car, do it! I went this far with my conversion because of that fact that an AWD R/T TT or VR4 was financially out of the question for me, so i went all out to have as close to the real thing. Plus, I knew I could trade my skill and time to make myself an AWD converted car that offers the perfect fitment of a factory AWD car. i'm not going to lie either, i also went this far with my conversion so i could say i did.
On to the conversion!
Most people don't understand why you cannot simply install the Z16A (AWD) rear end in a Z11A (FWD) car. I will do my best to first explain why.
For reasons unknown, Mitsubishi decided to design and install two different rear ends for the FWD car & AWD car. Why they didn’t simply use the AWD rear end without the rear diff or c/v axles for FWD is beyond me. For whatever reason, in order for them to use different rear suspensions, they had to design different mounting methods for each rear end.
First, on the rear of the FWD cars, the rear struts are mounted closer towards the front of the car. While in AWD cars, the struts are farther back towards the rear of the car to clear the c/v axle. Because of this, our platform has two different types of inner fender wells/strut braces, one for AWD, and one for FWD. here is an animated picture I made showing the difference of the AWD and FWD car's rear inner fender wells:
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Second, the FWD rear end uses trailing arm mounts that are installed on the frame rail, while the AWD cars have a mounting plate to connect the rear sub-frame. You can see this difference in post 3.
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Third, the FWD cars rear end is held in by 4 studs coming out of the frame. The rear of the AWD rear end only uses two of these and they are longer and thicker then the ones used to hold in the FWD rear end. You can see this in post 4.
And finally, the FWD cars have 2 of the 4 needed studs used to hold in the drive shaft. The rearward set contains both studs, but the forward set is missing both studs in the brace. You can see the Z16A brace and Z11A brace in the 9th post.
Here are some interesting pics I took of the extracted Z16A parts for my conversion:
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All of the drive train parts were given to me by my good friend AndrewBox who wreaked his 94 VR4 back in early 2005. So the stars aligned perfectly for me to do this conversion. The best bonus is the fact that my Stealth ES is the same car that my mother brought home in 1994 when I was 11, the very FIRST 3S I ever laid my eyes on. Because my car is so special to me, going all the way with this conversion was a must. I wanted it to look like Mitsubishi made a mistake in the Nagoya plant back in the first week of October 1990, when my car was made. Like when when Mitsubishi switched the assembly line from AWD to FWD production, they accidentally slipped out one AWD Stealth ES!
I did this conversion using zero fabrication at all. I used all factory Z16A parts from a parted out AWD shell that I bought for $100 from Mike91TT. My original intent for the AWD shell was to swap my ES over to it. Unfortunately because of the high amount of internal rusting and rot I later found in it, I could not justify building my car on to it. The rust growing inside the unibody would have certainly become a serious safety issue in the years to come. That’s when the AWD shell became the organ donor, and my ES became the patient. As the years go on, the numbers for the AWD cars for our platform decreases from accidents, rust, part outs, etc. I gave us back one more by removing and saving every one of the precious and unique Z16A AWD frame parts, and installing them on to my car.
This was a tremendous amount of work! But I can say now that it's complete, it definitely out weighs the price of a factory AWD car (remember, i got the drive train for free). Because I did the *body conversion* for around $200. What really sets my conversion apart from every other AWD conversion, is the fact that my rear struts do not sit at an *extreme angle* that requires use of a rubber bushing. The struts sit just as Mitsubishi intended for AWD cars. And oh yeah, the insurance savings for having an ES is great!
Here’s the original thread on Florida3S.com, which followed my conversion in chronological order: My AWD Conversion - Florida's Mitsubishi 3000GT & Dodge Stealth Community!
it is clear that many have benefited from my info on the AWD conversion process, yet nobody has been kind enough to give credit where it's due..
with that said:
If any of my AWD conversion threads have helped you on your journey to converting your FWD car to accept the AWD rear subframe. then please give credit where it is due, and share the info that helped you become AWD, by adding a simple link to this thread, in your thread. if not, i will forever frown upon you...
Shooter83's 100% Complete AWD Conversion
Z11A-FWD
Z16A-AWD with AWS
Z15A-AWD w/o AWS
Now obviously nobody has to go as far as I did just to go AWD on a FWD Z11A car. This method is a 100% Z11A to Z15A chassis conversion, but 75% of what i did is not required to simply install the Z15/6A AWD rear end to a Z11A chassis. My "One day AWD conversion" thread will show you the quickest way to go AWD. If you have the money, or can save up for an AWD car, do it! I went this far with my conversion because of that fact that an AWD R/T TT or VR4 was financially out of the question for me, so i went all out to have as close to the real thing. Plus, I knew I could trade my skill and time to make myself an AWD converted car that offers the perfect fitment of a factory AWD car. i'm not going to lie either, i also went this far with my conversion so i could say i did.
On to the conversion!
Most people don't understand why you cannot simply install the Z16A (AWD) rear end in a Z11A (FWD) car. I will do my best to first explain why.
For reasons unknown, Mitsubishi decided to design and install two different rear ends for the FWD car & AWD car. Why they didn’t simply use the AWD rear end without the rear diff or c/v axles for FWD is beyond me. For whatever reason, in order for them to use different rear suspensions, they had to design different mounting methods for each rear end.
First, on the rear of the FWD cars, the rear struts are mounted closer towards the front of the car. While in AWD cars, the struts are farther back towards the rear of the car to clear the c/v axle. Because of this, our platform has two different types of inner fender wells/strut braces, one for AWD, and one for FWD. here is an animated picture I made showing the difference of the AWD and FWD car's rear inner fender wells:
Second, the FWD rear end uses trailing arm mounts that are installed on the frame rail, while the AWD cars have a mounting plate to connect the rear sub-frame. You can see this difference in post 3.
Third, the FWD cars rear end is held in by 4 studs coming out of the frame. The rear of the AWD rear end only uses two of these and they are longer and thicker then the ones used to hold in the FWD rear end. You can see this in post 4.
And finally, the FWD cars have 2 of the 4 needed studs used to hold in the drive shaft. The rearward set contains both studs, but the forward set is missing both studs in the brace. You can see the Z16A brace and Z11A brace in the 9th post.
Here are some interesting pics I took of the extracted Z16A parts for my conversion:
All of the drive train parts were given to me by my good friend AndrewBox who wreaked his 94 VR4 back in early 2005. So the stars aligned perfectly for me to do this conversion. The best bonus is the fact that my Stealth ES is the same car that my mother brought home in 1994 when I was 11, the very FIRST 3S I ever laid my eyes on. Because my car is so special to me, going all the way with this conversion was a must. I wanted it to look like Mitsubishi made a mistake in the Nagoya plant back in the first week of October 1990, when my car was made. Like when when Mitsubishi switched the assembly line from AWD to FWD production, they accidentally slipped out one AWD Stealth ES!
I did this conversion using zero fabrication at all. I used all factory Z16A parts from a parted out AWD shell that I bought for $100 from Mike91TT. My original intent for the AWD shell was to swap my ES over to it. Unfortunately because of the high amount of internal rusting and rot I later found in it, I could not justify building my car on to it. The rust growing inside the unibody would have certainly become a serious safety issue in the years to come. That’s when the AWD shell became the organ donor, and my ES became the patient. As the years go on, the numbers for the AWD cars for our platform decreases from accidents, rust, part outs, etc. I gave us back one more by removing and saving every one of the precious and unique Z16A AWD frame parts, and installing them on to my car.
This was a tremendous amount of work! But I can say now that it's complete, it definitely out weighs the price of a factory AWD car (remember, i got the drive train for free
). Because I did the *body conversion* for around $200. What really sets my conversion apart from every other AWD conversion, is the fact that my rear struts do not sit at an *extreme angle* that requires use of a rubber bushing. The struts sit just as Mitsubishi intended for AWD cars. And oh yeah, the insurance savings for having an ES is great!Here’s the original thread on Florida3S.com, which followed my conversion in chronological order: My AWD Conversion - Florida's Mitsubishi 3000GT & Dodge Stealth Community!
