View Single Post
  #2  
Old 05-27-2006, 06:17 AM
curtis73's Avatar
curtis73 curtis73 is offline
Professional Ninja Killer
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,561
Thanks: 0
Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts
Re: changing a drive type

Do a search. In general, switching drive types is insanely expensive, difficult, and involved for most cars. Often times people see the RWD conversions on FWD cars at car shows and get all misty-eyed, but the truth is, those are almost always a custom built tube-frame race chassis with some sheet metal hung on it that vaguely resembles a Cavalier. There is absolutely nothing about the cars that came from the original cavalier any more than a Monte Carlo has in common with a NASCAR nextel cup racer.

Converting from one to the other requires EXTENSIVE surgery on very critical fundamental structural pieces of the car. Without access to the original stress analysis from the manufacturer's billion-dollar computer and an engineering degree, the chances that you can alter their unibody structure that extensively without turning the car into a limp noodle are rare.

With a FWD car, you design a stiff cradle up front. That is the tow vehicle. The rest of the car is a trailer. 90% of the torsion in that car is held in 30% of the car. In a RWD car, its more like 50% front, 40% rear. All of the power of the engine has to be transfered over the entire length of the wheel base. Completely different engineering bases. Converting a FWD to a RWD is no easier than converting a boat to a car if you want to do it right.

If you want to do it right, the cost would literally cover the purchase of a new RWD Ferarri.

I'm all for taking what you have and making it what you want, but in some cases its just so off the charts difficult that I want to shake my head in wonderment. Manufacturers spend literally billions designing cars for a certain drive layout, so trust that their 100 years of experience has a little engineering credibility.

Buy a RWD or AWD car and skip the conversion. Even doing it half-acsed will cost as much as three camaros.
__________________
Dragging people kicking and screaming into the enlightenment.
Reply With Quote