97 TSI into 97 ESI project

[Justorymes]

Ok, so this is what happening, i've got a great deal on 2 banged up cars i intend to swap everything from the totaled (white) car. They are both 97's but one is an ESI FWD eagle talon (black), and the other one is an TSI AWD eagle talon.




I don't wish to hear things like man... you got a lot of work ahead of you, because this stuff isent realy that hard its just time consuming and detail matters when swaping clusters (and all aquanted parts like key cilender).

The plan is to turn the black car into the white car, the white car's title is now totaled and i got it for real cheep and everything is in working order like the whipers work, and all the lights work, and the check engine light is not on but it is at key on engine off, so i know the lights good, it's just a side impact that isent going to be cheep so i got an esi frame to work with here.

I've got a few question's for anyone who has prior experience with doing an FWD to AWD swap when you have everything you need.

Question #1
I was wondering if/what do i need to do to get the driveshaft in the car, i noticed that the esi's exhaust is in the center of what looks to be an identical tunnel but i couldent see any bolt holes because the car was to low, i dident have a jack next to me at the time, but i'm going to check it out tommarow.

Question #2
I've looked at the rear ends of the tsi and i saw a little difference in the bolt pattern (the bracket that holds the control arm's to the frame) from the esi, i know the gas tank is going to get swapped out to account for the hump in the driveshaft too.
TSI: This control arm bracket has 2 horizontal bolts that are about 1-1/2ft. apart, and i can see where they might bolt up to on the esi, i don't know if it would be the right ones but i'll get a better look tommarow.

PS: Sorry for my spelling, my computer cant use the spell check.

[david-b]

Welcome to AF.

So you want to take the parts from the TSi and put them into the ESi? If this is the case, you have A LOT of work a head of you. Everything about the cars are different, from the motor, to the tranny, to the rear end, to the cross member, or the mounts, to the motor, to the wiring.... can go on and on here.

The rear ends are totally different and you can swap a AWD rear-end on there, but there's some holes that need to be drilled out and quite a bit of modding for it to fit properly.

[SilvrEclipse]

Yea dude its an entire different engine and tranny. Its a WHOLE lot more complicated then you think its going to be. There will have to be tons of fabrication work just to bolt the 4g63 engine up in that car.

Whats wrong with the black car and why dont you just use it?

[Justorymes]

The black car has a blown motor, and i don't like the FWD as much as i'd like the AWD.

I like the quick response time on this website, i'm going to drop the rear end's and start from there whial my dad works on pulling the motor, and another guy on the dash/harness.

[SilvrEclipse]

So you want to use the motor from the white car and the awd from the black car?

[david-b]

White = TSi AWD
Black = ESi

Everything going from the white to the black, right?

Can I make a request? As you're doing this, take pics of BOTH cars. If you're looking at the rear end, take pics of both. If you're looking at the mounts, take pics of both. And please post them.

And lastly, how much experience do you have with swaps, mechanics and custom fabrication? (Not being a dick... just asking your level of experience)

[Blackcrow64]

Good luck with it. It's doable but complicated. A lot of fab work will go into the esi to make things fit from the awd, but it is doable. I probably would just start with an awd rather than going through all the extra work but it'll be a fun project and you'll learn a lot.

[smokeyandthebandit]

I've seen alot of 2G AWD shells sell for cheap or even free. If I were you I'd start shopping for a shell. It'll make your life a lot easier.

[KoDKingVegeta]

Read this, it will give you all the information that you need.

http://www.automotivearticles.com/AWD_Conversion.shtml

Hope you can weld/cut, if not be ready to pay alot for it.