AE71 Spirit Conversion

[Muzo]

Hi guys, I have an AE71 Spirit that I've had for ages, my first car. It's been in an accident recently and NRMA decided it wasn't worth it so they paid me out and I got it back for 200. I'm going to restore it to stock and then looking at maybe putting a GZE or mayber even a 20V. I understand that both would have to be converted to RWD and I've read up a lot on the process, but being such a newbie, it doesn't all make heaps of sense to me. Does anyone have advice on which path would be most cost-effective, not necessarily the cheapest but the best value for power and ease. I would appreciate any help I can get.

[HAVABEER]

converting a fwd to rear wheel drive?

most of what you've stated wouldn't be road legal anyways.

its going to be VERY expensive no matter which way you look at it. it would probably be easier just to go out and buy a AE86 if your that desperate for a RWD

also why does it have to be RWD. there was a car at one of the dyno days that was a corolla sx FWD and it made some 200kw or something. so why can't you just convert the engine to fwd (sump, exhaust etc) and go about it that way?

how much do you have to spend?

[tomvale13]

Aren't ae71's rwd?

[RobertoX]

An AE71 is already RWD. He's talking about taking a FWD engine and converting it to RWD to go in his RWD corolla.

The best advice is to keep searching and reading. Its been done and doccumented so many times it's not funny. Look for both ae71 and ae86 conversion from 4ac to 4age info on the net (basically the same). Very straight forward.

[Hiro]

*Ninja edit - not quite ninja enough

[Muzo]

Yeah I understand that, but a quick question, would a 20v even fit in my engine bay?

[river]

Hi,

Yes it will. They are both 4A series engines and you should have no problem fitting a 4AGE engine.

seeyuzz
river

[Muzo]

Thanks river, i'd heard that it could but others said i'd need to mod it to fit or customise the firewall.

[JP]

the distributor and thermostat housing on the 20V are in the way of the firewall when installed in RWD. You can either mod the firewall/heaterbox or mod the engine and remove the distributor/convert to coilpacks and then sort out your cooling system with a RWD 4A waterpump with built in thermostat or go with a remote thermostat housing.

[RobertoX]

to give you an idea on what is involved in 20V cooling:
http://www.rollaclub.com/board/?showtopic=14024

[The Real Roadrunner]

bang for buck id be choosing a later model MAP sensed GZE.

the conversion is easier (less mods), it has more torque, and upgrade parts are easily available to get more power for less $$$ than the equivelant 20v parts.

FI = bang for buck
NA = banging head against a wall for an extra 5kw

cheers
linden

[Muzo]

Hmm, thanks guys for all your comments. RobertoX, that thread was really helpful and the best way of converting a 20V I've seen so far. Linden, thanks for that word of advice, thats what I really wanted to know, however the GZE is already 1000 more than the 20V. The thread that RobertoX linked to seems to suggest most of the parts that casue the problems can be replaced by the 4AC parts, of which I have a whole engine to take from. So still unsure, but I have taken on board all of your advice, thank you very much guys, and I welcome any new revelations.

[The Real Roadrunner]

however the GZE is already 1000 more than the 20V.

but if at some point in the future you have a desire for 140 odd rwkw then you will spend alot more money on the 20v to get it there, some food for thought?

i try to look at what i want to do with a car in the future as it gives me a better understanding of what mods need to be done now.

cheers
linden

[oldcorollas]

a set of 20V cams will cost about $1000..... and will never ever get as much torque as the supercharged engine..
whereas a bigger crank pulley or smaller SC pulley are significantly cheaper..

[oldeskewltoy]

Doing more or less the same thing... cept I'm using the 4AGE 16V I'm building....

http://www.toymods.net/forums/showpo...7&postcount=18

Hmmmm it all depends on your budget. I know a guy in the Uk who has a supercharger on a 20V silvertop... plants 260+hp and 175#-ft of torque...

As I say to most of the newbies over in the US of A.... WHAT is it YOU want??? Then build it!