4g61t.org

Ok so I picked up a 90 eclipse gsx donor shell the other day. Came with everything but the tranny. Even came with the motor he tore apart and left unfinished. I got the car for near nothing . Anyways My plans are to rebuild the 2.0 liter for sure and replace the 1.6 when it goes. But I am tempted to do the AWD swap being I have everything now besides the tranny. Question is that is it worth it to hack up the colt for the AWD swap? My colt GT is *MINT* w/ 85,000 on the shell. How much hacking is involved with the changeover? Will I need any other parts besides the donor car? Estimated price I might be spending on the conversion?

P.S. Can I use the whole suspension setup from the Eclipse on the colt? (ie...struts, springs front and rear spindles, brakes)

DON'T DO IT! You have a really nice low-miles original turbo car, don't cut it up! That's criminal. If anything, find a nice base-model 1.5 car and swap everything over.

There's a decent amount of hacking and fab-work involved in doing the swap. Definitely not something you'd want to tackle if you have no fabrication experience, or the right tools like a welder, circular saw, cutting wheel--things like that. It's not a direct swap by any means, lots of work involved.

yeah I have welder, the tools to do it, and some fabriction experience. Its just the whole hacking up the colt part that hurts...maybe it would be better to get a base model

Yes.

We'll all sleep better at night.

You act like its some huge deal to hack up a Original turbo car.. Its not like they'll ever be worth anything. Its a damn colt

It has nothing to do with the monetary value of the car, it has to do with the fact that there will only a small number of them ever made, and you're taking it and modifying it in such a way that it never be the same again. Sure, you're making it way faster and AWD is bad ass and everything--that's why you save it for a base-model car and then you can preserve a piece of Mitsu history.

Well I do agree on this one, yeah GT's aren't numbered cars like GVR4s but yeah I wouldn't do it neither. Like tonus said get a base model 1.5 and go to town with it or just fix the GSX.

I already have another GSX that runs and drives fine....dont care about this one. I guess I'll just junk the car or find another base model colt.

well since you put it that way strip the car and get a base model colt mirage and awd it. Didn't realize you had a gsx already

lol my wife is going to kill me if I get another car. I already have 6 cars sitting in front of our house.....She says our house is turning into the junk yard.

If I had a very nice stockish 1.6L GT Colt I probably would not cut into it. I may eventually replace the motor with a 2.0L and run a couple of mods, but nothing crazy. Now on the other hand, if your GT was heavily modified, regardless of its condition, and made enough power to potentially be unsafe on the street then I wouldn't see any reason not to do the AWD swap.

My car on a good drag radial was becoming less fun the more power it made. It basically needed a bias ply on the street to maintain full-throttle safety, and even in that case 3rd gear would still probably have a mind of its own regarding which direction the car would want to "pull". I determined at that point it would be a great benefit to swap the car.

Everyone should know my stance.

Factory turbo? fruit and banana off. Base model, go nuts.

yeah I'm not going to attempt on it. I am going to strip the GSX out and find a base model. thanks all

I just happened by, but I agree with the general sentiments. I have spent a whole mess of money on my project, and I am not near through yet. The monster (what I call it now) just keeps going up. Every improvement results in another need. Like boost. Get a larger turbo and make more boost. But more boost means more HEAT for less power. So you have to do things to accomodate that factor, etc. Take the GT and work to keep it pristine with a few sleeper mods. You will have more FUN, and get attention,too. I am (was) too cautious in normal operation because I had a LOT of power, and the dividing line between going and nervy was too distinct. I am still on my project because I have the funds and want to see it to the end, which will probably reduce it to being a trailer queen. Not what I may have have chosen if I had known what would happen. Read the site, and remember that you are going to have to do about everything, and it won't be a short term project.