Postby AE25 » Wed May 08, 2013 11:12 pm
if you're dead set on the live axle.. try the ae95 4wd wagon which has a T series drum rear with 4x100 to match the fx. im thinking easiest would be to do a rear floor pan transplant which would then retain the oem ae95 diff mounting points. then cut out and transplant a driveshaft tunnel from whatever rwd/4wd car to suit the transmission choice. or similar option using ae86/te72 rear floorpan which may be a bit harder. fuel tank is another issue with a rwd tunnel.
If keeping the 4a mounted transversely, im not sure how well the 4wd transmission will handle being converted rwd only if somehow the front diff is locked including the transfer case and the front axles removed? if subaru's are anything to go by, the transfer box is not up to putting 100% power through it.
The other way could be a nth/sth mounted engine as per ae86. with a traditional rwd engine crossmember with rack and rwd front suspension grafted in and some modification of chassis around the lower strut area for clearance on rwd front suspension.
I'm thinking a 4wd fx would be easier to complete than a pure rwd conversion. using ae95/ae114 or more modern 4wd corolla drivetrain. or for something stronger, a hybrid celica gt4 E15# 4wd tranny with 4agze bellhousing (if this is at all possible?).
the 4wd tercel has a smaller 6" U-code live axle diff which wouldn't be considered reliable with 4age.
I think an easier option for the rear would be to make it IRS so that the factory macphersion strut mounting points are retained, with a swap to 4wd rear struts, then some rear floor pan surgery to mount up the IRS diff head from an irs rwd/4wd car. the likes of celica/rav4/altezza/cressida etc.
An evil side of me is telling me to graft gt4 running gear into my own ae82 fxgt. and although unique, is a hell of a lot of work only to have a fx gt-4 which i'd never really make use of on the street. it'd probably be dubbed the 'heavy hatch' too
-Mark
'71 ke26 5k, '75 ke25 4age, '78 kp60 bug, '83 ke70 3tgte, '85 ke74, '86 ae82 20v, '90 st185 gt4, '90 sw20
