Quote:
Originally Posted by Joseph Davis
n't pick up a whole lot of mpg from ditching the 4WD setup due to how the drivetrain is designed, but you will completely ruin one of the finest winter snow/ice rides ever made. On H-speed rated budget performance tires they stop and go on steep hills that 4WD trucks, or other over rated inefficient and all around poorly designed garbage like AWD Subarus, lose footing on when trying to maintain a steady speed. This last winter we went sledding all over WNC in a '90 4WD wagon, recreational donuts in the middle of an iced over 25/70 in Madison county, etc.
Also, the "kids" have beaten all of the "high performance" swaps for these year cars into the ground and have had to resort to building the efficiency family of engines. $700 for pistons/rods/machining results in a D16 longblock capable of handling 500 whp, which is half the price or less than a bone stock high mileage overly hyped VTEC motor sells for. Refer to d-series.org, onecamonly.com, turbod16.com, realhomemadeturbo.com. RHMT has coined phrases like "D-series, 10 psi, will turn you out," and "FAKLAD" (F@ck a K-series, Love A D-series) and there's even a profitable niche market for selling tshirts and stickers with these slogans - ibrunclothing.com. Long story short, I can't find SOHC engines/trans like I used to, much less for cheap to free.
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Do keep in mind that the 1985 4WD wagon is a significantly different animal than the 1989-1991 RT4WD wagons. I used the drivetrain/floorpan of one of an '89 to build this
The '85 has a solid rear axle. The '85 also has a lever to shut off the RWD. With the '89 you have to access a lever under the hood. I made a special tool so that I can do this quickly. The '89 4WD trans is significantly larger and somewhat heavier than its 2WD counterpart. For example, you can't remove the engine's oil pan without disconnecting the engine/tranny on a 2nd gen 4WD. I'd guess the 1st gens are similar but I don't know.
The d16a6 (which came stock in the 2nd gen 4WD's and CRX Si's)is a pretty good motor. I got an average of about 31 mpg when I had that motor. It blew a head gasket and I switched to an OBD1 d15b vtec and my mileage and power have gone down, but I don't have the vtec working right yet.
If you decide to do this to this wagon I think you should try to hunt down the 2WD tranny of that year. I think it would bolt right in.
OTOH, I think there are much better choices. I really like car based Reverse Trikes (Tadpoles). I'm thinking about doing this with a Civic hatch or Del Sol.
If you can get this car running and the body is not too bad I'd think you could get $2k for it, maybe more. I cut up the wagon I did because the body was beat to crap.