scourge
July 20th, 2005, 02:45 AM
Yes, I did a search prior to posting and yes, I know such a project would be difficult. I have moved back to the US from Japan and it looks like I'll be here for awhile this time. My background in cars is that I owned an R32 Skyline GTS-4 in Japan and ran touge as often as I could. I'm also in drifting despite the rediculousness I see with it and bandwagoners in the US.
I'm old enough now and have enough money to buy cars that I could not afford when they came out when I was in high school.
I'd like an Infinti M30 and do a 5-speed swap in it, but they are very hard to come by. So, I've opened up my search to the Cadillac Allante and Buick Reatta. I have always believed the Reatta would make an excellent audio demo vehicle and now one can be had for under $3000 (and less) if one searches.
This is just something I was musing as I don't like FWD being a part of the Reatta (and Allante) and I believe this is something that really hurt the sales of the car especially with the introduction of the Miata and its RWD/lower price point. The Buick 3800 is a tried and true engine and can be supercharged for decent power, so no need for a big block V8. The interior/seats would need to be replaced without a doubt, though.
Custom motor mounts are not a big deal issue. The rear subframe would be. Was the Reatta designed from the beginning to be FWD? I am assuming that it was. Even so, the Ford Focus has a kit to allow a V8 conversion by Kugel.
http://www.kugelkomponents.com/focus/focus.html
The Acura Integra has been made AWD from parts from a CRV. To accomodate the driveshaft, the biggest issue was hammering out some space for the driveshaft near the rear of the car. But, one can follow the swap in the HONDA TUNING magazine to make their own or contact
http://www.brailleauto.com/ and see the RWD Integra they made posted on their site.
So, making a FWD car RWD/AWD is possible without tons of fabrication (ie. rebuilding the car) or ten of thousands of dollars.
Having said this though, I am assuming that no one has tried to make the Reatta RWD? I want a RWD car and something different that not everyone in a parking lot is going to have as well. I look forward to whatever information I can get.
--------------
As posted in the Buick Reatta Forum here:
http://forums.aaca.org
I'm old enough now and have enough money to buy cars that I could not afford when they came out when I was in high school.
I'd like an Infinti M30 and do a 5-speed swap in it, but they are very hard to come by. So, I've opened up my search to the Cadillac Allante and Buick Reatta. I have always believed the Reatta would make an excellent audio demo vehicle and now one can be had for under $3000 (and less) if one searches.
This is just something I was musing as I don't like FWD being a part of the Reatta (and Allante) and I believe this is something that really hurt the sales of the car especially with the introduction of the Miata and its RWD/lower price point. The Buick 3800 is a tried and true engine and can be supercharged for decent power, so no need for a big block V8. The interior/seats would need to be replaced without a doubt, though.
Custom motor mounts are not a big deal issue. The rear subframe would be. Was the Reatta designed from the beginning to be FWD? I am assuming that it was. Even so, the Ford Focus has a kit to allow a V8 conversion by Kugel.
http://www.kugelkomponents.com/focus/focus.html
The Acura Integra has been made AWD from parts from a CRV. To accomodate the driveshaft, the biggest issue was hammering out some space for the driveshaft near the rear of the car. But, one can follow the swap in the HONDA TUNING magazine to make their own or contact
http://www.brailleauto.com/ and see the RWD Integra they made posted on their site.
So, making a FWD car RWD/AWD is possible without tons of fabrication (ie. rebuilding the car) or ten of thousands of dollars.
Having said this though, I am assuming that no one has tried to make the Reatta RWD? I want a RWD car and something different that not everyone in a parking lot is going to have as well. I look forward to whatever information I can get.
--------------
As posted in the Buick Reatta Forum here:
http://forums.aaca.org