If you're talking about putting a 944 engine and tranmission in a Fiero, the answer is no. The 944 is a longitudinally mounted front engine rear drive layout. If you somehow made an adapter, you might be able to install the 944 engine with a lot of work, using a Fiero transaxle.
plus the porsche 944s and 951s I believe were front engine and REAR mounted transaxles..your better off staying GM as parts, labor, and compatibility issues will arise along the way making the build more $$$
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02:34 AM
Racing_Master Member
Posts: 1460 From: Hooksett, NH, USA Registered: Nov 2007
Porsche 944, 928, 951, etc etc are all front engine rear transmission cars. Boxters are Mid engine Rear Wheel Drive Flat 6 engines, while 911s are Rear Engine Flat 6s.
AWD Fieros are hard due to gas tank location, and rotation of engine vs transmission positions. MR engine configuation transverse puts the transmission behind the engine. Transverse AWD would have the driveshaft coming out the wrong side!
Reverse the engine setup, and you have AWD Rear Engine, which puts excess weight behind your rear axle and requires quite a stretch and redesign to make it fit. Do it MR AWD, and you have to put the transmission inside the trans tunnel, cut the floor, place a transfercase, have proper diffs, put a rear and front diff........ Basically so much work, its not worth the effort, not even close.
Anything is possible with enough time, money, and experience!
[This message has been edited by Racing_Master (edited 05-17-2012).]
I always thought it would be killer to put Subaru AWD into a Fiat X 1/9. Could do the same with a Fiero, with any front engine AWD drivetrain. Gas tank could go over the rearend. All it takes is time & money. I can do it if anyone is interested. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
Theres a guy out in california who make subaru boxer engines to fit 914-6 porsches...Possibly could do the same for a fiero if your interested in it... I dont have his current where abouts or information unfortunately.. His shop i think was called R-Code Racing? Otherwise many others have done this already
Edit: oops you were talking about drivetrain haha..either way still a good idea for a motor..
[This message has been edited by gmctyphoon1992 (edited 05-17-2012).]
Because they're imaginative & aren't afraid to try new things? EDIT: I wonder what the VW purists would say about my Cabriolet? http://angelonearth.net/VW.html ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
Originally posted by Tha Driver: I always thought it would be killer to put Subaru AWD into a Fiat X 1/9. Could do the same with a Fiero, with any front engine AWD drivetrain. Gas tank could go over the rearend. All it takes is time & money. I can do it if anyone is interested. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
It's easy if you put the front-engine AWD drivetrain, in the front. The transaxle output being behind the engine in the Fiero is a problem. And you can't just turn the whole thing around or anything.
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02:04 PM
aaronkoch Member
Posts: 1643 From: Spokane, WA Registered: Aug 2003
Well, yes, you can make an AWD Fiero, but the cost would be high and you would need to the expertise to do so. You can not just swap out parts... because they don't exist as a unit. You would have to source the parts, modify and then finally put it all together. You may be better off putting the body of a Fiero on an AWD chassis of another vehicle.
Except that we're talking about unibody cars. It's not that difficult to build frame rails & mounts for everything, it's just time consuming. I have over 450 hours in the VW so far (but then I tend to get carried away... ). Did you two check it out? ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
It's easy if you put the front-engine AWD drivetrain, in the front. The transaxle output being behind the engine in the Fiero is a problem. And you can't just turn the whole thing around or anything.
Well you CAN turn it around. I plan to put my Subaru drivetrain in my Baja bug one day - using the VW engine in it's original place, but I have VW gear reduction axles for the back (which change the direction of the wheels) & I'll just have to turn the rear dif. over to run it in the front. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
There's a guy who built a hybrid Fiero. He used an electric S10 drivetrain in the front and kept the engine in the back. Very intersting build, lots of pictures. Google hybrid fiero.
Except that we're talking about unibody cars. [/URL]
Yes, I know... My point exactly... The Fiero is a unibody, never stopped ppl from putting all sorts of bodies on the chassis...
I guess when I said "chassis", you thought I meant just frame rails? I meant just removing all the body panels from one car and install them on another...
BTW, I was being a bit facetious w/ my original comment
Yes, I know... My point exactly... The Fiero is a unibody, never stopped ppl from putting all sorts of bodies on the chassis...
I guess when I said "chassis", you thought I meant just frame rails? I meant just removing all the body panels from one car and install them on another...
Doing a re-body on a Fiero is completely different than "swapping bodies on a chassis". It's unique spaceframe & bolt-on body panels make it easy to build kit bodies for. In order to "swap bodies" & put the Fiero body on another car, you'd have to cut out all of the space frame that the roof & windows attach to, as well as the doors/seals. Basically gut the spaceframe & weld it onto another cut down car body. Much easier to swap the drivetrain if you want an AWD Fiero.
quote
Originally posted by ALJR: BTW, I was being a bit facetious w/ my original comment
But you can't do that around me when talking about engine swaps. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
If you wanted to build a front engine RWD fiero, then I actually think starting with the Porsche 924/944/928 setup is a time saver. The transmission is in the rear, so much less of the stock fuel tank area would need to removed and reworked. By keeping the transmission in the rear it would make the weight balance of the car pretty close to 50/50.
Now I would never use the Porsche engine, but have looked quite a bit at using the 928 transmission and torque tube (C5 Vette would be fun as well).
Now for the AWD coversion, trail blazer 5.3 (with integraded front differential/oil pan), t56 6 speed, divorce mounted AWD transfer case moved all the way to the rear with a short coupling to the IRS rear differential. The drive shaft for the front would be quite long (and multi part), but would be relatively easy to package through the tunnel vs the transfer case.
[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 05-18-2012).]
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01:30 PM
Pete Matos Member
Posts: 2291 From: Port St. Lucie, Florida Registered: Jan 2010
Hehehe now now GURU, You are quite a talented fellow with a full machine shop at your disposal (just like me!!) but I dare say that not even you could pull that one off. In fact I would put cash money up that you can't do it!! hehehe peace
Pete
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01:44 PM
fieroguru Member
Posts: 12479 From: Champaign, IL Registered: Aug 2003
Hehehe now now GURU, You are quite a talented fellow with a full machine shop at your disposal (just like me!!) but I dare say that not even you could pull that one off. In fact I would put cash money up that you can't do it!! hehehe peace
Pete
I have wanted to take a notchie and make it into a small mini truck (think subaru brat) and sell off my 17mpg truck for years. With the transmission in the back, eliminate the struts and then trim out the rear portion as a small pickup bed. A mid 50's chevy truck gas tank (or reproduction one one) will fit between the upper frame rails and sit against the backside of the firewall. Once the drivetrain is up front, you could even roll down the rear window...
One of these days when I get bored with my current projects, I will do this one just to show that it can be done, but no build thread... (it imposible right!, so I would have to keep up the mistique)
I will probably do the front engine/RWD conversion first, then convert it to AWD.
[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 05-18-2012).]
4x4
