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    BF AWD&FWD Bodyshell differences

    Hello
    I recently bought an 89 GT-Ae but its body is so rusted that it would cost over 2K usd metal work to repair.

    I have my eyes on a rust free 86 1.3carb fwd car and i have some questions:

    1) Are there any differences under the car? Can i bolt 4wd system+engine right up without any modifications to the bodyshell under the car?
    2) Can i put a facelift front end onto it without any modifications to the bodyshell.

    Basically can i swap all GT-Ae onto an older BF fwd chassis. That would make my life alot easier and i could be driving my car in few months instead of years of work to repair the existing bodyshell.

    Thank you
    IvarR

    #2
    The floor pan is completely different. Strut towers, front & rear, firewall, radiator support are different.

    The only thing shared would be the body outer sheetmetal, doors, hatch, front fenders, and not much else.

    Someone posted a more detailed list of shared parts on... The yahoo forum.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by IvarR View Post
      Hello
      I recently bought an 89 GT-Ae but its body is so rusted that it would cost over 2K usd metal work to repair.

      I have my eyes on a rust free 86 1.3carb fwd car and i have some questions:

      1) Are there any differences under the car? Can i bolt 4wd system+engine right up without any modifications to the bodyshell under the car?
      2) Can i put a facelift front end onto it without any modifications to the bodyshell.

      Basically can i swap all GT-Ae onto an older BF fwd chassis. That would make my life alot easier and i could be driving my car in few months instead of years of work to repair the existing bodyshell.

      Thank you
      IvarR
      There are many, many differences under the car. basicly everything from the firewall back is different from a fwd BF. On the 4WD the firewall has a large cutout for the transfer case, the chassis is stiffer, different mounting for a sadel style fuel tank and different mounting for the rear sub-frame. so NO, without serious hacking and rrebuilding nothing will "bolt up"

      swapping the facelift front for a prefacelift will work, just change hood, grille headlights, cornerlights, fenders and the plastic cowl.


      with that said lets see pics of this rusted out GTAe, rumor has it under the carpet there are already plates welded in to mount a roll cage from the factory.... you see any other differences that make it stand out?
      "See that car, in the 80's that car was deadly." Random man to his son while passing the GTX in a parking lot

      Originally posted by neuspeedescort
      the proper spelling would be "Launchabilitiness" i do believe.
      -88' Mazda 323 GTX, 1.8t, Modified Magazine May 2012
      -88' Mazda 323 GTX, caged and ready for dirt
      -93' Mazda Miata, half caged
      -09' Mercedes C63 AMG
      -87' Toyota Land Cruiser, 33's with slight lift, safari style!

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by BFMRGTX View Post
        The floor pan is completely different. Strut towers, front & rear, firewall, radiator support are different.

        The only thing shared would be the body outer sheetmetal, doors, hatch, front fenders, and not much else.

        Someone posted a more detailed list of shared parts on... The yahoo forum.
        Is the floor pan and firewall different because of the clearance for awd transmission? Or are the axle mounting points also different? Strut towers are completely different or only top part (mounts)?

        Is the radiator support different because of the facelift or fwd/awd cause?

        Sry for my bad english, its not my first language.

        Best wishes,
        IvarR

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by trailrider098 View Post
          with that said lets see pics of this rusted out GTAe, rumor has it under the carpet there are already plates welded in to mount a roll cage from the factory.... you see any other differences that make it stand out?
          Sry i posted the same time as you, you got all my questions answered now.

          There were plates welded but it is all holes now since the GT-Ae didnt have anything protecting it underneath besides paint. No special coating at all.
          First and biggest places rusted are where these plates were. Ill try to snap some pictures of it. Its all pretty much rusted for now. Rear arches, floor (but not the centre part and firewall), radiator support, side skirts, doors etc. It was used on salty ice for last 6years. Only good thing is the engine and transmission. the front end was on only thanks to the new fenders that held radiator support(or whats left of it) and strut towers together. I just could not let it go to metal collectors.

          As for differences it has: about 1cm wider arches, plates for rollcage, no electrical accessories, no sound dampening, different hood, the carpet has no sound dampening under it, cant remember more atm.

          IvarR
          Last edited by IvarR; 03-02-2011, 03:35 PM.

          Comment


            #6
            The whole shape of the under side of a 2wd and 4wd BF are totally different.. Its all do to with clearance for the drive shaft,mounting point for the steady bearing on the 4wd cars, clearance for the 4wd transmission, clearance for the different style gas tank.. (4wds have a tank that sit on either side of the drive, 2wds are just a classic style gas tank)... The trunk floor pan is different(2wd cars had room for a full size spare, 4wds were stuck with a space saver spare due to the room needed for the rear diff and suspension.. The upper strut mounts are totally different... 4wd's use a 4 bolt upper strut mount where as the 2wd's are a 2 bolt...

            you are in for a lot of work but its possible...

            Comment


              #7
              2 grand to repair the gta-e vs. much more than that to mongrelize a who-cares fwd car... hmm, let me think....

              2 grand to bring a rare beast back from the grave seems like a bargain, man.
              '90 AWD Protege, full GTR drivetrain swap, ~320 whp daily driver, RIP, and
              '90 AWD Protege, yet another GTR swap, Open class rallycar with a Toyota GT4 gearbox swap, thus crossing the line between hobby and mental illness. And a Brabus E55 K8, removing all doubt.
              http://www.wihandyman.com/forum/vbpi...?do=view&g=110
              http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2599486

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by crazycanadian View Post
                The upper strut mounts are totally different... 4wd's use a 4 bolt upper strut mount where as the 2wd's are a 2 bolt...
                This has me confused. Are you talking about the BF GTX?

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by jay View Post
                  2 grand to bring a rare beast back from the grave seems like a bargain, man.
                  Well 2K usd for you in states might be ok but in our economy a big no-no. I could buy a my97 impreza type-ra for that sum here.
                  Average salary is about 500usd around here.
                  That 2K is only for materials/new body panels, add work to it and painting etc.

                  My old 323BG (on my avatar) with jdm engine cost me 1500usd with buying it and coilovers,speedlines, paint etc.

                  But anhow the rust free bodyshell was sold today morning so im off to repairing the GT-Ae shell. Could buy a 3MPS for that money tho but i like the BF better.
                  Will start a worklog then with pictures.

                  IvarR
                  Last edited by IvarR; 03-03-2011, 04:17 AM.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    YES!!! lots of pics please, remember how rare they are and that you are lucky to have on in any condition. takes pics of all the things that set it apart from a regular GTX even if they are little. There isnt much photo documentation of the BF GTAe
                    "See that car, in the 80's that car was deadly." Random man to his son while passing the GTX in a parking lot

                    Originally posted by neuspeedescort
                    the proper spelling would be "Launchabilitiness" i do believe.
                    -88' Mazda 323 GTX, 1.8t, Modified Magazine May 2012
                    -88' Mazda 323 GTX, caged and ready for dirt
                    -93' Mazda Miata, half caged
                    -09' Mercedes C63 AMG
                    -87' Toyota Land Cruiser, 33's with slight lift, safari style!

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I can pret-near guarantee you'd have spent more than 2 grand converting the fwd car. So yay! Making the cool car live again is the economical option! Think of all the money you'll save!

                      (this is how one manages to sink way to much into projects like this, ask me how I know. But it'll be worth it)
                      '90 AWD Protege, full GTR drivetrain swap, ~320 whp daily driver, RIP, and
                      '90 AWD Protege, yet another GTR swap, Open class rallycar with a Toyota GT4 gearbox swap, thus crossing the line between hobby and mental illness. And a Brabus E55 K8, removing all doubt.
                      http://www.wihandyman.com/forum/vbpi...?do=view&g=110
                      http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2599486

                      Comment


                        #12


                        There you can see the pictures, ordered the bodyparts and will start when they arrive.

                        IvarR

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Can I be the bad guy?

                          I'd just dump the chassis, buy a beater GTX chassis and swap everything over... GTAe wasn't THAT special... just came with some competition parts and it sounds like you still have those. As much as I'm a fan of the car, from a realists stand point... these cars are never going to be worth what you put into them. I can't rationalize dropping 2k on a chassis that was nearly identical (if not exactly identical) to your standard GTX.

                          As my man JD would of said... why don't you just throw ol' rusty off a cliff?
                          /Craig

                          Have a wonderful day! I hate you!

                          Comment

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