TurboLag23

Quick background story on me: I'm a freshman in college, and I got a 2008 Acura TL from my dad back in May. White on tan interior; bought new by dad and driven 73,000 miles. I have driven it 10,000 miles since I got it, and have loved ever minute. Currently saving up for another car to be my mod car, and planning on keeping the TL as my DD. The reason I don't want to mod the TL is because the TL is FWD, and for whatever reason I still prefer a nice AWD or RWD setup to FWD any day.

Enough about me, on to the idea:

Alright, so while studying for finals the other day, I got a crazy idea for my TL. A RWD conversion. I know enough about cars to know that these are very hard to do on FWD cars, if not impossible. But the reason I think that this idea is worth even sharing is because I thought of HOW to do the conversion. Basically, it would require a lot of S2000 parts, some ingenuity, and a probably a bit of luck. Here's the basic summary:

1. Remove the engine and transmission/transaxle from the TL.

2. Modify the firewall so that the manual transmission from an S2000 will fit.

3. Find a driveshaft to connect to a new rear end consisting of an S2000 rear differential and S2000 rear axles. An S2000's driveshaft may not be long enough, but the driveshaft out of a Honda SUV of some sort might work.

4. Figure out a way to mount the J32A3 longitudinally, so that it connects up with the S2000 transmission.

Some of the potential issues I see right off the bat:
1. Fitting the transmission and modifying the firewall safely.
2. Figuring out how to route the exhaust. Possibly easier to do a setup where one tube is coming off each side of the engine, much like in a 1990's Chevy Impala, for example.
3. Possibly needing to widen the center tunnel to make room for the driveshaft.
4. Figuring out how to mount the engine longitudinally instead of transversely. Will almost definitely require a ton of fabrication - might not be strong enough.

So yeah, there it is. It certainly does not sound like an easy job, but it does sound possible. Does anyone know of jobs like this that have been attempted in the past? Is this even remotely feasible?

Lastly, I would like to state that know it would be "easier" and "cheaper" to just go and get a RWD car. That's kind of a given. But I didn't think up this idea taking into account either those two words. I thought up this idea because I just want to know if it's possible. In my opinion, the biggest mistake Honda made on the TL was to not make it AWD or RWD. It really is a truly amazing platform; the drive layout is definitely it's weakest link. If it wasn't for the drive layout, the 3rd-gen TL would have easily been the best car in its segment.

Haha thanks for hearing me out; all opinions are welcome.

TurboLag23

A quick consolation prize for reading this article: A nice night shot I got overlooking LA.

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

Ask these people how it's coming along!


https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...rwd+conversion

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

well... at least there are pics.

Thanks OP

vill0169

iTrader: (4)

I think it's fun to think of the possibilities but take a bit of advice from a guy who has taken the TL way beyond what it was designed to do. I think you're underestimating the words "modify, figure out, find, etc" that you mentioned above. Could it be done? sure.... But could you find yourself a year from now with the a chassis in pieces, poorer than you ever thought, and with a severe lack of motivation to finish the project? sure....

Rick_TL-S

It's probably do-able, but it's also one of those things that fall under the category of, "Not worth the time or effort" & "More money than its worth".

You would more than likely never see the return on the car except to say you did it.

TurboLag23

Haha just to clarify, I am far from wealthy enough to afford this project right now. There's no way I'd start it without knowing for sure that finances are in order to support it and any problems that may arise.

I'm saving up money with the hope that within a couple of years I can buy a 2005-2006 Subaru Legacy GT Wagon (5MT) and invest $10,000 into it in engine upgrades. That would likely be a $20,000 investment if you include the price of the car. This conversion could be a consideration as an alternative to that project, but I don't want to do it if there's too high a chance of failure. Investing money into a paperweight is no fun haha.

4drviper

how about just moving the whole powertrain into the rear seat area and make it MR? still an rwd

bouncer07

Just get a G35/G37 6 speed manual in a sedan car. You get yourself a RWD car. To do a RWD on a TL is impossible as our engine sits right now, you'll have to turn it.

LGcbp8

The amount of time, money, and custom fabrication it would require would make it a little harder than the 8 things you listed. I'm sure it could be done, as anything could be. With a big enough investment of time, $$, and fab...plus a drop or 2 of dedication.


For another reference take a look at the link below:
http://www.team-integra.net/forum/19-projects-diy-article-talk/66688-94-gsr-mid-engine-rwd-h22a4-conversion.html

Different car, engine, ect, so not exactly apples-apples. But some good insight about taking on that kind of project. And a lot of reading