Well...at least they will be soon. Here is the up to date story. Corksport has found all the parts to do the AWD conversion for me. We will be using the AWD Mazda Capella manual transmission. There is a company close by here that will cryo-treat the tranny internals for me. All of the other drivetrain parts will be from the J-spec AWD Protege5. This includes the rear subframe, shocks, driveshaft, halfshafts, rear differential, and split gas tank. I'm having the same company that did the 500hp axles for our proteges remake all the drivetrain stuff to hold more power. Hopefully they will be making a new driveshaft for me in aluminum with chromoly ends. AWR wants me to ship them the rear swaybar so they can bend me a new one.
Things we don't know yet:
Total cost=????????
The Capella used a cable actuated shifter. Corksport assures me that it will mount up with no problems, but we really won't know until it gets here. The rear shocks are different and I'm not sure about getting springs or even getting JIC or Tein to make a custom set of coilovers for me. The most obvious problem will be the exhaust. The driveshaft will be taking up most of the room in the channel through the middle of the car. The J-spec AWD car sits 35mm higher than the FWD cars, probably to make room for the exhaust. I don't want the car to sit any higher and I'm hoping I can actually lower it similair to where I have it now. The best idea I can think of is to get oval piping for under the car. This will allow me to run a larger volume pipe without losing ground clearence.
I'm having Corksport ship me the tranny first so I can check for any fitment issues (shouldn't be any) and so I can get it cryo-treated. I'll have pictures of the new tranny soon. I'm still trying to decide whether I want to clean out my garage and put the car in there (already has a 1 ton chainfall for getting the motor/trans in and out of the car, but not much room or my parents huge garage that is 30 minutes away).
If this works there is no reason why any of the 3rd gen Proteges can't do this. We all have the same wheelbase.
Updates coming soon.
Things we don't know yet:
Total cost=????????
The Capella used a cable actuated shifter. Corksport assures me that it will mount up with no problems, but we really won't know until it gets here. The rear shocks are different and I'm not sure about getting springs or even getting JIC or Tein to make a custom set of coilovers for me. The most obvious problem will be the exhaust. The driveshaft will be taking up most of the room in the channel through the middle of the car. The J-spec AWD car sits 35mm higher than the FWD cars, probably to make room for the exhaust. I don't want the car to sit any higher and I'm hoping I can actually lower it similair to where I have it now. The best idea I can think of is to get oval piping for under the car. This will allow me to run a larger volume pipe without losing ground clearence.
I'm having Corksport ship me the tranny first so I can check for any fitment issues (shouldn't be any) and so I can get it cryo-treated. I'll have pictures of the new tranny soon. I'm still trying to decide whether I want to clean out my garage and put the car in there (already has a 1 ton chainfall for getting the motor/trans in and out of the car, but not much room or my parents huge garage that is 30 minutes away).
If this works there is no reason why any of the 3rd gen Proteges can't do this. We all have the same wheelbase.
Updates coming soon.
Good luck, and hope this works out.
