hey everybody am going to buy my second protege.
as first one is now a red spot on the highway. i found an interesting ad for a AWD 1990 protege but i had my eye on a 1990 gt with a 1993 1.8 in it. The AWD is tempting me as i thought they were only sold in jap. And it is posible to drop in an engine in the AWD but not to make the a FWD an AWD. Anyway i would like to hear some comments on this.

thnx in advance

ohh and what are the thoughts on the AWD handeling 200hp??

 

The AWD was sold from 1990-1991 in US/Canada, but with a 1.8 SOHC only. The transmission isn't very strong on them, you will have problems if you up the torque

 

thnx man i just thought it would be really sweet to have an AWD
protege with a gtx like engine and take out on dirt roads....... ohh dreams of rally. But yeah after my post looked into it more and i dont really want to go into the AWD world too many complications and expensive things to break.
thnx for your reply though and if any one has ever done a AWD car and has good points about it please post them cause im always interested in something diffrent and AWD is new to me.

 

I definetely see the appeal, too, a fast rally protege would be great, a subaru killer.

 

I believe I remember reading in the FAQ that the Tranny is fine, its from the GTX, but the rest of the drive train is the problem. So unless its easy for you to source out AWD parts from a junkyard in Japan..........................

 

Check this guy's site out 4WD Protege, GT-R powered!
Very cool
Lots of good info if your serious about a project car!

Short of shipping a car over from Europe or converting a RHD J-spec, its the only way to go performance AWD!
One more way, the Pre 90 323 GT-X's can always be updated with a GT-X/R motor to give a very nice power to weight
I think that would be a great project!

 

Yes, you can make a killer from an AWD Protege, I have two friends who've done it. It's not cheap or easy, since parts have to be sourced from cars long out of production, but it's possible and it doesn't involve cutting or welding.

Rick Beson in Portland built a Pro-Rally Proto in the early '90s, supposedly he still has it although I don't know for sure. You can see a picture of it here.

Frank Schmitt here in Bellingham has been building a street version for the past year or so. He's tight on money so it's a slow process, but I've seen him autocross it on the stock suspension and it's FAST! I'm not sure if Frank has email but if you're serious about building one contact me and I'll try to get it for you.

tom

 

I'd love to do the same thing with my AWD Pro... but been lately thinking of just fixing it up to be nice looking (only thing wrong with it is a little body damage, nothing hard to fix) and possible sell it. Unfortunately, I don't have access to a lot of mechanical tools and whatnot where I'm at. If I still lived in Alaska where I had access, it would be a project I would undertake. Especially when I could do it to two AWD Pros that were exactly alike (in other words had spare parts, or make two great rally cars). But we'll see..... It's a great investment and this 4WD car has been nothing but great to me.

 

Hey Mike_Moss....

I haven't had any problems with the AWD Pro being weak per say, just not fast enough But hey, it only has a SOHC with 103hp stock in it, so what can you expect? Otherwise, even living in Alaska with it and driving it just about everywhere I've had no problems. Heck, I never got it stuck. My parents were so impressed with it, they found one and bought it right up and now my little brother uses it still up there. It would snow half a foot over night and that little car would take me (and anyone else in the car) up our winding driveway without hesitation. It was like cutting through butter.
I've tried a couple times taking off from the start line, but haven't experiences any problems due to it. My clutch has never been replaced (that I know of, I don't believe the previous owner did it). I have replaced the trans-axles when they went bad (the boots broke and got dirt in them). Otherwise, it's not really a very powerful car stock-wise so it won't ever take off fast.
Hope that answers your question.