4WD to RWD conversion?

[alexsmith432]

I currently own a 1989 Honda civic sedan RTX and it is a 4WD. seen as it it 4WD and already has a rear diff, would it be that hard to convert to RWD? is it a matter of just stopping the power to the front wheels, or will it cost alot of time and money and knowledge to convert?

[KiwiBacon]

That depends on what sort of 4wd system it has. Hopefully Moppie can help here.

If it's a true fulltime 4wd system, then it's sometimes possible to lock the centre diff and remove driveshafts to the front wheels.
But many japanese cars have systems which rely on viscous couplings or clutches to send drive to the back wheels, only giving them drive when the fronts start to slip.

The next question is why?
It doesn't strike me as a typical drift car.

[Moppie]

It's a hack job hybrid, and Honda stopped making it after a very short production.

I believe they only ever sold in North America and Japan, either as the 4dr Sedan, or the Civic Shuttle/Wagon.

They use a viscous coupling of off a modified transaxle on a D series engine.
The problem is the center coupling and the rear diff can only handle a very small amount of power, and I don't believe it is a true 50/50 split of torque.
The standard motor makes perhaps 80hp, and people have dropped in ZC engines with 130hp and that has been enough to blow the rear diff if launching hard.


You could replace the whole drive line with something more durable, and easily converted.
I know RWD conversions have been done on the Mitsi EVO drive line, which uses a transverse engine lay out and transaxle.

But you would be talking huge dollars and lots of engineering knowledge, plus plenty of trial and error trying to make it all work and fit in the Civic body.

Really not worth it IMO unless you just won the lottery.

[curtis73]

I guess the real question is why. If you're doing it to save fuel, it will take a WHOLE LOTTA miles to pay for itself.

The front rear torque split is more like 70/30 or 80/20. Trying to put all the torque through the rear is going to almost certainly mean instant death.

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by alexsmith432

will it cost alot of time and money and knowledge to convert?

Yes.

imho whatever you want to do with a RWD car could be done more cheaply by selling this Honda and buying a more appropriate RWD car.