Allwheel Drive Omni GLH SRT4

[lotsaboost]

That's it in a nutshell.

ok so you are just looking for the gears to fully mesh with each other and not hang off either edge

Yes, I was concerned about what might happen to the gear teeth. And, you really don't wan't to do it if you can avoid it. The ideal setup would've been to replace the ring & pinion with new parts and install it with the aforementioned procedure. However, this was the only way at the time. Also, for what it's worth, after I checked the tooth pattern with the Dykem, the torque side and the coast side were identical.

are you at all concerned with the difference in wear patter as the coast side will be less worn than the load side? ive always been told that you arent supposed to do goofy things with gears once they are worn together.

I'm trying to recall without my notes exactly why I flipped the gear. I believe it was because it was too far out from the pinion gear if I installed it the normal way.

I assume you flipped it over as it either has a non centered flange or a non-finished side of the flange right?

[turbovanman²]

I know it's already been said that it is a VERY close fit(grinding needed) to fit the AWD transfer case to a 2.2/2.5 set-up, but I wonder if sourcing a Mexican A604 with the 2.2/2.5 belhousing, building it up and then sticking the AWD stuff in it would be an option!? That could be a SICK combo!

I am trying to get a case here but so far, no luck,

[Reaper1]

I am trying to get a case here but so far, no luck,

Crappy. I knew somebody was trying, but I'd forgotten who. LOL I wonder how common that set-up is anyways? AFAIK no other market got that transmission!

[ohiorob]

I nominate you for the project of the year aword. another car in my history book

[Vigo]

Yes, I was concerned about what might happen to the gear teeth. And, you really don't wan't to do it if you can avoid it.

Most of these old cars that have had the transmission apart in the past (in their former lives as newish cars that went to shops) never have had the differential settings messed with, even if the rest of the tranny was rebuilt.. since the gears are square to each other its WAY more forgiving than a typical rwd rearend and even the tranny shops dont mess with these diffs unless there's already something wrong with it. Most of em just bolt the bearing cups back in, make sure it still spins, call it good

My guess is your ring and pinion will have NO problems.

[lotsaboost]

I concur

My guess is your ring and pinion will have NO problems.

Lol, that award should've been for your car for a few years

I nominate you for the project of the year aword.

[rbryant]

I'm using the front hubs from the '91 van. The rear axles slide ride in.
The rotors are from unvented '89 Daytona Shelby.

That makes sense. I wasn't sure if the caravan drum axles stubs were compatible with the car stuff. I guess once again all rear axle stubs (drum or not) are compatible with rear discs.

-Rich

[Reeves]

Whoa! Awesome stuff!

I saw your car at TurboPalooza....but I'm so far behind on this thing they call the internet that I had never seen or heard of your car before!

Truly Awesome! Wish I would have crawled around it at Turbopalooza!

[Ondonti]

I was one of the first replies on one of big if not biggest AWD threads here. Looking back i wasnt being very encouraging.. but just laying out the facts with no bias can be depressing on its own.. if you have the skills to do this kinda swap you almost dont have to ask whether it can be done, so when anyone asks i get this kind of pessimism in my mind about it

But regardless of what was said, it has been done! Huzzah!

I kicked my own AWD swap ambitions to the closet a few years ago when i sent my beautiful Avenger away with my horrible ex.... but the bug is coming back... Those Avenger AWD swaps have been done (now, not when i was thinking of it) by swapping the motor around the other direction like Ondonti said.. but my plans were to keep the motor in stock orientation and use a mix of caravan parts, 6g motor swap, and GSX rear stuff

out with the old plans in with the new

Actually Evo's have their trans on the same side as us. Thats why its very easy, and I have friends who already do custom trans adapter plates and offered to do the work for me. Avengers flipping the motor around just shows they didnt do their homework.

Its still pretty cool to use the OEM stuff. Finally we can put a taxing on our higher end 5 speeds and start breaking them

Hah, but I didnt know what to do about my rear end until you told me I had to go 4 link with what I am doing. I don't even know if lotaboost needs the fancy rear linkage he has or if he did it for fun.

[Vigo]

Avengers flipping the motor around just shows they didnt do their homework.

Well they were going from 420 or 6g73 to 2g dsm 4g63 GSX drivetrain, pretty much front to back. Its pretty much drop-in if you have a donor car because avengers are just 2g eclipses with a few extra lbs and a trunklid.

There may be other options for the rear end setup, but what i was saying made sense to me at the time!!

[lotsaboost]

I didn't have to do the suspension the way I did it. I could've just used the van's setup and just shortened it. I had the early van at first and it didn't have rear disc brakes. However, there were a few reasons I chose to do what I did. 1. I wanted rear discs. 2. I had experience in making rwd ladder bars. 3. Relatively simple to fabricate. 4. You can use the L-body's existing mounts for the front of the ladder bars and upper struts. 5. The DeDion combines the best of both worlds. Handles similar to an IRS without being as complicated and it's great for drag racing, very good anti-squat and practically no wheel hop. And, as I've said before, if it's good enough for Shelby, it's good enough for me.
Anyway, here's a better shot of the rearend.

I don't even know if lotaboost needs the fancy rear linkage he has or if he did it for fun.

Carlos

[zin]

Nicely done! Is that the stock tank re-located? Or did you source one from another car?

Mike

PS My project is still limping along, though I think I'll be facing a few more challenges than you, as I will be using the older rear and a 2.2CB with the 3-speed auto. It will be interesting to see if I can make it fit. I'm sure I'll be on the hunt for a smaller starter, etc.... Time will tell!

[Vigo]

Ondonti's setup would be different because he'd be using a GM 10bolt with the diff ON the axle, so i told him he might want to do a 4link to control pinion angle and such.. but im a RWD newb so..

[zin]

Ondonti's setup would be different because he'd be using a GM 10bolt with the diff ON the axle, so i told him he might want to do a 4link to control pinion angle and such.. but im a RWD newb so..

I'm sure he could still do a ladder-bar type set-up and still use the stock mounting points, assuming he'll be able to get the geometry he wants... I suggest this as the trouble with a four link is that there are 5000 adjustments and 4 that work!!

Mike

[lotsaboost]

Yup. Stock tank. Moved it to the rear. It's a cheap Ebay unit. I had to remove a little metal of the front to clear the suspension.

Is that the stock tank re-located?

That's going to be very interesting to see how it's going to turn out with the early van setup. How far are you into it?

as I will be using the older rear and a 2.2CB

A 3.42 rear would be a sweet setup for drag racing, connected solidly to the PTU with no viscous coupler. Heck, if you can live with the binding, then you could also drive it on the street. If you can fab the dog clutch into the drivetrain you'd have a mechanical version of an STI's system. You could engage it any time you'd want 50/50 torque split. Man, the more I look deeper into this system the more versatile it becomes. There's just all kinds of options with it. It's going to be cool to see the finished products of those who have aquired parts and have already started it. That's why in my initial post I requested that we start an AWD section.

he'd be using a GM 10bolt with the diff ON the axle,

Carlos

[Aries_Turbo]

That's why in my initial post I requested that we start an AWD section.

Ill pester Frank

[Vigo]

Ill pester Frank

A good idea regardless. did you need an excuse?

You could engage it any time you'd want 50/50 torque split.

Well.. what does this do?

[lotsaboost]

^^That's the dog clutch I mentioned in post #75. It's in the overrun clutch housing. The overrun clutch is basically just a one-way clutch or a sprag. It allows the driveshaft to apply torque to the rearend in only one direction so that the rear wheels freespin during coast down and you won't get the "crow hop" during the difference in speeds. This in itself won't allow you to have AWD in reverse so that's where the dog clutch comes in. The dog locks the overrun clutch via vacuum applied to the shift fork. That's why I believe theoretically you could use an electronic actuator or the stock solenoid to lock the dog anytime you wanted a 50/50 torque split between the front and rear.

Carlos

[zin]

^^That's the dog clutch I mentioned in post #75....The dog locks the overrun clutch via vacuum applied to the shift fork. That's why I believe theoretically you could use an electronic actuator or the stock solenoid to lock the dog anytime you wanted a 50/50 torque split between the front and rear.

Carlos

This is exactly what I planned to do! All the stuff is there to do it, you just have to install a manual switch to activate the solenoid! It even has a vacuum reservoir!

Edit: Looks like the "teeth" of the dog clutch have a one-way angle to them, might make it not want to stay locked-up in a forward gear without some kind of mod.... That's something I'll have to look at a bit closer.

Right now I'm mostly still planning/thinking, but have done some mock-up. I'll keep going at it, though this will be just the 1st evolution. I'm doing this as a bit of a engineering exercise, trying to put all the skills I've learned over the years to practical use! The end-game will likely be what you've started with! Though I've always planned on using the 4-speed auto. After all, it's the other swap everyone says you can't/shouldn't do! I just love going against the grain sometimes!!

So.... Where are those videos? I'm Jonesing for a vid of this thing launching like it's on a catapult!!!

Mike

[Shadow]

Great project, glad to see someone went through with it. I remember when we were talking about AWD'ing a Daytona in the late 90's, along with a twin engine project, twin turbo project, 10 sec Caravan project......the list goes on. Problem is, you can only do so much with the time you have. Nice to see there are other ppl proving that all of the things we were thinking about were indeed possible!