Two Local Heart Transplants

6

I’ve never been a vehicle purist, I am all about doing whatever it takes to get your vehicle to suit your needs, if a motor from another company fits under the hood of your car and can make more power cheaper than one of it’s parent brand then by all means put it in there. If  you are a die hard Honda Hatch fan and an RWD vehicle fan at the same time and the only way to combine the two means sacrificing a clean CRX shell that a lot of people would pay good money for than so be it.  As long as the end result is better than what it started as then why not cut, weld, and modify? I love off the wall builds and these two are some of the GTA’s finest.

SR20 E30

Ryan and the crew at Union Autoclub are not out to make any friends with this swap, they are out to make a competitive street/drift machine. As soon as Ryan posted pics of his e30 on Toronto BMW message board maxbimmer.com the crowd was split down the middle, purists on one side non purists on the other.

The m20 isn’t really anything to write home about so I am not sure why everyone has their panties in a knot, and additionally the guys from Union Autoclub seem pretty cool so I am going to watch this one progress and hopefully check out this car at a few events next summer.

The Diamond Racing steelies and zip tied air dam are the first tip that Ryan isn't the average e30 owner
The Diamond Racing steelies and zip tied air dam are the first tip that Ryan isn't the average e30 owner
Some modification required
Some modification required
A little bit of sparkle added
A little bit of sparkle added
Few friends and an engine hoist are all you need... where is the beer though?
Few friends and an engine hoist are all you need... where is the beer though?
The red headed step child in it's new adoption home
The red headed step child in it's new adoption home
The last item on this list could get a little messy
The last item on this list could get a little messy

This build can be followed on the Union Auto Club blog and I must say I am jealous that they have a nice and presumably warm spot to work in, wish I had one of my own my dads garage is getting mighty cold these days.

RWD CRX

This rwd crx build is completely insane, and I love it. To take a reasonably sought after shell (in this part of the world where Honda’s crumble to rusty dust) and hack into it to create what you want takes guts, confidence and fabrication skill. Aaron seems to have n short supply of any of these traits.

Aaron  has embarked on a 2 year, give or take, RWD crx project that is going to be using the running gear out of a Honda s2000. Unlike Ryan,  Aaron likes to keep things all in the same family and I have no issues with that either, quite frankly this car is going to be so unique when its finished that it hardly matters what is under the hood. The amount of fabrication and calculation that is going into this build is truly impressive. I check on this build from time to time and each time I leave more impressed than the last.

CRX mid dissection
CRX mid dissection
New subframe in place for the F20
New subframe in place for the F20
RAPPPPPPPPPSSSSSSSH
Did I forget to mention it's boosted?
Incredibly well done transmission tunnel
Incredibly well done transmission tunnel
Rear suspension progress
Rear suspension progress

You can follow this build over on JDMrides.ca the images on the first few pages are down so I linked you in about half way through.

Got a crazy build in the works? Let me know at [email protected] and if you want to see some more crazy builds head over to Build Threads, the hybird awd Fiero is bananas.

6 COMMENTS

  1. Making the CRX RWD is just plain AWESOME. How a car should be, I think…. 😉 (Okay, okay, I just really love RWD.)

    I’m a tiny bit purist, but I can be into anything as long as the builder’s not a douche about it. I would love, love, love to stuff an RB26DETT into a 240Z someday…. That’ll be my crazy build, I love the 240Z body and I love the RB26 engine.

    For now, though, my “routine” SR20DET S13 swap is making me crazy…. I just want my car home already, she’s been spending enough time at our friend’s house. 🙁 (Gotta raise her up, too. Intercooler is *ridiculously* close to the ground, not gonna work. Need new wheels to get a better stance with that monster in the front now.)

  2. I love RWD too one of the things that irks me everyday about my Mazda is that its FWD, I dunno what it is with manufacturers these days but they don’t make a small affoardable, reliable, economic RWD car… maybe I am asking too much?

    How big is your inter cooler? Sounds huge if it’s causing you to have to raise your car. Now I want to see 😀

  3. It’s rather crazy for simply cooling a stock turbo, but bought because it’ll be plenty for the car as is and easy to swap out for another one in the event that we upgrade to that point. I have some pics that I need to upload that show it’s proximity to the ground. We’ve figured that she’ll either need to then be raised permanently or else we need bigger wheels, so I’m trying to pick a good set of 17’s that I can work towards. (16’s don’t offer the offsets I’m looking for, sadly.)

    Want to get her running period though, haha. That would be very, very nice.

  4. @Meg ya getting it running takes priority over raising it, once it moves you might realize you can scrape by 😛

    @Sam Your transplant is fairly standard, however when you boost it lots of love 😉

  5. Mmmm, not in this case I don’t think. At least not in Arkansas. The roads are *that* bad here, even the Miata has trouble sometimes. (She’s got the most compliant suspension, I think.)

    Besides, bigger wheels with a wicked offset makes for a crazy stance. 😀

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