Pros and cons of a cut and weld type AWD conversion, might need to move to OT, but it does relate to the celica.... Options

[stephen_lee]

Now THIS link started what i believed was a VERY good, and also very informative topic on a "cut and weld" type AWD conversion. Although it was a little heated, I think we need to continue this topic as it is very important to someone who is looking to do a cut and weld type conversion, skilled or not.

Now, I do believe cost and ease of mass production was a big factor in Toyota's mind when they sold the production GT4. Also weight is a consideration. So in many areas of the car, Toyota engineers may have designed a weaker than perfect setup to save cost, man/robot hours of production, and weight. Any GOOD fabricator/welder can build a system that will take a SH!T load of abuse without breaking, but an engineers JOB is to make a device thats capable of the same job, but using the least amount of materials, time to build, and over all cost/weight.

[czwalga]

I welded in rear mounts, i'm going to tear the whole car down here in about another 3 weeks after my last race until january so I'll see how it handled the abuse. One rally is probably 5 years of normal abuse.

That said, my chassis doesn't flexed, all four strut towers tied in to the cage. If you push down on a corner of the car the chassis doesnt even bounce.



If Jmeyer were to rally his car, it would have a full cage in it so the point is moot. That body isn't providing the main structural part of the car.





This post has been edited by czwalga: Aug 25, 2011 - 7:41 PM