Hey guys kit spoke to a new high performance engine builder. Long story short he asked me if I was interested in making my 03 awd... Hell yea... For the future though. The only funny part is that he said a Mitsubishi 3000gt vr6 would fit assuming the tranny would too if not that would probably be the tricky part but the engine would fit that he's sure of. Besides all the internals for the rear end to make this possible, has anyone heard of this or think it would work?

 

Hi `Tony,
I don't know if it's possible, but I do believe that anything is possible `if you have the time, $'s and the knowledge to create.

Crazy people do some great crazy, amazing things that no one else has tried, but I really like the idea of a AWD Monte S.S. 4-Sure!

Please keep us updated & I look 4ward to reading what other member's post on this topic Good Luck & please keep us updated 4-Sure

"I believe 4-Sure > 4 Real"

 

Illustrated Guide to the Mitsubishi 3000GT AWD System

by Jeff Lucius

Part 2 Stealth 316 - Mitsubishi 3000GT AWD System

 

Anything's possible, but that's going to take a LOT of custom work

 

i second this

never heard of a 3000gt being used but again i never heard of anyone making one awd

 

I'm sure he's excited to do it too- that would mean massive money and profit for them. Did he happen to mention the price at all? I bet a shop would charge an easy $15k+ to do a conversion like that right. The number of man hours for all of the fabrication would be huge.

For the kind of money it would take to do an AWD conversion, you could easily afford a 3000gt, 2g DSM, heck maybe even a used EVO or WRX if you want a boosted AWD car.

I don't think it would be tricky at all especially if this is a good fab shop / race car builder. Being that absolutely nothing is going to bolt in anyways- you're going to have to gut the whole car and cut out a ton of sheet metal from the tunnel and backhalf of the car. Cutting up / moving the firewall to accommodate the transmission would be just a few more hours on the pile. It doesn't really matter if the engine fits, because a good speed shop could make any standard car engine fit- viper V10, BBC, whatever- they can always gut the front half of the car and just rebuild a tube chassis.

My big question is - why a 3000GT powertrain? Sure they make decent power stock- but they are very old now. Even the newest 3000GT is like 15 years old at this point. I guess it's different- but what is the goal?

If the goal is to go fast, why not a simpler RWD conversion with a 5.3L LS iron block, a big turbo, and a turbo 400 trans? It can be made to hook every bit as good as a 3000GT AWD swap- they can just install a very narrow rear end and massive rear tires while doing the LS swap. If the goal is something unique and AWD, there are certainly other AWD powertrains that are more modern and could make more power.

GM made something somewhat similar to what you're talking about on this platform. They called it the grand prix G8. Basically had an LS1 swap with the AWD 4t65 trans. Last I knew it sold at a Barrett Jackson auction for $30k+

As previously mentioned, it certainly will work- it's just how much are you willing to spend to make it happen? Even using stock 3000gt parts- to get something with decent mileage, you're going to spend more than your car is worth just in parts. Then add in a month+ of shop labor plus misc fab parts (steel, wiring, lines, etc), and you've got another 2-3X what the car is worth.

Personally, if you like those cars that much, I'd just save the money and buy one.