There is one near me for sale that i'm seriously contemplating. What can you guys tell me about them? I know they're 4x114.3mm hub, is the awd system similar to subaru with a viscous center diff? What would maintenance be for brakes and such? My friend owns a few mazdas, said this one is a 1.8 sohc car.
thanks guys!
Don't know much about them, but here goes. The U.S. got this model of Protege for the 1990 model year and by the middle of the 1991 model year, it was gone (not many were sold). It has the SOHC engine found in "regular" Proteges, good for 103 horsepower. Aside from the AWD unit, it's pretty much run of the mill Protege. (My personal guess would be an AWD system similar to Subaru's, but doesn't/didn't Subaru have different systems depending on the transmission in your car?)
I think the AWD setup is similar if not identical to the 323 GTX, maybe just elongated?
I think Carson has one with a lot of boost. So does teqnyck.
Yeah the stock awd protege uses the same open/lockable centerdiff gearbox as the GTX, and that sohc lump is perma-boring, but the twincam turbomotor/ viscous centerdiff stuff all bolts right in. You can end up with a low cost lightweight sleeper, you can. O' course, I may be biased... http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2599486/ if you wanna see a couple examples of awd protege sillyness.
Jay you need to get video up of your car doing rediculous things 
I believe the rear diff is pretty weak but the center is the nice stuff out of the GTX.
The US spec GTX and thishere protege have the same open rear diff... but LSD guts will fit in both of em, or you can swap in the lsd from the similar vintage Miatas with some minor mods.
Cool!
Jay, is the bolt pattern 4x114.3mm like the GTX? My friend was thinking it was 4x100 (he's owned a lot of 323's and miatas..)
Going to buy this thing tonight, what is the weak points of this 1.8 SOHC motor? I'm bringing my compression gauge and flash light to inspect and drive it..
picked it up!
viscous center diff, its a 1990 protege, not a BF 323 styles. it's sick. got it for $600 with a brand new set of Nokian Hakkellipita's on steelies.. I got SOOO lucky, fuel pump failed on the dude and he couldnt start it and yup! what a steal, this car is mint! I've got a fuel pump and brand new brakes sitting courtesy of a friend for free also.
I'm excited.
Pics to come...
Awesome! Congrats!
You stole it. Killer deal on that car if it ain't rusty and straight. But I'm still near certain it's an open/lockable centerdiff; all the US/Canada 4wd proteges were sold as such. I don't see why any previous owner woulda put the bpt gearbox in without doing the engine at the same time....Does it have the difflock rocker switch on the left side of the dash kinda behind the steering wheel? If it does and if it functions, that's an open diff. The BG VLSCD cars didn't have a difflock motor installed. No big deal, just buy a bpt/gearbox (or better yet a GTR halfcut) and you're all set with the gosillyfast stuff.
I will check, car is mint!!! strut towers, floors, rockers, arches all good. I know a dude with a gtr tranny for 200 locally hehehe
In reply to Jay_W:
Crikey, 200 bucks. Buy it buy it now, you can double your money if nothin else eeeeeeasy
There is a 90 model in the Seattle area on Ebay right now that I am planning on bidding for. Can any of you experts have a look at the auction,and tell me what you think? Anyone in that area willing to inspect the car for me? What is a fair price for one of these cars?
Thanks,
Chris
The car you speak of looks MINT. I'd pay 1000 for it.
Oh my god i want that so badly i can't hardly stand it. 
Anyone want my MX6 for $3k? 
Wait... Jay, do you think the F2T will bolt up to the AWD trans? (and then shatter it immediately, of course)
LOL on the use of the word MINT... Daniel - show them pics of the underside
Celica I wanted to do a KLZE bolted to the AWD trans before I got my BPT. I thought that would have been pretty killer!
I just read that and realized it didn't make much sense. I thought about putting what is essentially a Mazda Millenia 2.5 DOHC v6 into my AWD Protege, but instead I bought the turbo variant of the 1.8 engine that's in the Miata and Escort GT.
And to the OP, be careful if you're doing suspension mods on this car, springs for a normal Protege will be much too soft. The AWD weighs at least 300lbs more then a FWD Protege. I made that mistake with my car and bought some H&R springs for a FWD. It dropped the car an inch lower than advertised and bounced like crazy.
F2T won't bolt up without an adaptor plate. But like you point out, you don't wanna do that anyhow. I hear tell there is some manner of JDM awd mazdabox the f2t does bolt to but have no idea what it is or if it really exists. Golly. That ebay car is in as good a condition as I've ever seen of one of these. I sold one in worse shape than that for (insert unreasonable price here), suffice to say more than that starting bid. If I had the slightest amount of sense I'd buy it and do a total transplant of everything from my car to it and vice versa...good thing I have a rallycar eating all freetime!
Jay_W wrote: F2T won't bolt up without an adaptor plate. But like you point out, you don't wanna do that anyhow. I hear tell there is some manner of JDM awd mazdabox the f2t does bolt to but have no idea what it is or if it really exists. Golly. That ebay car is in as good a condition as I've ever seen of one of these. I sold one in worse shape than that for (insert unreasonable price here), suffice to say more than that starting bid. If I had the slightest amount of sense I'd buy it and do a total transplant of everything from my car to it and vice versa...good thing I have a rallycar eating all freetime!
There was a 626 available overseas that was AWD and had an F-series motor on it. There's a guy on MX6.com doing an AWD + FE3 turbo conversion right now.
I'd honestly be cool with a GTR motor and some bolt ons i think.
Teqnyck wrote: Celica I wanted to do a KLZE bolted to the AWD trans before I got my BPT. I thought that would have been pretty killer! I just read that and realized it didn't make much sense. I thought about putting what is essentially a Mazda Millenia 2.5 DOHC v6 into my AWD Protege, but instead I bought the turbo variant of the 1.8 engine that's in the Miata and Escort GT.
Yep, that's probably the logical conclusion. (I've got an EGT, too.)
I can say that a properly done GTR drivetrain in this chassis is a ridiculous combination...
Alright, so.... if i wanted to build one of these, and be able to sustain nasty AWD clutch dump launches at 300+awhp, i'm assuming the Celica GT4 drivetrain conversion is my only choice?
That's a bummer. 
Although, i guess my new Celica motor will come with that stuff.
All I want is a measly little 400whp, that's all. Is that too much to ask from a GTX transmission? Probably.
There's a GTR (pretnear identical at least in front) in NZ with an EVO conversion. That's the gearbox I was gonna use if I'd been able to find one. Which I didn't...
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