3.5 swap and AWD conversion information and discussion

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TurboAV6

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Hi again everyone. I've been doing a lot of research into doing a 3.5 swap into my accord for next winter and I have recently come across a lot of interesting information. A lot of which I have yet to see on this site. I was looking into which J35 produced the most torque, and with the exception of the considerably more expensive J35 in the '05-'08 RL, the J35A3 produces the most torque at 253 ft lbs. I plan on building the hell out of this motor and boosting it so horsepower will come but torque is my main deciding factor when I get ready to by the motor. Okay so here in the interesting part:

The J35A3 was not only a Honda motor. In 2004-2007 GM put the J35A3 in the the Saturn Vue, dubbing it the L66. It was mated with the Honda 5 speed automatic transmission, which is an excellent thing for boost. Once Saturn introduced this motor in 2004 they also gave the vue some very interesting drivetrain options. One of which is all wheel drive. So looking at just the facts this seems to me that this is the only all wheel drive J series motor produced.

Now I understand that there will have to be a lot of modifications to any accord to make it AWD, possible custom drive shaft and shortening of the axles for one. As well as taking some room from your trunk to fit the rear differential. This however opens up a V6 AWD option for a Honda Accord that would turn this car into a true beast. So there are still some gaps in this information I have yet to find, and here they are:

1. I can not find the dimensions of the Driveshaft or Axles from the AWD Saturn.
2. I am also not sure what the dimensions for our own axles our.
3. I dont know how the electronics of this setup would work, if you could even mate a motor from a Saturn, Honda or not, with a Honda car.
4. Are there any other MAJOR modifications that would need to be done to make this setup work?
5. Last, how big can you bore those 3.5 L longblocks out to? I know the stock bore is 89mm but I'm not sure how much room you have to work with the cylinder walls.

Final Note: I am no expert when it come to engine swaps, and I am just starting to learn more about AWD conversions. So please take this information as it is, because I don't even know if this is something possible, but if it is I can only imagine what damage a built 3.5L+ AWD 6th gen accord could do. The possibilities are scary. Later guys and please post up any info you may have on this subject or any problems or thoughts that may need to be addressed,
 
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HondaLuver83

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converting your car to AWD will be a nightmare. You need a lot of money and a lot of time and someone to leave ur car in their shop for a long long time. You will have better luck by just taking the shell off a saturn vue and custom fitting your 6thgenaccord onto the awd platform. Then getting all the electrical to work.

I admire your ideas and the amount of re-search you have done. But even dumping a 3.5 in your car has only been done by one 6thaccord member on this forum. It was from a acura type s and he bored it from a 3.2 to a 3.5.


:lock:
 

ryan s

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if something hasnt been done to a 7-to-11 year old car, theres usually a good reason behind it.

im so in for this thread :ioc:
 

HondaLuver83

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lol. Next noob idea is going to be someone making a spaceship from a 6thgen.
 

Tek_Rice

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converting your car to AWD will be a nightmare. You need a lot of money and a lot of time and someone to leave ur car in their shop for a long long time. You will have better luck by just taking the shell off a saturn vue and custom fitting your 6thgenaccord onto the awd platform. Then getting all the electrical to work.

I admire your ideas and the amount of re-search you have done. But even dumping a 3.5 in your car has only been done by one 6thaccord member on this forum. It was from a acura type s and he bored it from a 3.2 to a 3.5.


:lock:


This isn't a very good forum for information concerning 3.5 swaps. SInce majority of the people here are 4 bangers, they tend to speak without having any real information and data to back up their claims.

Go to V6p.net for more information

Couple of things first....

3.5 swap in a 6th gen, GREAT idea. I am currently working on my 3.6 w/6spd swap right now. So far, there are 2 successful builds in a 6th gen that I have seen in person. And to my knowledge, there are 8-10 3.5 swaps done for accords that's been built by my mechanic. You can find out this information on V6p.net as well.

Here is the parts list you will essentially need for a 3.6 swap.

J32 w/oddy block or a Honda Oddy 3.5 engine
J37 Crank
J37 Pinston and Rings
Richie's Harness (on V6p)
Odyssey ECU

To date, only 1 person that I am aware of that has been successful been building 3.5/3.6 engines consistently. And that's NVA-AV6 on V6P. So look him up.

As for the AWD system, i'm hunting car-parts.com EVERYDAY trying to find a wrecked 2009 TL for it. If I can find it, then my mechanic has a plan to make it work for a 6th gen.
 

TurboAV6

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lol. Next noob idea is going to be someone making a spaceship from a 6thgen.

I'm sorry but I would not classify this as a noob question whatsoever. I think an upgrade like this would only be considered by someone who wants to make the most out of their 6th Gen, and only after doing some intensive research and thought on this idea.

Also, I know this would be a highly costly and very time consuming project. I wouldn't even consider doing a project like this after the 2009 season was over and winter was well set in. Time, money, and patience plus a little TLC is required in any serious performance uprgade we do to our cars.
 

CrosCntryAccord

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personally I think you're a fool for wasting your time researching something for an ACCORD just because you can get a lot of power doesn't mean your car will be fast. Lotus is a prime example of this, they make light cars with suspensions so fine tuned it would take most engineers years to try and figure out and implement in another car, then they throw a small-medium size motor in it and everything works wonderfully. The key to their success is that they build around the motor, not the other way around. If you want to put AWD into an Accord you're going to have to reinforce your entire chassis, so start looking into stitch welding, you're going to have to upgrade just about everything you can and get a lot of custom parts fabricated to make sure the rear end is supported under load, not to mention you're trying to do this on a platform that is exclusively fwd.

IF you had done a lights out job on your turbo, had you shown us legitimate pictures of everything you said you did/were going to do I MIGHT think you're worthy of such a tough and painstaking challenge. but the fact is that you're turbo job is a hack, your parts are sub par at best, and you rank slightly above claybird in the department of building a j30.

I'm glad to see you're doing research about this, but if you're ready to dump 10g into a car just to have it awd then go ahead, but you're gonna catch a lot of flack for it.

Your car, your money..... but I can guarantee you that anyone who has spent a good amount of time with this platform would never dream of doing that, its just a waste of energy, time and money.
 

Tek_Rice

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In terms of the drive shaft, the OEM shaft has been holding up on several 6thgen's car decently so far (10K and counting) with a J35. But we're anticipating the axles failing at around 40K due to the excessive torque the J35s are able to put out.

I wish V6P is currently up right now, so I can show you the time slips/dynos of the J35s and J36s that NVA-AV6 has built so far....

300 WHP on dyno, and 13sec 1/4 n/a..... 250lb torque around 2800 RPM.

Don't listen to some of these guys who has NO idea what they're talking about. Go for the 3.6 swap, you won't regret it.... as soon as V6P is up, contact NVA-AV6 about it...
 
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