The Engine Swap FWD / RWD / AWD / 4WD Debacle
These are REAL quotes from real people this last decade. Their identities have been hidden to protect their innocence and dignity.
"What’s the most common tiburon engine swap that you guys know about?"
"What can I do to get the most power out of my little beta 2? If not a beta 2 then what swap can I do? And if a swap isn’t possible, it is."
"Anyone ever think about swapping and procharging a tib?"
"Has anyone out there succeeded in swapping the BK 3.8 into a little Tibby?"
"I was just wondering what type of engine swap people did?"
"The LS is too over done so without the smart ass remarks what do you guys think about a Subaru boxer engine swap?"
These are all questions you've seen time and time again. It plagues every corner of the automotive enthusiast community with no end in sight. The short answer is "No" you don't have the fabrication skills or money to get the job done. Every swap is possible, but nearly nobody will execute it properly. The 0.0001% of you that do execute it generally spin their wheels for 5+ years to complete one.
To date I have seen half a dozen completed swaps running and driving under their own power. Among those were Sigma 3.5, Mu 2.7, LS, K series, 4G6X/G4JS, 1JZ, 6A13TT and a 6G75. Those that are currently incomplete or gave up because of something that went wrong were a Ford Terminator V8 attempt, countless LS swap attempts, handful of Sigma/6G74/6G75 attempts, Opel inline 4 RWD attempt, SR20DET attempt, BMW V12 attempt and the list goes on.
Let's discuss some of the success stories and what is known about these swaps.
Libre Racing 4WD 2.0T Beta 2 Rally Car
John Buffum's Libre Racing 4WD 2002 Chassis w/ 2007 FL2 body
Source: https://gemclassiccars.com/cars/john-buffums-multiple-championship-winnig-hyundai-arriving-soon/
Thanks to a recent interview and this new photo dump, we know a fair bit more than we did 20 years ago. Most of the old knowledge on this car was coming from the rumor mill and at the time all we knew was that it had a 2.0 Beta 2 turbocharged on a Mitsubishi drivetrain. The car was braced heavily with a tube frame roll bar to support the 4WD drivetrain and rally suspension mount points. If you scroll through the photos you'll see that the Beta 2 is mated to an Evo 7-9 transmission with an adapter plate and connected to a rear differential from a similar Evo. Why a beta 2 and not a 4G6X? John says this was the only way Hyundai would sponsor the build if it was powered by a Hyundai motor. In the interview John says the front suspension is Mitsubishi based they used a 4 link rear Subaru setup adapted to work with the Evo rear diff. The rear knuckles and linkage are not plug n play either... meaning it requires significant customization to support it on this chassis. Dream on guys, this ain't happening! With the asking price of $50,000 probably taking a significant loss on the original build costs not accounting for any Hyundai sponsorship in this endeavor. Your average Tiburon owner can't afford this kind of swap! You may have seen this car listed on BaT recently with a final bid north of $16,000 but the reserve was not met. I'm guessing that bid was NOWHERE near the reserve price.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2002-hyundai-tiburon/
LS1 RWD Drag Car
GK or GK/FL body on Dragster Tube Frame Chassis
This is a completely custom tube frame chassis with a Tiburon body set on top. This was built by a professional, not some backyard mechanic on a shoestring budget and an oxy-acetylene torch. Your harbor freight booger weld 5000 flux buzz box and monster claw decals won't even come close to completing this project. This was recently sold in Australia on Facebook marketplace which is the only reason we know it exists. The current owner may be able to chime in on specifics of this car someday.
1JZ RWD Swap
Denron777's 1JZ RWD Swap Drift Car
Source: https://www.instagram.com/denron777/
The builder of this car is located in Eastern Europe. Not much is known about the build other than it's got a 1JZ and no front sway bar. What we can assume is that significant bracing was added to support the rear end, trans tunnel, and custom front steering setup to work around the OEM steering rack delete. When you install a longitudinal engine you have to delete both the OEM steering rack and sway bar to accommodate the transmission tunnel. The front knuckles, if repurposed from the original car, were flipped so that a front mount steering rack could be used. Presumably the front steering would have been all custom for drift purposes. Even if you could afford the 1JZ/2JZ and supporting transmission/rear-end, I don't think your granddad's booger ARC weld 9000 can hack it here.
6A13TT AWD Swap
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQeTQ4_tPVI&list=PL7Xv0LLXvaRgrW0JAum02iI2Temt7wc8I
Another great eastern block example of fabrication skills. This is a Mitsubishi Galant VR4 AWD system transplanted into a Tiburon chassis with a TON of customization. This is NOT PLUG N PLAY. It is often rumored that our 2.7L Delta is based on the 6A13 motor but we don't share anything with this platform. Even though this car can move under its own power it is rumored that it spends more time in the garage than on the road. Give the playlist a whirl to see what it really takes to modify for AWD. He goes into some detail about the rear suspension setup with an under car flyby of the suspension.
700HP K24 Turbo Swap
Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1J1tUTzG3D/
A real performance shop with loads of K swap experience built this car to chase down numbers on the quarter mile. With K swaps being the go-to for every platform this seems like the obvious answer to "how do I go fast?" in a 25 year old Tiburon chassis. This is the first solid example I've seen in North America. While there are rumors of these swaps already becoming common place in South Korea, there are still no drop in plug n play kits available to make this an easy swap. You're going to need to fabricate everything from the shifter forwards and it does not mate to our transmissions. I don't think the budget of a burger flipper will be able to afford this kind of work any time soon. Keep dreaming boys and girls!
Igor's 4G64/G4JS Turbo FWD/AWD Swap
Igor's 4G6x/G4JS Hybrid Turbo Swap
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/B4YrFCyAWd2/
Igor AKA 4GShark has been working on this for over a decade and it has seen many different iterations. The original goal was to build an AWD monster but the goal posts kept moving as he ran into new challenges. Through each version it retained the combination G4JS/4G64 hybrid motor mated to an Evo 8 or 9 transmission and transfer case. The first engine build was setup was only FWD and laid down an impressive 566FWHP with the prop shaft capped off estimated to be losing 15-20% power. The engine had to be rebuilt to solve a problem with piston to head clearance and the head lifting and he's since ditched the AWD plans to add a Tesla electric motor to the rear. While this car does drive under it's own power, it has never been fully complete. This mad scientist may never be done with the car as he keeps throwing new ideas at it as it evolves into something so distant from the original Hyundai it once was. Again this is not plug n play. Everything from bumper to bumper had to be custom fabricated to fit.
6G75 MIVEC N/A Swap
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBVUrvzmBNI
This uses a 3.8L Eclipse motor, ECU and harness swap and it will mate up to our M5GF1 5speed or MFA60 6speed transmissions. The flywheels, trans bolt patterns and clutches are interchangeable meaning you only need to customize the one motor mount to the LHD passenger side retaining all 3 of the original transmission mounts. Additional customization required for the intermediate shaft bearing carrier mount and the header Y pipe that mates the 6G75 manifolds/headers to our catback. Otherwise this is one of the most straightforward swaps for this platform. With nothing more than a custom CAI and ECU reflash this motor will make ~305WHP naturally aspirated on a stock motor. Of all the swap possibilities the 6G7x is the only feasible swap for your average Tiburon owner's budget and skillset. This is one of my favorite swaps to date. Not as difficult as all of the above moonshot swaps and it makes good enough power naturally aspirated to keep anyone happy. If you are considering a 20 year old supercharger kit that makes 250WHP on a good day, consider the 6G75 MIVEC swap instead for nearly the same cost in parts!
Conclusion
If you're thinking of swapping a motor or converting to RWD or AWD/4WD... You won't.