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Beretta RWD/LS Conversion

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Old Jun 13, 2016 | 11:10 AM
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Default Beretta RWD/LS Conversion

A friend of mine has offered me his Beretta free. Of course, the motor is in tons of pieces, tranny is shot and drive axles are junk. The body is super clean however. My question is has anyone done a ls & RWD conversion on one and if so, how pricey is it. My friend is hell bent it'll only take some cutting, welding, and only main issue be a back half kit. I know from past experiences, with creativity, desire, patience, parts on hand and a wallet full of cash and plastic, anything is possible. I just don't wanna be in $20,000 for a car that will eventually be wrecked or sold. Thinking of using similar combo that the Big Bang Theory guys used with that 1200hp stock short block lr4.
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Old Jun 13, 2016 | 11:29 AM
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if you are going to convert to rwd you will be into that car for a ton of money unless you do 100% of the fab work yourself.
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Old Jun 13, 2016 | 11:40 AM
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Unless that's some kind of dream car of yours, I strongly suggest using an easier car for your project. I always say that whatever you think you'll pay for a project, triple it and you'll be about right. In your case, I imagine it'll be 4X or 5X what you think it'll be....all for a car you likely cannot sell for anywhere near what you put into it.
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Old Jun 13, 2016 | 01:48 PM
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That what I was thinking. Free car but 30,000 in costs makes very expensive toy for resell after few months. Imma keep looking for a lightweight RWD I guess. Looking for something no one would expect to house a beast of a LS series.
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Old Jun 13, 2016 | 04:36 PM
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20 years ago, Hot Rod magazine built a RWD LT1 '95 Monte Carlo, same as a Beretta underneath.
http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/...onte-carlo-v8/
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Last edited by upflying; Jun 13, 2016 at 04:41 PM.
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Old Jun 13, 2016 | 04:49 PM
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Originally Posted by upflying
20 years ago, Hot Rod magazine built a RWD LT1 '95 Monte Carlo, same as a Beretta underneath.
http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/...onte-carlo-v8/
Not exactly the lower price point I am looking for. Looking into finding a Chevette, older Celebrity or citation now. Something rwd, and no one expecting to fly by them.
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Old Jun 13, 2016 | 06:09 PM
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Originally Posted by TrueStreeter
Not exactly the lower price point I am looking for. Looking into finding a Chevette, older Celebrity or citation now. Something rwd, and no one expecting to fly by them.
Chevette is the only RWD car on your short list.
35 yrs ago, I bought a brand new Citation X11, just like this one. Good looking car but it was GM's first attempt at a small car FWD, which made it a POS. Most Citations are in the boneyard these days.


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Last edited by upflying; Jun 13, 2016 at 06:17 PM.
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Old Jun 13, 2016 | 06:24 PM
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Originally Posted by upflying
Chevette is the only RWD car on your short list.
35 yrs ago, I bought a brand new Citation X11, just like this one. Good looking car but it was GM's first attempt at a small car FWD, which made it a POS. Most Citations are in the boneyard these days.


I actually always thought that body style was a RWD. I met someone a while back with a 77 Vega wagon that was already 90% finished pro street with 350/350. He was wanting 2500. I might just bug him until he is willing to sell it again.
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Old Jun 14, 2016 | 06:39 AM
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find yourself an old Toyota Cressida rwd 4door grandma car
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Old Jul 5, 2016 | 12:11 AM
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funny you mention that! Im doing an ls swap in mine. If you dont want to put 20 or 30k into it to do it right, then you probably shouldnt do it. not the easiest swap in the world. its never been done, so expect to do a few things more than once before its all sorted out. your literally redesigning a car from the ground up. If you wanna be ghetto and cheap about it, get an s10 frame with an ls swap kit.. weld the beretta to the frame lol. even then its a task.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...t56-build.html
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Old Jul 6, 2016 | 01:27 PM
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My advice buy one that has already been done (full chassis), there is one local to me for sale right now- http://www.racingjunk.com/Top-Sports...a-new-582.html

Or you can get a project like this one- http://www.racingjunk.com/Radical-St...is-Roller.html

Or take your pick- http://www.racingjunk.com/search?sea...String=beretta
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Old Jul 7, 2016 | 05:32 AM
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I have almost brought myself to pull the trigger on the one in the second link. Just been trying to figure out how to get it home cheaply.
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Old Jul 7, 2016 | 02:44 PM
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Originally Posted by TrueStreeter
I have almost brought myself to pull the trigger on the one in the second link. Just been trying to figure out how to get it home cheaply.
uship.com
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Old Jul 8, 2016 | 12:15 AM
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Would be cool, but you would literally sink a small fortune into one of the biggest turds built in the early-mid 90's
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