what do you think of building a dodge avenger?

let me know what you guys think. cuz im going to be building one soon  

I think its a vastly inferior platform for making fast, due to its Naturally aspirated engine and FWD setup.  

Awwww a baby dodge stealth! how cute. Best bet im thinking is to see if you could squeeze in a 6g72tt from a stealth TT/ vr4. Sister used to have one back in the day. You change their trannys more than their oil... Not that bad but seemed it. But as Sirs said. NA, FWD. 3170lb curb weight...
Stock with 163 hp @ 5500 rpm
170 ft-lbs @ 4350 rpm
0-60 in 9.5

I dont even know if its possible or not but the stealth engine swap would be your best bet. IF you could make it work without maxing out a few credit cards it would definately be a very very unique car. But then your still FWD. But your car would be a really nice sleeper in that case. Hard to get it to stick up but would definately be unexpected.  

No, this car is not swapable, especially with that big ass turbo v6 in there, if you cant fit a 4g63 in the car for less than what it would cost to buy a turbo eclipse, there is no way you can fit a stealth engine in it (ANd its FWD setup would get almost none of that power to the ground anyways)

Stealths and 95-99 eclipses share the same chassis and NA motor.  

You mean avengers and eclipses share the same chassis and NA motor***  

yea thats wut i meant.  

Just trying to clear that up. That small confusion could ammount a big problem such as- Trying to swap a 6g72tt into an eclipse!! (Actually seen someone try that and go "oh...shit...")  

Agreed put a 4G63 in there. I have seen it done and works well. I have acutally seen them put the AWD conversion on it too! pulling around 450 awhp after everything was said and done.  

For the cost of putting all that in by a shop with some major welding skill and buying a parts car gsx, he may as well just buy a gsx or talon tsi awd and save himself the $6000 or so in labor and parts to convert his avenger into a gsx.

converting a FWD car into an AWD car is no simple task, it could take weeks, months, and have a shitty parts car gsx sitting out in the open for months (looks mad hoosier) where it is illegal in my town to have a parts car sitting in your driveway so there is no way he could do this mod himself and get it done for just the cost of his gsx, nor does your average individual have the welding skills or mechanical inclination to get this done.

It would be much simpler, and cheaper, to buy a gsx eclipse that already comes with a 4g63 and AWD from the factory, and start slapping easy simple bolt ons to that instead. Its not like GSX's are some rare expensive car to begin with, I have seen ones that run high 10's go for $6500 on dsmtuners.  

Very true that it would be much easier and cheaper to buy a GSX and just bolt on the power but where is the fun in that! If he is talking about doing a build him self I assume that he has some basic knowledge and mechanical skill. I wouldn't recommend having a shop do any of that work because it would be cheaper to go out and buy a new car. Being cheap and easy to do doesn't always get you exactly what you want. Thats the entire point of customizing cars to have it just how you want it. I have seen people use the GSX AWD chassis and motor and put it in an Avenger. Why? not because it was easy to do but because its what they wanted to do. How many AWD Avengers have you seen? I have only seen 1 once ever. And it was really bad ass! I say do what you want kid.
Where I live parts cars are common in back yards they are cheaper that buying all the parts you may need. I have 2 donor first gen GST's in my buddies pull barn and when I need parts its alot cheaper by having them. I paid $500 for the both of em with running engines and 1 was drivable. Parts cars are awesome if you have a small wallet or are doing alot of extensive work on older cars, well, because parts break, bolts break, interior panels crack. Get one if you have a place to store it and think you might use em. When your done with your build scrap em or sell em.  

Yea, its a hypothetical thing he COULD do, but its not very practical at all.

He would be better off with a GSX and utilizing that, than converting his Avenger into a GSX. While he is spending the $5000 or so for a parts car, the tools he needs, plus lots of time doing the conversion, he would need atleast 1 parts car, 1 avenger, and 1 daily driver. Not too many people can easily own 3 cars at the same time.

Also you are assuming this guy is a mechanical genius. AWD conversions are no simple task, its probably one of the most complicated tasks you can do to a car, and very few people know off hand how to convert drivetrains and swap motors themselves, nor have the thousands in tools it would require to pull off.

And while he is spending all the extra cash making his Avenger into a GSX for say $5000, he could have bought a GSX and put the $5000 he would of saved into his motor, and be way faster than his AWD Avenger.  

I Already have a lot of tools that would help get the job done...and i have a lift that i can put it on if it is needed...but if i were to do this job what kind of tools do you think i would need for the job....not including the parts car  

I would think you would need a torch and a welder, for torching out sections in the car to locate a driveshaft, a welder for welding certain things like a 4g63's motor mounts into place, since the 420a's will not work. A cherry picker for removing and installing a different motor.

Might even need a different gas tank, I know that GST to GSX swaps involve using a GSX's gas tank.

Lots of time and fabrication with parts, and a 2nd car at th very minimum since your car will be down for months or more. I do not think AWD swaps into avengers is a common thing to do, which is why I recommend against attempting this project.