Can you turn P4 into 2WD?

Howdy gents.

There's a P4 for sale here in Australia but the owner says that it's currently running on the front wheels only. Says the AWD system is disabled and he needs to get some uni-joint type thing to get it working again. I'm not sure I believe him but fair enough.

My question - is it possible to disable the AWD system permanently and leave it as 2WD? Remove the driveshaft and bung in a couple of welsh plugs?

Reasoning? I'm not that fussed about having AWD capability but I'd much prefer the P4's interior with the Recaros.

Thoughts? Opinions? First hand knowledge?

P4 systems going wrong and leaving the car with FWD only is something I've heard of quite a lot. There's also some guy who has used P4 parts to make a RWD 33 - look on Youtube!
I don't know how much of a broken 4WD system you could remove to lighten the car. Nobody does that - P4 is a good thing to have!

Is the interior of the P4 much different than that of the 16v?

I suppose it might be possible to replace from the gearbox back with the running gear of a 2wd 16v but it seems like a lot of effort just to ruin what is a pretty rare car. What about repairing the system? There seems to be a pretty good manual for the 4wd system here

Alfa Romeo 33 downloads

Ive never driven one but I believe that the P4 is leaps ahead of the 2wd in terms of grip & ability and is well worth having.

Re: the interior: I'm not a fan of sud/sprint/33 seats, which I see as being all pretty similar. The P4 has a recaro interior and the seats look to be a fair bit more supportive and comfortable. Having said that, I've not sat in a regular 16V's seats so maybe I'm talking complete rubbish.

I've only spoken to one bloke here in Tasmania about the P4. He's an Alfa mechanic and races a GTV6 occasionaly and he referred to it as a bit too heavy compared with the 2WD version and therefore a bit slower.

I'm still quite keen on it, though - whether it be in 4 or 2WD format. The interior and the slightly more aggressive stance alone are worthwhile.

Thanks for that link, FluffyDuff. From reading that, it seems the P4 system reverts to 2WD automatically when it detects a problem with the AWD system. It just cuts the power to the electromagnetic whatsits.

That link actually includes a guide to making a switch so that you can change between the two manually from inside the car.

Interesting.......

i was talking to my local suspension specialist, track developements and he was talking about that valve to change power from front to rear and is relitively easy to do. sounds like a plan to me.i would keep it perm4, mine scares me sometimes how much grip it has.

This is the interior, most notably the Recaro seats. These look a bit more supportive than the regular 33 seats. I think the photo will enlarge with a good clicking....

IMG_0906.JPG

I stand to be corrected but i think the regular 16v has the recaro interior too. regular 33 seats are pure rubbish. I really dislike mine.

Electro magnetic coupler, these pack up quite alot on the P4 and you cant switch from 2 wheel drive to 4 wheel drive with the engine running. Also the P4 only puts at max 15 percent power to the rears , and only puts the power to the back on hard starts, stick with the 16v 2 wheel drive and save weight!!.

apart from the complexity and lack of part availability,
i would say i would have a(nother) P4 over the fwd 16valver any day.
the amount of grip over the 2wd car is frankly astonishing....

dont knock it till youve tried it

and yes those recaros do come in the later 16v models but i think only those with the "s" badge

yea just got another 16v for parts and this is an h reg and does not have recaros, i love my recaros, they are so comfy.