Is a 80ish dodge 4 cylinder turbo motor worth having?

Root,

I had a '91 Spirit R/T that had a modified 2.5 turbo II in it. It was crazy. The engine is a lot of fun. They are easy to work on, still plenty of parts (and not expensive). Getting someone to remap the computer is getting hard to find. The timing belt tend to fall off if you don't check them once in a while, but they are non-interference engines so it doesn't hurt anything. The cam covers can be polished up and look nice, the best intake to get is a stock "2-piece" intake. Mahl makes pistons.. umm there's alot more ...

Here's some places to look

http://www.forwardmotioninc.com/

http://www.turbododge.com/forums/

 

Root, having been the owner of several mid 80s turbo 2.2 Mopars, I can give you a little forsite.

1) For what they were, the turbo cars were fun and durable. I got 200K from most of them before leaking seals got them. (Too lazy to repair the turbo seals. They were a bitch to change in the car)

2) A Charger body actually is a desired body, and one with the turbo and the stick is worth a few bucks for the turbo Mopar guys, long as it ain't rotted out. You could probably hock it for a quick couple grand if it still looks good.

3) In a light track roadster these things would be huge fun and will knock down 30mpg while smoking the tires. BUT: In the cars they are front drive. The Dakota was a rear drive pickup, but parts to convert the fd to rd are a bit pricy, and there is some type of water pump issue that I think I remember reading about someplace. Would make a cool mid engine ride though.

4) IF you strip this thing for the motor, there are two computers, one under the hood and one at the passenger side kick pannel. MAKE SURE you pull both computers and also get the whole under hood and under dash wiring harnesses out without cutting them. Its a lot of work, but if you ever use this thing you will thank me. Gene

 

Whether it's a 2.2 or a 2.5, grab it. Even if you don't want to adapt a front driver mill to correct wheel drive, you can sell the whole car to a circle tracker wanting to run a FWD 4 cyl. car. I've never lost a cent on a free car..

Jan

 

forget that thing and get over to wellingtOn and pick up the car you have here! the storage bill is adding up. LOL

 

dakota's used 2.5's (same basic engine)
that'll get a rwd trans,too.

 

I had a 87 shelby charger and it was a tire frying beast of a machine. I would take it.

 

quote=tomslik;2095268]dakota's used 2.5's (same basic engine)
that'll get a rwd trans,too.[/quote]

87-88 Dakotas were 2.2 87 is carbed and 88 is FI.

89-95 is 2.5

96-01? is AMC 2.5 (4.0 six with 2 cylinders lopped off.)

3x2 Rocket. Ever heard of sarcasm? Obviously I was making fun of how slow a 98 hp engine is in a mid size truck.

I am just helping the guy out based on my experiences and I am sure that Roothawg would do the same for me.

I don't trust people that are dicks on the internet.

Is my hopped up flathead six in my car a 3/4 engine?

This post may be OT but at least it has tech in it.

If you hate these engines so much you didn't have click on the thread.

I am done with drama for today. Back to tech.

 

I got the chance to drive one of these when they came out. That little car was a handful when that turbo came on but what a fun ride.

 

i sold a white iroc r/t that had a factory 4 cyl, twin cam turbo. 224 hp factory, one of 75...

 

Hey 53dodgekustom, I was just kiddin' around brother! I Thought I'd get a laugh instead of offend you or anyone!

 

Not that my opinion is worth anything, but;

Root.....you're building your car to impress you, and nobody else. Take it, use it, and put the money saved somewhere else in the car.

Roger

 

Thats alright man, we both went a little overboard.

 

If we both didnt know Bob, I would say he just handed you yer ass?

If you really want the thing cool, but free for the sake of free isnt a good reason.

 

Root, I just bought a GLHturbo Omni a couple hours ago! It's going on Craigs list and maybe Egay for a quick profit. Those engines were easy to hop up and will take an amazing amount of abuse. They will not take overheating, though.
Use the engine and computers, the conversion parts fron a 2.2 5 speed Dakota and follow some simple instructions that you'll find on the internet. The water pump problem is with the Dakota chassis, so a roadster should be fine.
250 H.P. is only a few dollars away with parts from the junkyard and W.W. Grainger.