xjtony
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Grantsville, Ut
I figured I would start a post over here since there was some interest when I posted pics in the Power Wagon thread. I'll post a few pictures here shortly.
Long story short I pulled an 86 Chrysler Laser from a local guys yard a few weeks ago. This car had been sitting for 22 years, parked when it became hard to go into 2nd gear. The car has no rust other than some scale on the roof that I can find, and is in really good shape for a car that has been parked for a couple of decades. The window and door seals are even still intact so the interior is not gross and moldy. I've honestly had daily drivers that were in worse overall shape than this thing. I really like the car and love the straight up 80's interior vibe including the completely digital dash and hand pumped lumbar support. I've had some time to think and come up with kind of a direction that I want it to go, but it will be a slow process kind of in between the other builds that I am finishing.
The car has the Turbo 1 2.2 engine and 525 5 speed transaxle in it. My long term goals will be an engine and trans swap that will hopefully get to about 300hp, but that will be down the road some. What I have found is that building these things is fairly cheap compared to other rigs so I am pretty excited. The stock tune runs around 7 PSI of boost with the option to run overboosted at 9 PSI for 10 seconds. Totally 80s videogame style!
First step will be to get her running. I picked up the wheels with new tires yesterday. Its still sitting on the trailer waiting to be rolled off. My plans are to start out with just tune up parts to get it running (ran good 22 years ago!) The fuel tank is poly so rusty tank shouldn't be a problem. I figure new belts, timing belt, fuel pump/filter, hoses, plugs/ wires, and injectors are probably the best place to start. I still need to remove the engine covers to make sure it turns freely, but looking down the plug holes and the cylinders look clean with no real visible issues. Assuming that it can be made to run with a tune up then I'll do a brake job and start digging into the transaxle. This is a rod shifted unit so I'm really hoping that its just a bent or improperly adjusted rod causing the issue.
After all the boring get her running stuff I want to start simple with the build. I'm told that the Turbo 1/525 combo will only hold 200hp reliably so the first parts of the build will be simple stuff. I want to upgrade the intake system with a simple better filter and maybe a little bigger throttle body. I would also like to run a small top mounted intercooler. This will help cool the air charge and make the whole operation safer and less octane hungry. The louvers in the hood are functional and direct air down to the turbo so I might mount the intercooler under that, above the engine. The turbo sits low and behind the engine so mounting the IC there would make the install clean with fairly short tubes. Would the current louvers provide enough air flow? I was thinking of running a small scoop to force air through the IC. Next would be 2.5 inch exhaust and Mopar Performance ECU. I feel like these mods would really wake it up but still be in the safe range for the block and transaxle.
My overall "pie in the sky" plans would include a 555 transaxle swap. I found a builder that does a swap kit with the correct linkage, short throw shifter, larger axle shafts and everything needed to install. For the dream engine ( If I could find one of the old Direct Connect RWD swap kits it would be really tempting) I found a builder that build the Turbo 1 blocks with Turbo 2 internals, ported head, cam and everything ready to go and withstand 300hp. Fuel management would consist of bigger injectors and maybe a Raising Rate fuel pressure set up. The MP ECU will allow up to 14PSI of boost which is plenty for what I want.
Long story short I pulled an 86 Chrysler Laser from a local guys yard a few weeks ago. This car had been sitting for 22 years, parked when it became hard to go into 2nd gear. The car has no rust other than some scale on the roof that I can find, and is in really good shape for a car that has been parked for a couple of decades. The window and door seals are even still intact so the interior is not gross and moldy. I've honestly had daily drivers that were in worse overall shape than this thing. I really like the car and love the straight up 80's interior vibe including the completely digital dash and hand pumped lumbar support. I've had some time to think and come up with kind of a direction that I want it to go, but it will be a slow process kind of in between the other builds that I am finishing.
The car has the Turbo 1 2.2 engine and 525 5 speed transaxle in it. My long term goals will be an engine and trans swap that will hopefully get to about 300hp, but that will be down the road some. What I have found is that building these things is fairly cheap compared to other rigs so I am pretty excited. The stock tune runs around 7 PSI of boost with the option to run overboosted at 9 PSI for 10 seconds. Totally 80s videogame style!
First step will be to get her running. I picked up the wheels with new tires yesterday. Its still sitting on the trailer waiting to be rolled off. My plans are to start out with just tune up parts to get it running (ran good 22 years ago!) The fuel tank is poly so rusty tank shouldn't be a problem. I figure new belts, timing belt, fuel pump/filter, hoses, plugs/ wires, and injectors are probably the best place to start. I still need to remove the engine covers to make sure it turns freely, but looking down the plug holes and the cylinders look clean with no real visible issues. Assuming that it can be made to run with a tune up then I'll do a brake job and start digging into the transaxle. This is a rod shifted unit so I'm really hoping that its just a bent or improperly adjusted rod causing the issue.
After all the boring get her running stuff I want to start simple with the build. I'm told that the Turbo 1/525 combo will only hold 200hp reliably so the first parts of the build will be simple stuff. I want to upgrade the intake system with a simple better filter and maybe a little bigger throttle body. I would also like to run a small top mounted intercooler. This will help cool the air charge and make the whole operation safer and less octane hungry. The louvers in the hood are functional and direct air down to the turbo so I might mount the intercooler under that, above the engine. The turbo sits low and behind the engine so mounting the IC there would make the install clean with fairly short tubes. Would the current louvers provide enough air flow? I was thinking of running a small scoop to force air through the IC. Next would be 2.5 inch exhaust and Mopar Performance ECU. I feel like these mods would really wake it up but still be in the safe range for the block and transaxle.
My overall "pie in the sky" plans would include a 555 transaxle swap. I found a builder that does a swap kit with the correct linkage, short throw shifter, larger axle shafts and everything needed to install. For the dream engine ( If I could find one of the old Direct Connect RWD swap kits it would be really tempting) I found a builder that build the Turbo 1 blocks with Turbo 2 internals, ported head, cam and everything ready to go and withstand 300hp. Fuel management would consist of bigger injectors and maybe a Raising Rate fuel pressure set up. The MP ECU will allow up to 14PSI of boost which is plenty for what I want.
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