WarlockSyno
Member
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2020
- Posts
- 74
Hello! This is my 1989 Dodge Daytona ES that I bought for $500 about 5 years ago. It's a rust free 89 that had a 100HP 2.5L TBI motor in it that was driven to hell and back on two cylinders for the longest time. Eventually I fixed the headgasket and upgraded the cylinder head with PT Cruiser lifters, Dodge Caravan springs, LS valve retainers, and HEMI valve stem seals. Drove it like that for probably 3000 miles or so until the front main seal would leak so much oil you could go through 6 quarts in about a 60 mile trip.
It is now being revived as a turbo 2.5! It's all made up of scrap I had laying around, parts laying around, parts given to me by good friends, and eBay. I've made some videos on it which are as follows:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Here's a quick run through of the car:
1989 Dodge Daytona ES
Engine is:
782 Swirl head with turbo exhaust valves
1989 TBI 2.5L cam
Dodge Caravan 3.3/3.8 valve springs
PT Cruiser lifters
LS/3100 GM retainers
Used ARP headstuds
2.2L common block (No balance shaft mounts)
2.2L T2 rods (Stout 600HP factory rods)
2.5L .030" factory pistons
2.5L TBI crank
2.5L oil pickup (Need to use a 2.2L one since I don't have balance shafts now)
2.5L oil pan
Turbo is a $100 shipped maxSpeedingRods "50 trim" with a T3 flange and 2.5" v-band exhaust housing
Intercooler is a MR2 style eBay guy
Fans are from a Chrysler Sebring, with the shroud cut in half
Radiator is from eBay, it's an EK hatch Honda half rad
Loading the car up on the trailer. Hadn't been started in 2.5 years, fired up literally within the first turn of the motor.
Pulling the wiring harness out and labeling where everything was plugged into on the harness
Yoinked the motor out
Drove to St. Louis from KC to grab this 2.2L turbo common block, rods, and wiring harness from a friend who gave me it all for free
Now, these were all pretty rusty, but after doing some home made electrolysis it cleaned up nice. You can watch the video on that here:
And the $100 shipped turbo arrived
Swapped the pump from the factory low pressure (8psi?) to a Quantum $25 shipped 255, new on the left
MR2 style intercooler
Since I didn't have any 2.5L turbo piston (Since the rods and pistons I got were from a 2.2L) I got super lucky and ordered a BRAND NEW set of factory Mahle 2.5L .030" turbo pistons for $40 shipped. Amazing deal. So I got the crank and block checked over and bored.
Head is all assembled. 782 swirl head, 2.5L TBI cam, PT Cruiser lifters, 3.3/3.8 Caravan valve springs, LS/3100 retainers, and used ARP head studs
Sloppy rod balance. All within less than a gram now.
Engine all assembled and getting dropped in
Now for cooling, using a Honda half rad with a Chrysler Sebring fan shroud cut in half
Added a Chrysler 3.8 Caravan throttle body for a little more flow
Here's the bad boi running without an exhaust
Starting the creation of the downpipe, used 3D printed elbows to figure out the angle needed
Free 3" exhaust from a Ford from the exhaust shop
This section is made up of the v band that came with the turbo, a SS304 90 from Amazon, and the exhaust from a LM7
Made brackets for the radiator
And here's the exhaust finished. It's part eBay, part Amazon, part GM, and part Ford.
And there's probably stuff I'm forgetting, but the videos go over a LOT more if you care to spend some time watching them.
It is now being revived as a turbo 2.5! It's all made up of scrap I had laying around, parts laying around, parts given to me by good friends, and eBay. I've made some videos on it which are as follows:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Here's a quick run through of the car:
1989 Dodge Daytona ES
Engine is:
782 Swirl head with turbo exhaust valves
1989 TBI 2.5L cam
Dodge Caravan 3.3/3.8 valve springs
PT Cruiser lifters
LS/3100 GM retainers
Used ARP headstuds
2.2L common block (No balance shaft mounts)
2.2L T2 rods (Stout 600HP factory rods)
2.5L .030" factory pistons
2.5L TBI crank
2.5L oil pickup (Need to use a 2.2L one since I don't have balance shafts now)
2.5L oil pan
Turbo is a $100 shipped maxSpeedingRods "50 trim" with a T3 flange and 2.5" v-band exhaust housing
Intercooler is a MR2 style eBay guy
Fans are from a Chrysler Sebring, with the shroud cut in half
Radiator is from eBay, it's an EK hatch Honda half rad
Loading the car up on the trailer. Hadn't been started in 2.5 years, fired up literally within the first turn of the motor.
Pulling the wiring harness out and labeling where everything was plugged into on the harness
Yoinked the motor out
Drove to St. Louis from KC to grab this 2.2L turbo common block, rods, and wiring harness from a friend who gave me it all for free
Now, these were all pretty rusty, but after doing some home made electrolysis it cleaned up nice. You can watch the video on that here:
And the $100 shipped turbo arrived
Swapped the pump from the factory low pressure (8psi?) to a Quantum $25 shipped 255, new on the left
MR2 style intercooler
Since I didn't have any 2.5L turbo piston (Since the rods and pistons I got were from a 2.2L) I got super lucky and ordered a BRAND NEW set of factory Mahle 2.5L .030" turbo pistons for $40 shipped. Amazing deal. So I got the crank and block checked over and bored.
Head is all assembled. 782 swirl head, 2.5L TBI cam, PT Cruiser lifters, 3.3/3.8 Caravan valve springs, LS/3100 retainers, and used ARP head studs
Sloppy rod balance. All within less than a gram now.
Engine all assembled and getting dropped in
Now for cooling, using a Honda half rad with a Chrysler Sebring fan shroud cut in half
Added a Chrysler 3.8 Caravan throttle body for a little more flow
Here's the bad boi running without an exhaust
Starting the creation of the downpipe, used 3D printed elbows to figure out the angle needed
Free 3" exhaust from a Ford from the exhaust shop
This section is made up of the v band that came with the turbo, a SS304 90 from Amazon, and the exhaust from a LM7
Made brackets for the radiator
And here's the exhaust finished. It's part eBay, part Amazon, part GM, and part Ford.
And there's probably stuff I'm forgetting, but the videos go over a LOT more if you care to spend some time watching them.
