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Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Well, after going to SDAC-27, I felt inspired. Arrived back home last night, got a good nights rest, and hit the Scamp hard today.
Painted the engine bay this morning, then assembled the engine/trans together, and slid it into place. Engine is in, shift linkage is in & adjusted, brakes are back in, exhaust is in, front struts are back in, half shafts are in... Hoping to get the K-frame in first thing tomorrow, and probably the new pump/hanger assembly... Then I can start into the wiring.
My new goal is to have it done for Gilmore the end of July. Hope I can make it...
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Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Wow, Greg that looks great!!! Glad to see you at the show, looking forward to the next time. Can't wait to see the finished product!
Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Quote:
Originally Posted by
minigts
Wow, Greg that looks great!!! Glad to see you at the show, looking forward to the next time. Can't wait to see the finished product!
Thanks Jon, murder charger is one of the inspirations to getting this done...
BTW, you were a hit with my oldest. First show he's been to, and since we got home, all I've heard about is getting a Shelby Charger to duplicate your car...
I think we created a monster...;)
Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Quote:
Originally Posted by
83scamp
Thanks Jon, murder charger is one of the inspirations to getting this done...
BTW, you were a hit with my oldest. First show he's been to, and since we got home, all I've heard about is getting a Shelby Charger to duplicate your car...
I think we created a monster...;)
Hahahaha Start them out early and start them out right! 2door4life!
Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Wow, talk about some progress. I'm thrilled to see this happen so quickly after SDAC. I also feel envigorated by the convention every year. It was great to see everyone again, including some whom I haven't seen in a while.
Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Force Fed Mopar
Nice work!
Thanks Rob!
I'm going to send you a PM.... I have a chip to send you for a custom cal for this beast...
Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
in your hunting things different about a turbo L body have you found the reinforcement bracket for the rad crossmember to framerail piece yet ?
lol did you know they even have it ?
there is a bolt in Y shaped piece to reinforce that lower corner in front of the alternator
I found it years ago doing the conversion in my turismo and thought mmm that's different I don't have that ... I'll have to scoop that too ...
Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dr. Johny Dodge
in your hunting things different about a turbo L body have you found the reinforcement bracket for the rad crossmember to framerail piece yet ?
lol did you know they even have it ?
there is a bolt in Y shaped piece to reinforce that lower corner in front of the alternator
I found it years ago doing the conversion in my turismo and thought mmm that's different I don't have that ... I'll have to scoop that too ...
I knew about it, but never found one. The Scamp already has large, angled reinforcements in the corners. I didn't check other L-body's at SDAC to see if they were the same. I've considered adding some reinforcement, but never did it. I'll just have to keep an eye on it...
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Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Progress has been slow, but sure. Wiring harness is now done, and at least in the engine bay. Still have a bunch of stuff to hook up, but it's in.
Here is what a 1983 L-body TII SMEC wiring harness looks like:
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I will eventually do a write-up on what I did to make this happen. I didn't want to change anything on the interior of the truck, so that complicated things a little, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
Basically, I kept the lighting portion & 40 way bulkhead connector from the original 83 harness, and kept the battery feeds, charging circuit, and ECU circuit from the 89 P-body harness and mated the two together. It required me to splice a few wires, mainly the two ignition switch power feeds, the starter relay feed, hazard lights feed, and engine light feed. I also repaired a few butched wires from the kid who had modified the car before my friend got it. Laid everything out, and re-wrapped it to what you see above.
So far, I've only had one snag installing it. The new harness is quite a bit "fatter" than the old one going to the passenger side, so my original firewall loom clips are too small. I found some correctly sized one at Clips & Fasteners, so I ordered them and they should be here is a few days. That won't stop me from hooking anything up, so I will proceed...
Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
looks nice - especially without that third leg of wireing that would go to the lm.. and all that goes with installing it
Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
OK, decided to post an update. No pictures, but progress is being made. This thing is getting really close to being alive.
Loom clips arrived, so the harness in now in place, and looks factory. All sensors, relays, solenoids are hooked up. The radiator is mocked up in place, I need to make one more upper mount. AFPR is in & plumbed. Vacuum/boost hoses are in except leg going to blow off valve & boost gauge.
I was hoping to fire it up this weekend, but my intercooler piping isn't going to be here until Tuesday. My flashed chip is on it's way back(thanks ForcefedMopar), and I have a friend socketing the ECU this week.
Here is a short list of things I need to do:
Install fuel pump hanger/sending unit.
Wire in connector for above
Finish cooling system plumbing
Mount intercooler & plumbing
Install valve cover gasket
Fill all fluids
Install custom radiator overfill tank
Wire in WB O2 sensor
Install new oil/boost/water temp gauges in center console
Install socketed ECU
The list is getting short. I can't wait to fire up this beast and see what it can do...:eyebrows:
Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
This is cool, I like your list too. :) Glad you're making progress, I'm sure you'll have it going here in no time.
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Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Quote:
Originally Posted by
minigts
This is cool, I like your list too. :) Glad you're making progress, I'm sure you'll have it going here in no time.
Thanks Jon.
I am making progress. Got the fuel pump/sender in the tank last night. Trans is full of oil, and I made my new gauge insert for the center console at work yesterday. So I'm making progress.
I took a couple of pictures last night. It never looks quite as neat as when just the engine is sitting in there, but gives you an idea....
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Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Another major hurdle crossed! Finished the last couple of wires last night. My chip arrived from Force Fed Mopar, and I picked up the socketed SMEC from my friend tonight. Soooo.... I decided, what the heck, I put it together, and hooked up the battery. No smoke, no sizzle, and it appears everything is working!!!! Even turned it over a couple times, but the battery is weak from sitting, so I need to charge it up.
Lights work, key buzzer, WB O2 gauge comes on with the key, and it appears everything in the interior has power.
I even did the key dance, and only got codes 12 & 55, which is a good thing.... Now, if my intercooler piping kit would quit taking the grand tour of the Midwest, and arrive at my door, I'd be in business....
Basically all I have left is to mount the gauges, radiator, fill the fluids, and install the intercooler & piping, and this thing should be ready to rock and roll...
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Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Been making steady progress, although not as fast as I would like. I made the new gauge plate for the center console, and got it clearanced for the new gauges. Made a plate to mount the WB O2 gauge in the left A/C duct hole. I managed to get the intercooler mounted last night, and started on the piping. Still trying to get it fired up this weekend. It will be late Sunday if it happens...
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Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
The truck is basically assembled. I hit a couple snags yesterday trying to get it running. First happened when I tried to fill the cooling system. Coolant started peeing out the weep hole in the water pump about as fast as I was pouring it in... Crap, that gamble bit me in the butt, so I spent 3 hours changing a water pump, and removing a broken bolt from the housing...:mad: The second was a fuel rail fitting I didn't get tight enough, so it was leaking. Had to clean that up...
Anyways, got it back together about 8 pm last night, and figured I'd try and start it. At first it wouldn't even try, so I went through the no start/no spark diagnostics and everything checked out fine... WTH??? I have no codes, except 42, and that was because I actuated the ASD relay to prime the fuel system.
So I started playing with the distributor, and discovered that if I retarded it as much as I could, it would try and start, but wouldn't run. So obviously, I have a timing issue. All the marks look good to me, and the distrbutor drive is parallel to the block like it's supposed to be, but I'm going to re-time everything tonight and see if I can't get this beast running...
Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Worth checking, but make sure the flywheel isn't 180° out. That is an easy thing to do. I usually pull the plugs and confirm #1 is TDC and then check the mark on the flywheel. Sounds promising though!
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Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
Here is a shot to show some eye candy:
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Now, if I can just get it to run as good as it looks...
Re: 83 Scamp GT turbo conversion
That looks really nice. Are you worried about the fitting, for what I presume is coolant temp, breaking at the head?