Turbo Mopar's Car of the Month - December 2008
Mike Mills' (Mike M) 88 Dodge Lancer Shelby!
Rare, Quick, and totally Restified, Mike's Lancer shows as one member stated, "H Bodies Rule!"
Well, I truly achieved my goals with this car! My basic goals for this build were simply to be able to drive it reliably, take it to a car show (at least show it when its nice), and I had a dream of running a 12 second quarter mile.
Body and paint
-Repainted factory Oxford white
-Extensive rust repair, quarters, rockers, inner fenders - all metal.
-Side moldings removed
-Antenna shaved
-Positive Impressions decal package
-ES front foglight grills
-New windshield at time of paintjob
Interior & Gauges
-Redyed all interior plastic
-Replaced headliner
-Replaced front leather seats with good donor seats
-Floor is all sound deadened
-Relocated sunroof switch to console
-Custom Cue ball shift knob to match the car (its an actual cue ball, yes)
-Autometer Water Temp & Oil located in custom pod lower center console
-Autometer Boost/EGT, AEM Wideband located in custom pod in the dash
-Kenwood Excelon USB capable head unit, new speakers all around with 10" woofer
Suspension, Brakes & Wheels
-Custom set of 15x8" 11lb wheels, sexy, eh?
-Currently on 225/50R15 Toyo Proxes FZ4 tires
-89 Shelby 11" vented brake setup
-1 1/4 sway bar
-MIR Racing springs
-KYB Shocks
-Custom boxed & adjustable rear panhard bar
-Custom front strut tower brace
-Poly control arm and sway bar bushings
-Polybushings front motor mount and solid bobble strut, poly-filled side mounts
Transmission
-A555 trans, moly plate
Engine
-89 2.5L CB
-Wiseco forged pistons
-Removed balance shafts
-Oil pump hole porting
-85 G-head, mild port job +1mm oversize valves
-Turbos Unleashed cast manifold, 3" swingvalve
-Super 70 turbo, .60/.63 stage one.
-FWD Performance 3" exhaust with Mangaflow dual outlet muffler, chrome turndowns (paying homage to dual outlet TD mufflers)
-Large NPR intercooler, 2.5" piping, RFL BOV
-drilled 180 tstat, #4 coolant mod
-self ported 1 piece intake, 52mm TB
-2.5" CAI with K&N filter
Electronics
-FWDP Stage V ECU
-S60 Injectors
-MSD 3bar map
-255lph fuel pump
-Devilsown progressive alcohol injection system, well hidden
-Underhood harness downsized and retaped
This goes back all the way to 2005 when I acquired the car from a friend. The story goes a little somethin' like this. My buddies dad was cruising a local junkyard when he spotted an intercooled Lancer, knowing my buddy would be interested he phoned immediately. Knowing it had to be a Shelby he whizzed down to the yard and within the hour the car had been purchased from the junkyard. It had been sitting there for two weeks, virtually unmolested - the wheels were missing. I got a call saying I needed to come look at his Plymouth Horizon... he lured me into his garage (or wooden shack as you may call it) - lo and behold there it was, a written off, busted ---, knockin motor, rusted arse, shite interior, missin ground fx 1988 Dodge Lancer Shelby... I was in love. We shook hands and the deal was struck, I simply paid him what he paid for it, a mere $300.
To make a long story short, the car was fixed very cheaply, still looked like ---. I did upgrade to 11" brakes, 3" exhaust, small NPR intercooler, ported head and S70 turbo... it all worked ok but the setup wasn't enough, but I had no intentions of starting again. The car had been parked that winter, driven again the next summer and ran a whopping 15.0 @ 96mph... that fall I ran into an incident and cracked a piston, so the car was down for more repairs. My intentions were to replace the shortblock, and the front leather seats (torn) - talk about a snowball project. I had the underhood ripped apart no the engine repair, then the interior came apart for headliner replacement, to do that I had virtually the entire interior stripped minus the dash. No underhood goodies, no interior... hmm, its getting to look like it wouldn't take much more to get this rust bucket fixed and painted. So the visit was made and the deal was struck, but there was a waiting line. The car sat disassembled for all of 2007 until the car was started on in the fall, and was completed around the first snow in early November. The car sat parked until spring time when I had a deadline to make the biggest local indoor car show.
I guess I'll speak about my goals and what I accomplished this year. At the Majestics 42nd annual indoor car show I had a blast, and lots of confused looks about my car, lol. I ended up winning a basic Sport Compact Street award, just a nice plaque. I also won Best Sport Compact Engine & $100, and my favorite award... Best Under 25 Builder (I was 24 at the time) & $250. So its officially a show car.
Next off was to simply drive the car reliably and have fun! As per the pictures I road tripped the car with 3 friends and a packed hatch 2900kms without a hitch (almost, had to push start it once, lol). I also made one other ~2000km road trip hassle free. Other than that I simply drove the snot out of it locally - I drove it for 9000kms since spring time at only 12 PSI of boost... with zero actual repairs (minus maintenance and upgrades) except for a thermostat. I pretty much call that a reliable vehicle, and I sure had fun!
Now it was time to have some fun, hook up the alcohol injection and turn that dial. With the boost cranked to ~22psi, I was finally ready for the strip on September 14th... I ran a best of 13.1 @ 106mph, obviously has more in it! On the way home from the track I obliterated the head gasket - no worries, gathered parts the next and fixed it the day after. After a few tweaks and mods I hit the strip again on the 28th... my first run I clicked off a 12.963 @ 105mph. I had some other issues but the car can definitely go deeper in the 12s as the MPH and 60fts were not my best at all.
So I've basically achieved all my goals... I still want to push it harder next year though. With all the racing included the car is up to ~12000kms this year alone. Total odometer is about 254000kms.
It is parked for the winter already as of last weekend, good timing since there is now 6" of snow on the ground already, doh. Oh well thats what the 4wd Jeepmobile is for!
More info and pictures here:
http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/sh...0&postcount=13
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