Okay, here is the deal. I'd like to make my 85 Turismo H.O. (high compression 2.2 carb) manual trans a daily driver until I have the funds to do a proper job on the car and make it nice.

It seems I have a couple options to make this car run good and get good fuel mileage. Mind you, I live in Alaska, where turbos are NOT everywhere, and anything ordered will have insane shipping involved.

On a fairly regular basis, I see late 80's, early 90's Shadows, Sundances and the like for sale cheap (say 200-800 bucks). Some have toast engines, others have toast trannies, some are even drivable. For around 300 bucks, I could put a weber on my car, and not have to change much, but still have to deal with a carb (and the choke, winter being what it is). My car has no A/C or cruise.

So here are my options as I see it (with limited knowledge, so tell me where I am wrong, and anything else helpful)

1. Buy Weber carb, install, monkey with jets, choke, figure out what to do with vacuum lines and make the throttle cable work.

2. Buy an entire MOPAR 2.2 or 2.5 fuel injected M/T car, remove entire engine assembly, Transmission, wiring harness, computer ect, and install in my car (trans and throttle linkages might be an issue? Some cars better than others for this? Places to plug in these wires?)

3. Same as the 2 above but keep my transmission (525)

4. Same as #2, but only use the fuel system and the wiring harness/computer

5. Same as #3, but only use the fuel system and the wiring harness/computer

6. Any version of above but from a yard (assuming availability)


That is what I see. The likelihood of me finding a good turbo car up here for cheap is low to say the least. I want to drive my Turismo, but it isn't drivable now. What kind of issues will I be looking at? Is this a straight forward operation, or are there fabrication items involved? Are there cars best suited for this, or will anything work (acclaim, daytona, dynasty, new yorker ect?). How about manufacture dates? Does the Fuel Inj. cars care about what transmission is installed? Will the fuel inj. system handle my engine okay?

I foresee in the next couple years some real time put into this car, and it turned into a very nice ride, but my money situation could be better right now, and I just need this car going reliably. For the moment, I'm not after any more power or such things, but I really do prefer to drive this car, not something else. My wife and I love to drive it (so much fun, even without a turbo).

Thanks guys, any help is greatly appreciated.

I'll show you an example of a Fuel inj. car I am looking at. It has an auto trans:

http://anchorage.craigslist.org/for/1608744317.html

much cheaper than a new carb...