My New 89' Turbo Dodge Caravan

[pkepneriv]

Hey everyone I had to stop in and say hi. I hope I am posting in the correct area. I wasn't exactly sure since my van is a bit of an odd ball. I just bought a 1989 Turbo Dodge Caravan. I see a lot of people on the net are able to make these vans pretty quick. Some of the guys are running 12's and 11's in the quarter. Since it has the exact same engine as some of yours I thought I'd come here for advice on upgrading it. A bit of history on it first. The van sat out in the yard of a guys house under a tree for about two years maybe a little longer. I have been talking with him for a year or so about buying it and he finally sold it to me. Believe it or not but there is not a single spot of rust on the van. I crawled under it and looked all over. the interior is also in mint shape. The van has 147,000 miles on it. The body is very very straights. All the paint on the sides is still bright and shiny but the top of the hood and roof is toast. The paint is faded bad but again no rust! Since it has sat so long the first thing I did was pull the gas tank and have it cleaned and vatted. I order a new fuel pump assembly and already have all new filters for it. Once it is running what are some things I should do right away or things to look for? Any tips or advice would be great. Once it is running well I want to get it tinted, change out the wheels with some Daytona wheels or something lik eit and put a 3" exhaust on it. Thanks again guys!

Cheers,
Paul

[Bardo]

welcome. I just picked up a turbo mini not to long ago. they are fun and a real head turner. mine is a 89 2.5 with a upgraded t2 trubo.

[GLHNSLHT2]

make sure the vac lines are in good shape with either nylon or polyurethane lines from here: http://www.automationdirect.com/adc/...bing_-a-_Hoses

run it around for a while stock to make sure everything is in perfect working order.

[pkepneriv]

Nice bardo! Besides the upgraded turbo what else have you done to it? How does it run the way you have it now? GLHNSLHT2 thanks for the advice. I was planning on running it for a couple of thousand miles before doing anything. I want to give it time to do whatever it is going to do after sitting for so long. I do plan on getting the windows tinted pretty quick because this Texas sun is a real killer with plain glass.

[glhs0075]

Make sure you replace the rubber fuel line under the hood (going to the fuel rail). On cars that have sat for extended periods, the rubber dries out, cracks, leaks onto the exhaust mani., starts a fire, and destroys TD's.

[Rrider]

Here its not an oddball.. welcome!

[pkepneriv]

Make sure you replace the rubber fuel line under the hood (going to the fuel rail). On cars that have sat for extended periods, the rubber dries out, cracks, leaks onto the exhaust mani., starts a fire, and destroys TD's.

Thanks I will get that fuel line replaced right away. I don't want my Caravan flaming

[2.216VTurbo]

Mini's are sweet, I've been thinking of adding another to the collection. Seems my Bro is using Woody more often than I am I kind of liked this one but it went from locally to the other coast..

[pkepneriv]

"90 TC Masi 16V/523/OBX Hybrid, fastest TC in the world" Where did you get a 16V head for your van and what all is involved with switching to one? Can you still keep your turbo? What all have you done to it?

Thanks,
Paul

[GLHNSLHT2]

Not TC as in Town and Country. TC as in Chrysler TC by Maserati.

[Vigo]

I do plan on getting the windows tinted pretty quick because this Texas sun is a real killer with plain glass.

A real INTERIOR killer so if you have a nice interior that tint is a REAL good idea.

Southern metal and Northern interiors.. its like a dream scenario..

Anyway just to give you some REAL basic info on the history of drag racing caravans like yours:

Stock, they typically run about 17.0, although some have run low 16s in good air conditions.

The stock turbo can make about 220-240hp at MAX. You will need a good intercooler to achieve this on regular pump 93 octane fuel. A very small number of extremely proficient drag racers have gotten their 2.5/auto caravans into the high 13s @ ~96 mph on the stock turbo, but it's extremely rare for anyone to even try to repeat those feats without a turbo upgrade.

It's typical to upgrade the stock turbo (mitsubishi te04h) with the larger turbo that came stock on many 2.2L applications, which is a garrett t3 turbo commonly referred to as the 't2' turbo. That turbo can make 270-290hp and has run at least 13.4 that i know of. I think it is possible to go quicker than that but i dont know if ANYONE has ever gotten into the 12s with a t2 turbo on a caravan.

The fastest 2.5/auto caravan to date ran 11.5 with a mild shot of nitrous, a big turbo, serious weight reduction, and EXPERT TUNING.

Thats just to give you an idea of what is possible and what's been done. Obviously all the specifics of HOW have been left out for brevity.

[ShadowFromHell]

When you say 270-290, are you talking wheel or crank HP for the T2 turbo?

[pkepneriv]

Vigo thanks for the info on the van and turbos. I have been reading in other areas about these vans to get a broad idea on what is possible. Here is a guy that is running 12.65 http://www.turbovan.net/van.html and he lists everything he did. At least it gives me an idea on what I can do and some of the parts I can use. My main use for the van is to do my daily running around but make it fast enough to make the high school kids take a second look when they get beat by a mini van Maybe down the road I might want to take it to the track but at the moment I don't. Instead of the huge Ford power stroke diesel intercooler I would like to go with something like from a Conquest TSi or maybe some other car. I want to provide intercooling but still keep my A/C system. Any other idea or tips you might have and I'm all ears. On a side note I found a couple of Daytonas for sale near me and a Shelby Charger. Dang these turbo charged Mopars are addictive . My very first encounter with one made me fall in love with them. I drove a brand spanking new Laser XT off the Chrysler show floor when I was 16 to test drive it. It was bright red with black leather interior and all the bells and whistles. That car was fast! Ever since then I wanted one. It didn't help that my dads friend had a Daytonas Turbo Z and I went for ride in it many times! There is a gentleman near me that has a mint Laser XT with 57,000 miles for $4500 and it looks exactly like the first one I test drove many many years ago. If I had the extra cash laying around it would be mine in a heart beat!

Thanks,
Paul

[Bardo]

I added a rad ic and set the boost to 9psi. It went 16.4 at 80 with a 2.2 60ft on street tires with full interior

[pkepneriv]

Nice!

[ShadowFromHell]

Instead of getting a junkyard intercooler, just head over to ebay. They are dirt cheap, and then you can get one that is easy to mount and plumb up, instead of trying to cobble something together. On top of that, almost all the ebay IC's will be better then what you will get at a JY. Head over to the fabrication forum and there is a thread called "show off your FMIC's" and there is a few minis with nice IC's that still have AC.

[Vigo]

I have seen the Laser XT you are talking about on Craigslist. It looks REALLY nice.

I was talking HP at the crank for both the mitsu and garrett turbos. Although there have been a tiny number of dynos showing 260-280 WHEEL hp from stock t2 turbos. Hard to achieve..

I agree that Ebay is the best way to get an intercooler that actually fits your needs.

Bardo mentioned adding a rad/ic combo to his van. What that means is taking the radiator and intercooler assembly from a factory t2, t3, or t4 car (the stock setups with intercoolers) and putting it in the van. It requires minor fabrication to get it to bolt up, but it will get an intercooler that is capable of ~200-220hp before becoming a serious weak link. However, i think you would be better served getting an aftermarket intercooler that doesnt have such low HP 'limits' and not messing with your existing radiator if you dont have to.

There have been a few intercooler installs in vans that did not remove the AC, but anyone will tell you it is not the easiest car in the world to put an intercooler on. Something that may make it a little easier is if you have a plastic rather than metal front bumper. Which do you have?



As for tips, i think the main thing i would tell anyone getting into these cars is you need to do your own work or make friends with people who can help you do it. If you plan to pay a mechanic for anything, you might quickly go broke. Generally when i first get one of these cars the main things i do are check the cam and ignition timing as they are FREQUENTLY off.

http://thedodgegarage.com/timing_belt.html

Personally, i dont pull the #1 spark plug when looking for TDC. I simply use the timing window in the top of the transmission bellhousing. When the slot in the torque converter lines up with the 0 mark, that is Cyl#1 TDC. Now you can have #1 on tdc and be on either the compression stroke or the exhaust stroke, and you need to be on the compression stroke to check the cam gear. If you pop the distributor cap off, the rotor will be pointing generally at the #1 plug wire terminal on the compression stoke, and 180 degrees away from it on the exhaust stroke.

[GLHNSLHT2]

Terry's van/The fastest ran 11.76 with the NOS. 11.9xx without it.

As for inter cooling a van it's cake walk. Just head over to www.frozenboost.com, pick up their "600 hp" Water/air kit, and do this: http://www.pnw-sdac.org/gallery/v/Me.../Water_air+IC/

It bolts in and retains the factory AC. We added to the kit the bosch pump, the narrower but thicker heat exchanger, a purge tank from an 80's volvo to bleed air out of the system and the hose connectors.

It's a real sweet setup. i/c remains cold to the touch even doing 20psi WOT runs for over 1/4 mile 3 times in a row tuning.

[Vigo]

Thanks for the correction on those ETs.

I should have been specific that the difficulty was in using air to air. Most around here tend to shy away from air to water intercoolers but i agree they're the hot setup for caravans.

[pkepneriv]

Thanks for the correction on those ETs.

I should have been specific that the difficulty was in using air to air. Most around here tend to shy away from air to water intercoolers but i agree they're the hot setup for caravans.

Why is an air to air IC so much harder to install verses a air to water? Why do people shy away from air to water ones and why are they so popular for Caravans?

Thanks,
Paul