2.5l Hybrid 1983 Dodge Rampage

[1983Rampage]

Hadn't seen anybody post a new thread regarding a Hybrid build so thought I would throw this up here. A little bit of the build description.


Engine Specification:
Rebuilt 2.5l Bottom End
2004 2.4l Cylinder Head


Exhaust:
Aftermarket Log Manifold
60 trim T3/T4 .63 A/R turbo
2.5" Mandrel Exhaust with Catalytic Converter and Muffler


Intake:
SRT-4 Intake Manifold
58mm Throttle Body
Front Mount Intercooler
DSM BOV
2.5" Piping


Transmission:
'89 A520 3.50 Transmission with Heim Joint Setup


Electronics:
'89 Dodge Spirit Engine Bay Wiring Harness (Modified to work in an L-Body)
Underhood fuse box
'86 Interior Harness from GLH-T
'89 Digital Dash from a Dodge Daytona





- - - Updated - - -

Pictures of the floor boards when I purchased the car:




After floor replacement:



After coating:


Engine Bay:





Oil Feed and Drain:




Intercooler:





Adapter to use 58mm Throttle body on the SRT-4 Intake Manifold:

[2.216VTurbo]

Looking forward to those pics when I get home Hospitals WiFi wont allow them

[johnl]

Nice build. Keep the pics and descrips coming.

[1983Rampage]

Currently working on replacing he radiator. I am going to do the Civic radiator swap since the car had an overheating issue. The car has a new thermostat and new water pump. So replacing the radiator with a new 2 row aluminum one and seeing how it handles. I will post pictures of the install.

[Trevor404]

Looking good so far, nice patch work on the floor.

[1983Rampage]

Next best option to replacing it with a complete floor board, which is virtually impossible to find a rust free one around here, let alone one at all for a decent price.

[Pat]

Nice work! What cam gears are they?

[1983Rampage]

Nissan cam gears. They are from a 1993 or 1994 Nissan Maxima with a 3.0l. From what I can tell, the same cam gears should be in the following cars as well:

Infiniti QX4 (1997-2000)
Mercury Villager (1994-2002)
Nissan Frontier (1999-2004)
Nissan Maxima (1993-1994)
Nissan Pathfinder (1994-2000)
Nissan Pickup (1995-1996)
Nissan Quest (1994-2002)
Nissan Xterra (2000-2004)

What you want to look for is a 3.0l that has round tooth cam gears. There should be 40 teeth on the gears. Each engine will have 2 cam gears, one for the left head and one for the right head. The only modification you have to do to the cam gear is open up the center to fit over the camshaft for the 2.0l/2.4l. The camshaft snout also has to be ground down in order for the cam gear to be tightened down. The Nissan cam gears are thinner than the 2.0l/2.4l cam gears so you have to modify the cams to work.

[Vigo]

Lookin good!

I'm kind of shocked i havent met you yet. Maybe i need to visit Austin soon...

[1983Rampage]

Yah, there are a few people up here in Austin that work with turbo mopars that i have not met yet. I was fairly active in the Kansas area when I was there, but I haven't been able to since moving here. I do plan on being in the San Antonio area at the beginning of next month. May have to meet up.

[OmniLuvr]

more info on cam gears and ignition system.... please

stock dizzy? what did exactly did you have to do to modify gears/cams? very interested?

were you going to make a custom intake manifold then decided to go srt4?

[glhs727]

Nice looking build!

[1983Rampage]

The ignition system is the factory ignition system. I had to make custom wires to work with the head. For those, I took aftermarket 7mm custom wire set and a set of 2.4l wires and combined them. Took the ends off of a set of 2.5l plug wires to work with the factory distributor cap.

For the computer, I am running a factory 2.5l T1 5 speed computer.

For the cam gear and cam, it is pretty simple. When you get the cam, you will see that the center hole where it bolts to the cam is too small. This hole needs to be enlarged to fit on the 2.0l/2.4l cams. After getting the hole large enough, you will see that the snout that the gear goes on sticks out past the gear, so you will not be able to tighten it down. You will need to grind the snout of the cam down enough to where it sits below the gear.

I was looking at building a custom intake then I got access to a SRT4 intake for cheap, so I decided I was going to pick it up and found that it worked just perfect. Only minor changes to the coolant system which wasn't an issue. The method I did would not work if you are wanting to run A/C but not many Hybrid setups running an A/C.

[Vigo]

Yah, there are a few people up here in Austin that work with turbo mopars that i have not met yet.

Enough to get a little meet going if everyone could agree on a date.

How did you open up the center of the cam gears?

[1983Rampage]

Dremel. Plus there were others that if I messed up I could grab them. But you can take them to a good machine shop and they can open them up easy enough.

[ShadowFromHell]

Did you cut new keyways into the gears or are they close enough to work?

[1983Rampage]

I didn't cut new key ways but since the cams only go one direction, I spun them as far over as possible and cranked the bolts down so they don't slip. I used the holes on the cams to time the engine not marks on the cam gears.

[ShadowFromHell]

So you are not using a keyway at all?

[1983Rampage]

Not a new one. There is a key way that I am using but it is the original one for the cam gear.

[ShadowFromHell]

Okay that answers my question. The keyway in the maxima gears is close enough it is useable.