New to the forum today! *Turbo Dakota Questions*

[GreatWhite]

Hi everyone. I just wanted to give everybody a little info about myself and my automotive interests, and from there hopefully there is a future of outstanding exchanges of knowledge, insight, advice and opinions between the other members of this forum and myself. Although I am new to Turbo Mopars, I am not new entirely to turbo cars, nor Mopars for that matter. I have owned three 1985 Nissan 300ZX turbos over the course of about 15 years, and as for Mopars, I have two Jeep Cherokees on the road and one Dodge Dakota (2.5!). That's sorta what brought me around to the 2.5 engine, I had bought the 95 Dakota strictly for the drivetrain, which I thought included an AMC 2.5. Bought the truck without even popping the hood, the price was right and it started and ran great. I guess I should have recognized the sound of the overhead cam as being distinct from the pushrod Jeep 2.5, but the exhaust was loud and I really wasn't paying attention. All I knew was that it sounded good. Well, I was a year off! 96 was the first year that the AMC derived 2.5 was used. I had used 97 and up Dakota's for the motors before. Since I work on Jeeps, this Chrysler 2.5 was of no use to me. So, fixed the truck up and decided to keep it as a work truck. After driving it over several months, I began to appreciate the modest 2.5. Not a ton of power, but I really like the MPG.
Finally, I was at the junkyard a few weeks ago, and came across a wrecked 89 Turbo Spirit. It had 61,000 miles on the odometer, and judging by the overall condition of the car this was accurate. Literally, a little old lady owned it. From what I could tell, she had hit a deer and the insurance company totaled it. I turned the motor over with a breaker bar, and it felt really good, so I took the chance that the engine was is great shape and yanked it out, along with the ECU. I have to go back to get the wiring harness. So I guess some of you may have guessed the direction I am going with this, or what I am thinking about doing at least: A turbo 2.5 Dakota. But not necessarily, I am not certain yet. After looking into these cars a little further, I am starting to really appreciate the LeBaron turbos, so maybe I will try to find one of those with bad engine. As it stands now, I just have a complete 2.5 turbo engine (this is the turbo 2, correct?) I realize this stuff is not that easy, I can't just throw an 89 Spirit turbo motor in my 95 Dakota and expect it to run. At this point, I don't even know is I can bolt a Dakota flywheel to the Spirit engine (same bolt number/pattern?) Or if it would be necessary (and easier) to just swap the external turbo components onto the NA block, and keep boost stock due to the NA higher CR. And honestly, I pretty much detest wiring, so splicing two harnesses together won't be fun. The good thing is, I have absolutely everything intact on the motor, and the turbo looks to be in excellent condition. Additionally, I have complete confidence in my mechanical abilities to achieve either goal, but I'm sure I might need a few pointers. Like I said I just need to grab the main harness off the car. So I guess if I do go that route, I am sure I will greatly appreciate any knowledge anyone has or advice they can give. I've belonged to a 300ZX forum, and a Jeep forum, but kinda lost interest because it just seems there are too many ego's at play, and it is offensive the way some of the members treat others who are less knowledgeable than themselves, like when a kid asks a (perceived) dumb question. But from what I can see on this site after browsing it a little, is that its members have a more mature attitude and are more helpful towards each other. Now that seems like a place I can get along with!
I am going to first give the turbo engine a little once over, all new gaskets for sure. Mopar performance head gasket. I already have a full gasket set, and it's Fel-Pro, but I might go for the seemingly better Mopar performance one. From what I read, as long as you don't use a Vic-R hg, you should be OK. I am optimistic as well due to the fact the Chrysler uses many of the same components and sensors throughout their model range, as long as they are relatively close in model year. I have located all of the ECU pin identifications for the 89 ECU, and plan to buy the factory service manual for that specific car as well. The only info I have found about anyone trying to make a turbo Dakota was on one of the forums a few years ago a guy was working on a conversion, but basically gave up on it because he couldn't get it to run. Aside from that, nothing. That wasn't very promising. However, that doesn't mean that it cannot be accomplished.
Well, thanks to anyone who took time to read my introduction. If anyone has any comments or suggestions, I will be more than happy to hear them. Thanks again everyone.