Hey guys. I have an interesting idea. My dad and I have a 1987 Dakota with a 2.2L 4-cylinder, used to be his old work truck, now we both use it for odd jobs because the 8-f00t bed comes in handy. It's pretty pathetic. It doesn't help it any that it's carbureted, or that it's old, worn down and about to go with 166k hard-worked miles on it. Since we really don't use it much at all anymore, i have been wanting to turn it into a project truck of sorts, to get my feet wet in the custom stuff and to give me and my dad something to do. I was plannin' on sticking in a Mopar crate 360 380hp engine, or the new Crate 400 they've got. But those engines are expensive, not to mention the modifications to the suspension, drivetrain, etc., that it would take just to make the truck able to handle so much extra power, never the less perform well. So i was thinkin' the other day, that a big V8 like those is overkill for a truck like that. I wondered if instead i could order a rebuilt 2.2L, and build it up as a Turbo II. I see mopar has turbo upgrades and other performance upgrades for these engines, so why not do this to my truck? So here's my question. What do you guys seriously think about turbocharging my Dakota? Some people might think it's a stupid idea...but that would be because i've never seen it done before. I'm sure it has, but i've never personally seen it.

I wanna hear some suggestions, opinions, any tips, pro's and con's of a project like this, places where i can get performance parts, etc. And just for reference, yes i am planning on converting to fuel injection. I'm gonna do computer stuff and the whole 9 yards, i don't feel like dealing with a carburetor.

Try www.turbododge.com. I'm sure somebody there has done that project before. :smokin:

You would be better off doing an engine swap instead of trying to turbo the 2.2l. There are so many things you would have to change to make that motor able to hold up to a turbo.