Different Idea

[aphaze]

I had posted earlier about rebuilding my 1993 dodge shadow. Redone body, new interior and a different motor...well that is somewhat still the case except the different motor. I wieghed the pros and cons and decided to stay with my original engine. Its a 2.5 4-cylinder. I dont know much about cars, Yet. But Im a dedicated learner and have alot of help from car fanatics and also a shop owner we personally know *my buddies moms man* lol. What Im planning on doing is upgrading the motor and just rebuilding it. New performance parts and such. Im just looking for a point in the right direction. Ive ordered the Haynes: Dodge Shadow, 1987-1994 (Haynes Automotive Repair Manual Series) book and will use this as a referance. What are key things I need to know in my project?

[UncleBob]

that its a crap motor and crap car, and a complete waste of time.

I'm trying to be neutral though.

What, exactly, are the "goals" you are aiming for? That would net you some better advice. Not far from mine, but really....its a 80's Chrysler. 'Nuff said.

[aphaze]

Well the car was well maintained before my time with it, everything under the hood runs really well and the only real problems I have with it are just rust spots and a slightly beat up body.

Im not doing this for racing, or much anything like that. Dont get me wrong I will put performace part in it and probably speed alittle with it but mostly I am doing it to have a nicer car. I own the vehicle already and want to update the thing to a semi-boasting level lol.

Things I need done:
-Back suspension (rattles)
-Rust removal, bondo, paint and bodykit
-Upgrade the engine (its a 2.5L 4cyl)
-Larger rims and performance tires
-Interior work and sound system
-Last and still debating, buying a used turbo kit *lol* (willing to pay for it)


Now Im still fairly new to engine work and have a good amount of help from techs I know. But what things could be done and replaced to upgrade my car to a finely running motor vehicle. Im going to get a crap vehicle to drive while I pull the engine out and replace some parts. How can I make this car strong and add years to it. Im trying to do this myself but I really want some advice from some car fanatics.

[bluevp00]

Investing all that money for performance upgrades is a crap shoot, and will only make the cost, not the value, of the car increase. When you want to sell your car, you won't get much over blue book value for it (which is about $1300), even with all the "nice" things you added to it.

IMO, sell it while you still can, save up some cash, and buy a newer, nicer car.

[aphaze]

I dont mean to be rude, but this forum is very pesimistic. Im just looking for some support and advice and all you people are telling to do to give up or do something else. I do want this car, and I dont really care about the resell value afterwards, I already know about that. I am just looking for some help on getting started. Please no more "do-something-else" replys. Thank you.

[bluevp00]

Ok fine....

First and foremost the engine has a great potential to be turbocharged. The Chrysler 2.5L engine is incredibly strong, but incredibly slow without a turbo (100 HP). Now, the 2.5 turbo engine has been used in Chrysler autos between 1989 - 1992, so you may be able to find a turbo housing/intercooler at some junkyards. Look closely at a lot of junkyards and you'll probably find one. The oil lines and whatnot will have to be fabricated, but that shouldn't be too hard with the people you know.

This link is about the 2.2 and 2.5L engines: Chrysler K engine

If you want to browse wheels and tires, check out tirerack.com

[GreyGoose006]

I think that the shadow has a lot of potential...
i have seen a lot of really nice ones at various car shows.
80s cars are coming back in style.

you could turbo the engine, but if i were you i would look at dropping in the 3.0 V-6. that would not only wake up the car, but it would be a selling point when you eventually do want to sell the car. if you turbo the 3.0L you will get a lot more power.

as for paint and body kits, i am a big fan of white shadows.
put a big front air dam on it, and possibly side skirts, but skip the wing on the back.
17 inch wheels should be big enough and give you more options in terms of tire sizes.
235 width would be a good size i think.
as for the stereo, fine, but it will actually hurt the value if you have to cut the dash and put a sub in the trunk. its your choice.
if you go with white paint, it would look really cool if you black out the grille, mirrors, air dam and side skirts. that my opinion tho.
i would take a look at lowering the car 1.5-2 inches for a better feel and less floating... new shocks are a must. dont do like i did and get the expensive ones though, the cheap ones work just as well for everyday driving.
i got KYB gas-a-just shocks and i love them, they were just a little more expensive than i prefered to pay.
sorry for the long post.
good luck

[aphaze]

Thanks GreyGrouse006, I really like the ideas but some how, fortunately I received the chance to get a free 95' 4-cyl 16v eagle talon with a engine that needs some work but nothing terrible, new eagle tires, great interior, its a auto transmission though...but fortunately its free. If you need more on it I still need to run over and check it all.

See 2 days ago my grandmother had her birthday and so I called her last night and talked and wish her happy birthday and then talked to my grandfather and told him what I was doing with my dodge. We talked about it for abit then out of no where he just asked me if I wanted his eagel talon, it was my older cousins a year ago then he moved to fl. and sold it to grandpapi. It needed some work on the engine but over the past year he worked on it, changing and rebuildin it. Finally he just told me I could have it if I would rebuild it and never ever just give it away before its done, unless to him of course lol. But yeah so I just need to go with a tow truck and grab the car and bring it home. Lucky my buddy I am doing this with, knows a guy with a garage(his mom's stepdad/hubbie). So with that Ill still pay but cheaper than another tow truck. Ill drive the shadow, and work on the eagle all winter....It was a good day yesterday.

[2turboimports]

Holy cow man, money pits just throw themselves at you! It wont matter if you completely replace everything on that DSM, something else is gonna break on it like every other week. A door handle, a tranny, the engine, the gas tank, I dont know, but you've been warned!

[curtis73]

c'mon guys, lets be nice at least.

aphaze... I totally understand the desire to mod what you have, but it is true that the Shadow isn't the wisest performance platform. Its based on the K-car chassis which is the least rigid of any of the American front-drive chassis of the era. The Shelby that they did with 224 hp had trouble ripping the motor mounts out of the sheet metal, and it was just in general a flimsy kinda construction. That's why you don't see very many on the road all tricked out (other than appearance changes)

Before Polygon the Moderator comes in and beats me over the head with his keyboard, I'd like to say that any car will respond to the simple stuff; cold air intake, exhaust, possibly a chip if someone makes one, but that all gets very expensive and you'll only see a couple HP at best. You'll go from painfully slow to loud and just really slow

Talk to the moderator by the name of Polygon. He's a nice guy and has done many turbo modifications on Chrysler stuff. He has a really fast LeBaron and maybe he can point you in the right direction.

But, like was said above, don't expect to get any of your investment back. You'll have to forgive the strongly opinionated contributors above. Don't let them sour your perception of AF. We just get a lot of questions like this asking how to make something out of nothing and its frustrating. We see the love that people have for their cars and its hard to reveal the weaknesses of their cars without insulting them.

Put it this way: its like putting caviar on a McDonalds hamburger. There is nothing wrong with a McBurger, its just that your caviar investments aren't going to pay off. Best just to leave the burger a burger. Now, a Fudruckers burger is a different thing. There you get a good quality burger as a blank pallette and you go to the fixins bar and make it your way.

I might suggest a sturdier foundation for your build. Trust me, the money you spend trading up will pay off a thousand times over compared to spending that money on modifying the Shadow.

I think that's what they're trying to say in not so many words

[GreyGoose006]

Originally Posted by Curtis73

The Shelby that they did with 224 hp had trouble ripping the motor mounts out of the sheet metal, and it was just in general a flimsy kinda construction.

wow. thats pretty bad if the motor mounts ripped out...
seems like shelby woulda put a little more thought into that kind of thing.

personally, i like the K-Cars...
omnis are the shiznit, shelby ghls ones are the best.
K-Cars arent all bad... are they???

[beef_bourito]

i doubt shelby had anything to do with the construction of the car, it was probably just his company's name put on the car as a publicity stunt.

anyways, if you REALLY want to keep your car and make it faster for cheap, you could go with nitrous. now, it's an old engine so you'll probably have to have it rebuilt (or buy a new one depending on the cost of a rebuild) but a nitrous system is cheap and it doesn't run all the time, a turbocharger and supercharger will decrease your gas mileage. another plus it that if you do eventually decide to switch cars, it's not all that hard to remove the nitrous system and modify it for a different car.

I prefer turbocharging and supercharging but i understand a small budget, i'm in university and don't have money to throw at my car. once i get a better job i'll do something (i'll probably end up not getting nitrous, maybe some small modifications, intake, headers, i want to keep the exhaust quiet though, and some other small ones while i wait for the money to do an engine swap).

i'm droning on so i'll wrap it up. don't rule out nitrous but if your engine isn't built for it (the same goes for turbocharging and supercharging) you'll probably end up killing it. it gives you a good burst of power for those very few bursts of speed you're going to be doing, it's cheap, and it's easy to swap to another car. the others don't require refills, they're always available for use as soon as you step on the gas (with a properly sized turbocharger there's very little noticeable lag) but they're more expensive and will cut your gas mileage a bit.

[GreyGoose006]

no, shelby did actually manufacture all the shelby versions of the cars.
if you look on the window sticker of any car with the shelby name, you will see that the place of assembly is listed as in the shelby plant.
check out allpar.com

[GreyGoose006]

the problem with nitrous is that it can kill an engine in a heartbeat if something goes wrong.
personally, i would feel safer with a turbo, but thats me.
superchargers are even safer because of the low boost pressures, and the power is there instantly.
you could combine a supercharger and nitrous, as a friend of mine did.
he had a civic hatchback with a 2.2L swap (b20 i think)
rebuilt bottom end, hot cam, ported heads, pistons, the whole nine yards.
it was actually amazing the amount of work he put into that engine.
he had a centrifugal supercharger putting like 10 PSI. (he swapped it in in favor of a turbo that put in 24psi. too much lag he said)
then he added a 35 shot of nitrous.
i heard a LOT of stories of his racing endeavors.

[beef_bourito]

the problem with nitrous is that people don't use it properly. nitrous with the correct ammount of fuel is just as safe as a turbocharger or a supercharger. if you lean out with a turbo or super you're going to blow your engine, same goes for nitrous. a properly designed wet system will give you good power when you need it, it won't hurt your engine more than other forms of forced induction, and it's cheaper than the other two if you don't use much of it.

How much extra power are you looking for? you can get a 30 or 35hp wet system from one of the manufacturers, not sure which. it adds the right ammount of fuel with the nitrous, and you can have it to go off when you floor the gas pedal, only when it's armed obviously. they're very safe, the last thing these companies want it for you to blow your engine using one of their products. all you have to make sure is that your engine is up to the higher combustion temperatures, higher stress, etc. if your engine's going to blow on a 35 wet shot of nitrous, it sure as hell won't hold up to a 60hp turbocharger system.

edit: I really think that nitrous is the way he should go, he doesn't seem to have much experience working on cars, designing a turbo system might be a little much for him. he could get help from his friends we can't judge how good they are. nitrous is easy, it's quick, it's cheap. that's what he's looking for, that's what he'll get with it. now, obviously a turbocharger system is more impressive, and he demonstrated a desire for bragging rights, so if he wants to spend the extra money to have a more impressive car, go for it. a turbocharger will always be available, it will make your engine bay look alot better, and it will impress others more, a nitrous system is easy, cheap, and can be equally fast if you do the right supporting mods. weigh your options, make your decision. it's my oppinion that you go with nitrous, obviously others think you should go with a turbocharger or supercharger, once polygon sees this thread he'll be shoving arguments down my throat about turbocharging, all of which will most likely be true. but ultimately it's your decision and if nitrous works best for you, i'd say screw what everyone thinks, it's your car.