my brother's Spirit R/T project

[twinturbosedan]

this car is 1 of 1208 produced in 1991.  it has the 224hp DOHC 16-valve Intercooled Turbo 2.2L 4-cylinder (aka the "Turbo-III").  he found it at a local car dealership for $1200.  it came from the factory with forged rods, forged crank, AND forged pistons!

the drivetrain is currently out of it as you can see:





Turbo-III shortblock on the stand:
http://www.turbosedan.com/spirit/DSC02597.JPG

this is the Lotus DOHC cylinder head with intake manifold:
http://www.turbosedan.com/spirit/DSC02609.JPG

ported exhaust manifold:
http://www.turbosedan.com/spirit/DSC02600.JPG

the A-568 5-speed is getting rebuilt with OBX LSD & 3.50 FDR from an A-523 5-speed.  he just sent the A-568, A-523 and OBX off to Conneticuit in a huge box yesterday.  that should really let the engine stretch its legs and improve traction off the line.

so far mods are:

- completely rebuilt cylinder head from Lone Wolf Performance
- LWP stage-1 reground cams & dryfilm coated
- dryfilm lubed rocker shafts and retainers, titanium valve spring retainers, and new upgraded lifters.
- LWP ported exhaust manifold
- black anodized fuel rail from LWP
- Accufab AFPR
- Mopar Performance +20 injectors
- McMaster-Carr manifold distribution block
- Magnecor KV85 wires
- cam covers & intake manifold were powdercoated black by LWP.  valley cover is from FWDP and is annodized black
- complete 3" mandrel bent exhaust already in car
- dual gauge pillar pod already in car

it already has factory 11.25" front & rear vented disc brakes.  he got rid of the ugly stock 15" R/T wheels and is now using 16" crosslace wheels from a Lebaron GTC.

[TGPilot]

I was trying real hard to find an R/T when I had my ES Spirit. Then I bought that shitbox Turbo Daytona that I sold to Jay (god910). What was that R/t dyno queen on the Dodge forums running...500HP to the wheels?

[twinturbosedan]

that was 4sfed4's car.  he put down 500whp/514wtq on stock internals.  that dyno vid was nuts!

The basics are a stock longblock and manifolds with a Precision SC6152S turbo, a 3 core intercooler, an alkycontrol.com progressive alky injection kit with a 3" exhaust with no cat and an Ultraflow muffler. The ECU is the FWD Stage 3 with +40's and 3 bar MAP and I was running on 93 octane and sprying methanol through the alky kit.

[pontiac6ksteawd]

That engine looks an aweful lot like the Masarti (sp) TC Coupe Convertable motor.. What are the diferences do you know?

[iTurbo]

The Maserati TC head is quite a lot different. Both the Lotus (Turbo III) and Masi heads are 16v DOHC, and designed to be used with the Chysler 2.2/2.5L block,  but they are entirely different designs and much different in the valvetrain department. I have some pics of the Masi setup; I'll have Josh post some up so you can see the differences if you like.

And then there is the super bad ass Hans Hermann DOHC that Shelby installed onto GLHS #001 (his own personal GLHS). Chrysler had Shelby look into a number of different DOHC setups for production use. Shelby wanted to use the Hermann head because of it's superior performance but Chrysler execs decided to use the Lotus head because they thought it would be more reliable.

[TurboGTU]

Isn't this the same engine Relentless ran. I think Gus Mahon ran that same engine in his Acclam. Dam sturdy engines.

[iTurbo]

Nope, all Gus's cars were SOHC and Gary Donovan's Relentless was SOHC too.

There is a good article on the Spirit R/T in the June issue of Sport Compact Car.

[GutlessSupreme]

thing must be an absolute beast with the DOHC head. I've seen plenty of what they can do as SOHC motors...

damnit you guys are making me want to pick up a TD.. don't let me fall into the same pit that my friend did :icon_lol: (he's soon to be on Chrysler k-derivative #6, I believe).

3.0 3 spd Spirit
2.5 A523? Caravan (2.2? turbo swapped)
3.0 A604 LeBaron vert
2.5 3 spd Shadow
2.5 A523? Shadow
next: 3.0 3 spd Caravan?

and on top of that his girlfriend just picked up a LeBaron sedan too :icon_lol:

[TurboGTU]

I keep watching the Relentless vid of him spanking a Supra...Bad ass. Those things can scoot!

My older brother ownd a 89 Daytona..non turbo..but it was quick.  About the only Dodge cars that called my attention were the Shelby Daytona and the Chrysler conquest( love the look). EVERYone told me to stay away form the conquest. :icon_question:.

Man..its stelthy, economic, and reliable (tranny  ;) )

[iTurbo]

It's a longblock again. The head is mammoth compared to the regular old SOHC head. It dwarfes the block and is actually quite top heavy. This is yet another parking lot swap!

[iTurbo]

Getting there...



Just needs belts and accessories now.

[iTurbo]

Almost done.

[Invasion1]

thats cool... :icon_biggrin:

[pontiac6ksteawd]

Boy that motor really packs in there too..

[iTurbo]

It's really not too bad, but yeah it is much larger than the SOHC setup. I had almost decided to install this engine in my Omni....now that would have been a tight fit. Decided not to because I would have had to revamp all the intercooler plumbing, and notch a frame rail to clear the serpenting belt. Woulda been hella fun on the street though!