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The red pony
And, after you've read up on the general stuff scope the bottom of the page for modifications undertaken thus far as well as future modifications in the works
Indeed.
Red here came to me from a kid in Calgary who bought her and never drove her. One of 208 Shelby package Lancers produced for worldwide distribution in '89. A definite rarity. For a more detailed history and soforth check out this page.
Anyhow, now that you've read that I won't have to tell you about this that and the other as far as history is concerned. The only oddity is that this one is optioned weirdly. If you read the stuff on the link you'd know that there was only a sunroof as an option. Red has no sunroof but has an overhead digital console/compass/temp unit, which is quite irregular. Looks factory too but was never officially an option.
Anyhow. On with the pics.
This is just a glam shot taken in the parking lot at work. Nothing spectacular, but she looks good all opened up.
Engine bay. So clean given the age. Well built and generally stays well built with proper maintenance. Which this one had. Have had no problems with her, major anyhow. Few leaks and seals that had to be clamped and crimped. That comes with sitting for a while though (a year or so without running in this case).
Sideshot with Mike's Daytona CS. He drove me down to Calgary to pick Red up. I call that CS the roadwarrior. And it is. Pretty much looks like the well beaten Mad Max chariot and people get the heck out of the way when she's barreling up behind her.
Posing with our respective rides. Funnily enough and unintentionally we both match our cars in dress and personality. You can't see it, but I was wearing a black dress shirt with red stitching and a dark red and black tie. Elegant. Just like Red.
Some people whisper horses. I whisper Turbododges.
Dunno if it'll come out in the format and size cardomain allows, but that's the cluster, and the lil odo reads just under 165xxx kilometers.
American viewers can multiply that number by .6 for miles. Fairly low given the year.
Now, the leather is not exactly perfect. The driver's seat has a few cracks and the passenger seat isn't much better. The back seat has a couple lil tears and pokeholes. BUT, for 16 year old leather I think its in pretty damn good shape compared to some of the other examples I've seen. Have yet to research the best reconditioner for this stuff, any suggestions? BTW, in terms of power seats n soforth, they still work and are as strong as the day she was born. I love the deep bolsters on the seats. Better than any recarro (sp?) in terms of tucking you in on those high speed corners or accelerating down the straightaway at full bore.
I see you baby... Shakin' that ass.
Yup. Nifty rear profile. Half oldschool BMW and half grocery getter. Just the way I likes it :D. Never seen a more tastefully done rear spoiler combo. Lil lip on the edge of the deck and that aero unit up top. Fully functional too, at least according to the quasi-experts at Turbododge.com.
BTW, that site is probably one of the biggest and best TD forums out there. Check it out if you haven't. Great resource to say the least.
Modifications thus far
No pics just yet, will add some when I've the chance to k
All tastefully done, with good reason. I found her clean, and she is a part of Chrysler's history. IF I owned a run of the mill turbododge I'd be all over cutting it up with gaugepods and all that junk.
But, IMHO, Red deserves better. All low key mods, no used parts, no junkyard this or that. The gradual application of horsepower and torque without sacrificing the original look.
Anyhow, here goes the list, in chronological order of application...
Mobil 1 full synth 10w30 oil change. Every 3000 K hereafter that will be repeated. I have logged about a thousand K and when you pull the dipstick the oil looks as good as it did coming out of the bottle. This engine is extremely clean inside. Usually when you change oil on your car it turns black immediately when cycled. Amazed at the fact that my engine is lacking any sediment whatsoever. Always use Mobil one full synth on your Turbododge. You won't be sorry. I guarantee it one hundred percent.
New 02 sensor. The old one was OEM and tired. Can get about 400 kilometers to a tank now. More than that if I don't boot it from every stoplight in town or find myself magically doing 220 on the highway everyday all the way to work (which I've done, many times...)
Strut tower brace. Simple install. Six bolts and an incredible improvement in suspension dynamics. Suggest it for any older vehicle with a naturally flexy frame. It's like a wonderbra for your handling.
K&N drop in (later superceded). Good cheap upgrade for some added ponies and increased fuel mileage.
New plugs. The last person used Bosch platinum plugs. Worthless even as paperweights in my books. Plus, under boost platinum tips melt down. It's an easy way to toast your cylinder walls and rings. To avoid that I went back to some Champion copper plus plugs, RN9YC to be exact. The typical plug would be an RN12YC but the general concensus is that the 9 plug is a better choice due to a colder heat range. Standard gap of .035. I may gap down to .030 though, as when serving under higher boost the larger stock gap tends to lose spark efficacy due to turbulence in the cylinder chamber. When one or two future upgrades are complete I'll try with the stock gap on a new set for the first week and pull em to see if they've fouled out or not. If they have then .030 it is.
Ractive cone filter. Would have gone K&N, and may still, but for all accounts the Ractive unit is pretty strong and filtery. It also allows a decent amount of flow, and, at twenty bucks or so a pop they can be disposed of like a regular filter if you so choose. Replaced the K&N cause I broke the airbox pulling it out to get at something, and frankly had wanted a cone anyhow. Good timing. Though now sitting on a throughly useless and expensive K&N filter... great.
Removal of catalytic convertor and replacement with straight pipe and a dynomax race bullet on the end of it all.
"burbleburbleburbleBurbleBurbleBuRbLeBURBLEBWAHHHHHHHHMP"
Here in alberta there are no emissions regs or tests. Which is good, cause the catalytic tends to provide way too much backpressure to the turbo, causing poor spool at low RPM as well as a significant loss in off the line getgo. The turbo and I are much happier without it. If you own a TD and live in an area that is legally lax on emissions law my advice to you is Ditch that cat soon as possible. YOu'll be happier. Your ET will be happier. Your turbo will be happier. The only sad thing should be the honda you just blew the doors off of sans cat. Very cheap upgrade and not much louder than stock cat in place.
TurboXS blow off valve, custom welded and baffled dual core intercooler (3 1/2"x36"x8), custom piping. Well,When I broke my airbox it became apparent that Chrysler hadn't equipped this unit with the stock blow off valve. They hadn't equipped it with one at all :(. No bov means serious backwash into the compressor housing of the turbo, which kills performance in the short term, and in the long term will fry a turbo very nicely by slamming the compressor wheel against the housing and the bearing cartridge. Not good. Just amazed it survived this long without a blow off valve of any sort. Anyhow, installed all that cause my airbox was busted and had no BOV. HUGE increase in low end power and on a rainy day get ready to spin em all the way through to fifth gear. Without trying. Major improvement over stock intercooler and airbox combo.
Falken skins. 205/50/15's
Future upgrades
FWD performance stage three computer. Yep. My refusal to cut up the dash for gauges and soforth dictates that I need a computer managed boost and fuel curve, you don't play with manual boost control without an A/F meter and a boost gauge. So to play it safe I'll be getting the calibration instead. 15 psi, max boost at any rpm (instead of that being limited until 3000 with the stock calibration), better cooling schedules and a host of other calibrated goodies.
Stay tuned! There will be more to come!
~C
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