In reply to turboswede:
Whoa... Thanks for all that info!!!! 
In reply to turboswede:
Whoa... Thanks for all that info!!!!
This thread brought tears to my eyes. Not since the late 90s when Shelby-Dodge stuff was all over the net have I experienced such a discussion.
There was mention of a steering wheel restoration firm in Texas. The name of the company is Craft Custom. They did the steering wheel on my Shelby Dakota and it was good, almost too good. I am serious. It matched the original in terms of color and appearance, but the quality of the materials and craftsmanship was much better than the original. I highly recommend them
There website is: http://www.craftcustoms.com/
Ph: 214-564-1170
Moparman wrote: This thread brought tears to my eyes. Not since the late 90s when Shelby-Dodge stuff was all over the net have I experienced such a discussion. There was mention of a steering wheel restoration firm in Texas. The name of the company is Craft Custom. They did the steering wheel on my Shelby Dakota and it was good, almost too good. I am serious. It matched the original in terms of color and appearance, but the quality of the materials and craftsmanship was much better than the original. I highly recommend them There website is: http://www.craftcustoms.com/ Ph: 214-564-1170
Awesome, thanks!!!! I'll probably utilize their services, but that stock wheel might not be in the budget for a Challenge car. I'm glad they are so easy to switch out! I wonder if they do 1970's Pontiac Trans Am wheels as they are a similar design. It might be cheaper than the $150 Lecarra I was looking at getting for the T/A.
Wow, nice Shadow! I hated my wife's old car ('91 2.2L w/auto). I'd do a turbo Dodge if I found one locally.
fornetti14 wrote: Wow, nice Shadow! I hated my wife's old car ('91 2.2L w/auto). I'd do a turbo Dodge if I found one locally.
Thanks! I love the fact that on the inside it looks pretty much like a box-stock Shadow/Lebaron/Caravan/etc. It makes for good, easy and cheap junkyard pickins!!!
Awesome find Tony, good to see you on here btw. Greg told me about this. I knew a kid in college that had a red CSX, only other one I've ever seen.
Get the crappy aftermarket graphics off the side and some better wheels and that will look awesome.
In reply to turboswede:
Cool, thats almost all the info I was looking for on the car. Now I'm actually going to have to find something else to do at work tomorrow.
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Awesome find Tony, good to see you on here btw. Greg told me about this. I knew a kid in college that had a red CSX, only other one I've ever seen. Get the crappy aftermarket graphics off the side and some better wheels and that will look awesome.
Hey, this is Rob, right? What's up dude!!!! That red one was probably a 1989 CSX VNT, which are really cool.
Oh, and Greg, You should check out that TurboDodge site. There is so much info on there. It's like a info overload.
It seems that these Turbo Dodges have quite the following that just flies WAY under the radar of the mainstream car culture. It also seems that these make perfect Challenge cars. The ones there last year were a big influence on me getting this one.
The rush of Turbo Dodge related posts here lately is awesome!
Here's another plug for Turbo-Mopar.com over turbododge.com. In my opinion (and that of MANY, MANY others), the crowd at turbo mopar is WAY better. There are less people, they know more, they post more, they tend to restrain from flaming and arguments, and there's a good sense of community. It's where i spend most of my internet time.
It seems like we've got a pretty good contingent of knowledgeable turbo dodge people residing right here, too!
Im on my.. well i stopped counting but probably twentieth k-car derivative, so if you got questions or want to bounce plans and thoughts off of someone, lemme hear it!
Vigo wrote: The rush of Turbo Dodge related posts here lately is awesome!
Well, it looks like I've got another forum to join! 
Make sure you never mention turbomopar.com anywhere on turbododge.com, it gets people very upset.l I think the shelbys are cool, but im still very happy to be a former turbo dodge owner rather than a current owner. lol
Travis_K wrote: Make sure you never mention turbomopar.com anywhere on turbododge.com, it gets people very upset.l I think the shelbys are cool, but im still very happy to be a former turbo dodge owner rather than a current owner. lol
Got it, I won't. 
Turbomopar is actually better IMHO. The folks running Turbododge are very "shiny" people IMHO, while TurboMopar tends to be run by very chill folks.
Kind of like the difference between TU and FWD-P. TU can be a bit "shiny" while FWD-P just isn't. I haven't had any interaction with FM, so I can't comment on them directly.
So, I'm leaning toward doing a 2.4L Neon motor/tranny swap this morning. It well within a Challenge budget, and they can make big power with the right parts! 
If by big power you mean ~600 hp and right parts you mean stock SRT / PT GT bottom end, then yes, that is true
The 2.4 swap is a pretty straightforward affair, you can actually reuse the stock transmission and run the engine on recalibrated stock electronics if you adapt the distributor to run off the side of the head. Not everyone is doing that, but some are. It depends on how much money you want to spend on the OTHER engine control options. 
FWD-P actually has a 2.4-swapped 87 csx that's run 10.5@135.
There's a Neon in the reader's rides that has the "poor man's SRT build." It's a 1st gen ACR sedan.
Check out thedodgegarage.com as well. The site is a little dated, but It has lots of performance tips and information! I'm on my 4th turbo Mopar, (Ill catch up to vigo one day) and absolutely love them! The are so affordable and can be made fast very easily!
Your car has the larger Garrett turbo. It will get you to about 250hp, which is about the max I would run on the lightweight rods.
What all needs to be done to get it running?
Finish installing fuel rail and lines, clean surface rust off cam, install valve cover, install blow off valve (it’s missing), drain old gas, and I think that’s it.
The car is parked in my driveway and I’d like to start working on it but I really need to focus on the Miata right now. I already keep getting side tracked and work on other peoples projects because they are more fun then what I need to do. There are a few big changes I’d like to make this year (new manifold, turbos, nitrous, clutch, etc) but since I had to take it off the road I’m not that motivated to work on it.
In time I think the plan is to make the CSX a daily driver and challenge car like the Miata.
Pseudosport wrote: Finish installing fuel rail and lines, clean surface rust off cam, install valve cover, install blow off valve (it’s missing), drain old gas, and I think that’s it. The car is parked in my driveway and I’d like to start working on it but I really need to focus on the Miata right now. I already keep getting side tracked and work on other peoples projects because they are more fun then what I need to do. There are a few big changes I’d like to make this year (new manifold, turbos, nitrous, clutch, etc) but since I had to take it off the road I’m not that motivated to work on it. In time I think the plan is to make the CSX a daily driver and challenge car like the Miata.
Yes, DD and Challenge car are the goals here. It will also be a weekend track toy so I don't mess around with my WRX that much.
The Miata comes first, then this thing. We need to get cranking on that.
Also, anyone want to buy a "basket case" 10th Anniversary 1979 Trans Am? It's not the one in my profile, I can get pics if anyone wants them. I think I'm going to sell my old project because of this CSX showing up in my life. It deserves a good restoration because it's a sought after car.
None of the Chrysler turbo cars came with a blow-off valve from the factory until the 1989 Turbo1. They only installed it to reduce compressor surge on the tiny Mitsubishi turbos they used on the 2.5L motors.
Otherwise, a blow-off valve isn't a bad idea, no reason to get spendy on it, just find a good metal cased version from another company's turbo car in the local yard. SAAB, Porsche, Mitsubishi all used them and most yards consider them part of the emissions or heating system, so they go sometimes cheap if they are in a bucket of random crap.
The 2.4 swap is nice, the main gain being the improved flow of the DOHC cylinder head and parts availability. The stock SRT4 turbos are too small, IMHO. A JGSTools exhaust manifold opens up the turbo possibilities (think Holset) http://jgsturbo.com/index2.html Also the Mexican market 2.4L DOHC turbo exhaust manifolds show up on eBay from time to time and seem to work okay.
I don't know that the 2.4L non-turbo bottom end is any stronger than a 1989 or later 2.5L, but the prices and availability negate quite a bit of that. The rods from the 2.5L were used in the 2.4L by some to improve the strength of the bottom end without resorting to custom rods.
Adapting the 2.0/2.4L DOHC head to the 2.2/2.5L block has been done as well, though the effort is pretty high. I've been collecting parts for this, so my next engine build will go this route since I have a few good 2.2 blocks around to play with along with a couple of DOHC heads and access to a mill and lathe.
In reply to turboswede:
Yeah, the car came with a BOV setup already, so we are just going to make that work for now. We are running a Saab one on the Miata (I think) and it has worked quite well. I also have no clue what turbo is in this thing. It looks like it's been replaced at one point.
I like the 2.4 swap right now because it's very Challenge-friendly. I could probably score a cheap or free motor and go nuts and have plenty of cash left.
I know I've replaced mine a few times, mostly just replacing one blown one with a fresh rebuild.
Check out thedodgegarage.com there are pictures of the various turbos used on the cars.
When building up the 2.4, just keep thinking "Holset" and you'll be fine ;)
About the lightweight rods. Power limits on rods is very oversimplified thing.. There is a car running tens and trapping ~140mph on the early block and the lightweight rods, and i think it has been for like 10 years.
Regarding too much rpm and detonation, rod limits are like saying a girlfriend is only good to a certain level. Like, she can take you being unemployed and in a bad mood for a long time, but punch her in the face one time, and its over. Rods are the same way with power.. dont detonate on top of them or spin them to 10k rpm (aka punch them in the face) and they can take quite a bit.
Vigo wrote: About the lightweight rods. Power limits on rods is very oversimplified thing.. There is a car running tens and trapping ~140mph on the early block and the lightweight rods, and i think it has been for like 10 years. Regarding too much rpm and detonation, rod limits are like saying a girlfriend is only good to a certain level. Like, she can take you being unemployed and in a bad mood for a long time, but punch her in the face one time, and its over. Rods are the same way with power.. dont detonate on top of them or spin them to 10k rpm (aka punch them in the face) and they can take quite a bit.
Nice analogy.
That coupled with the uneven oil flow in the bottom end and you'll have failures.
the original spec for the oil feed to the Garrett turbocharger was 1/8" line. They changed it to 1/4" to prevent it breaking off and causing a fire. I think this larger feed is partially why I've seen uneven bearing wear on the turbo motors I've pulled down.
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