I came up dry searching for any mention of one of these engines in a swap. After seeing http://www.thedodgegarage.com/ and this guys 10.412 second Dodge Reliant that runs a fairly large turbo and nitrous, I was wondering if someone has tried this as a performance build on their Fiero. His non-nitrous runs were pretty impressive as well considering they were mid 12s in a 3000+ lb car.

Just curious, thanks.

Probably not, I think people are more interested in GM motor swaps. A few people are working on a Turbo Ecotec swap though. If anyone did pick a Dodge motor I think it would be the SRT-4's, for the staged upgrades.

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Your ability is your only speed limit.

We stuck a Turbo Dodge 2.2 into a FIAT X/19 back about 5 yrs ago. Thing went like a scalded cat. I have often thought it would be fun to do so in a Fiero. The intercooled Dodges can easily put out 250hp or more.

Outsidegroove, that's exactly why I'd be interested to see one in a Fiero, I mean if these suckers can really throw down 250+ depending on internals I just don't understand why no one has bothered. I know the SRT-4 engine would be sweet since it's new tech, but the OHV 2.2s, 2.5s are a dime a dozen and you can boost the hell out of them. Granted you wouldn't want to on a daily driver but it would make a sweet little track/drag car...

Sounds like more work and expense than it is worth. A non GM engine means special adapter plates, special mounts, special controls, and just about everything else. Why would you want a Dodge 2.3L engine when you can have a GM 3800SC for significantly less expense.

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87GT 3.4 Turbo- 0-60 5.2 seconds -Best
Engine Controls, ECM goodies, Chip
re-programming & odd electronics stuff

quote Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: Sounds like more work and expense than it is worth. A non GM engine means special adapter plates, special mounts, special controls, and just about everything else. Why would you want a Dodge 2.3L engine when you can have a GM 3800SC for significantly less expense.

Read the September issue of Sports Compact Car at p. 74. "King of Cheap Speed." Dodge 2.5 turbo. 321 hp & 341 lbs. torque. Add a DOHC (16 valve) head (it has been done) and get over 400 hp. Probably lighter than the 3800 SC, and can be mated to its own 5 speed Getrag.

Boyd, the guy who owns the Omni in this issue of SCC is a good friend of mine. If you read the article, you will note that he is using the Chrysler/Dodge Getrag A568 trans, (the one found in various high end Chrysler models; not the same as the Neon trans).

He already has a Quaiffe LSD in place, but plans to adapt a Quaiffe LSD from a Neon in order to take advantage of a higher final drive ratio.

A couple of weekends back at Cal Speedway (Battle of the Imports) he ran a 12.54 against a 12.50 dial-in (he was slowing near the finish to avoid breaking out). Best time I've seen at Irwindale's 1/8 mile is 7.51. At Irwindale, the announcer has dubbed to car "The Ugly Old Omni." SCC has crowned Boyd "The King of Cheap Speed."

Hmmm... Fiat X1/9... I think I saw one of those in need of an engine down the street.

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FierOmar

[This message has been edited by FierOmar (edited 08-11-2005).]

I'm definatley not saying it would be easy but it would be unique. I've been reading over on the turbododge forum and I was shocked how easy these engines were to work on. I know how sensitive some people are to the brand of engine they put in their vehicle and I did not want to imply this is 'the best' or even a 'better' solution than some of the common swaps around, just wondering whether or not its been done as it seems like it wouldn't be any more custom than say a Caddy, or SBC swap in terms of custom mounts, cutting, and wiring though I don't know as there doesn't seem to be any precedent for this swap.

Those Fiat X1/9s are pretty sweet little cars, I would love to see a writeup on an engine swap...

FierOmar which year was that article in, and is it online someplace cause I couldn't find it? Thanks!

[This message has been edited by Raze (edited 08-11-2005).]

quote Originally posted by Raze: Outsidegroove, that's exactly why I'd be interested to see one in a Fiero, I mean if these suckers can really throw down 250+ depending on internals I just don't understand why no one has bothered. I know the SRT-4 engine would be sweet since it's new tech, but the OHV 2.2s, 2.5s are a dime a dozen and you can boost the hell out of them. Granted you wouldn't want to on a daily driver but it would make a sweet little track/drag car...

I used to daily drive a Turbo II running 15psi and running about 225hp and never had a hiccup. Many of the turbo Dodge cars are pushing 300hp and driven daily. I did 225hp on stock internals. They are stout little motors. A bit noisy and crude, but stout.

PS, we were gonna do a write up and photo essay on the FIAT swap but I believe that beer and rowdyness contributed to the demise of the camera and the guy that could write. Then we just figured we should get it running first to see if it was worth writing about, by then we had so much fun sneaking up on Vettes and 5.0 Stangs with it that we forgot about telling our story. The good news was the car was wicked fast, handled pretty well and was a sleeper cuz everyone assumed it was an anemic FIAT. The bad news is a year or so after the swap the driver found out that wet leaves, curves and a rear engine made for a wild ride that ended with nailing a good sized tree at about 40mph and pretty much destroyed the FIAT. The drive train then migrated over to a Dodge minivan and was sold.

[This message has been edited by OutsideGroove (edited 08-12-2005).]

quote Originally posted by Raze: FierOmar which year was that article in, and is it online someplace cause I couldn't find it? Thanks!

September, 2005... currently on sale.

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FierOmar

quote Originally posted by OutsideGroove: The bad news is a year or so after the swap the driver found out that wet leaves, curves and a rear engine made for a wild ride that ended with nailing a good sized tree at about 40mph and pretty much destroyed the FIAT. The drive train then migrated over to a Dodge minivan and was sold.

Damn, at least it sounds like the driver was no worse for wear. You know swapping that engine into a minivan brings up images of all the sleeper turbovans out there that run sub 13s. They have got to be just about the funniest thing I've ever seen, especially with the wood panels!

Thanks FierOmar, I'll be picking up the issue this afternoon

[This message has been edited by Raze (edited 08-12-2005).]

quote Originally posted by Raze: Thanks FierOmar, I'll be picking up the issue this afternoon

Be sure and note the part that says: "Axles are a custom Pick-a-Part combination of GM J-body shafts with heavy duty CV joints..."

If I recall correctly, he only uses the left side axle (may be because the right side ties into an intermediate shaft, as does the Beretta GTZ... I'll have to confirm this).

My point is that if the J-body axle fits the A568 trans, why wouldn't the Fiero axle fit? I have a spare A568 trans and a few Fiero axles... maybe I should check this out. If the splines fit, it would only be a matter of centering the trans and fabricating a mounts. The FWD Dodge products use a 3 point (4 if you count the bobble strut) mounting system... the trans mount in on top; the right side engine mount hangs the front of the engine and a lower mount (near the center of the engine (distributor side) connects to the front of the body.

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FierOmar

[This message has been edited by FierOmar (edited 08-12-2005).]

Well no one around me had SCC in stock for some odd reason, I tried 6 different places and settled on grassroots motorsports which held a cover title of CHEAP SPEED. Needless to say it was a sweet issue. Had everything from transplanted V8s in RX-7s to Omni's running mid 11s. Oh and they had a budget of $2005

On a side note, a Reliant is a tin box. How many concrete blocks are needed to make it weigh 3000 lbs?

I think that the Relient in question was lightened up a LOT, I recall reading all about it on the New England SHelby Dodge club mailing list.

quote Originally posted by Raze: Well no one around me had SCC in stock for some odd reason, I tried 6 different places and settled on grassroots motorsports which held a cover title of CHEAP SPEED. Needless to say it was a sweet issue. Had everything from transplanted V8s in RX-7s to Omni's running mid 11s. Oh and they had a budget of $2005

Local rack had about a dozen copies. If you can;t find one, let me know.

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FierOmar

Yeah the Reliant was lightened a ton, he took a holesaw to the inner chasis, swapped car for mower/tractor battery, and had a custom 3.5 gal fuel tank mounted under the hood. He was definatley creative.

As for the mag, I finally found one, it's a sweet article

Yeah... a few years back, I saw the same guy pull a 2.2 short block out of a Lebaron GTC in a local self service junk yard... paid $50.00 because it was a 1/2 price sale day. Dropped it into his Omni, and the following Saturday, he ran a 12.93 at Pomona with that engine. He currently is running a 2.5 engine... better torque. Ran 12.54 at Cal Spedway (1/4 mile) and 7.51 (1/8) mile at Irwindale. Based on his 1/8 mile times (consistently in the 7's) he thinks that he should be able to run low 12's and possibly high 11's on a good 1/4 mile track.

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FierOmar