Turbo time!

[TurboMinivan]

Chromoly bearing retainer plate for the A520

This is the same piece for an A-555 IIRC. (Just sayin' in case you ever come across one.)

Old school Grainger valve MBC.

One of the greatest thing about the Grainger valve that surprises many people is how much harder the boost will rise, even if you dial it in for stock (or near-stock) peak boost. Most people don't realize the OEM computers begin cycling the boost control solenoid after only a couple pounds of boost--the engineers did this in order to 'soften' the boost rise and minimize the torque 'shock' to the transmission. The Grainger valve does away with all that nonsense, and lets the boost build right now. It's fun.

 

[TurboMinivan]

Anyone else want to buy an old cheap turbo Dodge?

https://cars.ksl.com/listing/8781518

This one even has a common block TurboII engine under the hood.

 

[xjtony]

I've been eyeballing that one. The TCs are very unique

 

[xjtony]

Window sweeps


90s 15 inch Voxx wheels. Trying to keep it kind of period correct.

 

[TurboMinivan]

90s 15 inch Voxx wheels. Trying to keep it kind of period correct.

Aww, no more wagon wheels?

EDIT: say, would you be interested in a set of factory pizza wheels? Or (15") pumpers?

 

[xjtony]

No thanks. I'm pretty happy with these on there. You wouldn't want a set of factory wagon wheels?

 

[TurboMinivan]

You wouldn't want a set of factory wagon wheels?

If I had an '84-'86 Laser, sure.

 

[xjtony]

A520 out of the LeBaron.

Still needs cleaned up (this is even after the pressure washer. The 2.5 in that car was clearly a leaker), chromoly bearing plate installed, and inspected.

 

[Gravy]

Eagle One Mag wheel cleaner and a scotchbrite on a die grinder has worked well for me to clean stains off aluminum

 

[Gravy]

Turbo Colt DSM

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

 

[xjtony]

The old twin stick 8 speed manual. Very cool time capsule.

 

[xjtony]

Chromoly bearing retainer plate installed. Hopefully the A525 will be swapped out of the Laser this weekend.

Also got a bunch of parts in. Just about everything needed to build my Turbo II block up.

 

[TurboMinivan]

I should see if I can dig up an old photo of my gauge layout in the minivan. I think you (and others here) would get a good chuckle out of it.

I finally remembered to dig this up:



(Sorry for the sunlight washout--this is the only photo I have.)

 

[xjtony]

I finally remembered to dig this up:

View attachment 167042

(Sorry for the sunlight washout--this is the only photo I have.)

I like it. Love the Dawes Devices AFR lights. Very minimal. I'm currently running a boost gauge and 10 bar AFR gauge. Once I start to turn things up I might run an EGT gauge as well. I've been discussing the merit of running a fuel pressure gauge permanently as well. Guy on another board had a fuel line separate the lining and kill fuel flow. He caught it before damage, but being able to glance and see FP might be a solid piece of mind.

 

[xjtony]

I'm waiting on shift cables to finish the transaxle swap, but have been doing little stuff to make the car more drivable.

USB ports. The best thing is when the lid of the ashtray is closed everything looks completely stock.

This car was parked in 1992 behind a barn. Since I tagged it in August I've put 5000 miles on it with no major mechanical issues at all.

 

[xjtony]

@TurboMinivan Do you know if i can use the shift cables from the A525 with the A520? On initial inspection they appear to be very close to being the same. The cables from the LeBaron are bad, and im having trouble finding a set

 

[TurboMinivan]

@TurboMinivan Do you know if i can use the shift cables from the A525 with the A520? On initial inspection they appear to be very close to being the same. The cables from the LeBaron are bad, and im having trouble finding a set

I believe you can. Those shifters use the same pattern, right? IIRC, the shift pattern didn't change until the introduction of the A523/A568... which is why you'd need to swap cable setups if you upgraded to one of those later transmissions.

 

[xjtony]

Official word is.... yes 525 cables will work on a 520. I swapped out the shift lever on the trans and everything adjusted fine. It is at the end of adjustment on the crossover cable, so if someone's cable was just a few mm shorter it might cause a problem getting to 5th.

 

[xjtony]

To this point the stuff I've done to the car have been cosmetic and to get it running and driving safely and reliably. Now that I'm at a good point it's time to start having some fun.



Grainger valve boost controller hooked up and set to 10 psi. Much more aggressive than the Logic Module which stepped from 4-7-9. It would only hit 9 psi on a hard pull at WOT. It's spooled to 10 psi now before 3k rpm.

 

[TurboMinivan]

It looks like you have the valve plumbed in correctly. (You'd be amazed how many people can fumble a simple operation.)

Did you drill a tiny vent hole in the rubber line on the turbo side of the valve? This will allow residual pressure to escape after you drop out of boost, thereby promoting proper behavior.