Automotive

Up until around 2016 or so, I primarily drove these quirky "Turbo Mopars" employing Chrysler's 2.2L turbocharged powertrain.  My last daily driver of this type was a 1986 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z C/S.  The car was a bit of a basket case when I got it, but it was eventually sorted out: the frame was straightened, the floor pans replaced, and the powertrain and interior were upgraded.  It was a very fun and comfortable car to drive (for a Turbo-Mopar anyway).  Eventually I had to let it go, as it just wasn't practical to use a 30+ year-old car as a daily.

My previous daily driver from 1995 through 2002 was a 1988 Dodge Shadow ES.  It was laid to rest due to a fatal case paint peel and floorpan/frame rust.  It had been in a few collisions over its life and it just wasn't worth saving.  Prior to that, I drove a 1987 Dodge Shadow Turbo and a 1987 Plymouth Sundance Turbo.  I had a thing for these particular cars (the "P-body", in Turbo-Mopar parlance), especially the first generation (1987-1988).

Back when I first graduated from college, I strongly desired the ultimate first-generation P-body: the 1987 Shelby CSX.  After some searching and waiting for the right car in my price range, I found Shelby CSX #694 of 750.  It has mainly been a project car, though it has had to step in as a daily from time to time.  This is the last of these cars that I still own.

Chrysler had an interesting relationship with Carroll Shelby in the late 1980s.  While the resulting vehicles were never taken very seriously in muscle car circles, a great online community did form around them.  The discourse has moved from mailing lists to online Forums to (unfortunately) Facebook Groups, but the community itself still exists.  The Shelby-Dodge Auto Club still holds an annual convention to this day.

In the dark recesses of the Internet lies an ancient tome of knowledge that (according to the server logs) people still visit for some reason: Mini-Mopar Resources.

How I Got My CSX

Posted on July 31, 1998.

The history of my Shelby starts in June of 1998, just after I graduated from Southern Illinois University and started work at Motorola, Inc. Throughout my years at college, I was a member of the Shelby Dodge Mailing List (SDML) where I learned a lot more about these Front Drive Mopars, specifically the turbocharged models.  I compiled what I knew and what I learned and created a site that is a great resource for these cars called the Mini Mopar Resource Site.  This site includes many repairs, modifications, general information, and even a troubleshooter.  Through the SDML, many people buy and sell parts and cars.  While I could not afford any of them while I was in college, I decided that I would try as soon as I could.

After I started work, I rejoined the list (after being off for a couple of months because of the high volume of mail) and posted a request for a 1987 Shelby CSX.  I got several responses.  Most were pricey and all needed work.  One response was from Brian Rauchwarter, who maintained the old "ShelbyVille" site which had a huge classifieds section.  He informed me of a vehicle he recently added to his "For Sale With Pics" section.  I had plans for all the mods I wanted to do and that ad just happened to have almost all of them already.  I immediately got in contact with the seller and the process began.  There were some other interested parties, but when they fell through, I started getting serious.  It was less expensive than the rest, but had a major engine problem (35 psi of compression on #4) and needed a little body work (dings, chips, weather stripping, etc.).  The body literally had no rust on it anywhere (even the underbody) and the Centurion wheels were in nearly perfect shape.  The car had all of the Shelby badges, gauges, and accessories except for the front grill which was a Sundance grill.  The mods included a Mopar Performance Stage II Computer, huge K&N Cone Filtercharger intake, 2-1/4 inch exhaust with a high-flow catalytic converter and no muffler, a Dodge Shadow ES interior (the original is well known to fall apart), and a Sony CD player with Boston Acoustic speakers.  The owner was selling it because he was moving across the country and couldn't drive it or afford to have it transported.

After debating between this one for $1750, and a mint but bone stock CSX with low mileage for $5000 that needed a paint job badly (which would cost another $1500), I decided to get the modified one and keep my '88 Shadow ES for a daily driver.  Here is a pic of the car taken by the owner in the California bay area:

The trick was how to get the car from San Fransisco, California to Chicago Illinois.  Had the car been in better condition, I could have flown over and driven it back, but I decided to go with a vehicle transportation company.  After doing a lot of research, I decided on Allen Auto Transport to transport the Shelby.  They were a bit more expensive than the others I called, but they were much more professional and had a good reputation behind them.  After a bit more back-and-forth with the seller and Allen Auto Transport, things were finally underway and on June 24, 1998, I committed to buy the 1987 Shelby CSX #694 of 750.  It was picked up by the carrier on July 10, 1998.

Some Background information On This Car:

The previous owner of the CSX bought it from a rebuilder.  Information on the VIN indicates that it may have been a rental car, initially.  It had front end damage that was repaired by the rebuilder: it has a new hood, right fender, and a front grille from a Sundance.  Also, the right-side door had a dent in it towards the front that was filled.

The engine on this car very odd.  The block was in excellent shape, but the head was not original and had a LOT more wear on it, as if it came from another high mileage car, probably an '88 since it had the roller cam.  The history of this car is very uncertain, but in light of some discoveries I made while rebuilding the engine, the previous owner had this theory to offer:

"As far as your questions about the head- the place I got the CSX was a rebuilder- hence the salvage title and most likely a head from an 88 in their yard.  I tried to pry as much info out of the guys when I bought the car but they didn't have much info.  He said that the car came into the place in 1995 I believe- was bought by one of the employees who replaced the bent fender and hood- and then didn't do much else except leave it sit.  He then sold it back to the place and I bought it.  In light of your info, here's my theory: in 1994 or 95 it was stolen or ridden hard, blew a head gasket or cracked the original head, and was involved in a minor accident.  The insurance wrote it off since it was an 87 and was sent to the insurance pool where it was bought by the rebuilder.  The yard put on a head to get it running then maybe it didn't sell so the employee got it.  Only a theory.  If you look closely at the drivers rear quarter window you can see tape marks from where a used car lot sticker was once attached.  It was obviously bought & resold before."

So, this car definitely has some sort of interesting history.  I wish I could find out more about it, but I am just glad that the previous owner was able to save it.

The Shadow: Ancient History

Posted on January 01, 1998.

Through the Chicago Tribune Online, I found a 1988 Dodge Shadow ES Turbo 5 speed coupe that a woman was selling in downtown Chicago.  It had all the same options that my old Sundance had as well as the nice ES interior, rear spoiler, ground effects, and the 15x6 inch "crab" (more like bottle caps to me) rims which were in almost perfect shape.  The car only had 53,000 miles on it and it was neat and clean, inside and out.  Needless to say, I bought it even though we knew it had a blown head gasket (which is the reason she was selling it, I'm sure).  The car overheated about four blocks from her place, but we pulled the thermostat out and got it home.  I replaced the gasket and put new belts and plugs in it as well as a K&N drop-in filtercharger.  I also figured out how to stop the leaky trunk problem in these cars and fixed my trunk as well as my sister's.  The only other problem the car had was a loss of power steering at idle.  I contributed this to a weak power steering pump.

About a year and a half after I bought the car, I got into a front-end collision which put the car out of commission for a while.  The front body and chassis was smashed up pretty bad and the radiator and condenser coil was trashed.  Here is a picture after the accident:

The following summer I replaced the bumper beam and struts, hood, left fender, and front grill and repainted them all with original-color paint and clearcoat.  I managed to straighten out the chassis fairly well using my sister's Shadow as a reference.  We have a neat hydraulic set that's great for pushing panels and supports out.  The car looks great now, though I wish the paint matched better.  The original paint is not as "orange" as it should be (it has the same paint code as my sister's Shadow, but doesn't really match) and the rear, right panel and door don't match at all (they look almost purple) because the car was obviously in a rear-end collision before I owned it.  But, it's not all that noticeable.  I had to replace the tires (the primary reason I got into the accident--it still had the original Gatorbacks on it!), but I couldn't afford a new set of 205/55 VR15s, so I picked up some five spoke rims at a boneyard and put regular 195/75 R14s on it.  I will buy good tires and put the original rims back on when these need to be replaced.  Here is a picture of the car as of the summer of 1998:

I recently (summer of 1998) re-replaced the headgasket, rebuilt the head, and cleaned up the mess I had after an oil line blew under the hood one day.  I also replaced everything in the air conditioning system, put on a new power steering pump, water pump, belts, cap, rotor, wires, and plugs.  I also repainted the intake manifold, throttle body, and valve cover to make it look like a Turbo II (which it eventually will be).

I had also installed a mechanical oil pressure gauge into the dash (the reason for the above mentioned oil mess) along with a remote entry system that I made out of an old car alarm.  In the tunes department, the car has an Alpine 2575 head unit with a 6 disk changer, a line-level equalizer, Polk 5 1/4 speakers up front and 5x7s in the rear powered by a small 50 Watt amp through an electronic crossover, all backed up by a JBL 8 inch subwoofer tube in the hatch powered by Pioneer 160 Watt bridged amp.  This combination, though a bit odd, makes for a very full sounding system.  Here is shot of the dash:

After getting my 1987 Shelby CSX, I decided to go with a different intercooler setup on it.  That gave me the opportunity to install the stock Turbo II intercooler, radiator, and airbox into the Shadow:

It took some time to sort out the plumbing.  The early Turbo II airbox had no accommodations for a BOV or cruise control vacuum supplement vent.  I picked up a Bosch BOV from a SAAB 9000 at a boneyard and installed a hose connection on the curved pipe section of the upper intercooler hose.  See my Blow-Off Valves page for more details on this.  I installed two nipples on the front of the air box, one for the vent, and one for the output of the BOV (the BOV was VERY loud when left open).  This setup works great and I can't hear the BOV at all.

I then had an '89 Turbo II SMEC modified by ND Performance for 14.3psi and the usual aggressive fuel delivery and spark curves.  The car smokes the tires in second gear with no problem now and the advanced spark makes a big difference at the bottom end.  When the high boost kicks in at 2800 RPM, my stock Turbo I clutch will occasionally slip.  Next mod will be a Centerforce II clutch.  Right now, I am pretty happy with the Shadow's setup.  I added an A/F gauge so I can keep an eye on things.  The stock fuel system keeps up with 14.3psi of boost just fine.  Hopefully I'll be able to make some runs with the G-Tech sometime soon.

One problem with the ND unit is that it can't control my stock 1988 Turbo 1 turbocharger.  It is the small Mitsubishi TD04 unit and it responds too fast for the SMEC to keep up.  The result was a lot of surging and boost hunting at part throttle.  I resolved this by installing a two-stage bleed with the overboost eliminator.  The first stage is set to about 8psi and the second to 12psi for now (to save my clutch).  The second stage is activated by a WOT switch that I attached to my throttle body.