Automotive

1986 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z C/S

This was my last Turbo Dodge daily driver: a 1986 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z C/S, aka "Frankentona".  The "C/S" stands for "Carroll Shelby", which is basically a performance handling package on top of the "Turbo Z" Daytona package.  The C/S package includes a 32mm solid front sway bar and a 28mm solid rear sway bar.  It also includes a set of 15x6.5 inch "crab" rims (in gold for black C/S's), but I got this one with the standard 15x6 inch "pizza" rims.  See Dempsey Bowling's pages for more information on Daytona C/S packages.

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The Daytona: December 10, 2002

Posted on December 10, 2002.

Fixing various odds and ends: fuel gauge sender, rear view mirror, hatch struts, more wiring, etc.  Still leaking gas from the sender gasket, but it's probably because the lock ring isn't fully tightened.  Once the tank is near empty again, I'll drop it and try to snug it up.  I also decided to do a compression test after I noticed that it sounded like it was missing consistently at idle.  Results were 127-130-127-135.  That's a little higher than I would expect, particularly for a high mileage motor that consumes oil, but I feel better about the bottom end in this thing.  I have a feeling that this turbo may be on the way out...the oil is going somewhere besides on the ground.  The plugs also looked good, though they were quite eroded.  I replaced them with a set of Autolite 64s I had, which should hopefully quell the occasional pinging I hear at part throttle/high boost.  The vacuum lines were a mess, so I addressed those.  We'll see how it is, but the MAP sensor line was very loose, possibly causing lean-out (who knows).  I put the WCV (Grainger valve) from my Shadow in it, so we'll see how that effects lag.  This motor idles funny and seems to hesitate when accelerating from a full stop, so I'm not sure what is going on.  Once I get all the fittings I need for my adjustable FPR, I'll be able to put the 804 injectors in and monkey with the fuel to get the mixture right.  There is definitely something screwy with the mixture on this thing, but it may be due to electronics.  It runs rich when it doesn't need to and lean in boost on certain occasions.  I'd like to convert it to '87 electronics in order to unify it with my CSX.  Need to find an '87 T1 LM for that....

The Daytona: December 6, 2002

Posted on December 06, 2002.

I managed to fix the driver's side door and the passenger side window (regulator tape cut too short).  The door wouldn't open because the striker bolt hammered out the steel on the latch housing, causing it to mushroom and bind up the latch itself.  I soaked the whole thing in gasoline to clean the grime, used a Dremel to remove the mushroomed metal, and oiled the latch with motor oil.  The door opens fine now, but still doesn't exactly "pop" open the way it should.  The worn hinges may have something to do with that.  The doors need weather stripping as well.  The driver's side window tends to bind sometimes on the way up.  Looks like it's not being guided properly.

I cleaned the armrest when I put the door back together and it no longer matched the rest of the dirty interior.  So, I took some time to clean the dashboard, center console, steering wheel, etc.  Looks much better now.  I also fixed the power mirror wiring and properly attached the center console to the dashboard.  There are a lot of broken pieces in there, so hopefully I'll get them from Bill's Lazer.

The Daytona: December 5, 2002

Posted on December 05, 2002.

Drove it to work today.  I stopped for gas on the way and was greeted with more gas leaking from the tank.  Now it appears to be coming from the fuel sender unit (which isn't working), so I get to drop the tank again.  I'll let it run/leak down before I mess with it though.  I fixed the radio-related wiring, so I at least have some tunage now.  I also put the stock intake setup back on so I don't have to listen to the throttle body noises.  I tried adjusting the door handles (they are hard to open), but they seem to be adjusted as far as they will go.  Guess I'll have to take the door apart.  I'm trying to find replacement striker bolts, with no luck yet.

The Daytona: December 4, 2002

Posted on December 04, 2002.

I got the fuel pump installed tonight.  I was expecting a battle to get the fuel tank strap nuts loose (I even bought an 8mm x 1.25 die to clean up the threads), but they came off with ease.  The pump has been replaced before; in fact it was even a Walbro unit (stock), which made the conversion to the high capacity unit a bit easier.  The inside of the tank is rather rusty (but is solid), and I found an extra pump intake sock floating around in there.  Also, the inner tray that is used to siphon fuel out of a nearly empty tank had popped off of its mount (probably at the hands of the previous installer).  It took a lot of fiddling, but I was able to pop it back on.  I have a feeling there was nothing really wrong with the old pump, but the tank is in good shape now.  Also, the fuel filler neck grommet was leaking partially because it was ripped up by whoever took it out last.

This car is weird.  Besides the front end issues and all that, the under body is strangely free of rust except for the places it rusted completely through.  Two of these places are the front-outside corners of the floorpan.  This is typical because the front wheels sling rocks and stuff at them.  The other rusted out area is the spare tire well in the trunk, but there is obvious evidence that someone backed the car into something: there are scratch marks elsewhere back there and the rear trailing arm was bent up real bad (I swapped it with the Shadow).  It really does seem like it came from down south.  Unfortunately, the CarFax report only goes back to 1991, so I don't know where the car was originally bought.  The underbody was coated at some point with that rubberized stuff, but it doesn't look factory.  Either the rear shocks are original or they were put on after the underbody coating was applied, because they are covered in the stuff! In any case, it may have helped protect the underbody.

The Daytona: December 3, 2002

Posted on December 03, 2002.

Well after some additional stripping of my Shadow ES, I've begun to take a close look at the issues with this car.  The front end is really screwed up.  I can see the buckled metal in the frame around the area of the front-right K-frame mount and the mount itself seems to be displaced.  It's pushing the front-right corner of the K-frame down by about an inch, giving it a weird twist.  I can also see that the right wheel is offset to the rear by about 1/2 inch, compared to the left wheel.  Assuming the K-frame wasn't bent when it was installed in this crooked setup, I should be able to fix it by cutting the displaced mount off the car frame, fixturing the K-frame in the correct position and orientation, and welding it back on.  I may also have to weld a plate over the area of the frame that is buckled to give it some additional strength.  I will then recenter the engine, which should hopefully cure the front end shake problem.

I already have a lot of new parts for the car ready to go.  I plan to replace the fuel pump and the fuel filler neck grommet (source of my leak) this evening, which should make the car more-or-less drivable.  The pump is the Walbro/Holley 190 L/hr unit from FWD Performance, which flows 47% more fuel over the stock unit.  The grommet was provided to me by the previous owner...he just never had a chance to install it.  Still need to transfer the title, as my useless local DMV "doesn't do that".  Next I'll try to tackle the front-end issues, if I can get a hold of a MIG welder.