Dave's 87 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z

[Dave]

this is where it all began, right here, the car that taught me everything I know and brought me to love the hobby. I bought her based off of this picture in the fall of 01





flithy with 110k on the clock, but it moved and turned well, and even looked kinda sharp with a little bit of wax

my folks trailored it down to texas to switch it with my non turbo 89 which was to be a gift for my little sister


side note: for those of you who have met her, yes thats my mom. shes dropped something like 80 lbs in the last couple years







I had tons of fun with this car, racing many a ricer or v8 and rarely losing. un fortunately, these good times did not last for long as she suffered an oil pump failure on the highway resulting in a spun bearing on the #3 rod

Having only an army private's paycheck to live off of the car was towed to my barracks parking lot where it sat for months. to avoid it being tagged as abandoned and towed I had to push it into a new parking spot every couple of days. eventually i discovered www.turbododge.com and the world of the automotive forum. taking advice from my new friends I began slowly aquiring parts for the inevitable re-build.



Parts were removed, cleaned and prepped to go back on.



the engine went out to the local machine shop recieving:
.040 over JE forged alum pistons
refinished Turbo 2 rods
lightweight cast crank
new casting light port head
FM 475 slider cam
FM SS backcut valves
fidanza adj cam gear

when i got it back, i masked it all up and painted in the barracks with duplicolor high heat chrysler industrial red. originally i wanted the mopar crate motor look



the turbo is a remanned stock t3 with the newer and larger 89' swingvalve assembly

around this time,a very nice gentleman from the TD board did a pair of sketches for me, the first is my tona with the wraith stripes, the second shows the car in black with a white AAR strobe stripe. A paintjob im still considering.





parts were slowly coming together, I walked everywhere. occasionally i'd buy a friend gas or perform an oil change or tune up to borrow a friend's ride. never did it cross my mind to buy a different car. I was determined to make this one work, and lived in constant fear of tow trucks



At this point we're in the summer of 03 and im closing in on the last parts. im a specialist now which is two ranks higher and a couple hundred bucks more a month. having no interest in debt, I pay cash for everything which slows the process considerably







the shifter was removed and taken to a local welder who cut it down approximately 3 inches. I topped this with a Classy aluminum LED shift knob I found on ebay.




Finally! the nose is out of the air

took some time to turn the clear centerpeice from the dash into a triple gauge pod
[img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/9/web/213000-213999/213606_67_full.jpg[/img





Mounted, about this time i swapped to the alpine stereo and traded the stock speakers for aftermarket ones


turbo xs type h bov + dual stage boost control. K&N cone on the turbo and an upper hardpipe



at this point it was running, but not well. i couldnt get the car timed, something was FFFed in the fuel mix, and the exhaust wouldnt fit the new turbo.



detail for the boost hi/low switch

At this point I had just won my Sergeant's chevrons and my first tour in Iraq was literally a month away. i was out of time. my folks drove down to texas and we trailored her to NJ in a 4 day weekend. we dropped her off at the shop and I flew back to texas



with a new infusion of cash and some trained professionals doing my bidding i started looking towards other mods. quickly choosing SSR comps as my wheel of choice



even found some inspiration one day in iraq while providing security for a conference





Look close and you will find two 1990 daytona shelby turbos. two of one of the rarest years in Iraq on the same day. I never saw a daytona in country again.

meanwhile I went on leave as my car underwent its finishing touches: full 3in exhaust with dei wrap by the gastank, koni dampers with eibach pro springs, she also got a new computer and valvecover as the originals had failed







about this time I learn of the 2.2 2.5/2.0 2.4 hybrid engine project from td.com excited by the prospect of a neon's dohc head flow paired with the 2.2's bulletproof bottom end and tranny I began hunting parts for an eventual build.







Home from Iraq I began hitting up meets and trying my hand at dragracing. car is limited to low boost and the mix is waaay rich so my times blow. but who cares? im out of the suck and my baby runs after 4 years of hard work
I just enjoyed driving it.

[Dave]

In the hunt for more ability in corners, I bought and mounted front and rear strut bars, and autopower roll bar, an adjustable panhard bar, and a big rear swaybar. everything behind the rear seats was gutted as well in the interests of saving weight. these changes make the car feel like its digging ruts in the road. also went to a spearco fmic and a aem wideband























flash forward a bit and im training up for iraq take 2 and i bought a used nos wet system on td.com, installed on christmas leave.







on my most recent trip home before i flew to florida to purchase the nsx it started knocking lightly. the new motor has always been low on oil pressure because i forgot a restrictor in the block. I could patch it up with new bearings but i think that the time has come to complete the hybrid plant as well as add a few more items ;)








Later

[TalonTsi97]

Great build, you came a far way with it. Im a huge fan of any turbo dodge, so i like seeing these unique builds. Eventually i will get myself a omni when i can find a clean one, but i will keep my eyes open for others. Definetly keep us updated im interested to see where it ends up in the future.

[OptiCon]

So much character. Never sell it Dave. NEVER!

[blackvr4]

thats pretty sick, u gonna put a 420A motor in it? cars loookin good, ever take it down the track?

[Honest_Bob]

Good job! Lovin the 'tona.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by blackvr4

thats pretty sick, u gonna put a 420A motor in it? cars loookin good, ever take it down the track?

haha yeah but my times were crap. I never really had the time to try and tune it correctly. lets just say the AFRs peg the rich side of my wideband at wot. I'll probably do a minor overhaul of the current motor and see if i cant squeeze some decent times out of it for once when i come home. bearings are cheaper than finishing that build is gonna be ;)


btw, its not a 420a. the 2.2 2.5/2.0 2.4 Hybrid concept involves dropping the new style head be it neon r/t, pt, or srt style onto the old iron sohc block. the cylinders and headbolts line up perfectly but the oil ports do not so you must run external lines, you can think of it as an LS vtec swap on steroids

[GLHWCU]

damn man, my first car was a turbo'd 89 shelby and you deffinatly just brought me back, i miss that car more then the rice crap i drive now. You did a freaking amazing build with that, keep up the good work bro.

[ToyotaTat]

great build, thats not a very common car, good luck with it

[BradC]

love it man, TD's FTMFW

[Dave]

bought a jdm hks aic (additional injector controller) last night. this little baby features its own map sensor and can independantly control up to EIGHT additional fuel injectors! totally awesome old school part











im still debating as to whether i'll actually mount it to the daytona and what number and configuration of injectors id opt for... 1-2 pre throttle body would be a very capable option however my venom IM will require some custom work to fit under hood and it would be easy to have four injector bungs mounted with a mini fuel rail before the real deal. of course if i dont use it i can always let it collect dust alongside my old school apexi super avc-r





one of these days i might swap the tona's dual mbc out for this sweetie but then id have to mount my apexi turbo timer...im just too lazy man ;)

[Dave]

Looks like they found the weapons of mass destruction...

[Dave]

and in a stunning new record, Today: I DAVE completed a full in car rod bearing swap pan off to pan on in under an hour and a half. i believe i might be able to break even this record, given a team of scantily clad bikini girls to pass tools and keep the cold beers coming. volunteers? i swear i'll call the guiness people and that the ensuing pictures wont be posted on the internet :P

[redline]

For a fellow GI I would gladly standby and watch chugging down beers and cheering you on! Lets see this thing rip.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by redline

For a fellow GI I would gladly standby and watch chugging down beers and cheering you on! Lets see this thing rip.

yeah but i dont think you'd look too good in a bikini lol

[freebmx444]

i love this car, have fun with it!

[Danronian]

Nice and rare factory turbo car, looks like theres a lot of work put into it!

[Dave]

just completed thursday: digital dash conversion! pics coming soon!

[Spocknasty]

Digital dash ftw

[CleanNeon98]

saw the dash yesterday its realy nice