Omni turbo conversion help

[Busted87Shelby]

Hey everyone.

I just picked up an 89 Dodge omni. 2.2l N/A. I am gonna convert it to t1 or t2 and looking for ANY advice. Im not totally in the dark here, but any pointers from someone who may have gone through it would be cool. Anyone could PM me or maybe drop me an email via Dieslboy64@aol.com.

thnks in advance
-Matt

[Torka]

Dont, its a pain. The most important things are to have alot of wiring diagrams for both the doner car and the recipiant car. The second most important thing is to be able to read those diagrams.

I converted my 90 to turbo and I didnt know what I was getting in to. Let me assure you it isnt a weekend project.

[moparzrule]

Why is this question in this section???

[mock_glh]

Your '89 is obviously a fuel injection car so you're halfway there. You have the proper fuel tank, lines, and wiring for the pump (you will need a turbo fuel pump). Find someone who can make an '89 SMEC T2 harness to fit the '89 L-body bulkhead connector. Turbo L-bodies have a reinforcing bracket on the lower right side of the core support. You'll want to get one of these to avoid torque damage. If you want to do without an intercooler you can use your existing radiator. Get the vacuum harness and solenoids from an '89 turbo car and shorten a few things to make it fit. Make sure everything has a place to plug in. If you do all this stuff ahead of time and figure out where everything is going to be, you can, in fact, do all the switching in a weekend, as I've done it myself (and I had no prior experience with the conversion). Mine was a carbureted car and I had to change the fuel system as well. Do your homework first!

[Aries_Turbo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mock_glh Turbo L-bodies have a reinforcing bracket on the lower right side of the core support. You'll want to get one of these to avoid torque damage.

where exactly is the bracket? I have a buddy doing a similar swap that will need to know. thanks

Brian

[iTurbo]

Below the horn, along the radiator support. My '85 GLH didn't have it, but my '86 GLH Turbo does.

[iTurbo]

I converted my old '85 GLH to turbo. I used an '89 turbo Caravan wiring harness, modified so that it would plug into the '85 GLH bulkhead connector on the firewall. I then had to change the headlight connectors, and mount all those extra relays and solenoids. I replaced the old H.O. power module with the Caravan's SMEC. I didn't have to mess with anything under the dash, except add one wire for the turbo fuel pump.

With an '89 Omni, it would be much easier. If I were going to do it, I would base the underhood wiring harness off the existing harness. I've converted an '88 Omni wiring harness to '88 Turbo II specs before and it was very involved, but the cleanest way to do it by far. You end up with a turbo harness that is already configured for your particular car, so you don't have to hack into the bulkhead connector, or mess with mounting non-stock relays and solenoids, headlight and turn signal connectors, etc....You do need to replace most of the wiring associated with the fuel injection and relocate some sensors while you are at it. The 60-pin SMEC connector will also have to be replaced. This is because the connector itself has a 'key' molded into it so a N/A wiring harness will not plug into a turbo SMEC and vice-versa. Whatever you do, don't attempt to dissassemble the connector to attempt reinserting the pins into a turbo SMEC connector. The plastic is too brittle and the connector will break almost certainly. Best way I have found is to cut and splice the entire connector on which is about 50 wires. You'll also need to swap out the original fuel pump with a turbo fuel pump.

[supershadow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Busted87Shelby Hey everyone. I just picked up an 89 Dodge omni. 2.2l N/A. I am gonna convert it to t1 or t2 and looking for ANY advice. Im not totally in the dark here, but any pointers from someone who may have gone through it would be cool. Anyone could PM me or maybe drop me an email via Dieslboy64@aol.com. thnks in advance -Matt

I have an 88 dodge shadow es with a super60 mopar performance turbo kit on it and want to sale if you are interested call me (304)745-5121 email angelsembrace4@yahoo.com Thanks Daniel Smith