minivan guru's please.

[Mini-man]

MINIVAN RECIPE:

Major tune up including: champ 9's, 180^ thermostat, manual overide for the fan, talor wires, coil closer to the distributer, k&n, big trans cooler...etc.

Dawes a/f meter with 4 wire o2 sensor, boost guage, grainger valve.

3" exhaust with no cat, highest flowing lowest noise (family hauler) mufler comprimise.

Intercooled (size unsure of, probably do the powerstroke conversion, seems strait forward unless some one has come up with better ideas.)

+40's, custom cal, afpr, 255 pump, garret @ 20 psi.


What do you think, am I missing anything?...Any thing odd ball or even obvious.?..I've had 2 TD's but both I only went to the 14 psi mark...easy stuff.
I'm fairly sure you guys have been at about this set up before, any guesses about where I will be for times and speeds in street form ( only weight savings will be no spare or jack) on '89 auto 7 seater with 17" 50's.

Hope you can help guys, getting kinda stoked on the idea especialy after seeing the price of the turbo vans! A clean one wont cost me an arm or leg......sweet! More for mods....thanx.

[My96z]

You might want to looking into beefing up that trans a bit. Heavy van + HP= smoked tranny. Ported exhaust manifold. Take out back seats.

Other than that you pretty much got it covered. Should net you a mid to high 14 sec timeslip.

Jeff

[turbovanman]

Yep, trans needs doing, also replace all control arm bushings with Poly. Times, on street tires, mid 14's if you can get a good 60ft time.

[Mini-man]

Excellent..! What do you think about a header (TU), or ported good enough?
What trans mods are the way to go...I've seen lots of different ideas in the trans section, but direct input, and van orientated never hurts. It looks like the trans if done right with few mods holds up fairly well. I like the idea of a auto, both for drivability, and for the torque multiplication. Also humoring a larger turbo that the garret at lower boost....any thoughts?

[My96z]

Do you have a van yet? If you already have a T2 garrett, its a good start. A ported stock ex. manifold can take you pretty far.

I like the auto as well to loaf around town. I would get I high performance rebuild on the tranny. extra clutch packs, valve body mods ect. Make a cold air intake wont hurt either. As for intercoolers, you can get nice ones for fairly cheap on ebay that would probably be better than the PS unit.

heres mine: http://www.turbododge.com/forums/att...3&d=1143165205

Jeff

[turbovanman]

Headers are good, check out this thread if you want to keep your a/c. http://www.****************/forums/showthread.php?t=2904

The skys the limit. Just remember, what works in a car won't get you the same results in a van. BTW, I do tranny's also.

[Mini-man]

No I don't have the van yet, still bombing around in the shadow es. I'm still trying to figure the year I'm after ( probly 89 ), find a nice rust free low km clean one, and with all the options I need ( 3rd row seats ). Not rushing this one, it's going to be around for a long time.....found my rims though I think....Enkei Arashi 17's ( can see on tirecrafts "nextwheels" ). Don't have a garret yet either, they never came with one in any trim levels or years did they?...If I'm swaping I may go bigger, 60....70....I dont know right now. Think I have a good price on a cooler as well.....pile the parts before the van...lol. Any autos to stay away from?......What were the colour choices for the vans? The red interior's a little hard on the eyes .....might grow on me though. Like I say I'm not rushing this project, she's going to be nice when she's done. Probly just port the exhaust, because untill I start, from what I hear so far the a/c has to come out for the cooler anyway.....hope to find a way around it, should be able to. Might have to do a trip to Slurry...I mean Surrey in the fall, or next spring...lol. ( I grew up in the lower mainland...in Red Deer now)....thanks guys.

[turbovanman]

I just gave you the link on how to save your a/c,

No Mini's got Garretts. As for turbo choice, you need to figure out what and where you want to go, if you want to drag race alot, a hybrid is your choice, if you want a good daily driver, TII garrett, Super60 or 70 would be nice. If I had the money, I would sell mine and go with the new DBB series.
As for auto's, Turbo's only got one choice, A413, its a good tranny but they need some work to hold up. Not a big deal, lots of info on how to do it.

[Mini-man]

I want to thank you guys for your help on this, I think I know what direction I am going on it now. The only thing I am still wondering is what the choices for factory colours were on the exterior of the vans. Was there ever a gray or black one? That would be to easy, so I doubt it very much...lol

[Mini-man]

I know I'm way off my original topic, but instead of posting in lots of different sections I thought it would be easier to keep it all together, thanx.

[Turbo84Voyager]

The es vans came in black with gray bottom. Thats what mine is. Here are a few pictures of my 89. Camera was set wrong so pictures arent that good

Justin