Thought I’d share my current project and goals for this 1985 Omni GLH turbo. I will begin with a little history of the car and how I got it. I ordered this car while I was working at a Chrysler dealership in the summer of 1984. I had just bought a turbo Colt a few months prior and had made a few mods to it. However at a Chrysler training class the instructor mentioned that the GLH (which in 84 was a 110hp carbureted car) was going to get the 2.2 turbo engine for 85. As soon as we could order the 85 cars I ordered this black GLH turbo. For some reason it was held up in production till the middle of December. I don’t know if other dealerships got them quicker or not but I remember it was a LONG wait for an impatient 20 year old. I will add more to the story as this build goes on so as not to bore everyone to death right here at first. Anyhow I drove the car for the 5 years I had it financed through Chrysler then traded it off in 1990. Always regretted getting rid of it but at the time with a wife and 2 boys it just wasn’t practical. Fast forwarding to the spring of 2012 I finally get back one of the most fun to drive cars I’ve ever owned. A few of the goals I have already set are-
One to make it dependable enough to be a daily driver if needed.
Two, I’m shooting for 250 whp with a 2.5 water to air intercooled engine.
Three, it has to have a working A/C system and cruise control. I’m getting old as you no doubt have guessed. Lol.
Now for the pics….
The car needs a lot of work right now. I will be uploading more pictures and what Iv'e already done to it over the past year. Feel free to comment, recommend, criticize etc.
How will you add cruise??? I'm working on GLHS #117 and am trying to figure this out too. I raped another '86 Omni, SE model for everything I could find but I'm not sure how to put the unit in functionally since the SE was automatic. Also, where's the cruise control relay located in the car? Haynes manual is about worthless for this.
It's usually behind the glove box. upper passenger side of dash / or non A/C center console front lower section screwed to metal bracket for the front dash console behind lower tray section....:thumb:
I converted this car to an automatic back around 1988 after I had destroyed 4 525 standards so its a little easier to add cruise to this one. Orginally the cruise ran off the speedometer cables. All the electronics were in the cruise unit itself. On a manual trans car you need to add a clutch cut out switch so the cruise will disengage when you shift gears. Any mid 80s Chrysler fwd with a manual and cruise will have this switch at the top of the clutch pedal. Im using an electronic kit chrysler sold back around 90 which doesn't use the speedo cables, just the speed sensor. Its all self contained.
I'm really suprised that its still in this condition. I ran a carfax on it and the title changed 14 times before I got it back this time. At least 8 or 10 different owners. I was the first and hopefully the last. Iv'e got dozens of pics to upload over the next several days. Here are a few more that are part of the history of this car.
This is the very first piston I busted while the car was still under warranty. It was number 4. I kept it as a souvenir. It definitely was not the last either.
When I got the car back this last time I found this.
Its from the 88 T2 engine that the car had in it.
Again it was number 4 cylinder. There were several engines in this car over the years and each time it had trouble it was alway number 4 except once with a 2.5 it threw a rod out the side of number 3. I'm guessing that since the block and head run hotter on the number 4 end it causes more failures from spark knock. My new build will address this weak area.
After I put a new set of pistons in and upgraded the electronics to 87 FWD Performance stage 4 LM, 3 bar map and +40 injectors the transmission didn't like it. It lasted about 150 miles and gutted the convertor. It was all down hill after that. So late last summer I built another 413 with upgrades from a newer 670. I used a Mopar performance shift kit I had set back a long time ago and did the hole mod to the regulator. I drilled it with a very small .030 drill bit. I also drilled a hole so I could adjust the line pressure without removing the pan. I upgraded both clutch packs to 5 discs with a little machining and set the clearance to .020 on both. The first test drive felt fine but my line pressure was about 155 so I lowered the line pressure by turning the adjuster in (clockwise).
This is what the next test drive resulted in.
A word of warning. Know where your adjustment screw is at before you adjust it if you are doing it from the outside. Evidently I had already set the line pressure as low as the allen adjuster screw would go. Over a month had elapsed since I built the trans and got it installed. When I tried to lower it more it put the screw in further and caused the regulator valve to not have enough travel outward when the fluid was cold. Line pressure must have went sky high as I never made it out of first gear. About 20 feet after leaving the driveway I punched it and it lasted about 3 more seconds, then nothing. Lesson learned. Pulled it again and fixed it, so far so good this time.
BTW, I would do a stock T2 setup basically and the +20 injectors. I'd also consider a 523 swap, no reason to run an auto really. I blew up many 525s back then myself, lot more expensive back then lol.
Nice car, most don't find them again after they sell. Pretty lucky
Thats for sure and I only made 4.50 an hour working for the dealer so it was tough when you tore something up every weekend or so. lol. I guess Iv'e gotten lazy and shifting all the time here in the mountains just doesn't feel as nice as it uesd to. This transmission has a built medium stall convertor with furnaced brazed fins and a torrington roller bearing to hopefully make it hold up better. I also have it plumbed first through the radiator then to a good sized front transmission cooler. You mentioned a stock T2 with +20 injectors. Is this with a stock computer or the stage 4 LM I already have with the 3 bar map? I'd really like to get 250 or so wheel hp from it if I could. I work with 8 other mechanics some of whom are chevy and ford fanatics with their V8s so Im not about to let them rib the old man about his "grandpaws car" for another year.
the stage 4 is basically a computer controled lower boost level at WOT, no real difference with the stage 5.
I like the restored stock T2 with a stage 5 computer and 3 bar. With mods being valve trian like the PT lifters, SS turbo lines, ported intake and exhaust manifolds with 52mm TB on a 2 piece and maybe a better intercooler. Then you have basically a warmed up stock T2.
Remember, these aren't V8s. You don't need to build the engine for more power. Most of the power your looking for at 250 WHP is in the computer and fueling, not big engine parts.
These engines make torque more than HP, adding a plenum THEN a cam will allow the RPM range to go up. Add a ported head after all this or a bigger turbo and go to + 40s for fuel. This is the stage 2 level.
As a guide line you should have everything in the stage 1 thread FIRST before the bigger parts of the stage 2 come. The reason is so many people with big turbos and 15 second 1/4 mile times. These cars stock with a T2 make more power than they can use. So spend on the car first, then more power will net you more speed. Otherwise your still slow with a tire burning fool that breaks parts lol :bang head
Sometimes I like doing stuff a little differently. This had the young mechanics at our shop scratching their heads. A little body putty, some paint thinner and a bumper bolt.
Since I was opening up the chamber so much I thought of making a mold to use as a template to match all four cylinders. I ground one cylinder down till I got it close to where I wanted it, applied a thin coat of grease and then poured the thinned body putty mix in flush with the head gasket which I had bolted to the head to keep my shaky hands from grinding the sealing surface accidentally. Keep that old head gasket, it will come in handy!
Now just add a little something to do the marking with, in this case we had several packets of gear marking grease laying around so I painted some of this on the mold and pressed it into the head. Pop it back out and grind off all the marked spots. Once you start hitting the valves evenly you are done. Just finish up with some polishing and at this point you can cc the head if you want as it will already be close. Also you get the benefit of nearly identical shaped combustion chambers.
The 2.5 engine I'm going to use is a 93 model from a Spirit with flex fuel. It had a V vin code. This engine came with multi point injection. The head as you can see is cross drilled and has turbo valves and the same springs as a 89 2.5 turbo engine. The valve stem seals are actually beter than anything else Mopar built. I removed the balance shafts and put a small baffle in the oil pan to keep the 7 quarts of oil from running up the back of the block on hard acceleration.
you want to keep quench and gain flow at low lift and keep your compression and keep your swirl.
Bascally you just nuked the swirl, that bump buy the spark plug and the heart shape make the swirl. Then gone is the quench which is nice. Then compression ratio, which is where your computer gets the right spark curve for the engine. Basically your gaining more low lift flow from this in the ports. So you'll get more air into the chambers at low lift.
If you take a caliper and lock it at 1/4" then scribe a radius around the valves, then cut to the line at an angle to the valve you get the low lift flow without losing the rest of the design. I've done just chambers with a new head and it helps a little. But most gains are raising the roof of the port at the guide, that's 90% of the battle porting the 782.
Thank you very much for the info. I will be using a ported 2 piece intake. I didn't hog it out just cleaned up the runners and the curved neck area of the plenum and ported it enough to use a 52mm throttle body. I also realize I'd take a hit in performance and fuel mileage from smoothing down the v part of the heart shape. I was trying to get to an even 7.0 to 1 compression ratio as I'm planning to run a very high gear ratio in the automatic, probably the 2.60 final drive one for low rpm interstate cruising. To remedy the soft take off from this combo I have plans for a 40 to 50 hp shot of nitrous just to get the turbo spooled up when I'm on slicks at the track. I guess I'm just gun-shy about the dreaded spark knock I've had in the past with the gas we have in this area resulting in the pistons shown above. I have very little experience with the new cals like the one I bought from FWD performance. My exhaust manifold is a ported T2 piece and the turbo is also a T2 unit with a ported exhaust scroll and 2.5 wastegate housing. The compressor side has a S60 wheel and the matching housing. I plan on running 18 psi daily, and with a 40hp shot of nitrous, probably up to 22psi at the track. I have a water to air intercooler system to put on the car also. It will start off with a fan cooled radiator but later on this spring Im plumbing in an a/c cooler to pre-chill the water in the holding tank to well below 30 degrees for the occasional race.
So my question is: Should I use the +40 injectors I already have or should I use the set of FFV injectors I got with this 93 2.5? I'd rather not buy another set of +20s for this stage 4 cal if I'm just using them as a stepping stone for later on. Let me know what you think would be my best choice for the time being.
you should just use the +40s but chances are you'll be turning them down to FFVs though with base fuel pressure.
These engines aren't carb 6-71 blower motors. They have a knock and fuel curve designed to work with boost. One of our Gearheads here runs nearly 40 PSI of boost on race gas without nitrous or super low compression. 18 PSI is really nothing even for pump gas and stock compression. With low static compression it lowers your total effective compression, meaning you need more boost to get the same total. The lack of static will really hurt spool up, something the auto trans won't live without. Nitrous for spool at the track works though, but you may find the car a real pig around town though.
Make sure you have a wideband and a OTC to look for knock and air fuel. Getting a G head spark curve added to the computer would help the compression loss.
Thanks again Pope for all the good info. When I get this up and running in the next month or so I will contact FWD performance and see about buying a cal that will better match my setup. I have a Snap On MT2500 graphing scanner I will mount permanently in the car to watch spark knock among other things. A wide band is on my list also. Half the fun is just gathering up what you need I think.
Here is an area that in my opinion needs attention if your doing a balance shaft removal build. Early 2.5 engines had this type of pickup.
This pickup has holes drilled all the way around the end of the tube. If you remove the balance shaft housing from the oil pan then there is no baffle on top of the tube to prevent cavitation or whirl pooling as some call it. This would allow air into your oil pump and that would be disasterous.
Newer 2.5 pickup tubes fixed this problem. I just opened up mine a little since it seemed a bit restrictive from the factory.
remove the balance shafts, plug the oil hole to them, get a 2.2 common block pan with pickup. They have better oil control anyway. They come on TBI cars too making them plentiful
I work in Craigsville with a couple of other Mopar fanatics so just pm me the next time you are coming up and we will give you the grand tour. My boss has a 71 Road Runner he is doing a ground up restore on. That alone is worth the price of admission in my opinion. lol. Plus my Omni is there and I know about every other turbo dodge in a 50 mile radius.
First Pic is of a small amount of porting to remove the sharp lip from the mismatch of the pump outlet to the block inlet. Several other posts here show this in more detail. Its where I got the idea and its a good one.
These next pictures show how to time the oil pump if you remove it from the block. Turn your intermediate shaft gear till the little chisel line points to the circle on the crank gear. Even though this is the same gear you use on the cam, you put it on backwards and don't use the oval hole to time it like you do the cam. Keep the chisel mark lined up with the circle on the crank and slide your pump into the block. It might take a few trys but it needs to be like the picture when you are done.
If it doesn't look like this when you get it all the way flush, just pull it out and turn it in the direction it needs to go a tooth or two and try again.
Awesome to see this build. I remember going up against these in my max effort 84 turbo Colt. I often wished I had picked up a GLH turbo as they handled just a bit better. In fact, wouldn't mind having one now.
I had a lot of fun back in the day with my 84 GTS Colt turbo also. I can remember seeing daylight at the top of the doors as they opened up at 125+ on a long slightly down hill straight a couple of times too!
Here is my piston install process. I had already honed the block. I like to use 400 grit stones instead of the 220 or so grit that comes standard on most new hones.
This type of spring compressor is so much easier and quicker to use than the blue wrap around type. I'd really like to have one of those cone type sleeves that pro speed shops use where you just drop the piston down and push it right on through. That kind would be even quicker and easier still.
Thin walled rubber or plastic hose will work for lining up the rods to the crank and at the same time protects the rod journals from being scratched by the rod bolts. I used heat shrink tubing as it was the easiest thing for me to find at the moment.
Valve cover started off as a silver painted one from a 91 or so 2.5 which also has the one piece gasket. I just bead blasted it and painted it with krinkle coat black. Sanded the ribs and letters back to aluminum. Now it matches the 2 piece intake.
This is my mildly ported intake and throttle body. I gave it the same treatment as the valve cover but just to the upper half, sanding and all.
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