That Moment When Your Encyclopedic Knowledge On An Obscure Car Part Is Suddenly Useful: COTD

Something I love about the Autopian community is that all of you are seemingly an expert in something. If you haven’t noticed by now, if you comb through our comments you’ll find lawyers, pilots, automotive technicians, importers, service writers, engineers, custom car builders, journalists, insurance agents, and more. It seems no matter what we write about, there’s someone in the comments who just so happens to be a living encyclopedia on a subject.

Today, we saw another display of our readers’ encyclopedic knowledge on a subject. This morning, Mark published a Shitbox Showdown featuring a 1980 Fiat X1/9 vs a 1985 Dodge Shelby Charger, two cars that he would have wanted as a twelve-year-old.

From the factory, this car had a 2.2-liter Turbo I engine, which made 147 HP and 174 lb-ft torque in stock form. This particular example had its engine swapped for a Turbo II. Mark noted that he knew that a Turbo II made more power, but not the particulars of how it got there. He concluded by saying that a commenter will almost certainly chime in to explain. He was absolutely right. Today, rootwyrm wins COTD for this overly-specific comment:

I HAVE BEEN SUMMONED.

The Turbo I (silver airbox, non-intercooled) produces 147HP and 174ft/lbs in stock trim; this increases to 174HP and 195ft/lbs with the DC/MP LM which increases boost from 7psi to 14psi.
The Turbo II (black 3-way airbox, intercooled) produces 174HP and 174ft/lbs in stock trim; don’t bet on this one having the hard to find MP Stage I LM.

The Turbo I to Turbo II conversion is not a small thing. They have very different wiring harnesses, and the transmission matters as well. An ’85 would have shipped with an A525 which cannot take a TII long-term without the impossible to obtain DC hardened gearset. (I know it’s impossible to obtain since 2000. Because I bought all the remaining stock.) Or a very expensive, very hard to come by build.
Seller is including a spare A523 because you’ll need it. They left the A525 in it. This build will grenade the carrier bearings and break the selector shaft at 3rd. The A523 can’t take it either, contrary to popular belief. If it could, the A520 and A555 would not have drastically different internals. And the A520 can’t take it long-term either.

The quality of the work is also paramount. A badly installed TII is itself a time bomb. Well executed TII conversions are rare, despite what the ‘Turbo Dodge community’ claims. (If it was well executed, you wouldn’t be popping MLS head gaskets and leaning out, kiddos. It isn’t that damn hard.)
And this one? This one is a typical shadetree hackjob. Wrong radiator. Kinked plumbing at best (look at the throttle body.) I shudder to think what the wiring looks like. Would not surprise me to find a self-tapping screw in the wastegate line and a blown head gasket.

Rootwyrm, how often do you even need to use this knowledge?

For a second nomination, we have a comment about our Daydreaming Designer, the Bishop, and his vision for a car you could buy through Amazon. Technically, there was a time when you could “buy” a whole car on Amazon. In 2013, Nissan and Amazon had a promotion where you could configure a Versa Note on Amazon and seal the transaction at a dealer. Three customers were chosen by Nissan to have their cars delivered to their house in a big Amazon-branded crate.

Anyway, for Sklooner, this wasn’t going to stop those package thieves:

It would probably get stolen off my porch

Thanks for the laughs and have a great evening!

(Top image: Bring a Trailer Seller)