Check this V8 1st Gen - DodgeIntrepid.Net Forums - Dodge Intrepid, Concorde, 300m and Eagle Vision chat

**MegaTrep** · 01-24-2009, 08:07 PM

Sorry if this is a repost.

Chrysler Intrepid with V8 and rwd conversion on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Chrysler Intrepid with V8 and rwd conversion on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

What do you guys think?

Pascal_82 · 01-24-2009, 08:35 PM

He's nuts !! lol

Miscreation · 01-24-2009, 08:54 PM

Looks like a 350 small block chevy. The blower looks great on that trep i must say! That is awesome, but i guess with the time and money. Anything is possible, but theres no way that was an easy job, converting it from a FWD to a RWD must have been really frustrating and complex and difficult. So hats off to him!

**cdmccul** · 01-25-2009, 12:09 AM

I haven't spent a long time under the rear of my 1st gen, but hanging a leaf sprung rear end from a unibody car that already has the drive shaft tunnel couldn't be THAT hard for a guy with access to a hoist, welder, and some steel... If my 1st gen dies an untimely death in the motor/tranny department, and the wife doesn't want it 'restored', I might just try it out... I've heard of guys using a small dodge rear end and what not...

Granted, you have to get the front end ready to support a V8, and fab up some motor mounts and the like... and depending on how long the tail shaft is, fabing up some sort of support for the rear end if it goes past the cradle.

The real fun that _I_ would want to see done is to make it transparent to the driver... I want the car from the driver's seat to look and feel just like a stock car... so the gear indicator in the dash.. I'd want it to change with the shifter... Modify the shifter to put in switches, and then hard wire to the back of the cluster... maybe... Then to get the PCM and BCM to not set off other dash lights... that gets too sticky... but I dunno... maybe an interface could be made between the new motor and the PCM...

Then again... *ponders* What about a Dodge Ram of the same vintage, using the PCM and bits of wire harness from there... then the TCM too.. then hope it talks to the BCM right, or put the BCM... blah blah blah blah, it gets too sticky... HEhehehehhe

but it does get you thinking...

Oh, yea... fuel tank too... you'd have to move that...

I just got a new idea too... what about moving the transmission to the back like in the Prowlers? Then the TCM doesn't need any adapting... granted, you'd have to get the transmission to withstand the abuse that a V8 could dole out... but nothing says that the V8 HAS to dole out the abuse... Then the suspenstion in the rear could possibly be kept close to what it is now... Hrrrmmmm....

**dmondeac** · 01-25-2009, 09:17 AM

I remember seeing one in Hot Rod years ago, Blue, pro street style and also it had a two door conversion, Powertrain was a new style "hemi" if I remember correctly, looked very sweet.

etfuller · 01-25-2009, 10:31 AM

Did anyone scroll down by the bottom of the comments and see the picture of the 2nd gen RWD v8

**cdmccul** · 01-25-2009, 02:03 PM

Yup, saw it... saw several 'search' references to it on Google, but every one of those links was just a way to get you to click on an ad page.

Anybody have any more info on it?

dwc43 · 01-25-2009, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdmccul

I haven't spent a long time under the rear of my 1st gen, but hanging a leaf sprung rear end from a unibody car that already has the drive shaft tunnel couldn't be THAT hard for a guy with access to a hoist, welder, and some steel... If my 1st gen dies an untimely death in the motor/tranny department, and the wife doesn't want it 'restored', I might just try it out... I've heard of guys using a small dodge rear end and what not...

Granted, you have to get the front end ready to support a V8, and fab up some motor mounts and the like... and depending on how long the tail shaft is, fabing up some sort of support for the rear end if it goes past the cradle.

The real fun that _I_ would want to see done is to make it transparent to the driver... I want the car from the driver's seat to look and feel just like a stock car... so the gear indicator in the dash.. I'd want it to change with the shifter... Modify the shifter to put in switches, and then hard wire to the back of the cluster... maybe... Then to get the PCM and BCM to not set off other dash lights... that gets too sticky... but I dunno... maybe an interface could be made between the new motor and the PCM...

Then again... *ponders* What about a Dodge Ram of the same vintage, using the PCM and bits of wire harness from there... then the TCM too.. then hope it talks to the BCM right, or put the BCM... blah blah blah blah, it gets too sticky... HEhehehehhe

but it does get you thinking...

Oh, yea... fuel tank too... you'd have to move that...

I just got a new idea too... what about moving the transmission to the back like in the Prowlers? Then the TCM doesn't need any adapting... granted, you'd have to get the transmission to withstand the abuse that a V8 could dole out... but nothing says that the V8 HAS to dole out the abuse... Then the suspenstion in the rear could possibly be kept close to what it is now... Hrrrmmmm....

It's not hard to do. A coil over ladder bar or ladder link is easier to set up though than putting in rear leaf springs. And it's a lot easier to go with a carb and an MSD set up on your V8 and you'll be bale to make a lot more power without the FI or computers and it's cheaper too. And you can mount a fuel cell under the trunk floor right behind the axle and hook it up to the stock filler tube too.

Doing a RWD conversion is not as hard as everyone on here makes it out to be. I sure as heck would not waste my time putting an inferior chebby engine and tranny in it through.

blackrt1 · 01-25-2009, 08:11 PM

What I like in the pics is not only the blower under the hood but also the fact that the rear wheels look to be in the same spot as the orignals. The fact there not sticking out farther or anything if u didn't see that intake and such u'd probably think it was still fwd if you were lookin at it from the back. I wonder what the underneath looks like on this car.

**cdmccul** · 01-25-2009, 10:37 PM

changing axle width isn't that hard. Personally, I'd be more interested in mounting the factory trann in the rear and keeping the same (or close to it) suspension in the rear.

As for using a carb, I'd rather keep it injected... again, I'm too much into wanting a sleeper... I want it to look and tactally feel factory... step on the gas and get a different story! (yes, something would have to be done about the final drive chains, I totally agree)

MikeD · 01-28-2009, 09:13 PM

What ever happened to the one the guy on here was doing? I think his name was mike, he was using a Lexus rear I do believe.

blackrt1 · 01-28-2009, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeD

What ever happened to the one the guy on here was doing? I think his name was mike, he was using a Lexus rear I do believe.

Mike..hmmm? I still don't know which member your talking about??

adam_hawk · 01-28-2009, 10:40 PM

I've seen several conversions where a frame is created, the engine and tranny are attached to the frame, and then the body of the donor is mounted on the frame. No sweat on how to support the engine or the tranny, since everything (including the body) is supported by the new frame. Not saying this is what was actually done on the V8 trep. Just what was done on other cars.

GTXKen · 01-29-2009, 11:10 AM

I have to give the guy credit, its a huge amount of fabricating to do a transformation like that. Personally I think its a huge waste of time and would never even consider it but to each his own right.

dwc43 · 01-29-2009, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTXKen

I have to give the guy credit, its a huge amount of fabricating to do a transformation like that. .

Not really. The hard part is getting the rear suspension under it and getting it squared up. Building a complete car is a lot harder and time consuming. We build race cars all the time and that would take longer and be much harder than a V8 RWD conversion on an Intrepid. Factory did most of the work. We just need to get in there and finish what they screwed up.