[chesnimnus]

I need a couple of things. Does anyone have, or know where there is, a driver side rear door in bolt-on condition for a 94? Mine got hit by my neighbor (although I cannot prove it!), and I just need another to replace it. However, it seems that I must have the only one on the planet, since none of the wrecking yards I have called in Oregon and Washington have one. It is the same red as the one in the Dodge: Different ads.
Also, does anyone know anything about the 3.3? I was told that it has the same casting number on the block as a 3.9, and that the only difference is the bore. Since I need to start thinking about having it rebuilt, I am thinking I might just overbore it for the 3.9 slugs. Will this work? If so, do I need to change injectors, or the computer? Or will the stock computer be able to handle it as it is? Is there any website for another BBS or company that could shed a little more light on this? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ATFCharger]

I can't offer any tech advice about the motor, but the car parts you're looking for can be found on www.car-part.com.

Try a search there in your area. I refuse to believe that two whole states don't have a parts intrepid.

 

[chesnimnus]

There are parts Intrepids, but I want a door I do not have to paint. I can find every color but red. I gave up after about wrecking yard number 50. I checked in the Seattle area, Portland area, and many of the podunk yards I frequent in southern and eastern OR and WA. The yards I called got on their WATS line to check the other yards in their area, and did not get any response either. I do not mind making the drive for a part, having gone to Caldwell, ID for a top for my Scout, but the color is the sticking point. Green, white, and that burgundy metallic red seem to be the predominant colors. Thanks for the feedback.
One other point. After looking into things a little more, I found that the 3.5 has a multi-valve head instead of the single-valve one like the 3.3 has. Can a person mix and match heads, or is there some casting difference or difference in valve trains that makes a head swap impossible? If the 3.9 block can be used, I am thinking of the 3.5 heads. Input?

 

[Lafrad]

the 3.3 is a pushrod engine, with the cam in the engine block. the 3.5 is an overhead cam engine, with a camshaft in each head on the V. so the heads CANNOT be mix-n-matched. what the 3.3L IS similar to, is the 3.8L Mopar engine from the Dodge Caravan. I am not sure if it is the same computer or not. (very possible it is, but you would have to check). SO, if you were looking to step up, you could machine your block for bore and get a different CrankShaft for the Stroke (both Bore and Stroke are different between engines.) you *might* need a different cam, but I don't know about that. Let us all know how it goes, as I am sure there are many other 3.3L owners that would like to 'pump' their cars up some too

Good luck.
Laf

 

[chesnimnus]

Well, this will only happen over about the next year, as I cannot afford it with the way the economy has been lately. It needs to be done sometime though. Are there the same engine mount bolt bosses on the 3.8 Caravan motor as the3.3? I have heard that the MoPar 4-cyl in a Prowler more or less the same as the Neon engine except that it has a longer stroke, but because the mount bosses are different, it is not an easy swap unless you buy an aftermarket bracket kit that is not that cheap. I wonder if there would be the same problems with what I am contemplating. Also, is the convertor pilot the same on the two engines, or will I have to have the rear of the crank modified? Usually I am an International Harvester and an AMC freak, so I am used to having to figure out my own mods, but this is still kind of new to me, and there are not a lot of these in yards to even take a look at yet.

 

[swartlkk]

First thing is that the Prowler came with the same 3.5L 24-valve V6 as the 1st gen intrepids. Correct me if I am wrong, but none of them came with a 4-cylinder.

 

[chesnimnus]

Sorry, I knew what I was thinking of, but said the wrong thing. The PT Cruiser, not the Prowler. The Prowler was not a 4-cylinder car. The Cruiser, at least some of them, came with 4-cylinders. There is a company that makes a kit to install one of the PT engines in a Neon. Without it, it won't fit because the holes for the motor mounts are in different places. With this install, a person is just supposed to be able to walk away from everyone else in high gear, uphill.

 

[Lafrad]

well, if you are boring-out and re-stroking your 3.3, the motor mounts would be the same ones you got now
I would *think* the mounts would be the same, due to the fact that the minivans had the 3.3 and 3.8 as diferent options. it would be silly for them to make them different.

 

[chesnimnus]

That is what I am hoping. When I started this thread, it was after I had been told that the 3.3 and the 3.9 were the same block, so I thought I could just overbore the 3.3 and change the pistons. In the last couple of days, I have found that the 3.9 is a 90-degree motor similar to the LA engine series, while the 3.3 is a different beast altogether. However, I read that the 3.8 in the Caravan is the same engine design as the 3.3, so now I am leaning in that direction. I believe the 3.3 and the 3.8 both are 2-valve cylinder head design, while the 3.5 is a 4-valve design. Since the 3.3 and the 3.5 blocks are in the same engine series as well, then maybe a person could adapt the 3.5 heads to a 3.8 block. Yes it does seem silly that the same bolt holes would not be in similar blocks, but if they do not do it on the 4-cylinders, then it is possible that they might not do it on the V-6. At any rate, I am concerned more with the electronics. If no one knows about the mixing and matching of the hard parts, at least I can call around until I find an auto wrecker that might have some of these for me to look at and compare. The thing that I am worried about is the effect that doing such a swap would have on the electronics. Nothing that I do would matter if the car would not run because the computer could not deal with the different displacement, air flows, and so on. By the way, thank you to ATFCharger for the tip on the online wrecking yards. I found a door in Spokane,
WA, which is about 10 hours away by car. Hopefully I can get it sometime in the next couple of months before it disappears.

 

[Djnrg]

I dinged my door last week, and I was told my a mopar parts guy that you can replace the very outer piece of sheet metal on the door, and not have to get a new door. I think it is a couple hundred bucks or so, but you do NOT want to know how much he told me a new door was!!! Luckily, my ding was not to bad, so I just pulled it out and used some touch up paint. Looks almost as good as new, and who konws, with some more touch up paint, might be even better!