LocostUSA.com

I did some searching and this topic wasn't really touched. I have been considering looking into a beat up late 90's stratus for a donor car......this sounds funny because the stratus is front wheel drive.....But I have found in the corners of the internet that a 94/95 dodge dakota trans bolts up, however the gear ratios may be undesireable......but then it became known that the 87-92 toyota supra turbo transmission (r154) shares the bellhousing pattern.....

In my searches, I found a user on turbodoge.com that figured out how to get a 2.4 based engine (srt4 works as well) to run RWD with decent power!

what you need is:
a 2.4 engine (earlier neon 2.0l works as well)
94/95 dodge dakota 4cyl bellhousing (from AX15 trans), as well as all hydraulic components
21 spline 9" clutch disc from possibly a toyota v6 truck
94-99 AX15 front bearing cover.

what this means, is that a cheap hammered on stratus is readily available and cheap, you could retain the factory ECU and thin out the harness to run just the engine, and mate a junkyard sourced trans from a dakota, or if your lucky, find a supra trans in the junkyard and grab the dakota bellhousing off car-part.com for under $70 and you've got yourself a highly upgradeable locost driveline.

you can even go to the dodge dealer and purchase the internals for an srt4, and drop them into the stratus block, and run megasuirt......that is so commonly done in neons that you can download a basemap for MS and have the car running immediatley.


So what does everyone think of this option? I haven't seen it done yet....

One thing I'd suggest before you make a final decision on the motor is to check its height, from the top of the intake to the bottom of the pan. My recollection (could be faulty, though) is that these motors are fairly tall. Most builders I've seen have pretty much used motors approximately 24" or less in height, as any more won't fit in a standard-to-+4" frame without fairly "radical" body mods, like tall hood scoops, etc. My frame is about as tall as the majority of builds, and my Zetec is 23.6" total, from the bottom of the pan to the top of the oil filler cap, and I'll end up with roughly 1/16" - 1/8" clearance under the hood, if I'm very careful. More than a 24" tall motor wouldn't have fit without fairly serious design changes.

Excessive height might be why you pretty much don't hear of these motors being used in these builds, even though the motors are cheap & plentiful. Just something to think about...

fip,
First, welcome to the forum. There is a huge wealth of information here to learn from and build on.
I'm a Mopar guy myself (bet you'd never have guessed I wasn't aware of the commonality of the SRT4 conversions.
I do have most of the parts you've listed already. Depending on your rear axle ratio, the AX15 might not be such a bad solution. Its not as strong as the R154, but this isn't a 3300 lb truck with a payload. If you don't know, there are a LOT of other trnas with the same bellhousing pattern as AX15 including the Colorado/Canyon, Solstice/Sky and more.
Can you give me the links to the 2.4 info you've found?
I have also seen on Turbododge where a fellow had built a hybrid engine using a 2.5 Dak block with a 2.4 DOCH head and a HUGE turbo. I think he was using an R154 also.
Mike Bynum

here are some of my links:

http://www.turbododge.com/forums/f11/f3 ... rsion.html

http://www.turbododge.com/forums/f11/f6 ... 2-2-a.html

http://www.starquestclub.com/forum/inde ... atus&st=20

http://www.starquestclub.com/forum/inde ... opic=65719

I forget where I read it, but the motor has been measured at 25" in height, and thats without an oil filter relocation kit that is available aftermarket due to the neon guys swapping in the stratus 2.4

There was also a (rare I assume) Jeep Liberty in rear wheel drive with the 2.4L engine.

yes dave, there was.....you can still buy that transmission from the dealer, however its weaker than the supra trans and the dakota trans, so it's not as desireable. not to mention not source-able from a junkyard as the other parts are

OT: you use the same SN on nyspeed.com?

cheaper than SRT internals, you could run a 2.2 turbo 2 bottom end b/c it's entirely forged, and bolt the 2.4 head w/MS and put the screws to it with an ebay turbo manifold.

yes I also use the SN on NYspeed.com.....

I am weighing options right now, but I am considering many drivetrains based on cost vs. availability.

This is one of three options I'm most seriously considering which is why I wanted to start the topic and see if I'm the only one that has thought of it.