My 4g63t swap Colt build

[thomcasey]

I just picked up a perfect Dark Lemon yellow '92 Dodge Colt GT from Kentucky. It has a brand new (5000 mile) crate motor in it (4g15), new clutch leather seats throughout, paint is 4 years fresh, ICW Racing 618 wheels, tinted windows, Koni adjustables/coilovers in back, coilovers in front, what "looks to be" 4g or other shifter. Car just needs a battery to start; Headlight to see; new axles, front hub seals, a stab-link, ball-joints and an alignment to roll. All for $375.

Plans are to rape the GT knuckles, brakes and axles from the black colt, get it aligned and drive it as is through the winter. The black colt will give it's motor to my 16 year-olds Talon AWD (Minus link, 680's, 16g) and the Transe, harness, link, shifter, cluster, AFPR, wally, exhaust and other odds and ends to "Little-Bird" with the DR-17 wheels going to the summit wagon. The black colt will then go to a new home.

After the winter is over (and the Summit is DD'ing), a fresh 4g63t will go into Little-bird, along with the LSD tranny, new clutch, ACT flywheel, Expo/Summit knuckles with twin-piston brakes, v3 link, SD possibly, AFPR, Wally 255, 680's, 16g or T-28, wire-tuck, battery relocation, 3" exhaust. I have decided that this car will NOT go AWD. I will keep it a 2-tire-fire. If I need AWD fun, the Summit will take care of that. I will miss having boost for a while, but the payoff will be great in the end.

 

[Jermoturbo]

Awesome find! You can't beat it for scrapyard prices i'm looking forward to see what you do with this thing. What are your plans for the crate motor with low miles? ( dont even know why someone would spend $ on a new 4g15 )
Also, just a suggestion from one fwd CSM driver to another, ditch the e316g and get a 20g. I spun tires all day on a 16g from the quick spool. It gets a bit frustrating when trying to tune. The 20g spools just late enough to get some traction then zooooooooom!

 

[thomcasey]

Thanks for the advice Jeremy, I will see how I can get myself into one, I definitely spin a ton currently in my black colt. I get nice MPH in the 1/4 (111mph), but can't get better than a 2.5 60' due to spin. I had heard that the 20g and it's later spool would be a better idea.

As for the crate motor, got a local guy interested in it to put in his run-a-bout colt, so it may find a home there.

 

[thomcasey]

Got her started!. Just some suspension work ans a tob install and she will be a driver.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z75nRM0bRkI&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]

 

[xxNocturnalxx]

20g Mirage here too. Looking forward to this build, love yellow

 

[thomcasey]

These twin-pots are ready to install with the Expo/Summit wagon knuckles and GVR4 rotors. Question is, leave the calipers Silver? Black? Red? or Yellow to match the car?

 

[Seamus]

Cool find. Just an FYI a rdo5h 20g spools just like a 16g for the most part there is no difference in the response. I don't think a 20g will help the rapid spooling turbo situation. A td06h exhaust will shift the power band a little, but they still spool pretty quick too. A tdo5h 20g and a 16g are basically the same turbo in every measurment except the 20g wheel has a larger inducer.

 

[thomcasey]

Made it a busy weekend. Hit the shop Friday night to get the bird on the road AND swap out the head on Roberts 2gb Talon. Got the Expo/Summit knuckles installed and slotted the struts to allow for camber adjustment, installed new Tie-Rod ends, new brakes, calipers and rotors and bled them down. Dropped to transmission to see what the rattle was, found the metal clip that hols the clutch fork on was bent. Fixed that, installed the axles and fired her up. A few things I found:

1. Stock shifter is total crap, barely engages rev and 2nd, bushings are toast. Will have to install the 93-96 Mirage shifter from the black colt.
2. I can eyeball an alignment REAL WELL. Drove it home @ 70mph, no pull, bump-steer, feathering or scrubbing. Just need to adjust the camber and tweak to be good.
3. Car will DEFINITELY need more power. Black colt starts off in 3rd gear faster than the new one.

It is nice to drive it, but boy do I miss the power from the black colt. Going from 300ish HP @ 25psi to 90ish at 0-psi is a real eye opener.

Now, what to do with the Black colt shell once I remove the drivetrain.....

Here are a few picks from the work on Friday night and Saturday.

 

[thomcasey]

Dredged out in the snow after work this evening and swapped out the shortened 3g mirage shifter for the 4g mirage shifter from the black colt. No more slop. Much nicer to shift now.

 

[thomcasey]

Spent Saturday installing the new struts I bought ($7 each, thank you rock auto) on the front with a set of Eibach sportline DSM springs. The front is now level with the rear and much stiffer. I expect it will drop down like the black colt did once the 4g63t and all the add-ons are installed.

 

[thomcasey]

The bird dropped 1st gear syncros, so it is sitting now. Looking to get the swap done by the end of next week. Have some good weather coming up next week so will give it a shot.

I also installed the diff with the LSD in my turbo tranny, can't wait for the traction.

 

[thomcasey]

It was a beautiful day (mid 40's, sunny). So time to get the swap moving!!! Engine and harness are out, wally 255 installed. Now just to clean the bay, install the harness and the 4g63t/lsd tranny combo on Saturday.

 

[thomcasey]

They really raised the price of the Super Clean, it was DOUBLE the Purple Power price. So I got some degreaser and some Purple Power. Got the wife (with a little help from my grandson) to get in and clean the engine bay. She got it sparkling. We got the 4g63t pulled from the black colt, swapped the flywheel for an ACT flywheel, and swapped out the old style ACT 2600 pressure plate (too heavy for my wife to drive) for a new ACT 2600 that is loads lighter. Then installed the LSD equipped tranny on the motor and dropped it in Little-bird. We then put my spare turbo tranny on the 1.5 and dropped it in the Black colt. We then doscovered this will not work since the starter will not engage the flywheel. So, off came the tranny and we put in the F5M22 in it. Much better, plus all gears engaged with the motor running, so maybe the syncros are ok. Just need to finish removing the battery relocation so it can be used in Little-bird, and reassemble the interior and the black colt will be back to stock and in it's new home with my middle child. Little bird will have another day or two before it is running.

 

[thomcasey]

Was able to get some work in on the Little Bird on Saturday before the snow came in (I figured 20 degrees and numb hands was a good stopping point). Got all the mounts buttoned up, axles in, radiator in, fluids in, wiring harness connected up, ECU in, brake and clutch MC's installed, HKS SSQV/GM-MAF/DSMLink MAF cable installed and the FMIC mounted. The FMIC was a mother because I still want some crash beam. My 3" cutting tool gave up the ghost after a couple minutes, so I had to saws-all it. Still managed to save the entire front half of the crash beam. Now just need to modify the center core/latch support bar so the hood will latch. Also want to clean up the bumper cut with a new cutting wheel so I can ensure the entire FMIC is getting the airflow it needs.

All that remains is finishing up the positive battery connections under the hood, running the battery relocation, re-assembly of the rest of the interior, setting the front camber, bleeding the clutch/brakes and installing/welding the exhaust.

Can't wait to drive this thing again in about a week (this time with power AND lsd). Still have to finish the 90 talon for my youngest to DD and get to work on my Wife's Summit wagon.

 

[thomcasey]

She is up and running now. Drives great, love having the power back again:

6-bolt 4g63t
Big 16g
DSMLink v3
GM-MAF with Link cable
PTE 680's
HKS SSQV
FMIC
Aeromotive AFPR
Wally 255
F5M33
Colt turbo axles and half-shaft
Twin piston "big" brakes
3000gt brake MC
battery relocation

91 Colt GL 4g63t swap - YouTube

 

[thomcasey]

Thought we would snap some pics of the final product. Installed some new gauges in the center console and gave her a bath.

 

[sirbow2]

damn, the interior is beautiful. just cleanup that front bumper and you'll have a masterpiece

 

[thomcasey]

Yea, a little plastic/fiberglass filler and some touch-up paint and she will be good to go. Got a couple quarter size rust spots I need to clean and protect also, but by far one of the most non-rusted colts in the midwest for sure.

 

[canada4g63]

good to see another swapped colt, check out 4g61t.org

 

[cruzanspeed]

Looks good very yellow!

 

[thomcasey]

Just small updates.

Put on black wheels with better tires

Installed a detachable steering wheel hub for my NRG wheel to get it closer to me since I have my seat in the way-back position (I am 6’8”)

Installed a new Pioneer deck just because
Obtained a set of window vents from Poland that are actually designed for my car

Installed a new Tial Q BOV and a Hyundai VC

Yanked the Maf-T and installed the ECMLink MAF cable for the 3" GM-Maf

Next in line?? Tial Sport externally dumped WG on SBR manifold, subwoofer/amp combo and a separate amp to power the front separates. Then it will be time to build the Summit Wagon!!

 

[thomcasey]

I got tired of looking at all the yellow with no breaks, so I got some penstriping and clearcoat and think it turned out pretty good.

Before:


After:

 

[thomcasey]

Decided to use the stock/correct shift arm I got from 89MirageMan on my F5M33 tranny to replace the bolt modified stocker. Only went through 2 black and decker bits and 3 Dewalt Cobalt tipped bits, but I finally got the pins drilled out. Just waiting for the paint to dry to install (paint not shown, using satin black).

Before arm:


After arm

 

[thomcasey]

Sadly, had to go back to the modified shift arm. Had some 2nd/4th/Rev engagement issues. I need some adjustable shift cables before I can go to the factory shift arm.

Finished off the stereo install (still gotta have tunes.) The turbo motor sounds good, but not for long drives.)

Pioneer DEH-X8500BT
MTX TNS65 Component set (front doors)
Kicker DX 150.2 amp running MTX cmponents
Kenwood KFC G6930 (rear stock locations) running off deck as fill
Kicker Comp 10" subwoofer in 1cu-ft sealed box
MB Quart FX1.600 Mono amp running Subwoofer

Hits nice and hard, sounds clean. Nice to be able to crank those 70's/80's hits when I want.

 

[mitsubishikid]

Nice progress, a GVR4 front bumper would look sick on the front of the colt only it would disrupt the sleeper vibe you got going...