bad idea of the day: 80's mopar

so ive lusted after an omni glh ever since i drove one when i worked at the dealership. for a 20 year old car at the time, it was a riot. sold it through wholesale auction....

anyway, found a clean and rust free appearing non glh under a carport after my gps went stupid on me today. 6 inches of dust and crap piled on top of it. knocked on the door and no answer. ill go back until i get one.

how hard would it be, and expensive, to turn it to glh specs? im looking for a new commuter/auto-x toy, and i think this would fit the bill admirably. any forums, or preferrably links, to doing this kind of upgrade? better/easier to find/cheaper motor options? any good reasons i shouldnt do this? id love to do it for under challenge budget (the whole car, that it. not just the swap.) so, fire away. looking forward to y'alls input.

michael

I think the GLH had enough unique components to make it worth just finding a GLH. You would at least want a GLH donor to work with, doing it piece by piece might get astronomically expensive.

Are you sure your GPS went stupid on you? Sounds like it headed you in the right direction.

it got me mhere i needed to go, just the long way. im trying out thay google nav on my smart phone. it was quicker, but longer if that makes sense.

but yeah, it may have been divine intervention due to user error.

On a semi-related note, whenever I'm telling someone how to get to my house and they say "I have GPS", I ask if they are using an iPhone. iPhone GPS gets you to the end of a dirt road, 200 yards from my house, but five miles away by car.

86 shelby charger is the worst automotive thing that ever happened to me. I hope you get over this addiction.

There is an Omni on Craigslist near me right now. I also have the original Shelby book from the 80's on 2.2 cars that my dad got when he had his GLH. It covers basically building from scratch using a base car not a Shelby. I even have the later editions of the book. If I get a job on the other side of the mountain an Omni might find its way home for leaving at the park and ride on the other side of the mountain then get built up later.

GLH or GLHt?

Converting to GLH is easy just suspension, shave the head, and, ground effects. GLHt is harder because of the engine, electronics, and, fuel system swap. Any turbo dodge will work may as well find a TII Lebaron or Daytona and swap everything.

GLH had bigger brakes (even bigger are available from a Minivan), faster ratio steering rack (Neons use a similar, but slightly slower rack), bigger sway bars, stiffer springs and shocks.

The turbo EFI conversion is somewhat easy using the proper donor (Minivan again) and a TBI omni fuel tank, plus assorted Turbo pieces :)

Having had some, I love them, but they aren't known for their quality...

If the Omni is TBI rather than carb, the swap will be much easier.

www.thedodgegarage.com will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about these beasts.

gotta be the turbo.

Id say if you arent scared of modifying a harness that started in another car, you can handle the turbo swap. Nuts and bolts wise it's very simple.

To convert a carbed car you'd need to put in an EFI fuel tank from a turbo or tbi l-body, as others have said. And of course wire the fuel pump. The rest of it happens in the engine bay and is pretty easy. This is a vast oversimplification, of course, but im just trying to tell you it's not super duper hard unless you are afraid of doing a bit of wiring.

If you're looking for a forum for that kind of vehicle/project, try turbo-mopar.com. I may be partial, im a moderator over there.

I have the springs that I cant even give away, i might still have an extra swaybar too. Other than that its just the rear bear (has an added brace), front and rear brakes/hubs, steering rack, and engine/transmission that are different (yes there are other little things, but not important for a conversion). IMO a conversion using the later versions of the drivetrain parts likely would turn out better than an original one. They are fast, but they are pretty badly made.

If you want to drive to Houston I'll give you a GLH rally car that is decomposing in my yard. Was a non turbo,car but it's a T1 car now with a fresh (12 year old) rebuild. Welded diff. This car is a trail of broken dreams, it could break yours next.
That said, my first two cars were omnis and I loved them. I vote that you pick it up and keep it stock looking but run a 2.5 T2 in it. Very entertaining would be putting it mildly.

sent you a PM thingy. definately interestd. definately.

and the price is right!!!

Sent you a message back. I'm serious about the trail of broken dreams stuff, and the price might in fact be too high.

Watching intently..

Vigo my friend, you are next in line. Messages have been sent.

There's always this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1979-Dodge-Omni-024-Hatch-Auto-4Cyl-1-7L-White-/270978923078?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3f179a3a46

BTW, the 1.7L is a VW sourced engine, so the potential exists for the VR6 or TDI powered 2200lb car. Just sayin....

Ninja edit:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1987-Shelby-Dodge-Charger-GLHS-803-/130697503749?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item1e6e2da405

Nice.

Good luck on the rally car, that sounds like an awesome project!