Bringing a Dodge Omni Rally Car to Life

"WinrickRacing" (winrid)
06/02/2016 at 22:04 • Filed to: RallyAllTheThings, rally, Dodge Omni

I love RallyCross. For a couple years I drove a beat up MK4 GTI and am building a MK2 Scirocco with a 1.8T swap. Parked next to me at an event on a trailer was a Dodge Omni Rally car. He said he was building a new car and would do away with it for a couple grand. It had done six rallies, including Rim of The World and Gorman.

I said maybe later. I would see how well it did I thought. That was my mistake - because later that day the car would roll on his eleventh run.

But I bought it anyway. Albeit for... less.

Having never done body work before it was quite the adventure. Paying a couple guys at Pick and Pull to cut a core support out for me was interesting. They wouldn’t tell me their names so it was a bit sketchy. Using a cheap Harbor Freight arc welder I replaced the right side of the core support, the fender, and had a shop straighten the hood.

Slowly but surely....

It has a bit of a Gold tooth now since the donor car was not white.

The old pod lights are a bit expensive as well. Circles are hard in body work (or at least, they still are for me) but I was able to figure it out, mostly.

Finally it looked like an Omni/Horizon again.

A month went by and I registered for my first event. The car drove well aside from not having a choke - you have to warm it up before driving it at all or the old Holley carburetor will surge like hell.

With a welded diff and very stiff rear suspension it corners on three wheels.

Unfortunately I ended up finishing in a friend’s Civic because the Omni’s old 2.2 spun a rod bearing.

And so began the seven hour drive home while I got to think about what to do before the next event, which was a RallyTrials. I didn’t have time to do the turbo swap I wanted to do and rebuilding or replacing the N/A motor seemed like a waste of money.

So I patched it. It will last an event, I figured.

And it did! Well, not really. I got one run in.

One - and it started knocking again. Not nearly as bad but I didn’t want to blow it up.

And so continues the saga. I’m already building a turbo Scirocco which will be fast. Should I keep that as the fast car and rebuild the Omni’s engine to keep its original crazy carbureted setup? I’m not sure yet.

Turbo PT Cruisers are pretty cheap on Craigslist, though. :)

Related - pics of Scirocco rally car underway.

And no that is not how the piping will go... this was to see if things fit. :)

DISCUSSION (10)

Birddog > WinrickRacing
06/02/2016 at 22:54

Give me Omni!!

89-90 Omnis had TBI injection. All you need is the engine or FI setup, harness and fuel pump/sender. Add 1 high pressure fuel line and use the original as a return. No more carb issues.

The SRT/PTGT engine will fit but it takes a lot of hacking into the firewall. Like all of it comes out.

Or you could hook me up with it..

PorkchoPlissken > WinrickRacing
06/03/2016 at 00:20

This is all very fantastic.

JGrabowMSt > Birddog
06/03/2016 at 01:11

Can confirm. Learned on an ‘89 Omni 5 Speed. White with a blue vinyl interior. Worked on that thing a lot actually.

SRT4 swap would be ridiculous. I wouldn’t stop you.

WinrickRacing > PorkchoPlissken
06/03/2016 at 01:58

Thank you!

WinrickRacing > Birddog
06/03/2016 at 02:01

The fuel line is actually all stainless steel braided line that runs through the cabin right now. The thing is I don’t dislike the carburetor enough to swap to fuel injection. I would only go EFI for boost or significant gains.

But oh no, I have to modify the firewall for the 2.4T? Really? :(
I can do the Mopar 2.2 Turbo swap - I just have to find a good donor car. Which is hard evidently.

I know this engine bay originally had a 1.7l VW engine... same as in the Scirocco... which I swapped the 1.8T into. So it makes me wonder.

WinrickRacing > JGrabowMSt
06/03/2016 at 02:05

The blue vinyl sounds glorious. How many ash trays did it have? :)

Birddog > WinrickRacing
06/03/2016 at 08:16

The 2.2 Turbo is a drop in no issues there. I think the 2.4 may fit with a custom exhaust manifold and relocated turbo. I remember there being issues even with the 2.2/2.4 hybrid swaps though too.

WinrickRacing > Birddog
06/03/2016 at 15:55

I can find lots of turbo Lebarons... The engine in the car is actually a Turbo 2 (common block?) bottom end... so not sure I want to use a weaker bottom end then I have now with a turbo. So I’m looking for Daytonas and such with the Turbo II setup.

JGrabowMSt > WinrickRacing
06/03/2016 at 17:02

Just the one up front and center. Clutch was the heaviest thing ever, I have knee problems, could barely drive it after I got my Neon that had a hydraulic clutch. Soft as warm butter.

WinrickRacing > JGrabowMSt
06/03/2016 at 19:03

Interesting, I don’t think mine is very heavy? I’ll have to go double check to compare. My pedals are not stock though. They’ve been changed to make heel-toe easier.