The Project, from the beginning

"Long-Voyager" (long-voyager)
06/22/2018 at 07:29 • Filed to: wrenching, Acclaim, Mopar, Engine Swaps

As most of you know, I’ve been working on my latest addition, 1994 Plymouth Acclaim 2.5L/Auto (well was). This is the day I brought her home:

After screwing with the 4 cylinder for a couple months trying to sort cooling issues, I decided my van’s old motor would be a better fit, so I set to work swapping wiring, refinishing engine bay, and throwing new gaskets/fresh paint on the engine:

Swapping wiring harnesses under hood.

Requires pulling wiring from behind the dash.

Which leads you to this.

Finally get it back together.

Wiring all in.

Engine Out.

Needed some color in my life.

Shiny new engine.

Dropping her in.

Trans bolted up.

Everything mounted.

This madness leads to more madness as we decide to go full custom outside as well:

So I laid down a base on the spare hood/fender I had.

Then my paint crew set to work making it “out of this world”.

Then I added clear, installed them, and did some work on one of the SRT4 wheels I picked up.

Now it’s 2 months later and she’s back on jackstands as I’ve been trying to figure a limp mode issue since the drivetrain went in. Numerous computers, sensors, and wiring harnesses changed, only to find the trans was junk from the start leading to most of my issues. Now I have a donor sitting in the driveway and I’ve started tearing into it again:

Donor

Taking things back apart.

Hoping to have her going in the next couple weeks. Once she’s on the road I’ll be refinishing the other 3 wheels, doing the rest of the body work, and shooting the rest of the car this color:

I’m both excited to get it done and extremely frustrated with sorting the trans. Hopefully this time is the winner and all goes well!

DISCUSSION (18)

vondon302 > Long-Voyager
06/22/2018 at 07:49

Good luck ! My fingers are crossed hoping this is it.

LongbowMkII > Long-Voyager
06/22/2018 at 07:54

Nice! At first I was second guessing doing the exterior too, (I liked the idea of beige outside/wild inside) but that looks amazing!

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > Long-Voyager
06/22/2018 at 08:03

Very cool, I wish you good luck.
I love the teal color for engine details, and the rest of the bay looks crazy. Cool stuff, certainly unique.

I think you got Kinja’d, it says

... and shooting the rest of the car this color:

But no picture.
Also, do you plan on lowering it and going that way with the mods or will it stay daily driver material?

Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW! > Long-Voyager
06/22/2018 at 08:28

I love this project. You forgot to include the sweet CNC'd parts on your engine!

CalzoneGolem > Long-Voyager
06/22/2018 at 08:43

I can without any trace of hyperbole that I’ve never been this excited about a 1994 Acclaim.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Long-Voyager
06/22/2018 at 08:48

So all you changed was the engine, the transmission and the transmission? That’s how my Versa project went, but it’s a solid now.

WilliamsSW > Long-Voyager
06/22/2018 at 09:06

M a n, I h o p e this t r a n s c u r e s a l l o f i t s i l l s!

Great p r o je c t, an d l o v e that you g o t the k i d s i n t o i t, t o o!

A l s o l o v e those w h e e l s- looking g o o d!

Long-Voyager > WilliamsSW
06/22/2018 at 10:03

Me too. Thinking I’m going to have to swap wiring harnesses again, which means I’ll have to rewire the lights up front (Lebaron is completely different out front), but I’m going to try it with the harness that’s there first.

Long-Voyager > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
06/22/2018 at 10:05

Engine, trans, wiring, ECM, TCM originally. Then after much digging I found the trans I had was bad, so now I’m doing the trans again...

Long-Voyager > Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW!
06/22/2018 at 10:06

You mean these:

Kinja'd!!!

Long-Voyager > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'
06/22/2018 at 10:08

Fixed that.

I plan on it being a daily, so no lowering as of now. Maybe down the road at some point, but for now, running/painted/new wheels are the plan.

SmugAardvark > Long-Voyager
06/22/2018 at 10:12

Easily the best Acclaim project I’ve ever seen.

By the way, awesome paint work!

Long-Voyager > SmugAardvark
06/22/2018 at 10:16

It was mostly my kids/cousins that did the paint work. I love it and they had a ton of fun!

I still think my old one pulls best Acclaim project though : https://oppositelock.kinja.com/thought-id-post-up-my-old-acclaim-build-for-everyone-1823032640

SmugAardvark > Long-Voyager
06/22/2018 at 10:23

Damn, so you have the two best Acclaims in history. Good on you, for keeping the AA cars alive.

MonkeePuzzle > Long-Voyager
06/22/2018 at 10:54

DGAF defined. well done sir. lead the pack, don’t be led.

here’s hoping everyone involved has had fun, and learned a little.

Long-Voyager > MonkeePuzzle
06/22/2018 at 12:21

It’s been a fun/frustrating project so far.

Having a supportive family that’s more than willing to help keeps it fun.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Long-Voyager
06/22/2018 at 13:51

Hopefully, someone paid you to take the car.

Was that platform ever equipped with that V6 engine from the factory?

Long-Voyager > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
06/22/2018 at 14:57

I gave $100 for it, threw a battery in it and drove it for 3 months before I decided to scrap the 4 cylinder, as stop leak was used as an alternative to properly fixing the bad head gasket.

They came with the V6 from factory, so it’s a direct bolt in and just a matter of swapping wiring/computers. Most of my issues stem from the trans I had going to hell from sitting. Had I known that from the get-go, I would have got a different trans before starting into it, or went with a different drivetrain.

Pretty much any Mopar FWD drivetrain from the 90s-2000s will bolt into these cars without issue. Makes them very fun to play play with and very cheap to make fast.