Thought I'd post up my old Acclaim build for Everyone

"Long-Voyager" (long-voyager)
01/08/2018 at 07:03 • Filed to: None

So I took my old 95 Acclaim from this:

(Not mine, but identical)

Into this over the course of 3 years while daily driving it:

It went through numerous stages on the way to completion.

I first did some rust repair and gave it a quick repaint, not intending to keep it:

It ended up like this, at which it was mostly stock with just an intake and exhaust, custom paint, and Neon wheels.

Doing the intake and exhaust opened up a tremendous amount of top end (probably not tremendous, but extremely noticeable), so that made me start researching.

That’s when things got crazy. I started modifying the engine heavily, which led to blowing up a transmission at 167k. I had the trans built by a local shop, with a high stall converter, extra clutches (heavy duty), and a reworked valve body. With this work done, the car went like crazy. It would break the tires loose on every shift.

I drove it in that form until I got sick of breaking axles (from the high stall/hard shifts) and was searching for more power again. That led to me researching a manual swap. So I found a Shadow donor car and set to work.

I pulled the engine out of the Shadow, put it on a stand, and tore it to the bare block. Rebuilt it using Diamante 10:1 Pistons, heavily ported/polished heads with reground Diamante cams, ported/polished/port matched intake manifold, plenum spacers, heavily ported/polished intake plenum, TB spacer, ported/polished 52mm throttle body, old style caravan fuel rail, ported exhaust manifolds, Fidanza flywheel, and stuff I’m sure I’m forgetting.

I then tore into the A543 5-speed trans. I replaced the gearset with an A568 gearset and used the A568 differential to create a bulletproof trans. I mated them together using a Spec Stage-3 6-puck clutch.

I then installed everything in the car and began doing body work again, as I decided the metallic red was no longer cutting it. I gathered Spirit RT gfx, a Lebaron slat grille, and Clear corner and bumper lights. I also decided to build my own cowl hood for it:

I drove it around like this for a couple months while working 70+hrs a week. Over those couple months I also completely rebuilt the suspension, adding KYB struts, Koni shocks, shorter springs, bigger sway bars, a modified Neon strut bar, and a new track bar. Finally caught a break and finished it:

Added a set of wheels and turned it into the product you saw at the top. I ended up selling her when things got tight a while back. I wish I still had it, that’s why I’m building another. ;)

DISCUSSION (23)

vondon302 > Long-Voyager
02/15/2018 at 12:39

Dude your an animal and that’s fricking awesome.

Welcome to Oppo looking forward to more of this crazy stuff you do.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Long-Voyager
02/15/2018 at 12:40

Dude what. That’s amazing.

Ash78, voting early and often > Long-Voyager
02/15/2018 at 12:41

I had to read this slowly to be sure you weren’t just messing with us.

Lee Iacocca would be proud of you.

and 100 more > Long-Voyager
02/15/2018 at 12:46

This needs to be embiggened. Good oppo here!

Long-Voyager > vondon302
02/15/2018 at 12:48

At some point I’ll do a couple more of the 2 vans from start to finish.

I wish I had documented my previous builds more as they would have made great stories.

Long-Voyager > Ash78, voting early and often
02/15/2018 at 12:49

I wouldn’t play about one of my builds. ;)

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Long-Voyager
02/15/2018 at 12:52

Wow.

If you have any wisdom on 80's D100's I’d subscribe to your news letter

vondon302 > Long-Voyager
02/15/2018 at 12:52

Turbo short wheelbase caravans are so much fun. Looking forward to it.

S65 > Long-Voyager
02/15/2018 at 12:53

That’s awesome, I love unusual builds like this.

Long-Voyager > vondon302
02/15/2018 at 12:55

Neither are turbo........

One is 3.8L swapped, the other was a 3.3L with the modern top end.

Long-Voyager > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
02/15/2018 at 12:56

Sadly I do not, not my area of expertise.

Vans are my strongest suit, 80s-early 90s cars are a very close 2nd.

vondon302 > Long-Voyager
02/15/2018 at 13:00

Still fun I bet and still cool.

So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky > Long-Voyager
02/15/2018 at 16:02

My first car was a 91 Dodge Spirit. Didn’t get very far with it, was still in the process of stripping the peeling paint when I crashed it. Moved on to Neons but I remember looking in vain for RT parts. Great build.

Long-Voyager > vondon302
02/15/2018 at 16:15

The 3.3L with the 01-up top end went like crazy. IIRC, the top end swap puts them around 250hp/280ft-lbs, which is very quick in a van that weighs around 3200lbs.

The 3.8L is the engine I feel they should have used in the swb vans to begin with. It has so much torque down low it rarely has to downshift and it can run really low revs cruising, which allows me to average 24mpg in mixed driving. It has enough power to spin my 27x8.5 AT2s through 2nd gear.

Both are a blast to drive.

Doctor of internal combustion > Long-Voyager
02/15/2018 at 16:15

Nice work on the cowl induction hood! I especially like the “import killa” painted on the valve cover of your Mitsubishi-derived V6 :-) JK I had a 94 V6 Shadow ES 2 door 5 speed in college and I absolutely loved that car. I bought it when it was only 2 years old with 20k miles on it. I look for another one on craigslist from time to time...

Long-Voyager > Doctor of internal combustion
02/15/2018 at 16:21

The Import Killa was done to pick on ricers and out of irony.

I’m always searching for nice 90s Mopars.

feather-throttle-not-hair > Long-Voyager
02/15/2018 at 16:55

This is amazing.

When i was a kid, i worked at my local repair shop (mostly just cleaning up) but our ‘rental’ car we’d give to customers if they needed it was a Dodge Shadow of this era. I always thought it was an aggressively bad car, just truly awful. But weirdly....that kind of makes me like what you’re doing here. Because that car needed changes to be made to it. And by golly, it looks like you changed some things.

I dunno, i also just like terrible things sometimes. I own and race a 1976 Pontiac Sunbird, so i’m well versed in loving awful things.

Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW! > Long-Voyager
02/15/2018 at 19:08

DAAAAYUUUUM! I am sorry that you had to sell it. I love the fact that you took such a mundane car and made it a badass car. Looking forward to more posts about the new car.

Long-Voyager > feather-throttle-not-hair
02/16/2018 at 07:12

I may have changed a “few” things ;)

Honestly, I find a lot of enjoyment out of taking a “slow, boring” car and making it fun. I had about $3k tied in this whole build from start to finish, and I was left with a car that could outrun WRXs, FoSTs, etc, while still carrying our 3 kids comfortably, and cracking off 30+mpg.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Long-Voyager
10/04/2019 at 10:51

Doing the intake and exhaust opened up a tremendous amount of top end (probably not tremendous, but extremely noticeable), so that made me start researching.

What did “doing the intake and exhaust” consist of?

What’s your profession? (I may have asked you this before...)

Long_Voyager94 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/23/2020 at 20:44

Shorty intake and full 2.5" exhaust.

I’m a machinist/tool maker by profession now, but I’ve been in auto body, auto repair, and just generally into cars since I was about 10.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Long_Voyager94
10/23/2020 at 21:02

Do you watch PowernationTV? They just took a stock 300 CID Ford inline six and with headers and an Offenhauser intake, plus HEI ignition and roller rockers, took the hosepower from 88 to 160+ and the torques from like 217 to 270. All stock otherwise. That’ll be me with Rusty’s 250 once I get rid of Crappy Vic.

By “shorty intake,” is that something aftermarket? I just don’t know these Chrysler platforms at all.

Long_Voyager94 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/23/2020 at 21:38

I don’t watch tv at all. Lol. I’ve seen some pretty awesome 300 I6 builds though, great engines.

Basically it’s a cone filter on the end of a short 3" pipe tucked behind the battery. The 3.0's stock intake is garbage for both flow and heat, so even a simple in the engine bay intake makes noticeable gains.