PT Cruiser V-6 Conversion!

[2002Gold]

Originally Posted by Mean Green

Oh, I don't know. There's something to be said for a turbo'd 2.4 L motor. My buddy has a '03 GT running over 400 hp and my '05 Neon SRT-4 (same turbo'd motor) is running 350 hp. Nothing like showing a Vette your taillights.

Yes, that's what I meant when I said the Turbo engine holds it's own! It is definately a mean 4 cylinder engine. That is some awesome hp for 4 cylinder engines. I would think the bottom half of those engines must have had some work done! "Amazing". Thank you, Tommy.

[2002Gold]

Originally Posted by CreepyPT

Gold,
Looks like brilliant work to me! 61? Pfft. My grandfather, who am blessed to say is still kicking, is 84, and he'd be thrilled to be able to do anything to his car!
I'd love to stop by occasionally to help, but once I get to the west coast, I can't seem to find the bridge to get to the islands....
I have a fellow down the road with a late 50s Imperial he's working on, with the help of a second Imperial I'm assuming he's using for donor parts. I talked to him once at a stop light in my PT while he was in his very unusual Dodge Ram pickup. I'd love to offer to help him on his project to, but even asuming he remembers me, I'm not sure how to aproach his house and ask!

Anyway, now that I'm done rambling, keep us all updated on your progress, I'd love to see some video of your beast up and running!

Yeah, they have not built a bridge yet to link Hawaii to the Mainland. That would be something! You be surprised, guy's who work on cars, just love to communicate and share their thoughts, and help each other out, whenever possible. I'm willing to bet, that he would really appreciate your coming over and talking story. Make a new friend. Yes, when I'm done, whenever that is, I will make a short video of the car running and share it with you all. Thanks for your support. Aloha, Tommy.

[Mean Green]

Originally Posted by 2002Gold

Yes, that's what I meant when I said the Turbo engine holds it's own! It is definately a mean 4 cylinder engine. That is some awesome hp for 4 cylinder engines. I would think the bottom half of those engines must have had some work done! "Amazing". Thank you, Tommy.

Huge difference between internals in the non turbo 2.4 L and the turbo motor. I know people running up to 600 hp on that stock motor. Can't wait to see your project running.

[2002Gold]

Ok, here is some info I promised you. For those of you who may be thinking of doing a V-8 engine drivetrain application, this may be of some interest to you. The 1st picture below is a shot from inside the passenger side of my 2002 PT Cruiser. This picture is from the 1st drivetrain application that I had installed which was the Chevy 3.8 V-6 from a 1998 Camaro. As you can see, the cut I made on the firewall is all the way up to the bottom of the stock PT Cruiser ac/heater box. I also had to trim off the top two bolt hole mounting stubs from that transmission to clear the firewall cut. Here, you can see that the engine is all the way up against the firewall. Note that the passenger side head from the engine is still not in view. That is because it sits up a little higher on the engine block. This is why I'm suggesting that for those of you who are contemplating a V-8 conversion, I'm quite sure the ac/heater box assembly has to be removed permanently, and your firewall cut has to be made much higher. As you can see from this picture, a portion from the heads of a V-8 engine will end up under the dash. The dash itself does not have to be removed, just various parts from under the dash has to go. I have seen a Hemi engine installed in a PT Cruiser, with the dash remaining, just everything under the dash was removed. Ok, for the 2nd picture. Here is a shot of the bottom of the engine, which shows the wooden mark-up that I was fabricating at that time for the front engine mounts, which includes the mounting brackets for the rack and pinion assembly. The rack and pinion assembly I believe is from a 2002 Dakota truck. When you do a RWD drivetrain application, your steering assembly has to be set-up forward of your wheel hubs. The stock PT Cruiser rack and pinion assembly is located just below the firewall, mounted to the main cross member which is aft of the wheel hubs. You have to make sure that you use a rack and pinion assembly that mounts forward of your wheel hubs. This will get your wheels turning left when you turn your steering wheel to the left, and right when you are turning your steering wheel to the right. ASK ME HOW I KNOW! Yes, I made the mistake of trying to use the stock PT Cruiser rack and pinion assembly, and found out the hard way, when I went to turn the steering wheel to the left, the wheels would rotate to the right, and vise versa. Well, at lease it worked. When you have to do things by yourself, on your own, it is a learning experience. This is good to know info for those who are attempting something like this on your own! Anyway, as you can see from the picture, the engine oil pan can be removed without removing any interferrence. There is more than enough room at the forward portion of the engine oil pan to clear the wooden mark-up crossmember. The 3rd picture, is the finish product of the front engine crossmember from which I followed the measurements from fabricating the wooden mark-up crossmember. The crossmember is made of steel tubing which measures 2" x 2" x 1/4". The green circles are the flanges which bolt to the stock PT Cruiser engine and transmission mount areas, on the driver and passenger side frame area's. The pink circles are where the engine mounts, bolt to, and the red circles are where the rack and pinion assembly bolts to. Ok, the 4th picture is of the front wheel hub mods that I made. That shot is of the driver side after the mod was completed. If you look good, you will notice that the steering arm on the hub assembly is facing forward. That is actually the steering hub assembly from the passenger side of the PT Cruiser. I switched the hubs out so that the steering arms would face forward. This has to be done to keep the steering assembly clear of the engines oil pan. Due to the tight clearances we have to deal with for our PT Cruiser drivetrain conversions, modifications like this become necessary. Ok the 5th and final picture, is a shot from one of the CV Joints that I modified. I utilized only the outer portions of the driver and passenger side CV Joints. Portions of the CV Joints were trimmed off that were not necessary. I then re-installed the CV Joints which will keep the bearing assemblies intact, and the PT Cruiser safe for driving. Hope this helps. Thank you. Aloha, Tommy.

[2002Gold]

Here's a better view of the engine oil pan. This shot gives you a better idea of the clearance between the engine oil pan and the engine mount crossmember. Lots of room to remove the engine oil pan if it becomes necessary. The main cross member at the rear of the engine is not shown in this picture. I have a picture of it posted on Page # 1 at Permalink # 8. Thank you. Aloha, Tommy.

[Mean Green]

Looking most excellent, brah.

[2002Gold]

Originally Posted by Mean Green

Looking most excellent, brah.

I appreciate your comment. Thank you. Aloha, Tommy.

[2002Gold]

For your info! While working on the mod's for the steering hub assemblies, I found what I believe may be a factory design flaw. If you do some research, you will find that Chrysler had, and probably still has problems with ball joint failures on some of their models, which appears to include our PT Cruisers. This is a very serious problem, which can cause serious injuries, or even death, if not corrected. The 1st picture below is of the ball joint from my 2002 PT Cruiser. I had only 19,000 miles when I found this ball joint rubber boot damaged. What happens is, the heat from our brake rotors is transferred to the ball joint boots. This condition can, and in some cases causes the boot to crack, become brittle. It then eventually opens up, exposing the ball joint internals to the elements. The grease that is packed inside the boot eventually dissolves after a period of time leaving the ball joint without lubrication. This condition can and will cause the ball joint to fail. That small factory heat sheild that you see at the outer edge of the ball joint assembly, is the only thing that is suppose to protect the rubber boot, from all that heat that the brake rotor is generating. I don't know how you feel about it, but it seems to me that the rubber boot is getting little to no protection from that heat shield. If you look at the 2nd picture, you will note that the heat shield that I designed, fabricated and installed to protect the ball joints on my 2002 PT Cruiser, offers much more protection from the heat generated from our brake rotors. The 3rd and 4th pictures gives you a better view and understanding of how I designed this heat shield, and how it mounts to the base of the ball joint assemblies from our PT Cruisers. I used some pieces from an aluminum sheet to form the shield. On the inside of the shield I also formed another aluminum piece that has the rounded shape of a channel iron. The outer edge of that channel iron is pop riveted to the heat shield, and the inner edge of the channel iron, is where a standard hose clamp is placed. The heat shield is then positioned at the base of the ball joint housing, then simply tighten on the adjusting screw on the hose clamp with a flat tip screw driver. It only takes about half a minute to install this heat shield. The heat shield shown here of which I fabricated, is just a proto-type. I'm sure the design of a marketed product, would appear much more professional looking. The wonderful thing about the design of this heat shield is that it installs in minutes. Some ball joint heat shields currently on the market require disassembly of the ball joint assembly to install it. Please check your ball joint boots periodically. If it is cracked or damaged in anyway, have it replaced right away! Remember, if your ball joints fail, more than likely it will cause you to lose control of your steering while driving. Good luck. Aloha, Tommy.

[2002Gold]

Finally got the main crossmember brackets fabricated. The crossmember is now in place and the brackets will be welded solid where the red arrows are pointing to, and in other area's not shown in the rear and bottom. After the welding is done, the crossmember will be prepped for painting. The engine compartment will then be prepped for the engine install. Thank you, Tommy.

[RustysTouring]

How, after cutting the front suspension did you keep everything from going out of plumb? I would think also that the stock front suspension, designed for FWD would have to be 'filled in' where the stock halfshafts meet the rotors? Am I missing something? Also my Dakota motor would be an '05 to match my 05 Convertible. My ultimate RWD conversion would involve a Prowler drivetrain although the computer is 99-02. The rear transaxle would seem to be easier with a Convertible since I don't have rear doors to deal with. The tranny shifter on the Prowler is almost identical to the PT's non Autostick shifter in style, size, and appearance. I've been under plenty at car shows
and a good friend has one that I'm always poking around and photographing during this 'feasability' phase of planning. Your project is awesome as a daily driver and the potential of the Buick V6, even a non-turbo is well supported by engine builders everywhere. I'm a big fan of a stock appearing screamer. I also like your interior functioning and looking stock. Anything as well engineered as your project might be able to be duplicated (marketed). Anything that can be debugged, boltted in, and drivable with the right computer ('02 Dakota V6 w/02 PT, 05 Dakota V6 w/05 PT etc.) might sell.
But I digress, have fun with yours. Rusty