Recently picked up an 87 New Yorker turbo 1 car. It runs ok, but it's a dog till above 3000 rpm. My wife's n/a 2 liter Ford Focus will smoke it from a stand still and I can't have that. I'm looking to add 40-50 hp and just wondering where to start?

Go to http://www.thedodgegarage.com and starting reading the FWD Tech section. Lots of other info out there as well.

The turbo doesn't kick in until about 3300 rpm so keep it in boost if you can...guessing it's an automatic? Easiest trick is to up the boost a bit by using a boost controller, the info to make one cheap is on the site above. Opening up the exhaust will help a ton...larger swing valve, add an intercooler, larger throttle body...then injectors, 3bar MAP and computer would be next.

I would go thru it and make sure everything is working right before you do any mods. it's a 30+ year old car right now and who knows what's been overlooked. I had an 89 Voyager turbo that someone transplanted a 2.2 T1 into it and it would get up and go ok, so I suspect you might have some issues.

Once that's all done, there are a few things you can do to up the power, depending on how much time and effort and money you have to spend.

Google Gus Mahon to see how we did it back in the day

The very first step in these cars is to inspect the fuel hoses from the firewall to the engine. Don't burn down the car.

Next step is to replace all the cracked and broken vacuum lines.

After those things are done you can look at Gus Mahon's site or question Gary and see how we used to hot rod them.

With the automatic the ecu doesn't try to build as much boost at low rpm. In stock form even the stick shift models don't build boost as quickly at low rpms as they are capable of with a manual boost controller. I would start first by checking over the vacuum lines thoroughly. The toughest thing with these cars is finding one where the vacuum lines haven't been butchered by guys trying to get more power out of them.

Turbo 1 cars are 142hp on a good day and most of that power is in the 3,000-4,500 rpm range. They're also limited to 7psi boost.

As others have suggested, give it the old Turbo-Dodge tuneup, make sure the timing is where it's supposed to be, check all the vacuum lines and change the spark plugs. Most Turbo Dodges love to foul spark plugs - especially if a previous owner used the wrong ones.

Put a boost guage on it to see what your getting now.

http://www.gusmahon.org/index_main.htm
http://www.gusmahon.org/html/tech%20diagrams.htm

Been a long time since I looked at the web site, but I liked how simple some mods were, like increasing fuel pressure by crushing the regulator, and adding a bleed to the turbo wastegate.

I didn't realize Gus' site was still up, been a while since I looked at it too. RIP Gus.

I went over his site a little while back. A lot of people are grateful that his widow keeps it up and running.

I appear to be having some fuel delivery problems. I guess my first step is to replace the filter and all the fuel and vacuum lines. I was told by a Chrysler tech, to keep a spare hall effect switch in my glovebox. Now, if I could just get the wire hubcaps of this thing, I could put new tires on it.

The problem with the hall effect pick-up is caused by the bushings in the distributor being worn and oil travelling up the distributor shaft. Just changing out the pick-up won't fix the problem, you have to replace the whole distributor.

That, and piss-poor Quality control on new/replacement Hall effect connectors. I'd been chasing an ignition failure on my Shelby that I traced back to simply being a poor connection to the hall-effect. Splaying out the pins so they bit into the connectors on the harness side gave a much more positive contact. I also sealed them with heat shrink to make sure they don't pull apart.

The real sad part about these cars is they've gotten to the age when NOS parts no longer exist and it's all about either making do with other parts or salvaging other cars for good bits.

Oh sure, there's plenty of off-the-shelf motor bits and wear items; but little else.

Why the Hall Effect Pickups (HEPs) fail; other symptoms

by “ImperialCrown”

One of the greatest early HEP-killers were cheap distributor rotors that didn't have the reluctor vanes grounded through a center tab to the distributor shaft. Inside the distributor on a running engine, it looked like a lightning storm with sparks scattering around. Some of this high-voltage electricit hits the reluctor vanes and should be taken right to engine ground — but without a grounding tab on the rotor, some jumps from the rotor vanes to the HEP, which can eventually kill it. The high voltage power can also travel up from the HEP to the computer; while it has some protections against transients, reverse polarity, and over-voltage, it might get through the protections and damage sensitive things.

If you pull the rotor off, look at the underside where it fits over the distributor shaft. Make sure that there is a metal tab that connects the reluctor vanes to the hole that slips over the distributor shaft for a ground connection. The rotor should fit snugly to the shaft. Later distributors mounted the vanes underneath the HEP and that greatly reduced this failure from happening.

Non-Mopar parts may not meet the specs or standards required to operate long, or at all. This has happened to me. Your replacement Hall Effect Pickup doesn’t have to be Mopar brand, but it should definitely be described as an OEM-replacement part somewhere on the box.

Everything I've researched about why HEP's go bad says nothing about the distributors going belly up. I've owned 5 turbo cars, some of them with high miles on them and never seen a distributor with oil in it. I just bought a parts car that was diagnosed with a faulty HEP and there is not even the slightest trace of oil in it and the bushings are tight. I think I will have to call BS on on your statement.

Duffman, please accept my apology for calling your statement BS. I have continued to do research on turbo distributors and their problems. I'm not sure if Chrysler improved the design in later units but, the earlier ones did indeed have crappy bushings. Again, I apologize for my attitude and response.

Anything yow need to know or need,go here,they were recommended by Chrysler for any performance turbo upgrades.

http://www.forwardmotioninc.com