Words to live by.
Ok, so now I've got a van with no engine. It's about a month and a half into the school year, and damnit it sucks not having a car. Back to work we go.
Before all of this, I bought a "good used" Garrett T03 turbo off of someone from turbododge.com. Well, what I got was a T03 that was completely dead, extreme amounts of shaft play.
By the time I notice this, I already have the stock Mitsubishi turbo off of the engine. Too bad a coolant fitting broke off flush to the engine. That's not cool. It's only brass, it should come out easy with an EZ-out. No deal. I took it to a machine shop, and they promptly broke off a section of the coolant part of the intake housing. This is fun!. To top it all off, FWDPerformance.com sent me the wrong turbo lines. They sent mitsu ones, I wanted Garrett.
I decided to let it run only on oil, no coolant. Older turbos used that setup anyway. I'll just let it cool down a few more minutes before each shut-off.
there were a few more problems putting in the engine...We should have taken off the alternator adjusting bracket...BOY did that one give is trouble. Oh, that and we dinged the radiator about a thousand times with it.
Our first shot didn't work out. We tried for about 3 hours to get the engine to line up with the transmission...but to no avail. We couldn't get the splines of the transmission to line up to the splines on the clutch.
Sure enough, in 1992(?) Chrysler changed the input shaft size in their transmissions. SO, the input shaft was too large for the clutch! Boy did I feel like an idiot. I went out and bought the RIGHT ONE. It sure pays to do research.
We called it a night (After having be reported to the police for being too loud THREE times because 30 people showed up at the shop).
the next weekend, we went at it again. This time the new clutch was in.
a little help from mister forklift
and we got the engine in. It wasnt easy...we had to take off the belt pulleys, and angle the transmission upward so the clutch would slide into the shaft of the transmission. 
We were left over with a few bolts. We did check and re-check everything, so I dont think we missed anything. After everything was done, we all went home and slept. We woke up at around 8 AM to finish the job. The Power Steering bracket was a pain... I still havent hooked it up. I will, eventually. 
First went the wiring harness. That was very difficult. I had sent out a 1989 Turbo I harness/computer out to Mark Fink in minnisota, to have it converted to fit my van. There were many un-used connectors. Some of them I found out later I wouldnt need. 
That was a fun day. Knowing everything was finally coming together. 
For giggles, we connected the battery and made sure everything worked. Well, not much did. No interior lights, radio, or horn. All the essentials worked. Headlights, turn sigs, reverse lights, high beams, brake lights...all worked. Thank god for that. Or so we thought. After keeping the engine "on" for a while, we saw smoke rise from the dashboard. I quickly pulled off the positive terminal to assess the damage. 
It seemed to have come from the gauge cluster. After waiting about an hour, we connected everything back up. The gauge cluster seemed to work fine. But the headlights didn't. And the headlight switch didn't smell like it was burnt either. Talk about weird. High beams and dash lights all worked.
We still had alot of random stuff lying around.
The good thing is that the engine turned over. But that's another story.
At around 8:00 PM, after our Burger King break, we decided it was time to fire up. Not so lucky. We knew the fuel pump worked (it shot a 5 foot wave of gasoline onto me earlier), but we hadn't checked for spark. I used the coil from my 94 non turbo engine. That's why it didnt work! Even though the wiring harness had the connector for it, it wanted the older cylindrical style coil instead. I went to the junkyard and got one. I installed it. It now had spark, still didn't run! I tried turning the distributor cap while a friend engaged the starter, and the engine sputtered!
I found out that I didn't do the timing right. I only lined up the cam sprockets, and not the one for the crankshaft. After that was done, I installed the alternator and serpentine belt. That was easy. 
I conjured a boost hose that goes from the turbo to the throttle body. When I got the engine, it never had one. I bought a 2.5" 90 degree piece of pipe (that was meant for exhaust) at autozone. Now let me tell you. This is the most un-mandrel bent piece of exhaust piping I have ever seen. It has a spine for crying out loud.
While waiting for this to be done, my friend Joel welded up the exhaust. It's a 2.5" downpipe, connected to a 3" Catco High Flow catalytic converter and a 3" Dynomax muffler. 
action shot! 
While Joel was working on the exhaust, Kyle started on the gauges. I had originally had it mounted on the top of the cieling, by the visor. But he found a better idea. In the vents!! 
They fit PERFECTLY.
Once everything was said and done, it was time to fire up again.
IT RUNS! Oh happy day!
That was the first of our problems. I didn't do the vacuum lines correctly. The van felt like it had 30 horsepower. Very sluggish. I wasnt getting 4 lbs of boost.
That's about where the story leaves off. I still dont have headlights (only sometimes, when I push the clutch in, talk about a glitch), a radio, interior lights, or a horn. The van also stopped running. Thank god it was right after my 35 mile journey to Home Depot and back. It ran okay, I parked it, and it wouldnt start up again. No fuel or spark. The Automatic Shutdown Relay (ASR) started buzzing, as in it's turning on and off rapidly. I replaced it, same deal. I'm going to get another computer for it. Maybe that will solve my problems. I sure hope so. I need this beast back on the road. I still havent solved my problem as to why it's so sluggish, either. It has no boost up until 4k RPM (estimated, I have no tach), and then takes off. I'm also getting odd boost levels. I have no boost controller booked up (or wastegate solenoid), yet I got the car up to 10 PSI of boost. I should only be getting 1-2 lbs. Disconnecting the wastegate doesnt seem to make a difference. I'll definitely look into it.
UPDATE!11/25/04
The van runs again. It turns out two wires on the injector harness need to be grounded. Still runs horribly. I will re-wire the 02 sensor (connector melted to the exhaust manifold), connect the purge sensor (apparently I need it), and check for boost leaks and hopefully I'll be ready to go.
Special THANKS:
Tony - partner in crime, I used more of your tools than mine!
Joel - Sir Welds-a-lot
Kyle - electronics guru
and to all others involved.
Questions or comments? Email me TwoGsInFaggella@cox.net, or talk to me on AOL instant messenger, under GizmosAndGadget.
