1987 Dodge Daytona Pacifica - reliable?

[KatDiesel]

Well I stumbled across an 87 Dodge Daytona Pacifica... ...

FWD, Ttops, 5 speed, turbo, 4 cylinder. It has 190k.



Figure this would make a great parts getter and driver for when I break something on the truck, not to mention the 30mpg it should get. No rust, runs great according to the guy. I'm getting it for under $800 ... ... ... checking it out on Friday.



So I am asking those of you that may have owned these cars or been around them... ... ... ... are they reliable... or do they turn into money pits? One of the annoying thing about playing with my truck is I have to drive it everyday... ... . so I can't have it down for any period of time. This will solve that problem.



Thanks

 

[Wayne M.]

U shouldn't pass on it!

Kat, That car right there is one of the most sought after Mopars of the '80's!! And for the asking price- it's a steal if it's in good shape. I have been around these cars and do own a '86 Turbo LeBaron automatic.

If that car is indeed a 5 speed turbo II car (see if it's intercooled) it should have things like rear disc brakes, the better trans, and pacificas were loaded to the gills. with some TLC and a bit o' BOMBING, you could have a 12 second car that can keep up with almost any car in the twisties.

For the most part they are very reliable if they are taken care of, but they do need things like steering racks, head gaskets, and clutches from time to time. In mundane trim, like a K car, there is nothing that can kill 'em. I used to be involved with a fleet of them, and since they were sold due to age, there hasn't been another car in the fleet that was as reliable or easy to work on.

However you will not see 30 MPG. Expect mileage like your CTD, better if you stay out of the turbo.

Look here for BOMBING info

http://www.sdac.org/

 

[glhs]

I have two 87 GLHS Chargers 175hp intercooled stock. The first one I bought had 217000 miles before the turbo blew. It is parked for now . I used it every day and for about 3 autocross races a year. The head gaskets are a weak area. I have bought other fwd turbo Dodges with cheap,reliable service. At 6000' they surprise a lot of people. If that Daytona is intercooled and still has the original engine it would have a forged crank and full floating pistons I beleive. Mine does not. It was a carryover from the 86 GLHS Omni.



Oh yeah my mileage was about 17/30 w/ my first GLHS and about 15/28 @85 with the 2nd. I drive them VERY HARD.

Just a little while ago I took someone for a spin and they asked me if I ever "take it to redline". I laughed and said "yeah... ... whenever I shift".

 

[KatDiesel]

My understanding is the Pacifica comes with the non intercooled engine... ... its a 2. 2 Turbo I I believe (146hp). I'll have to ask him on Friday when I take a look. I KNOW the Shelby Z was intercooled. From what I have found the Pacifica was only available in 87 and 88, and they made over a lil over 7000 of them, they actually made less Pacificas then Shelby Z's.



With the milage on it I wouldn't try to race it unless I went through the motor... ..... I just wanna make sure I wasn't getting into a money pit is all. If its in as good of shape as he makes it sound I'll get it. I do know its got 4 wheel disks, he mentioned that.



Thanks for the replies, and link. It almost sounds as if hes the orginal owner, I'll have to ask him... he said a Dodge dealer has done all the maintence so I can pull records. Not sure if thats good or bad Hehe.

 

[Idaho Native]

Eric, you're kidding... right? If you'd quit BOMBing the diesel, then you wouldn't be needin' a "parts getter":-laf :-laf :-laf

 

[Wayne M.]

After I made my last post I remembered that a friend had a '87 Shelby Z Daytona- that was some car I personally saw that car spank a Monte carlo SS "back in the day". I also drove/ almost bought a Shelby GLHS around then but I missed out.



Kat, I don't think you'll have any regrets if the car was kinda taken care of.

Turbo I is not intercooled and has a small log type intake

Turbo II is intercooled and has a log also, but with runners and was usually black. As glhs states, if all original, has premium parts inside. I guess you could say these engines were the HEMI's of the '80's

 

[glhs]

As long as it's been taken care of it should be o. k. The first thing I do when I get a fwd turbo Dodge is change the oil,fuel filter, spark plugs, wires, cap & rotor, timing belt, transaxle oil, set timing @ 14*, & usually the head gasket. The right side engine mount is also usually broke. If the head gasket has been changed within the last 4 years it's probably o. k. You must always use new head bolts since they are stretch bolts. I use Mopar performance bolts. They are not stretch bolts, cost $15 and I torque them to 90-95 lbs. All above mentioned parts cost about $125 from the dealer minus the motor mount. Hope this helps.

BTW My stock GLHSs weigh 2500#, run 14. 9 @ 95. With Mopar Performance computer (14psi & only $175) they run 14. 5@100.

Hope this helps.

Kurt

 

[KatDiesel]

Originally posted by Idaho Native

Eric, you're kidding... right? If you'd quit BOMBing the diesel, then you wouldn't be needin' a "parts getter":-laf :-laf :-laf

I'll quit when I am done, I define "done" as when it is no longer "fun" anymore. Having an addtional daily driver will make it much easier to play with more things I found this car in the UP want ads and figured i might as well go for it. A secondary benifit is I hope to double my current fuel milage... ... for the drive to work.

 

[KatDiesel]

Originally posted by Wayne M.

Kat, I don't think you'll have any regrets if the car was kinda taken care of.

Turbo I is not intercooled and has a small log type intake

Turbo II is intercooled and has a log also, but with runners and was usually black. As glhs states, if all original, has premium parts inside. I guess you could say these engines were the HEMI's of the '80's

I been doin some reading and I'm figuring its going to be a Turbo I. Thanks for the replies. I'll be looking out for a Turbo II motor in local junk yards for future use.

 

[KatDiesel]

Originally posted by glhs

As long as it's been taken care of it should be o. k. The first thing I do when I get a fwd turbo Dodge is change the oil,fuel filter, spark plugs, wires, cap & rotor, timing belt, transaxle oil, set timing @ 14*, & usually the head gasket. The right side engine mount is also usually broke. If the head gasket has been changed within the last 4 years it's probably o. k. You must always use new head bolts since they are stretch bolts. I use Mopar performance bolts. They are not stretch bolts, cost $15 and I torque them to 90-95 lbs. All above mentioned parts cost about $125 from the dealer minus the motor mount. Hope this helps.

BTW My stock GLHSs weigh 2500#, run 14. 9 @ 95. With Mopar Performance computer (14psi & only $175) they run 14. 5@100.

Hope this helps.

Kurt

It helps tremendously, I had most of that on my list of thinggs to check/change. My main concern would be the timing belt, he stated the car doesn't smoke at all so I am gonna ask if the engine/clutch/transaxle is all orginal.

 

[KatDiesel]

Anyone else looking for information on FWD turbo cars... ..... heres some websites I have stumbled upon or was directed to.



http://www.turbododge.com

http://www.thedodgegarage.com/index.html

http://minimopar.net/index.html