Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Mad Mighty Max
I've been contemplating getting a mini-truck. But if I did, I'd probably have to drive it a lot, so it would have to be a fun to drive mini-truck. I did a bit of asking around on the Grassroots Motorsports board, and learned that you can put a Mitsubishi 4G63 in a Mighty Max or Dodge D-50 pickup. For the majority of the population who don't speak Mitsubishi, that's the motor found in the turbo Eclipse, Lancer Evolution, and Galant VR4.
So I decided to search for what's involved with the swap. Turns out the block will bolt right up to the stock motor mounts, and if the truck originally has a 2.0 liter motor, the transmission will bolt up. Biggest sticking point is the throttle body, which would be pointed straight at the firewall unless you modify the manifold. This site has a lot about what you need to put a 4G63 into a Mitsubishi Mighty Max. Apparently with some versions of the Mighty Max, it's also possible to put the 4G63 cylinder head on the original block. I also suspect it's easiest to do this with a '90 or later truck as those models had EFI from the factory. Plumbing up a fuel system on a vehicle that the designers never intended to have EFI can be a real pain... as I'm all to well aware.
While I'm not sure what the odds are that I'll actually try that, this swap has a very appealing combination of cheap and devious.
So I decided to search for what's involved with the swap. Turns out the block will bolt right up to the stock motor mounts, and if the truck originally has a 2.0 liter motor, the transmission will bolt up. Biggest sticking point is the throttle body, which would be pointed straight at the firewall unless you modify the manifold. This site has a lot about what you need to put a 4G63 into a Mitsubishi Mighty Max. Apparently with some versions of the Mighty Max, it's also possible to put the 4G63 cylinder head on the original block. I also suspect it's easiest to do this with a '90 or later truck as those models had EFI from the factory. Plumbing up a fuel system on a vehicle that the designers never intended to have EFI can be a real pain... as I'm all to well aware.
While I'm not sure what the odds are that I'll actually try that, this swap has a very appealing combination of cheap and devious.
