1978–1983 dodge challenger

Dear Mr one bad dodge 71

i believe you got some things mixed up in regards to the 2.2 turbo setups from the 80s. all that stuff was U.S. made and front wheel drive. i used to be an ASE mastertech for a chrysler dealer back during this time.

the MP K member and tranny cross member are very hard to find, and were designed for the front wheel drive K car based cars G body 84 to 93 daytona / 84 to 86 chrysler laser, P body shadow and sundance , J body 87 to 93 lebaron coupe. to convert them to rear wheel drive. these were american made cars.

the dodge challenger from 79 thru 82 and its counterpart the Plymouth Sapporo are already rear wheel drive and were part of chryslers captive imports made by mitsubishi. the mitsubishi MCA Jet 2.6 L 4 cylinder engine is completely different than chryslers own in house designed OHC 2.2 and 2.5 L engines. these captive import challenger / sapporo vehicles share NOTHING with the FWD K car based chryslers.

that being said a 2.2 turbo engine may fit, if you turn it the right way to fit the challenger engine bay, tho its designed as a slant 4 and for a FWD application. the chrysler new process A-555 heavy duty manual gearbox however , is a front wheel drive transaxle. i would know i have 3 of em in my shop. if you went this route you would need to get a RWD gearbox from a 2.5L dodge dakota to mate to the 2.2 turbo engine and run it back to the stock challenger rear end.

if doing a v8 swap the challenger is already RWD so its just a matter of making a V8 fit. motor ears would be the easiest, enlarging the existing tunnel, and putting a better rear end under it.

hope this helps