Dodge produced 300 Shadows in 1989 with the "Competition Package" equipment group. The competition package was option code ANA on the build sheet, and was basically a stripped down performance car. The Competition Package cars all came with 150hp 2.5 liter Turbo 1 engine and 5 spd manual transmission. The body was available in all the Shadow ES colors, and came with a turbo bulge hood and rear spoiler. The Comp. Pkg. cars left off all the heavy options that were standard on an ES model. There were no ground effects, fog lights or power mirrors. The interior came with the low back buckets from the base model Shadow, there was no armrest, no power seats or windows, not even rear defrost. A/C was available as an option. The 15" Pumper style wheels came standard and were stopped by the bigger ES brakes. The suspension was all off the shelf ES parts, front and rear sway bars and "firm feel" steering. The Competition Package was also produced in much smaller numbers for 1990, featuring the VNT turbo engine.
I bought this car in Jan of 2000 from Chad Lyons (aka MoparChad) in Muncie Indiana. I had never heard of a Competition Package on a shadow at the time. I liked the car because it didn't have a ton of options but still had the turbo engine and 5 spd trans. It reminded me of a modern day Roadrunner.
The engine ran when I picked it up, but not very well. We figured it was a blown headgasket because it wasn't making power on cyllinders 1 and 2. My thought was that I could swap in a headgasket quick and have a nice daily driver.
The interior was in rough shape with the ugly base shadow seats. The carpet was worn out and the headliner was sagging. I won't even try to describe what it smelled like in there. Luckily Chad included a complete 89 shadow ES interior with the deal, which I installed most of later.
I got the car home on a Sunday night and pulled the head off Monday after work. I was a little suprised at what I found. This is where a weekend project turns into a year long challenge.
The #1 piston was trashed, with a large chunk of the ring land missing, and some signs of serious detonation. #2 piston didn't look much better. Of course the head gasket was blown, but that was the least of my worries now. Luckily the cylinder walls looked great, and still had the crosshatch on them at 160k miles.
No, this is not the spark plug picture from the Chilton's manual. This was the plug from #1 cylinder, talk about foreign object damage, looks like it was hit by a Civic.
The head was also trashed, the aluminum particles from the piston had given the combustion chamber a nice rough finish. I decided to rebuild the engine and swap on a different head. The rest of the engine came out later that week and it went on the stand for disassembly. The turbo had a lot of free play on the shaft so it was put on the to be replaced list. I stripped the block down and brought the parts down to my local machine shop. After measuring the crank it was found to have too much endplay, so a good crank was found in a friend's basement (thanks Paul). Paul also came up with a good cylinder head for me. I ordered a Garret turbo to replace the stock Mitsubishi unit from Turbonetics. They sell a kit that includes all the oil and coolant lines needed to swap the Garret turbo in, plus there was no core charge.
By August of 2000 I had the parts back form the machine shop and the long block was assembled. The block was bored out, and new pistons were put in. I removed the balance shafts, and installed a hex plug in the oil feed hole. The entire lower end was balanced, including the pressure plate. A new oil pump, bearings and seals were also installed. The head was reconditioned with new seals and a valve job. A new cam, followers, and lash adjusters replaced the high mileage originals. All the clearances were double checked before I assembled the engine, and everything went together great.
Time is not always my freind, and due other happenings in my life it took until January of 2001 to get the rest of the engine together. I used a TII intake and valve cover to help dress up the engine bay. The exhaust manifold was ported and Jet-Hot coated (still looks great after 4000 miles). The turbo and lines were installed, and on 01/01/01 the engine went in the car.
The install of the engine went smoothly, and the car sat in the garage for a few months while I worked on cleaning the rest of the car up. Finally sometime in April the engine was actually started for the first time. After priming the oil system it started on the first try and settled into a nice smooth idle. I let it warm up and checked for leaks before setting the timing. The engine was running great, but there was still some other work needed before I could drive the car.
During the next couple of months I cleaned up the interior, repainting all the red plastic parts and installing the 89 ES seats and door panel. A full complement of autometer guages was installed with oil, fuel, and temp guages in the dash, and boost and air/ fuel guages in a pillar pod. The stock am/fm stereo was replaced with an Alpine head unit powering Boston speakers in the doors and rear hatch, bass was added by a Bazooka subwoofer in the trunk. New carpeting from ACC was installed along with a new headliner.
The suspension and brakes got some attention also, both front wheel bearings were replaced as were both front axles. New rotors, calipers and pads were also installed with the calipers painted black. The rear brakes were inspected and had lots of life left so they were just cleaned and re-adjusted. The rear shocks were shot so a pair of Mopar Performance shocks were mounted in their place.
I mounted an Isuzu Impulse intercooler up front by running the hoses throught the core support next to the radiator. The installation required a little trimming but fit nicley and is very stealthy. The stock airbox was removed and a K&N cone filter is currently being used.
By June of 2001 the car was put into use as my daily driver. I was able to bring it to two car shows and took third place in the FWD modified class at the Belvedere Mopar show on June 24th. The pictures below are from the summer of 2001.
Update: 2/25/04
This page hasn't been updated in a while, in the past 3 years this car has served as my daily driver and has aquired 20,000 miles on the rebuilt engine with the only repair being replacement of the original now 175k mile alternator. A radiator, intercooler and airbox from a Shelby CSX have been installed and the Isuzu impulse unit that was being used was removed. The car has received a few additional upgrades, Koni shocks and struts keep the suspension in control while a set of springs from an 89 CSX lower the car a little and firm things up a bit. A strut tower brace from fwd performance helps out as well. The car still wears the 16" "pumper" wheels which are currently shod with Kuhmo tires. A 205/50/16 tire gives me roughly the same diameter as the stock 195/50/15 tires had so the speedometer is correct. I've taken the car to many local shows and have come home with quite a few trophies.
3rd place fwd modified, July 2001: Belvedere Mopar Happening
1st place fwd modified, May 2002: Mopower Madness Show sponsored by Koller Dodge
1st place fwd modified, July 2002: Belvedere Mopar Happening
3rd place fwd modified, May 2003: Mopower Madness Show sponsored by Koller Dodge
1st place fwd modified, July 2003: Belvedere Mopar Happening
Got a little wet at the 2003 Belvedere Mopar Happening, but it was still a great time. The car won first place in it's class (fwd modified) at that show
