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3K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  Mopar-Mofun 
#1 ·
I wanna drop an srt into my 2001grande caravan. it's been in my girlfriend's family since brand new and I thought it would be fun to put 500 whp into it. I really just need a sense of direction so I can start pricing out the parts and get er done.
 
#2 ·
It would have to be rear wheel drive for that kind of power. Not sure how to do it with that big, tall aluminum crossmember in the way. I've seen pics of V8's put into the older vans 1992-1995, but they have a lower steel crossmember that is easier to cut/weld.
 
#4 ·
Years ago I did some measurements of the engine bay for one of our Gen3 vans (a very similar sized bay is in the Gen4 van as well) and discovered there is just enough room to drop in a modern hemi with modifications to the firewall to clear the longitudinal transmission. The exhaust would have been problematic as it would hang low, and the front suspension would be interesting as well. Then there is electronics to be considered...

All in all, if you budgeted ten to twelve thousand dollars, you might actually get it done.
 
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#5 ·
Hmmm, yeah if you are going RWD with this thing then where is that driveshaft going to go?
Taht being said, there seem to be a bunch of old Chargers and 300C around that you can mess with if you would like to try for fitment. :)
 
#8 ·
I can't speak in terms of compatibility, however, if you get the engine, grab the ECM as well. Will you swap over the transmission too?

Would be a great project if you get it to work properly, but I'd be careful about the factory shaft and such, they probably weren't meant for that much power and torque!
 
#9 ·
Yeah, I never meant to imply using an AWD driveshaft; I'm thinking the best bet would be to pull the entire drivetrain from a Charger or 300C and drop the van down on top of it.
 
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#10 ·
Seems like there's an implication that you'd like to do a Hellcat swap or something along the lines of that, but I assume by "SRT" you mean the Neon SRT4 engine. There is already an existing 4th gen build with an SRT4 swap on YouTube; the guy behind it (search channel "Tricities Racing") has made a little series of videos detailing the build. People have made 500+ whp with SRT4s so your build is definitely doable. Those videos would be a good place to start.

That said, the engine won't bolt into your factory V6 van and you'll have to change a lot of the mounting hardware. Having a 4cyl. donor van would make it a lot easier.
 
#13 ·
Hopefully, the nay-says didn't scare you away. 😁

There are a few Caravans out there with swapped in engines. It's not common though. I've watched a YT vid on a Caravan with an engine swap. The trouble wasn't the engine swap, rather the troubles the race crew had was the power was too much for the drive shaft splines. The drive shaft splines would go smooth after a few track runs and would be shot needing replacement. Yes, it was soooooo cool watching a mini-van chomp on performance Mustangs and other muscle cars, but the price of those drive shafts and the 20mins to change both sides out can be an issue.
 
#15 ·
Now that sir would be the winning solution. Ideally, if one could compare the wheelbase axle distances of another performance vehicle or even a Jeep, doing a body swap would be an easier solution.
 
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