1988 Dodge Diplomat

[Doggins]

looks like i will be getting a Diplomat. Anyone have experience with these things its an 1988 with the 318 i think its the 904 trans and a 8 1/4 rear end. I am looking to make it handle better get better gas mileage and HP. I know its asking alot of this car but how would I do it?

wish it was a cop car like this one but its just a grey old lady car. The best thing is it was 300 Bucks at auction.

[MikeyT]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

Their is a great article from Mopar action a few years back that talks about the "Dippy"! It was called the Stealth bomber and they built it up with some suspension teaks. I beleive, also engine stuff too. I'd go look into mopar action articles.

Mike

[PYSCHOWard]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

That should make a FUN cruiser,should be able to find cop car parts somewhere.

[Doggins]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

ya maybe. they made tons of cop cars i think most were probably scrapped and are now chinese harbor freight tools. hopefully I can find a few in junkyards.

[GPSflyer]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

I sold mine a few months ago, I had an 83 Gran Fury AHB package cop car, and an 86 persuit package dippy. The plymouth had really low miles, and it was my daily driver for a long time. The cars are indestructable, I jumped it, powerslides, donuts, J-turns, everything fun you can do in a car and it never gave up. The only reason Im not still daily driving it, is the 12mpg...

Cool cars, and they're not as easy to find as they used to be.

[Knowlesville340]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

I got one as a trade about a dozen years ago.It was an old trooper car,but it was wasted (and,before I got it,had a deer hide left in the trunk,PUKE!!)The only thing I kept was the cop wheels (1 was missing before I got it) It was leaking antifreeze,I think a freeze plug,but I didn't care.YUCK.I had blocked this from my memory and now I can smell it all over again!I never even got into it!I made the junkyard come and pick it up from the dude's house I got it from!

[shaun callaway]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

hopefully you keep the paint scheme. ;D

[BangShift McT]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

Oh man...this has to be my day, lol.

I know the guy who bought Stealth Bomber (picture car) from Marko Radelovic when he sold it to go to ..I think Central America for a research writing job...the guy who bought it scared the shit out of himself the first time he really got into it.

I own one of the few well-known Diplomats...


Meet Warhammer. 360 swap, 4-speed conversion, full AHB car, former Austin detective car, 11" Cordoba front discs, 10" Gran Fury drums on an 8 1/4 rear, full poly front end, more, more than I care to list.

Got a guy with a Magnum 360/A500 in a Fifth Avenue...the one of one '78 318/4-speed T-top...the "Grandpa's Toy" drag '85 Diplomat...a Diplomat rat-rod with a 440 crammed where it shouldn't be...and quite a few cop freaks who love to restore these things.

www.dippy.org/forum2...Good site for info. Hope this helps!

[Knowlesville340]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

that's car's sweet.I love to see 4 speeds in cars that didn't have them from the factory!

[dieselgeek]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

that pic is so badass I feel the need to copy it!! way to go on the oddball buildup. I dig it!

[Doggins]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

Doods I wish that was my car! That is a Mopar Action magazine project car they took to the silver state top speed race thingy.

[BangShift McT]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

Doods I wish that was my car! That is a Mopar Action magazine project car they took to the silver state top speed race thingy.

Yep, the Nevada Silver State Classic, where it posted 5th in class. Stealth Bomber is no joke, the car is nasty, a couple of members got to ride in it when he bought it from Marko, all attest that it's scary quick. The part that makes it cool is that it really doesn't take much to do these cars up right, just a little knowledge, but most people don't want to be different.

As far as your original questions...MPG is easy, you car already will have flyer gears, so ditch the factory exhaust, it's at best extremely restrictive, just do the bare minimum for legality and you'll see both MPG and HP gains. If your car still has the electronic crap commonly referred to as "Lean Burn" (Spark Control, etc..) it's time to ditch it, if it's malfunctioning it's killing HP fast. There is a conversion topic on the dippy.org site. Handling...provided you aren't trying to make this thing do SCCA Pro Solo, a polyurethane bushing kit, brake upgrade, AHB swaybars front and rear, and new shocks should put you where you want to be there. That'll get you a fairly entertaining driver for now, and you can always tweak with the formula for what you want next.

[CudaZappa]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

Handling...provided you aren't trying to make this thing do SCCA Pro Solo, a polyurethane bushing kit, brake upgrade, AHB swaybars front and rear, and new shocks should put you where you want to be there. That'll get you a fairly entertaining driver for now, and you can always tweak with the formula for what you want next.

i can attest that the stock suspension isn't good for Solo (autocross)



these are a great base to start with, and there's TONS of potential. You should have fun with it. Good luck!

BTW: make sure you go over everything Remy said. One other thing I'll add, make sure you have an 8.25, most came with 7.25 rears (stop light cover) and even if its oval (8.25) it still might be packing freeway gears. 7.25s have 2.24s and 8.25s could have 2.45s OR the desirable 2.94s. If you have freeway gears, don't fret. You'll get upper 20s in MPG on trips!! (28mpg in an 83 doba, 318 lean burn stock, 904 non lock up trans, and 2.24s in the 7.25, and 255/60 tires all around)

[Scott Liggett]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

I drove a 88 or 89 ex CHP diplomat while working Yellow Cab in Sacramento. It had the 5.8 liter motor and it flat hauled butt. My boss got rid of the big wide 15 inch rims the cops used and stuck skinny 14's on the car because the tires on a fleet of 92 cars add up. I had trouble not ripping off rubber when I mashed the gas. It handled pretty darn good for it's size, probably would've handled better with the cop spec tires on it instead of the cheapey white walls my boss bought.

The AC was marginal in real heat of the summer and it was not quick to start. Is it just me, or do Mopars have shitty starters? Take forever to fire. Take forever to wind down again so you can hit the key again.

[dulcich]

Re: 1988 Dodge Diplomat

Don't see it, RD, Dippy cop cars only came with the 318: 5.2 and that is it. Your Alzheimer's must be acting up if you remember that car as being a fast tire-shredder.

BTW the Marko Diplomat magazine project car was Mopar Muscle, not Mopar Action.