Goonzquad Builds The HELLCAT Redeye Chrysler Pacifica We’ve Wanted

For years, “Chrysler Pacifica HELLCAT when?” has been one of those running Mopar jokes you hear at shows, in YouTube comments, and on forums. Most of us just laugh and move on. Goonzquad didn’t. They went out, bought a flooded 2021 Chrysler Pacifica, found a wrecked Dodge Challenger SRT HELLCAT Redeye donor car, and did the hard part everyone skips: actually making the combo work.

And unlike the wild Rich Rebuilds project we saw at this year’s Woodward Dream Cruise—a Charger HELLCAT Redeye chassis wearing a Chrysler Town & Country body like a costume—this one is the real deal. Underneath, it’s still very much a Pacifica that’s been surgically re-engineered to house a supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI® V8 and send power to the rear wheels.

This isn’t a simple body swap. It’s a genuine HELLCAT Redeye-powered Chrysler minivan.

Turning A Flooded Family Hauler Into A HELL-Raising Project –

The story starts the way a lot of goonzquad builds do: at auction. They picked up a loaded 2021 Chrysler Pacifica that, from 20 feet away, looked like a clean, late-model family hauler. Up close, it was a different story. The van had been flooded, with water intrusion up front and a thoroughly “swamp edition” interior. Mud, grime, and that unmistakable flood-car funk were everywhere.

Cosmetically, the van wasn’t terrible—some front-end damage, a tweaked fender and bumper, but the basic structure was solid. More importantly, the Pacifica’s modern interior, big Uconnect-style screen, and Chrysler steering wheel gave it serious late-model vibes that would pair nicely with a modern performance drivetrain. 

The factory 3.6-liter Pentastar V6, mounted sideways for front-wheel drive (FWD), was never going to stay. They briefly tried to fire it up to do a “before and after” sound comparison, but between a cracked oil pan, flood damage, and mystery issues, it wasn’t worth saving. The Pentastar was yanked, and the van was shipped straight to Top End Fabrication in Rossville, Georgia, for the serious surgery.

The Donor: A Wrecked Challenger SRT HELLCAT Redeye –

On the other side of this equation was a heavily wrecked Challenger SRT HELLCAT Redeye. The car had clearly had a bad day—rolled, cut on, and generally beat up—but the important bits survived. The supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V8, 8-speed automatic transmission, rear subframe, and Brembo®-equipped rear suspension were all salvageable.

Out of the box, a HELLCAT Redeye makes nearly 800 horsepower, a healthy step up from the “standard” 707-horsepower HELLCAT. Dropping that kind of power into an FWD minivan platform was never going to be easy. The Pacifica was designed for transverse engines and FWD (with available AWD), not a big iron-block V8 sitting front-to-back with a driveshaft and rear differential.

That’s where the fabrication marathon begins.

From Front-Wheel Drive To Rear-Wheel Drive –

The big surprise once Top End Fabrication started digging in was just how much room the Pacifica offered in the engine bay. With the stock V6 and subframe out, measurements showed the front of the van actually had more room than a Jeep® Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. The challenge wasn’t fitting the engine—it was everything behind it.

To make space for the HELLCAT Redeye’s transmission and driveshaft, the team cut the chassis from roughly the firewall back, building a new transmission tunnel through the center of the van. Inside, that meant losing the full Stow ‘n Go functionality—those seats no longer disappear into the floor—but amazingly, they were able to keep most of the stock interior in place. From the cabin, it still largely looks like a regular Pacifica, which makes it an even better sleeper.

Up front, they built a fully custom subframe to mount the HELLCAT engine, custom control arms, and a new rack-and-pinion setup. Wilwood front brakes replaced the oversized factory Brembos due to packaging and knuckle constraints, but the van still gets serious stopping power and modern geometry.

In the rear, the stock Challenger SRT HELLCAT Redeye subframe was adapted into the Pacifica’s underbody. That meant cutting a big section of the original floor, fabricating mounting points, and dialing in the width. The result is a rear-drive (RWD) Pacifica with a proper differential, rear coilovers, and the HELLCAT’s rear Brembos hanging out where nobody expects them—under a minivan.

A custom driveshaft, carrier bearing, crossmembers, and even relocated intercooler heat exchangers were all part of the package. There’s also a custom fuel cell in the back, tied into the factory filler location so you still pump gas like a normal van owner—at least until you start it.

“Pacificat”: Widebody, Custom Carbon, And Sleeper Vibes –

Visually, the van is evolving from “flood car with ideas” to something that looks like it could have rolled out of a secret SRT skunkworks. Goonzquad worked with custom body components, including a carbon-fiber hood styled like a Challenger Redeye piece, but designed specifically for the Pacifica front end.

They also sourced a widebody kit that genuinely looks factory. Once painted, it should give the van that OEM+ widebody look you’d expect from a production HELLCAT variant—if Dodge and Chrysler ever actually built one. The fitment around the transplanted Challenger rear suspension is impressively clean and sets up the van nicely for an aggressive stance.

Out back, they went with dual exhaust instead of the originally planned quad tips, keeping it understated but still mean. Between the long taillight strip and the subtle dual-exit exhaust, it has real “Trackhawk meets family hauler” energy.

Inside, the dash and basic layout remain stock Pacifica, but the goal is to integrate HELLCAT cluster and SRT-style controls where possible. The van still has three-row seating, and the vision is clear: a 7-passenger camera car that can keep up with their other builds while shooting rollers—and annihilate unsuspecting traffic when the blower whines.

Wiring Nightmares, Limp Mode Battles, And The Fix –

If the fabrication was the heavy lifting, the wiring and electronics were the mental grind. Getting a modern HELLCAT Redeye powertrain to talk nicely with a late-model Pacifica body and electronics is not a plug-and-play affair.

Goonzquad started with a hybrid approach, marrying the HELLCAT harness and ECU with the Pacifica’s electronics in a way that retained factory functions inside the cabin while allowing the swap to run. At first, they could start the van, but it stayed stuck in limp mode and refused to rev or go into gear correctly.

They tried a standalone transmission harness with its own controller, hoping to separate drivetrain logic from the rest of the van. That harness lit up and technically functioned, but the transmission still wouldn’t cooperate. Adding to the chaos, they discovered the transmission had been running dry because of accident-related damage and a cracked case. No wonder the electronics weren’t happy.

After patching the leak as a temporary fix, refilling the trans, and clearing codes, they made some progress—but the van still kept dropping back into limp mode. Eventually, they traced much of the problem to a damaged supercharger bypass valve actuator. The unit was corroded and sticky, triggering throttle and airflow-related faults.

They robbed a good actuator off another wrecked HELLCAT, installed it, and suddenly the engine would rev cleanly. With the repaired actuator and the original hybrid harness setup back in place, the powertrain and electronics finally played nice. The Pacifica came out of limp mode, went into gear properly, and, most importantly, did a proper burnout.

After all the debugging, seeing this big white minivan light the tires, and fill the area with smoke was the payoff.

What This Build Really Means –

There are plenty of HELLCAT-swapped oddballs out there. But this goonzquad project hits different because of how much of the original Pacifica identity remains.

It’s still a Pacifica shell, still mostly Pacifica inside, but with a genuine HELLCAT Redeye heart, Challenger rear end, and enough custom metalwork underneath to make any fabricator nod in respect. It isn’t just a meme; it’s a functioning proof-of-concept that a modern Chrysler minivan can be turned into a serious RWD performance machine.

And honestly, as a Mopar fan, there’s something perfect about the idea that one day, some unsuspecting muscle car is going to get gapped by a family van with kids’ seats in the back and grocery bags rolling around in the cargo area.