Iron-head 2.8MPFI Turbo Install / 85 Celebrity

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

something to keep in mind: the expansion/flex joints on the manifold crossovers are notorious for failing and at this point in time is more of a "how badly do they leak already" rather than "when will they start".

otherwise, wow.

Thanks! Yes, I've been warned about the crossover joints. This crossover had some damage requiring the sheilding to be removed. This was from a TGP which had a very small fire (someone hooked up a Stereo and they did it themselves....) Other than that, the car would have been very restorable. But they sold it to Pull-A-Part. It had been there for some time and it was picked over. Some idiot at the junkyard had tried to remove the turbocharger by cutting the flange off the crossover with a power saw. I had to weld this point so I removed the sheilding. While that was off, I could see the expansion joints. They actually looked pretty good. There were no cracks at all, actually. I "pressure tested" the exhasut system by putting a rubber sewer expansion plug into the outlet, and putting air into the O2 sensor port. There were a few very small leaks (pinhole) at the joints between the crossiver and the manifolds, but nothing at the expansion joints.

Sincerely,
David

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

OK for today's update!

Got the subframe out for steering gear exchange, and for washing. Found one of the bolts holding the subframe to the car was broken off!


After that, I focused on the A/C evaporator coil. It is full of garbage from sitting in the woods with mouse nests in it.



That would NOT be healthy to breathe!!!

There was even a 22mm snail in there!


Almost the same thing, right?


Then I took off the cowl panel. WOWSERS this is bad!


Vacuum cleaner made quick work of it. I will be washing this area once the car is out of the barn.

The evaporator housing all cleaned up:




After some Zep Purple Degreaser, the evaporator core is sparkling clean.


Inside and out:



All back together:


New steering gear and subframe back in. Looking better.
\

The old cendenser I won't even attempt to clean out. It had a DA6 compressor failure. It send debris all through the system, and there are massive chunks of compressor piston seals in the condenser. It has 2 paths for the refrigerant, so I can't be sure it is flushed clean.


I got the header panel off. One thing is for sure. The Chevy Celebrity has a much less service-friendly front end, than the Century. There are many hidden bolts and bolts in difficult places. More parts to it, I bet it cost a lot more to build.


Hope to go to salvage yard tomorrow and get condenser coil and some other odds and ends. The oil pickup screen did arrive today but I haven't had opportunity to install it.

Tomororw I'm going to be picking up my 86 Buick GS from the painter! Can't wait. It will be nice to have it glossy again and ding-free!

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Well, got done some of what I hoped for.

Got the wiring harness installed on the engine to a pretty good degree, but it may be too close to the exhaust downpipe. Will have to get some harness clips tomorrow, to restrain it safely away from the exhaust.



And it's in there!




As you can see, the rear sparkplugs are wide out in the open for changing!


View through the missing condenser and radiator opening.


The A/C dryer, transmission dipstick, and exhaust downpipe all coexist peacefully!


New home for the battery since its former location is needed for the air filter.


Box in place:


There is still a LOT of electrical work before she's running again. I have yet to re-pin the harness for the new ECM. There are still many details. Will make a little more progress tomorrow, then got to go back to work for a week or 2.

Sincerely,
David

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Oh, forgot one - this showed up fedEx today!

[robertisaar]

i'm kind of jealous of the firewall to engine clearance..... were all of the A-bodies like that?

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

i'm kind of jealous of the firewall to engine clearance..... were all of the A-bodies like that?

Hi Robert. The ones with the iron head 2.8 are mostly like this. This one is especially easy because ... maybe I kind of sort of forgot to re-install the EGR valve and bracket that makes it a LITTLE tougher to access the rear plugs....

The A cars with the mighty 3.8SFI engine are a royal pain to change the rear plugs. The engine is much larger, and the DIS system mounted dorectly over the rear bank.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Very impressive David. Maybe you could help me with my '84 Eurosport and my 2 Cavalier 'verts one day......

Thanks! It's starting to get rewarding at this point. The parts are going back together, all clean, and things are working out. I got the electrical power supply system working today, got the blower motor oiled and re-installed in the clean housing. The blower works smoothly on all speeds, and the clean evaporator flows LOTS of air. The HVAC system will work well.

I'm always open to working on the old cars. When you are ready to wake up one of them, let me know!

As for Camilla, I have a few pictures today. Made a little progress, but mostly just checking out the fitment of the new parts.

Changed the heater core because the old one was plugged inside. I tried to blow air through it and it was badly restricted. Then I remembered how all the other cars I have re-awakened after long time sitting have failed the heater core within 6 months. So I changed it. The new one is better. It's all aluminum (no solder to rot out) and it has more fins in it. So it should be hotter.


The electrical power distribution is done. The large cable with blue protective sleeve is the main rear / front battery connection. The 2 wires going out the front of the connection block are the starter / alternator cable, and the other one (loops back towards rear) is the power feed to the car's original electrical system. Also note in this picture, the belt access should not be too bad. There will be one air pipe crossing over this area but I hope not to have anything else blocking this area.


View from the other side. The 1996 spec radiator and fan fit nicely. This will be a good cooling upgrade. The air conditioner low pressure hose will have to be kept off the fan frame somehow. Or else it will wear a hole.


I was concerned that the auxiliary fan and intercooler might be a hard fit behind the Celebrity front end. I don't think GM ever used the auxiliary fan in the Celebrity. Back during the years when the Celebrity was in production, only the 3.8L engine cars had the auxiliary fan. And the Chevy never had a 3.8 engine. But the mounting points are there and it fits! Also there appears to be room for the intercooler, with some minor notching of the header.


I'll be going to work tomorrow, for 1 or 2 weeks. So Camilla will have to sit for a little while

[carbon]

Great project! Thanks for sharing!

[pocket-rocket]

That should surprise some people, lol. I like it

I can attest to the new heater core. Spent an entire weekend ripping apart the dash in my wifes old 95 Tbird and ended up getting one of those crappy cores, not realizing how bad they sucked. Sadly it only put out enough heat to defrost the windows and not much more to spare. That new one should work like a charm and put out really good heat.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Great project! Thanks for sharing!

You're welcome! I hope to get back home Sunday and start back to work on this one. Need to get the air-side pipework and the electrical finsihed.

That should surprise some people, lol. I like it

I can attest to the new heater core. Spent an entire weekend ripping apart the dash in my wifes old 95 Tbird and ended up getting one of those crappy cores, not realizing how bad they sucked. Sadly it only put out enough heat to defrost the windows and not much more to spare. That new one should work like a charm and put out really good heat...

Yeah! I learned when I put one of those crappy ones in my car and then had to drive to Minnesota in February. It was an unusually cold week, down to -16°F. That heater core was pitiful! I disconnected the A/C compressor clutch and ran "MAX A/C" mode on full hot. That gave some recirculation of the warm air. Other than that, there was no heat.

[1988GTU]

I dont know if its on my end or what, but not all the pictures are loading.

Nifty project, would like to spend more time on something like that again soon.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

I dont know if its on my end or what, but not all the pictures are loading.

Nifty project, would like to spend more time on something like that again soon.

It may be my computer. It only can support 10 connections at once.

I love these projects. They are very rewarding!

[Purple pit]

How did I miss this build? So many strange and cool builds on this site. Love it!

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

How did I miss this build? So many strange and cool builds on this site. Love it!

Yes, I love the build threads here!

You may have missed this one because I had started it on the a-body.net forum, and didn't think to also post it here until the build was almost complete. So a few months of posts came at once!

[Purple pit]

Thank you for posting it up here.