Iron-head 2.8MPFI Turbo Install / 85 Celebrity

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Well, today I got the radiator in, and actually had an opportunity to warm up the engine. It doesn't sound bad at all.

The trans goes in gear with a nice crisp feel, unlike it did before! Will be anxious to see how it shifts out once the car is on its wheels.

There is no air pipework connected to the turbo, so it's blowing air out in the open. You can definately hear it spool up as the engine is revved.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-89shM4hUoM

Hope to get some air pipework done soon!

[Purple pit]

Man that is going to be a fun car! Dreaming of the lotto.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Man that is going to be a fun car! Dreaming of the lotto.

It should be! I installed same turbo on a 2.8 aluminum head engine, in an Olds Cutlass Ciera XC 90th anniversary edition. It is a blast to drive! Hope this one turns out as well.

No lotto needed! These projects aren't that expensive to do, as long as you can do the work yourself. The turbo was used part from junkyard as was much of the other suff.

[Purple pit]

I could do most of it(I'm a bolt on kind of guy), but when it comes to fabing I have to have someone else do it. Well one day it could happen, that is if I don't go back to V8's that is. Still there is a strong "want" for a sleeper. Power seems to come to easy with V8's and there will be many that have more than I can make. That makes it seem pointless to me. You have one of just a few and that makes it worthwhile in my mind.
"Look at that old guy in the old car. Lets race him for the hell of it. Hey, what just happened?" Nothing but tail lights. That is the dream that makes me smile. Even if it only happens once!

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

I could do most of it(I'm a bolt on kind of guy), but when it comes to fabing I have to have someone else do it. Well one day it could happen, that is if I don't go back to V8's that is. Still there is a strong "want" for a sleeper. Power seems to come to easy with V8's and there will be many that have more than I can make. That makes it seem pointless to me. You have one of just a few and that makes it worthwhile in my mind.
"Look at that old guy in the old car. Lets race him for the hell of it. Hey, what just happened?" Nothing but tail lights. That is the dream that makes me smile. Even if it only happens once!

LOL. It would happen more than once! What I have learned is, with a good tune - turbo conversions usually last a long time!

I know what you mean about the late model V8's. They are fast, but "anyone can buy a late model engine" and install it. These modify-what-you-got kind of projects are more interesting and you learn alot! I have an 84 Buick Century with a custom turbo system on an original type Buick 3.8 SFI engine. It is at least 450 HP. The car is only 3000 pounds. As you can imagine, it is a 2-hands-on-wheel, hang on for dear life, rocket ship ride. Love it! I have really disappointed some Mustangs around here.

Today was a day of fabrication! I probably smell like metal dust and welding smoke!

First thing was the exhaust system pipe. This one is the connection between the catalytic converter (if used) and the engine. Because it's significantly larger than the original pipe, I had to remove all the heat shields from under the car. This was to keep the pipe from banging on them. So it had to be insulated to keep from overheating the floorboard and the steering gear. A double leayer of fiberglass wrap and some high temperature aluminum tape takes care of that!


On to the intake side! The original air box snorkle had a pathetic 1.25" inlet hole. That would be a restriction. So I made a 3" inlet setup. It is drawing air from the fender area, which should be cooler air and it doesn't go forward to the crowded area behind the header. The Celebrity has a much tighter header area than the Century.

Pre-paint assembly test.


Area painted and beading installed on the hole.


Airbox installed!


On my other Chevy V6 turbo projects, I've had problems with the air hose popping off the throttle body. The Chevy TB does not have any lip or groove (like the Buick ones do) so the boost pressure blows th ehose off. So I made this jig to groove the TB. That's just a grinding wheel mounted in a drill press. The TB is mounted on a wood block to hold it at a constant height. I just ran the drill press and manually rotated the TB around to create the groove.


The result:


Air hose installed. That's a big hose!


Now onto the charge pipes and intercooler.

Fan support with additional brackets for cooler.


Header fits, after some milling out of areas.


All purdy!


And installed:


With cooler:


Charge pipe from turbo to cooler:


Hose from turbo to charge pipe:


Connected to cooler. Also the other cooler pipe is partially fabricated. Had to make a hump around the auxiliary fan motor.


I got started on fabbing up the charge pipe between the cooler and the TB hose, but ran out of welding wire! So tomorrow will start again on it.


Will have to go to junkyard again. The airbox lid has rust holes in it! This car is full of surprises.

Later,
David

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Got an update today! The air pipework is DONE! Finally had time and opportunity to get that out of the way.

Got the 2 remaining pipes tacked in position:


The pipe from the throttle body down...


Got the mounting position all cleaned up and some beading on the cutout for the pipe.


All the air pipes in.



The pipe is in 2 pieces so that all parts of it can be removed without cutting anything. It would be easier to make it all one piece. But then you would have to cut and weld if anything had to be removed.

Now for this.


It used to sit right where the pipe goes through the car body. Will have to find a new spot for it. Found a place just big enough, near the original location.


Maybe tomorrow I can take it for a test drive!

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Ok - today Camilla is off the jack stands and on her wheels again! I was able to go for a short test drive, but forgot my camera. The engine and trans seem to be working well, just need the usual adjustments. I was hoping to do some adjusting, but the old dryrotted tires are not roadworthy. After about 5 minutes of driving, a HUGE goose-egg came up on the left front tire. I had to hobble it home at about 25 MPH. So there ended my test driving today.

Chris sent a new set of tires, so I will be taking the wheels off the car and taking the wheels and tires to get them changed out.

After getting the car mobile again, first thing I did was wash the areas that I couldn't get to before. The under-cowl area and the area behind the header panel got a good washing!




Then cleaned the cowl and the header, and put them back on.




I had a scare with it today. The engine has water only for coolant so that I don't waste antifreeze, and to flush the system. So any dripping water is cause for alarm. After running the engine for 15 or 20 minutes on the jackstands, I found a huge puddle of water under the car! Waaahh! NO!!! Then I remembered the reason I had been running the engine was to..... charge the air conditioner.

Tomorrow I plan to go to junkyard and try to get some odds and ends for this and other projects. Hope to have a test drive video soon! The engine starts and runs perfectly normal. The turbo sounds good, but I haven't really boosted it up yet because of no tune yet. The trans shifts solidly in all gears, but the pressure is too high, and the modulator is adjusted all the way down. Will have to investigate this. At worst the trans end pan could have to come off (BIG JOB) to get to the valve body. I hope it's the modulator its self. Otherwise the trans shifts great. I like the 3.33 / 35-35 gearing. It really woke up the car. Especially considering it has a bone-stock 4.3 tune.

Sincerely,
David

[Purple pit]

I like my 3.33 FDR, but I think a bit more would be nice. I'm somewhat shocked that you are not going with a cold air intake and a good size K&N for that turbo.
Where did you get that intake hose? Is it 2.75inch?

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

I like my 3.33 FDR, but I think a bit more would be nice. I'm somewhat shocked that you are not going with a cold air intake and a good size K&N for that turbo.
Where did you get that intake hose? Is it 2.75inch?

There's a set of chain sprockets for the 440T4 which have a 33 to 37 ratio. Combined with the 3.33 final drive, the overall ratio is 3.73. As far as I know, that's the "stoutest" gear for the 440T4. When you are dealing with boosted engines, the torque is amazing and a 3.33 is plenty. This engine will make the torque of a small V8. Since it's a street car, I think the 3.33 is enough. It will smoke tires in first gear at will.

That throttle body hose is a Gates radiator hose, part number 20968. It's a touch small, I had to stretch it over the TB. I don't know what it fits, but it is probably a big diesel engine rad hose. I just went in the back of the store with some sketches of what I needed. Then I bought 5 or 6 hoses and returned what I didn't use. I have the part numbers for each hose used on the car. Actually for most all parts exchanged from stock or added to the car. It makes for future maintenence so much easier!

I'm a TRUE BELEIVER in K&N filters. I have them in all my cars. This one will have a K&N inside the factory airbox. The owner and myself like the clean look of the factory airbox. We want this to look like "what GM would have done" if they sold a turbo Eurosport. Really, It is a cold-air intake. It pulls from the fender area.

I'm just trying to get it running and driving so I can start on the fun part - the tune! The transmission modulator pressure is too high, and it is not responding to the modulator. The trans sat for a long time after I built it. I hope something isn't rusted up. If it doesn't start working right after a few more miles, I will have to remove the VB and check it out. That's a awful job on these cars.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Ok, today I did a little interior and electrical work. I need to be sure the warning lights and gauges are working before testing the limits of the engine by trying to tune it.


While I had the dash apart, I found a PERIOD CORRECT radio, with the proper faceplate. So I built that one up (new capacitors and rear AUX input) and installed it.


The bulb was bad for the Check Engine and the OIL warning lights. Probably the Check Engine light was on all the time for the last few years of the car's life! It was all black. The OIL bulb was just bad without any visible signs. All new light bulbs in the cluster. One new warning light is now there. It says "DETONATION." By the way, the rolled up wiring behind the boost and oil gauges is not connected or related to those gauges. That is tied up out of the way because it will go under the carpet eventually.


Detonation is what kills turbocharged engines. This light is connected to an output of the ECM. That output is programmed to give a signal related to the amount of TIMING RETARD caused by detonation. In other words, if the knock sensor is picking up detonation and the ECM is taking out more than a safe amount of timing, this light will come on to warn you to "take your foot out" of the pedal before you melt a piston! Thanks to the mad programming skills of the guys at Code59.org for this feature!


Dash lighting, but my camera sux in low light!


Boost and oil pressure gagues. Fully functional, including the backlighting controlled by the panel dimmer.

[Purple pit]

Oh I thought you were the owner. Oh well that changes very little.
If that hose is 2.75 I could use it on a CAI project for 2.4L.
"What Gm would have done" I like that!

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Oh I thought you were the owner. Oh well that changes very little.

I've done 5 turbo conversions for myself, and 2 for friends, counting this one. Here's a run-down....

1986 Buick Century. My first car I bought with my own money as a kid. 2.8MPFI 60° Ironhead with early MAF system. Engine from 85 Cavalier Z24. Installed a Rajay turbo and junkyard Volvo intercooler. Ran about 9 PSI and had loads of fun with it!

1984 Buick Century Olympia. Junkyard car I restored. Daily driver.
Original engine - Installed draw-through Buick 3.8 system, bolted onto a 3.0 Buick engine, with TBI from a 4.3 Chevy van. Engine died from plastic timing gear failure.

Current engine - 3.8SFI Buick, Turbonetics turbo, Comp 258HR cam, and Code59 3-bar speed-density. Put down a 326HP 380Torque dyno pull, uncorrected on Mustang dyno. It is a beast but it's fun to drive!

1987 Buick Century - Junkyard car I got for almost free with bad timing chain. 3.8SFI engine. Expiriment to see:
-How cheap I could build turbo system. ($600 in every part including used turbo)
-What a "factory stock" engine could take with NO modifications and NO side-effects. It took 5 PSI without any complaints. At about 6 there was detonation because the timing table was maxed out.
-What a "factory stock" engine could take with only chip tuning. At 8 PSI the innjectors were maxxed out. It was very quick at that level. Much faster than I expected for an 8 PSI system.
-What a "factory stock" engine could take with only bigger injectors and chip tuning. At 12 PSI it was more than the transmission could take. So I turned it down to 10 to not damage the car. It is very quick at that level.

1988 Oldsmobile Ciera XC Special Edition. This is the 90th anniversary Olds. 2.8 aluminum head engine. I found this being used for a parts hauler at a junkyard. They were killing her, running her into the ground as a yard car. So I bought the car and paid the yard owner to move the car to the customer parking lot instead of use for a yard car! I installed a used turbo system from a wrecked TGP 3.1, and used a 7730 ECM with $A1 and 2-bar MAP. Running 10 PSI which is all the transmission can take without slipping.

1986 Buick LeSabre Grand National. A friends car. Buick sold 112 of these to qualify the LeSabre for NASCAR. The body is slightly trimmed different, and it has all the same color interior and style as the Regal GN. My friend has a Regal GN and thought the LeSabre was a unique car, but was a GN in name only without a turbo. So I built a system for his 3.8 engine! It's set for about 12 PSI, using Code59 speed-density.

I don't have a business and this is only a hobby. The owner of Camilla is a friend who's another car club member. I'm nervous because he's goin to take it to another state far away, so there can't be issues with it! I'm having to apply my learning from past experiences. There are so many details to these builds, not counting the fact this was a field car and most of the work has been restoration and cleaning. It's no way to make money because the time it takes is so long. My point is, while I don't own this car, this is not my line of work and I am doing this project because I want to!

If that hose is 2.75 I could use it on a CAI project for 2.4L.
"What Gm would have done" I like that!

Yeah, I like the "Factory looking" stuff!

I gave someone a jumpstart in my 3.8SFI Turbo car, and they did not even notice it wasn't stock engine!

I am pretty sure the hose is 2.75" because the TB is 3" and the hose had to stretch over it. When I get back home I'll try to measure the cutoff piece and tell you for certain.

Back to the project Camilla - In the interest of preventing further damage to the car during working on it, I decided to address the drivers' door sagging issue. I hadn't been closing the door all the way because it was super-loose and hitting the body. The reason was obvious. Not "worn" door bushings - MISSING door bushings. The bushings had worn all the way through and crumbled out of the upper hinge.

Missing bushings and pin walked out.


Put a set of stands under the door to hold it up while the pins are out.


I was wrong! HALF of the lower bushing is still there....


New bushings in, and test-fit of the pin.


Because these pins tend to "walk out" I put a groove for an E-clip on the end of each. This will be a secondary safety measure, in addition to the knurled head.


All better now!


Door in alignment. Notice the white foam weatherstripping? Someone noticed the door was not closing properly, so they added weatherstripping to fill the gap caused by door misalignent. You can see where it was hitting the body. Now it's straight and opens / closes smoothly.


The moral to this story - PLEASE OIL YOUR HINGES. Especially the coupes with the big, heavy doors. This is important. I prefer a tacky lubricant like chain/cable lube or open gear lube. It is a heavy oil that stays in place. Things like WD-40 or penetrating oil are worthless here.

The absolute WORST part of this job is the spring for the door detent cam. This spring is very stout and there is no good way to do it. Two prybars get it back in, but it is no fun!


Sincerely,
David

[1988GTU]

S10's (all S series/G bodies) were common for those pins going bad. I usually have had great luck using a syn. u-joint grease mixed with graphite.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

S10's (all S series/G bodies) were common for those pins going bad. I usually have had great luck using a syn. u-joint grease mixed with graphite.

Yeah. I bet so, being those little trucks were worked hard! When you do the grease/graphite, do you mix it and then apply it to the pin before inserting the pin? I haven't used grease on the assembled hinge, thinking it would not "flow" into the places it needs to. That's why I like the sprays which flow like a liquid then dry to a tacky grease after getting into the pin/bushing gap.

[Purple pit]

Oh man I didn't know I was talking to a master. You could write a book on a "factory" stock turbo build!
LeSabre GN? Didn't know they made them. Sure would like to see one in person(or if you have photos that would be nice, someday when you have the time).
Thank you for checking on the hose!