Iron-head 2.8MPFI Turbo Install / 85 Celebrity

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

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!

LOL I'm not a master - just a guy who thinks an internal combustion engine without a turbo is a real waste of potential!

Here is the LeSabre Grand National build thread. Lots of picts, so have patience with the loading of the pages.

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/threads/lesabre-grand-national-lg3-3-8sfi-engine-speed-density-and-turbo-conversion.383035/

Sincerely,
David

[Purple pit]

They load faster than they do here. Damn pretty looking car.
Dang, starting to feel like both my cars need a turbo. The weak Ecotec sure does!

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

They load faster than they do here. Damn pretty looking car.
Dang, starting to feel like both my cars need a turbo. The weak Ecotec sure does!

Thanks, I also love the looks of the LGN. Wish I could locate one to restore. It is a head-turner. My 1986 Century Grand Sport is also a head-turner but I haven't boosted it... yet.

I can say, having tried a lot of different things on engines, there is really nothing else that can make the same sustainable power increase as a turbo system. The most critical part is the tune of the ECM to match the engine, turbo, intercooler, and injectors together. If you have a good tune, even a leaking pile of junk will make horsepower.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

No Bueno!

Unfortunately, today I had a serious problem happen with Camilla.

For the last few days I've been driving the car around town with wideband system and laptop connected; trying to finish the tune. Today I got the front end aligned and tried to make a road trip to Birmingham (about a 1.5 hours drive). On the interstate, I completed a few WOT pulls, checking for air fuel ratio and checking for detonation. It performed perfectly, and I was very happy with it. Then, about 20 minutes later, the engine started losing oil pressure. I stopped and checked, but the oil is still full. As I returned home, it lost more oil pressure, and it does not sound good. I expect the crankshaft main bearings are burned. Will be pulling the pan and finding the root cause very soon.

I should have gone ahead and made a full overhaul. As they say, hindsight is 20-20. But at the time I was trying to not spend unnecessary money.

It's disappointing, but this is what can happen when working on old cars with unknown history. The mains looked OK when I had the engine open. But there could have been some debris in the block passages, or a casting flaw causing reduced oil flow. It was enough for a stock power output but when run at maximum RPM and full power, it was not adequate.

If the crank is bad, it will get a 3.1 crank / pistons. That will give it a few more CC displacement.

[Purple pit]

Sorry to hear about that.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Sorry to hear about that.

Yeah, thanks. It is bad to have to go into it again; however this will probably open up some more opportunities for the engine which it wouldn't otherwise have.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

I plan to start pulling the engine soon, but I had already some other things in progress. So I washed the interior stuff!

The seats were bad. Very bad. There are marks where baby seats have been strapped in the car. Along with that is a couple gallons of dried Coca Cola syrup in the seats. This took pressure washing to remove. I tried vacuuming with upholstery cleaner and a minimal amount of water. That was ineffective. So out came the Zep Industrial degreaser and the hot water pressure washer. The first of the water came out blackish brown. Nasty! Then after 5 or 10 minutes of constant blasting with hot water - the water was running out clear.

This was what I started with:


There IS still light grey under there!


See the Coca Cola water running out the bottom? This will require pressure washing. The hose and vacuum cleaner will not cut it.


Carpet on the trailer about to get blasted.


Left seat washed, right seat not yet. See the color difference?


Notice the clear water running out? No more Coca Cola.


The water is definately hot. But that gets the funk out!


Seats drying.


Carpet drying:


The carpet is worn, probably from years of use without floormats. But, when floormats are installed, that area will be covered. The brown areas in the middle are the areas which were clamped down by the seat mount points.

The carpet insulation pad (not shown) was wet under the carpet. I am sure this was due to the driver's door alignment from the bushings. I have a heater and fan in there to dry it out before the carpet goes back.

Will be nice and sanitary now. Not the worst I've seen, but close to it.

[1988GTU]

Sure hope that was cola and not something else brown...

Nice work! If I had the $ I'd recruit you to come over and help knock out some tasks with my projects.

So instead, I will focus on updating my tool inventory with stuff to help cut down on labor time lol

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Sure hope that was cola and not something else brown...

Nice work! If I had the $ I'd recruit you to come over and help knock out some tasks with my projects.

So instead, I will focus on updating my tool inventory with stuff to help cut down on labor time lol

LOL about the "something else brown." Been there done that. This one never had an exceptionally bad smell so I think it was cola. I hope it was cola. I am going to operate in the assumption that it was cola to keep from barfing on my computer....

Yep the proper tools are important. I used exactly 4 tools on the seats cleaning job. A Phillips screwdriver, a 13 wrench, an old semi-homebuilt pressure washer, and a sprayer of Zep Ultraconcentrated purple degreaser.

[1988GTU]

LOL about the "something else brown." Been there done that. This one never had an exceptionally bad smell so I think it was cola. I hope it was cola. I am going to operate in the assumption that it was cola to keep from barfing on my computer....

Yep the proper tools are important. I used exactly 4 tools on the seats cleaning job. A Phillips screwdriver, a 13 wrench, an old semi-homebuilt pressure washer, and a sprayer of Zep Ultraconcentrated purple degreaser.

haha, I swear I was referring to cocoa!

My hold up is wiring, blasting metal, welding parts up etc

[Purple pit]

Damn and I thought the baseball field mud that I'm still working to get rid of was bad. It looked like the car had been up to the seats in muddy water. Got that free from the last owner. It seems to go away and then come back. Starting to think about new carpet, I know of a place online that sells OEM cut carpets. If you need the link I'll post it up.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Damn and I thought the baseball field mud that I'm still working to get rid of was bad. It looked like the car had been up to the seats in muddy water. Got that free from the last owner. It seems to go away and then come back. Starting to think about new carpet, I know of a place online that sells OEM cut carpets. If you need the link I'll post it up.

I would love to have that link, when you have time. I've got my work cut out for me with the damaged engine for the next days. But I have lots of old cars that could use new carpet.

I did put the seats and carpet back in the car, as well as the console with power inverter and radio aux cable. It turned out good. Will post pictures later. Now I'm busy getting bench cleared off for an engine teardown.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Ok, got the interior mostly back in the car today. I didn't put the carpet moulding in place because that has to come out to install the door weatherstripping.

First the carpet goes in:


Then the console body. Got the radio aux cable and the power cables in there.


Complete console with inverter control and outlet. Function test with 150W shop light.


Seats back in:




As far as interior restoration, there are only a very few remaining issues. The seatbelts are frayed (both the front ones); the door weatherstripping is debonded; and the headliner fabric is missing but the backing board is good.

Tomorrow I start on pulling out the engine. Will be interested to find out what went wrong.

Here's an engine specific question.

I've read that the 3.4 DOHC engines have a better crank than the standard 3.1 engine. I can get this crank from Advance Auto (Part Number 10570). Is there a way to know if this was really a DOHC crank and not a standard LH0 crank? They list some casting numbers in the description: Casting 981; 924; X153

I plan to make it a 3.1 during the rebuild but want to get the strongest crank I can. Also going to get rid of the super-heavy stock pistons and go with something better since they have to change anyway for the stroke difference.

Thanks in advance for any insight!

Sincerely,
David

[Purple pit]

I would love to have that link, when you have time. I've got my work cut out for me with the damaged engine for the next days. But I have lots of old cars that could use new carpet.

I did put the seats and carpet back in the car, as well as the console with power inverter and radio aux cable. It turned out good. Will post pictures later. Now I'm busy getting bench cleared off for an engine teardown.

http://www.smsautofabrics.com/

Also you can check ACC interors, Custom Carpets and TrimParts(box in the photo on Bnet said made in USA).

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

http://www.smsautofabrics.com/
Also you can check ACC interors, Custom Carpets and TrimParts(box in the photo on Bnet said made in USA).

Excellent, thank you for the link.