Guest TurboSedan Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 some background info on the TGP VIN 'V' engine i bought: it's a good engine i think/hope, but i've never heard it run. it was at the salvage yard for a bad turbo and the car was abandoned. the instrument clutster read 111,xxx miles. the car was very low on coolant and has some freeze plugs that are obviously leaking. the oil level was full but almost black. no sign of coolant and it didn't smell like gas. could the bad turbo cause this or was the engine probably just neglected? the interior of the car was trashed and the engine was really dirty. busted out back side window. more than likely i'm thinking it *wasn't* a well taken care of car. so here comes some questions i have about what i should do before i start swapping engines... obviosly i'd like to get the engine in ASAP, but i'm wondering what i should replace during this project. i'm going to be changing the valve cover gaskets, TB gasket, oil drive O-ring and plenum gaskets, PVC valve & hose, a crankcase breather filter on front valve cover, and replace all bad vacuum lines, all freeze plugs, timing cover, flush radiator, new oil pump, Walbro 255 fuel pump, repaired crossover pipe, new belts & hoses, gutted cat, remove complete A/C system, new TGP AC Delco plugs for TGP, Magnecore wires, DSM 1g BOV, grainger valve for boost control, and a K&N cone air filter, a custom chip from TGPilot (i hope he still makes those)..... and then just clean the hell out of it with simple green, brakleen, and then take it to the carwash and blast it off. sound ok?... BUT - should i replace the head gaskets? i could also do the lower intake while i was at it i guess. i REALLY DON'T want to take apart the valvetrain and remove pushrods and all that good stuff but i will if it is important. maybe i could even replace the camshaft... i'm only planning on running 10psi max (4-5 psi for starters) and up to 15psi after i get the car all tuned n'stuff. any suggestions much appreciated thanks joshua EDIT: i also need recomendations on a good clutch kit!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fatguy Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Joshua, I have Fel Pro lower intake gasket set (ms 96041) still sealed in the box and a Fel Pro 70208 EGR gasket. I bought these thinking I had an intake leak and it wound up being a plugged CAT. I think I paid like $45 for these and I am negotiable. The ms 96401 has: RTV for manifold end seal O ring TB gasket plenum gaskets lower intake valley pan. about the only other gaskets you would need are head and valve cover gaskets, and injector o rings. Since there were leaking freeze plugs and the engine is out I would replace the head gaskets. By the sounds of it, this engine was incredibly neglected. The corrosion that ate the freeze plugs most deffinately took a tole on the head gaskets as well. Also, when my car sat for a couple of months, I had two lifters stick. I haven't heard of this being much of a problem, but with the sounds of the oil..........!! I'm a big believer in doing it right the first time. I'm in Rapid City, SD and am thinking of heading over to that jy to get the headlight switch out of that car, and anything else I can think of for my TSTE. Too bad mine is burgandy :shock: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 the car was very low on coolant CORRECTION: it was the GTS that was low on coolant. i just pulled the GTS drivetrain a while back. got confused....too many project cars i didn't pull the TSTE engine, but i'll just assume it was full or close to full of coolant i guess :?: i think i'm going to replace my head gaskets. i'll go with new head bolts and chase the threads too. i'll also change the lower intake, and valve seals. you're right, doing it right the first time is really the best way. maybe i'll find a bent pushrod heh heh. but i'm not going so far as to do a cam/lifter/timing chain change! maybe later when i get the motor completely rebuilt with lower compression pistons, T3 turbo, etc. also, i pulled the spark plugs out today and the front 3 were AC Delco R42LTS. they were very very worn but normal wear. the gap was like .055 on 'em! the rear 3 however were practically new AC Delco R44LTSM (same plugs i have in my n/a 3.1). i can't really afford anything for the car at the moment :? but i might PM you down the road about the gaskets. thanks for the offer. btw, the TSTE still had the STE front light bar but it was worn and i think they wanted like $80 for it! WAY too steep. they told me the hood was sold a month ago but it's still there. the instrument cluster (they told me $100....jeeeezzz) and some interior parts, door panels, gfx, that's about it. it had tape player, sunroof, no HUD, and cloth. oh yeah they wanted $350 for the trans and the fluid looked really good. joshua btw i'll be in Rapid City soon to see a Wilco show. woot! EDIT: maybe i can get that headlight switch and whatever else you want from the TSTE when i go see the Wilco show. btw, i have a gray HUD, bracket, all pigtails, dashpad (has hairline cracks), dimmer switch & height adjustment switch from a '91 STE if you are interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Too bad mine is burgandy :shock: that's a good thing! basically the rarest TGP of all..... joshua Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 oh yeah they wanted $350 for the trans and the fluid looked really good.joshua went back up to the TSTE parts car to get more bolts and anything else i might need. somebody in Casper already bought the transmission this week. when i bought the engine, they included the wiring harness, but no ECM. i took a nut driver and an antistatic bag with me and pulled the TSTE chip, then left the ECM in the back seat. pocket fodder is always good hey it's not stealing, i'm recycling.....yeah.... joshua Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92turboLE Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 damn, i was gonna ask you if you could grab the MEMCAL chip for me oh well... anything else that you think i could you, if you could grab it i could re-imburse you - Justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse5302 Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 Too bad mine is burgandy :shock: I hear ya there. Sure sucks having the rarest of the TSTEs... Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse5302 Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 somebody in Casper already bought the transmission this week. You know what the worst part about that is? It was probably sold as a standard 4T60. JYs do that kind of stuff all the time. Hollander exchange doesn't differentiate the TGP trans from a regualr 4T60, so the usually get sold for installation into a non-turbo car. Quite a waste of a good trans! As for gaskets, here's what I would do (and what I did on the engine that went into the Cutlass): -Replace upper and lower intake gaskets -Distributor drive o-ring -Front and rear main seals -Timing cover gasket -Oil pan gasket -Valve cover gaskets -EGR gasket -TB gasket -Oil cooler gaskets -Head gaskets (I didn't do this, but I feel you should) Basically any gasket/seal was replaced. I also bought all new: -Plugs -Wires -Crank sensor -Belt -O2 sensor -PCV -And everything else that I cannot think of right now As for changing the lower intake gasket, it's EASY!! Just loosen the rocker nuts, remove the rockers, remove the pushrods (keep everything in order). Inspect the ends of the pushrods for galling/nicks/wear, and check the pushrods for flatness. Check the two ends of the rockers for wear/nicks, galling. Also check the balls for any problems. Now might be a good time to check for collapsed lifters, or just replace them anyhow (they are like $16 for a set of 8 from a GM dealer). Remove the gasket, clean the surfaces and install the new gasket along with some RTV on the front and rear of the block. Put the pushrods and rockers back in their correct locations, torque the nuts to 18 ft/lbs. Yeah it's a little more work, but you won't have to worry about the valvetrain when you get it installed. Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 I Just did 1.6 rockers on my n/a 3.1L and it wasnt that bad of a project. I just needed rocker studs from an iron headed Gen I 2.8. You might consider the rockers, I should have it running tomorrow, and Ima let everyone know what kinda power I see. With a turbo, the rockers would show bigger gains. Just a suggestion. But, Im with everyone else. Replace every gasket you can, cuz after you get it done, you dont want to have to take it apart a couple of weeks later for a head gasket that blew. JMO Robby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboGTU Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 Rering it. Of both the 2.8 and the '94 3.1 I took apart, the ring lands were full of crap (carbon deposits) that kept the rings from moving and sealing. When I removed the pistons the rings were stuck to the pistons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse5302 Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 Thats not a bad idea either. But, at that point you should probably put new bearings in it as well, then a cam, then a... It really depends on how far you want to go. At the least, you should do all seals/gaskets and check the condition of the oil once it's drained out. If it's full of metal particles and other unknown stuff, you want want to do a full ring/bearing job. If it looks good, without any clumps of crap or anything else (other than the fact that it's very black), you should probably be fine. The TGP engine/turbo I got for the Cutlass had VERY black oil in it, but it wasn't bad otherwise. I put it in and it's been working great ever since. In fact, I'm thinking that the oil was soo black just because it was sitting for almost a year and a half. But a good engine/turbo for $250 with 120k miles can't be beat. Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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