Iron-head 2.8MPFI Turbo Install / 85 Celebrity

[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]

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

[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]

Thank you for posting it up here.

[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]

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

[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!

[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]

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.

[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

[carbon]

Great project! Thanks for sharing!

[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

[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.

[robertisaar]

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

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Oh, forgot one - this showed up fedEx today!