I own a 1985 Pontiac Sunbird Hatchback with the 1.8 turbo engine. The exhaust manifold has small pin sized holes and appears to have been repaired at some point in its lifetime and it just needs to replaced. I am stuck at the moment because of the age of this car and the lack of a parts bin that still has this part in stock. I am pretty sure the 2.0 exhaust manifold won't work properly, so I believe it has to be 1.8 specific.

I have not had any luck at the local wrecking yards and I am sure this part is on some car in some other part of the country. If anyone has some resources to find this part I would be super excited to hear from you. I've been wanting to replace this part ever since I bought the car four years ago.


1985 Sunbird Hatchback | 1991 Sunbird Coupe | 2002 Cavalier LS Sport

Nomad-

I am on my second manifold. I have heard the 2.0 ones are much better (and easier to come buy), but I cannot confirm fitment.

I may have to give it a try if I could find one.. The Exhaust Manifold at the local pull it lot is only $13.00, which is not exactly a huge loss and could sell it here.

Hey, I noticed your Sunbird has the SE/GT hood, I've got a spare one available.

BTW, Thanks.


1985 Sunbird Hatchback | 1991 Sunbird Coupe | 2002 Cavalier LS Sport

Nomad-

It is nice to see a 6 light front end hatch on here. I remember when there were hatches all over. They are pretty few and far between now, especially turbos. You have a rare one.

Does that hood have a good hood liner with the turbo script on it? I would be interested in that...

Just a suggestion after doing a search on auto zone and advance auto parts there is not a exh man for the 1.8 availible.This is my suggestion for you to fix the exh manifold.Buy a product called quick steel sold at walmart,auto zone,advance and u simply cut a piece of the material kneed it (roll it in your hand to mix) and patch the spots and I recomm sanding the areas b4 and apply and make smooth.Let this dry for 10 minutes or more and then sand smooth (I recom let cure over nite based on exp) and this stuff WORKS!!! on exh parts.I used this stuff on my exh ports on a 1977 345 v8 leaking ports to exh man and it fixed it period! Now it took more than one applyication due to me sanding too much etc,but this stuff is the bomb.The more it gets hot the harder it bcomes and seals literally all leaks.Keep in mind the ports I am talking about are on the head and I have NO leaks what so ever.While a used part may help this product has saved me countless times and is by far the best quick fix / welding product out and super cheap like 3.97 or so at walmart in automotive section.That is the best I suggest for the issue at hand.I swear this stuff fixes more than u can imagine.

Paul94Z28 wrote:Nomad-

It is nice to see a 6 light front end hatch on here. I remember when there were hatches all over. They are pretty few and far between now, especially turbos. You have a rare one.

Does that hood have a good hood liner with the turbo script on it? I would be interested in that...

I'll tell you a little history of how I got this car.. In 2003 I began the hunt to find a hatchback for another project and it had to be a Sunbird because of the rear taillights and factory spoiler. There it sat in the dusty parking lot near the edge of the garage of the auto sales / wrecking yard place along side a local highway. I spotted the car on the way to a family gathering and later that week visited them to get more info on the car. It was bad timing and I just could not afford to purchase it. Despite it being a year later, I went back only to find the car not there, but I knew the desk lady owned the car so I just figured they moved it, which was the case sitting out in the land of the automotive graveyard and bought it for 500 bucks after looking it over. I was told the car still ran, but needed some minor repairs and got the car tuned up and started driving it with at least another three-hundred dollars invested into it and honestly it was a bonus to have it still running because I was merely just interested in the chassis. I drove it for nine months before I had some more issues with it and got it repaired again. This car is remarkable due to its condition, which by the way wasn't cared for in the manner that it should have. The interior is trashed (the dash is toast, the flooring is beyond mint, and the seats in the back are a gonner), plus there is damage on the rear panel that will eventually become smooth again.

I have not been able to confirm the source, but I believe that the production of the 1985 Sunbird SE turbo model was the lowest produced in the history of any j-body ever made. Its been too long to remember where I saw the number but I saw the total hatches made in my trim were 535 cars. So yes, its definitely a rare hatchback. What I like most about this model is the glass side panel in between the two glass windows because it just looks so much cleaner than those plastic louvers they used on the base models.

Since this car was not well taken care of, it appears to me at one time a bunch of oil sprayed all over the engine compartment, thus the liner became fragile and started to frail and had a gouge in id. I did salvage the "turbo" insignia but the rest was not recoverable..

I may have a considerable amounts of extra parts later on if you happen to desire rare parts. I really intended on other plans with the car than a complete rebuild the existing setup. Right now its going to be my daily driver until I finalize the repairs on my 1991 Sunbird Coupe.


1985 Sunbird Hatchback | 1991 Sunbird Coupe | 2002 Cavalier LS Sport

nomad i have a 2.0 manifold if it will work. yours for shipping.


watch for flying sparks!!!

I have a good 1.8 manifold which I bought for experimenting but never used. The 1.8 and 2.0 manifolds are different, and bolting the 2.0 manifold to your turbo would likely mean the front exhaust pipe would need modifying. I paid $50 for the 1.8 manifold not including shipping (think it was shipped from Oregon!) I'll sell it to you for the same $50 if you cover shipping back to WA. The manifold should be in great shape ( haven't looked at it in years) and I'm happy to take pictures if you're not in too much of a hurry.

-->Slow

do you still have that 1.8 turbo exhaust manifold? I sure would be interested in it. You can call me at 360-510-5137, or email ne at allante9544@yah00.com Thanks

Tony,

Slowolej has moved on to other cars and does not frequent here very often. If you PM him, maybe he still uses the same email address.
I bought some 5 spd parts off him a few years ago, but lost his phone number.

Tony Veldhuizen wrote:do you still have that 1.8 turbo exhaust manifold? I sure would be interested in it. You can call me at 360-510-5137, or email ne at allante9544@yah00.com Thanks

Try www.car-part.com for a manifold

Doug in P.R.


92 Pontiac Sunbird LE, 2.0, AT, Red / Black with Grey 155K miles. Hurricane Maria Survivor ! ( It takes a licking and keeps on ticking ! ).....in Salinas, Puerto Rico!

If a 1.8 manifold goes bad and one can't be found, what options would I have?

I looked at car-part.com but I have to wonder if I wouldn't simply be setting myself up to buy a bad manifold.

I don't know, but would like to know the differences between the 1.8 and 2.0L turbo manifolds.

A custom one could always be fabricated, and then you wouldn't have to worry about replacing another potentially faulty factory one, but I don't know if you're interested in spending that kind of money.

If the 2.0 ones are in fact a better design, you could probably switch to a complete 2.0 setup. I don't know if that would mean just downpipe or what, but it seems like something could be made to work, it just may take a little extra work. Orientation of turbo hot side could be rotated to help, or maybe an adapter made?

I know the 1.8 and 2.0 are the same at the head/flange but that's all, can't say about turbo setups. I recently swapped exhaust from a 93 2.0 2 door to an 86 1.8 wagon, so things aren't that different overall.


• 86 Skyhawk wagon : 2.0SOHC swap, Megasquirt, 20SEH cam
• 93 Sunbird sedan : 2.0SOHC, Microsquirt, ported head, 10:1
• 88 Sunbird coupe : 2.0SOHC, turbo project car, giant tires

So I could just take a 2.0 manifold ($125 at NAPA), bolt it right on to my 1.8, then get a custom pipe from the manifold to the Cat?

If you're talking about turbo, then I'm not sure, according to what slow said above. The flange at the head is the same though... there may be differences at the turbo flange. Are the turbos in fact the same bolt pattern, or even the same turbo? I don't even know that. And I can't say about any clearance issues it may create, but given how similar things are, I think it would be your best bet if you can't find a 1.8 one.

Maybe you could post up a few pictures of what the 1.8 one looks like. I'm not sure if you could spot any obvious differences using photos, but it's possible. If not, you'd think they'd be pretty close.

When talking about naturally aspirated, (not the topic I know, just thought I'd mention it) I believe they'd just straight up interchange. The only differences I see are the 1.8 has the heating pipe going up to the TBI air cleaner.


• 86 Skyhawk wagon : 2.0SOHC swap, Megasquirt, 20SEH cam
• 93 Sunbird sedan : 2.0SOHC, Microsquirt, ported head, 10:1
• 88 Sunbird coupe : 2.0SOHC, turbo project car, giant tires

Mine isn't turbo...

looks like I can just get the 2.0 manifold--WINNING!

Sorry I got confused who was asking what. Yep. You need one?


• 86 Skyhawk wagon : 2.0SOHC swap, Megasquirt, 20SEH cam
• 93 Sunbird sedan : 2.0SOHC, Microsquirt, ported head, 10:1
• 88 Sunbird coupe : 2.0SOHC, turbo project car, giant tires

drivesa5 wrote:Sorry I got confused who was asking what. Yep. You need one?

not sure if i need one, or if my problem is simply the manifold gasket, or if I just need new bolts/springs to keep that exhaust where it belongs. Hopefully later today I'll get to talk to my mechanic to get the low down on what's up.

Ok, I have a bunch of 2.0 ones kicking around and the 1.8 one also .. which I thought about hanging on to, but I probably will never use it again, so I'm not sure I should bother. Those doughnut gaskets seem to not last too long either, I've had to replace a bunch of them.


• 86 Skyhawk wagon : 2.0SOHC swap, Megasquirt, 20SEH cam
• 93 Sunbird sedan : 2.0SOHC, Microsquirt, ported head, 10:1
• 88 Sunbird coupe : 2.0SOHC, turbo project car, giant tires

Well I do in fact need a manifold.

Since the 2.0 bolts right on to the non-turbo 1.8, I guess there's no reason not to use a 2.0 manifold.

I'm pretty sure the water jacketed turbo of the later cars has a different flange than the original oil cooled turbos, which is why the manifolds won't interchange.

As far as the NA manifold goes, the salvage interchange shows everything from '82 to '94 as applicable. car-part.com shows about a thousand of them available.


-Matt

82 Skyhawk Convertible: https://goo.gl/j7R6Cu
83 P/2K Turbo: http://goo.gl/EVKPX6
86 Firenza Cruiser: "Jack-Wagon" https://goo.gl/bWP2uK
87 Skyhawk Custom: http://goo.gl/krdDeU
90 Sunbird GT: "Turbo-Turd"
93 Sunbird Convertible: "FrankenBird"
(and a pair of Cavaliers I'd rather not talk about)

That makes sense for the turbos & manifold differences Matt, thanks for the info.

Like I said, I think the only real difference I could see is the tube that goes up to the air cleaner for the 1.8. Not necessary though.


• 86 Skyhawk wagon : 2.0SOHC swap, Megasquirt, 20SEH cam
• 93 Sunbird sedan : 2.0SOHC, Microsquirt, ported head, 10:1
• 88 Sunbird coupe : 2.0SOHC, turbo project car, giant tires

I'm about ready to buy the manifold, and just want to be sure I can do this 2.0 normally aspirated manifold onto my 1.8 normally aspirated motor.

Am I correct in understanding from what everyone said, the bolts and port holes line up just fine; but the difference is the tube going up to the air cleaner?

What happens if that tube is left open? Is there flex pipe or something I should use?

Sorry, I just want to make sure I don't waste the money.

From what I can tell, that's the only difference. I can post a picture of them side by side if you want. Bolt holes and ports will all line up. Nothing really seems to happen without it. I have a tubular header on my car, so it's just open.


• 86 Skyhawk wagon : 2.0SOHC swap, Megasquirt, 20SEH cam
• 93 Sunbird sedan : 2.0SOHC, Microsquirt, ported head, 10:1
• 88 Sunbird coupe : 2.0SOHC, turbo project car, giant tires

Excellent! I will buy as soon as my next coupon shows up.