Recently moved to kansas and was given my grandmothers car as transportation. She owned a 1985 buick skyhawk t-type. Pretty sure this is just a j-body. It has a 1.8 turbo engine. I was told this engine is from brazil and doesn't take to performance mods. Is this true? I upped the boost to about 14lbs and don't hear any knock? Car feels alright. But I think it could benefit from a larger turbo, IC, FMU,injectors and alcohol injeciton. Problem is if the motors were crap I don't want to dumo any money into it. The car is in really good shape and has 49k original miless on it. What should I do with it???

Thanks all

Yes its a 1st gen Jbody. And man, that car is AWESOME looking. The t-type skyhawk is pretty rare. It uses the same motor/turbo as the sunbird turbo and i don't know who was telling you they don't respond to mods, there are plenty of sunbird turbos in the 14 to 12second range on stock motors.

If I were you I would keep that in tip top shape cause that is a hard find.

Besides people say the OHV's are crap motors but you can still see them in 13's and 14's. I say go for it.


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Madjack wrote:Like I said before, building an engine like ours (2.2 or 2200) is a painstaking chore , since there is so few custom made parts. It's frustrating to me too, but that's what I like about doing this engine, it's the challenge.

Thats what I like to hear! Anyone know how much power the stock internals can handle? Seems like the head gaskets are the weak link on them. Are there any good aftermarket hg's?

I was thinking a small t3/t4 turbo with a DSM eclipse IC,exhaust and alcohol injection. Only looking for low 14's or so. Should do it no prob if the internals and HG hold up.

why, oh whyyyyyy is this in the verus forum?


-Borsty

Jbody2nr wrote:If I were you I would keep that in tip top shape cause that is a hard find.

Besides people say the OHV's are crap motors but you can still see them in 13's and 14's. I say go for it.

That car has the 1.8 SOHC Turbo.

That'd be my fault. I thought it was the jbody section...

pezed wrote:

Jbody2nr wrote:If I were you I would keep that in tip top shape cause that is a hard find.

Besides people say the OHV's are crap motors but you can still see them in 13's and 14's. I say go for it.

That car has the 1.8 SOHC Turbo.

I know it does I was just emphasizing the fact that people say things like this motor is crap your car is slow when all you gotta do is put in a little effort.


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Madjack wrote:Like I said before, building an engine like ours (2.2 or 2200) is a painstaking chore , since there is so few custom made parts. It's frustrating to me too, but that's what I like about doing this engine, it's the challenge.

The 1.8L only has 150hp and is a less reliable motor.......The 2.0 has 160 hp and 175ftlbs of torque........the 2.0 is much more reliable and more responsive due to its larger displacement.

I heard there is another guy on this board with a similar setup who is running 11 seconds on the track and wiping his @55 with lambos and SRT4s,

P.S. I like it stock, i would take good care of it and hold onto it.



15.71 @ 87.9mph 9-17-05

200 horse is a turn of teh boost knob away. With a larger turbo, IC and alcohol injection 20+lbs re possible on pump gas and 250 Plus wheel HP. But... I don't know if the factory HG,rods,or pistons can take it? Does anyone know what internals are in one of these and what power levels they are good to? Or what compression the motor is? I can't find any specs on the 1.8 T?

7.9:1

the motor is relitively strong... but the topend leaves somthing to bedesired....... its weak.

Chris


'02 Z-24 Supercharged
13.7 @102.45 MPH Third Place, 2007 GMSC Bash SOLD AS OF 01MAR08

Taetsch Z24 wrote:7.9:1

the motor is relitively strong... but the topend leaves somthing to bedesired....... its weak.

Chris

Nice low comp, so it was actually built to be a turbo model and not just slapped on. When you say top end do you mean valvetrain or HG? I assume you mean HG. I was thinking of having the head "o-ringed" I guess it's a simple procedure they use .040 stainless steel wire and cut small channels out of the head for the wire to sit in. Then bolt it together with the stock HG. Suppose to be able to blow out the bottom end before blowing a HG with this mod on turbo buicks. Anyone hear of doing this on the 1.8s?

Also I was looking at the fuel system. Doesn't look to have a fuel press regulator? Anyone know why? I also don't see a MAF of any kind so I;m assuming speed density. What size injectors are on these cars? I have th boost cranked up to 14lbs and don't get any audible detonation. Pulled plugs and they are VERY clean, but not white. I'd like to richen it up a bit with a fuel pump and an FMU set to 2psi of FP for each lb of boost. Unless there is a better way?

Really wish I coudl get some specs on this car somewhere? Anyone have any sources?

that is a awesome clean car. damn.

valve train.... its weak... there known for gernading camshaft bearings and what not....

it uses a MAP... like most ealry GM cars ( smal cars )

use M-1

Chris


'02 Z-24 Supercharged
13.7 @102.45 MPH Third Place, 2007 GMSC Bash SOLD AS OF 01MAR08

right.. how'd you up the boost? unless you have modified the wastegate actuator arm i don't think there is any other way, unless you have a modified ecm. and if you are trying to listen for detonation with your ears... i feel really sorry for that car. and i wouldn't bother trying to 'crank' the boost on that tiny t-2-small... the effieceny on that compressor is pretty much garbage at higher boost levels.


-andy

'88 convt. sunbird GT turbo (project car)
'02 sunfire GT (daily driver)
email me

poke a hole in the air line vacume from the boost regulator to the waste gate she will give you more power. B carefull start small and make the hole bigger if you need

Quote:

right.. how'd you up the boost? unless you have modified the wastegate actuator arm i don't think there is any other way, unless you have a modified ecm.

A modified chip is the best way. Associated spark and fuel tables as well as boost knock handling will not get confused if the boost is increased in the chip. But...

The wastegate signal line is teed into a bleed valve. The bleed valve is pulsed to allow more or less boost to reach the wastegate. Any device which pulses this valve could be used to control boost.

-->Slow

Does anyone make chips for these ECMs? I didn't think they did. I'd like to lower the timing. If they are anything like the Turbo buicks of their times the timing is way to high. The ECM is definatly controlling boost. I have 2 small "T"'s inline with the actuator with 1-way check valves on them. 1st and 2nd gear boost peaks about 14psi and then fades to 10. I wouldn't want to run anymore than that W/O knock sensors/WB etc.

If you're trusting the boost gauge... don't. They're notoriously inaccurate.

You might be able to substitute a T25 or T28 turbo for more fun and excitement.

Intercooling is beneficial especially if increasing boost level.

Don't use audible knock as an indicator of trouble. You're already doing damage by the time you hear it.

Making your own chip is best. I'd switch to the ecm from a later turbo Sunbird. It's faster n better n does more, too. If you are comfortable with wiring you can make an adapter harness to go between the old wiring harness and the later ecm. Then if you still wanted to pay someone else to burn a chip, someone like PontiacJeff who sometimes posts on Darkmuck's site might be able to burn one for you.

HTH
-->Slow

My sunbird has a freshly rebuilt bottom end (no miles yet) and an all new valve train/top end. I am using a .020" headgasket spacer to drop the compression a little more, a MAP bleed at 13PSI and a rebic III additional injector controller to take over with two extra 35lb injectors. I've got fresh aluminum charge pipes with a large front mount intercooler all fed by a new HKS twin ceramic ball bearing T3 turbocharger regulated at 20lbs of boost with an upgraded flap valve and wastegate actuator. The the break in period should start this week. Next week I am taking a trip to visit Brian at exploited where we are making a stainless equal length turbo header. To make a little more room I bought a radiator from a 1990 ford ranger with the 4.0 automatic. It is a perfect size: just as tall as the stock but extra clearance on both sides for charge pipes. It's a two row at about 2" thick. I also deleted the A/C. Right now the only thing keeping it from being driven is the Muncie 282 5-spd swap. Other than that stuff, I've got the N/A 2.0 SOHC throttle body which is a little larger, a full 3" to dual 2.5" exhaust system straight-through from the downpipe-back, a turbo XS type-h RFL BOV and a bunch of autometer gauges to monitor EVERYTHING.

All of my stuff has been done in the last month so searching wont uncover anything, the car isn't even in my registry yet. Just ask me if there is anything you want to know. I know other people have listed what they have done to their SOHC turbo motors on this site. Just run a search for it. Most of my ideas came from other people in my searches.

I hope this helps you out!



Cardomain|Myspace

Sounds like you have a relly nice setup!

But I don't really want to go through and replace everything. I was only going to do a few tastly mods and leave it alone. This isn't my race car it's my daily. I need more info on the stock parts and what they are good for. IE, fuel pump, injectors, Fuel press reg, timing, fuel maps, ETC. like I was saying at first I'm just doing intake exhaust, DIY alky injection and upping boost. I'll see how far that gets me. Later plans might be swapping out for the stock GN turbo (have my old GN turbo in the garage and a stock GN IC), going with bigger injectors and a good HG. But that will be down the road.

thanks!

Well you have to take into consideration that the car only has a two bar map sensor. You can only take your boost so high before it starts to freak out. When I first got my car I raised the boost and kept running into an over-boost problem. It felt like the computer cut spark if the boost went too high. I installed an aftermarket gauge and it was reading 11psi at WOT so spiked probably hit around 15 or 16psi went it cut. The fuel injectors seem to put out every bit of what you need, but the computer is going to be your limiting factor since it controls the injectors. A custom burned chip and a 3-bar map sensor should be everything you need to safely raise the boost. I am only using the Greddy AIC because it is tunable on the fly.
Your fuel pressure regulator should be able to do everything you need it to do. Since the car came turbocharged, there is no real need for adjustability unless you decide on getting larger fuel injectors.
From what I understand, the factory fuel pump will take you to raised boost levels, but I'm not trusting mine for 20lbs of boost. I am putting an in-line fuel pump in to help it out.
My car is a daily driver too, but if you are really worried aout breaking something, you might just want to add an aftermarket blow off valve, an intake, exhaust and maybe turn the boost up a little, then call it a day. Add a front mount intercooler if you raise the boost.
There are a lot more people on here such as slowolej that know a lot more about these cars than I do, but I hope this all helps out!



Cardomain|Myspace