A quick glamor shot

Over the past few days I've been scrubbing up the parts that didn't make it to the machine shop for cleaning, and painting a few of them. For your enjoyment, here's my valve cover as it is now:

The lighting was poor so you can't tell that it's not black, but Duplicolor "Cast Coat Iron" engine enamel. It's the same colour as the block is, and the intake manifold will be.

The joys of cleaning aluminum

After being quoted $50 per part for bead blasting, I chose to clean my parts myself. The intake, water pump, and the alternator/AC bracket are cast aluminum and were all pretty grimy.

When disassembling the water pump I snapped one of the bolts off in the housing. Yay. I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

No longer headless

I finished up with scrubbing and painting the oil pan, so I put that on today so I could flip the engine upright again without making a huge mess. I think it looks much better than it did before, don't you? Its oil-containing ability is also much better.


After flipping the engine upright I chased the threads for the headbolts with an old headbolt (re-using these bolts is usually not recommended unless you like changing headgaskets and planing heads on a regular basis) which I cut thin slots into with a Dremel, and after oiling the bolt ran it in to each bolt hole, unscrewed it, cleaned it, repeat until I could thread it in and out all the way with my fingers and the bolt comes out clean. I removed a bit of rust from 4 of the holes, the others came up clean.

This is the last time the pistons will see daylight. I love the reflection on the cylinder walls.

The head went on today as well, I used a Mopar Performance "2006" headgasket and Mopar Performance headbolts.


The manifolds didn't go on today like I hoped because the intake is being more difficult to clean than I thought. Tomorrow I think I'm just going to try a powerwasher on it. I know I could still just slap it on and run it, this isn't a show car, blah blah blah... but I want it to at least be clean and nice looking when I get it all together the first time, so it will be easier to keep clean later.

Drawing ever closer...

I ordered my fuel pump today, the online vendor I was planning to buy it from put it on sale for $23 less, I had to jump on that.

More work, again no photos

Okay, I really did intend to take the camera with me tonight but forgot. It's really too bad since I never did get a shot of the bare head as it came back from the machine shop, it did look quite impressive. Tonight I was going to put on my freshly welded up oil pan (thanks Mr. D!) but when I opened the trash bag it was in I realized I had forgotten just how grimy it was (along with the rest of the engine originally) so I set to work degreasing it. I probably should shoot some paint on the welded area anyway to prevent rust. That proved to be quite difficult, and as I left it to soak in degreaser I started to assemble the head.

Starting resulted in finishing. I get carried away so easily.

Progress continues, sans photos

Today I made some good progress, I'm back up to having a shortblock. No photos, was too busy assembling and besides, my hands were too oily to handle the camera.

Slow and not all that steady

Well, my progress has been halted by 1) waiting for a replacement rod bearing to arrive and 2) things in life beyond my control. Both of those are now out of the way, maybe I can actually get working on this thing.

About freaking time

Well, I finally got the call from the machine shop saying everything's ready, but for quite a bit more money than I was expecting. Not wanting to wait much longer, and generally preferring to avoid conflict, I just paid the man and picked it all up.

No, that doesn't mean you can push me around... all the time.

Anyway, I have all the parts in the garage again, and I've been slacking a bit on the photographic side of things. Hopefully I'll partly rectify that tonight. All you've missed was painting the block, installing the crankshaft and assembling the pistons to the rods. I didn't put the pistons in yet as one of my rod bearings came to me damaged and I'm waiting for another one to get here.

And more time passes

The machine shop is still holding my parts hostage. They never did call me about the condition of everything, I had to call them 4 weeks later on a job they said would take 1 week, just cleaning and measuring everything.

I was told it needed far more work than I was prepared to do, and after some discussion it came out that it wasn't "needed" but "suggested" or "a good way to line the machinist's pockets". The work that was necessary included valve guides and a valve job, and planing the head and block deck. I was told that entire process would take 3 days. Now 2 weeks later and they're still not done...

(Im)patiently waiting...

It's been a while since the last post, I'll try to stay more on top of things. The block, head, pistons/rods and crankshaft are at a machine shop at the moment, I'm waiting to hear the full report on the condition of everything.

Turbo engine overhaul Part 2

Balance shafts are off, pistons are out. In order to get the balance shafts off I needed to get the front seal retainer off so I could access the sprocket and chain, and in order to get the front seal retainer off I needed to get the timing sprocket off.

For some reason known only to an evil Chrysler engineer who's probably still cackling about it, there was a transition from 4 to 5 bolts that hold the accessory drive pulley. With 4 bolts it's easy to use a standard steering wheel puller. With 5 it's more difficult. Here's what I rigged up: I unscrewed the crank sprocket bolt some, bolted the pulley to the sprocket with longer bolts - in this case, the bolts from the intake manifold. The box end wrench is on a nut that has a bolt threaded through it, which is pressing against the head of the crank bolt. There's also a thick washer on there that prevents the nut from just going through the centre hole in the pulley. Holding the nut and tightening the bolt draws the sprocket off. Quick and dirty but it worked.

Once I got the seal retainer off I was faced with another challenge. E-torx bolts on the balance shaft chain sprocket. Turns out a 1/4 inch socket fits closely enough to get those out, then the balance shaft assembly comes off easily giving clear access to the main and connecting rod caps.

All of the rod bearings and journals are in excellent shape. I'm going to replace the bearings regardless. The connecting rods and wrist pins are in good shape, and the pistons, while they can use a good scrubbing, also look pretty good.

The next step is going to be removal of the crankshaft, then the long, slow process of cleaning and inspecting everything, while I save up a little cash to buy the replacement parts.

I can see why these pistons are often referred to as "tuna cans". Nice to see the forged connecting rods and standard size bearings too. Overall I'm happy with the condition inside the engine.

The question everyone seems to be asking...

"Why a LeBaron?"

The answer to this is simple: It's an easy to find domestic convertible that's easy to work on, and I've always liked them. Here's how this breaks down:

1) easy to find: this one is obvious. Cars that are easy to find are easy to find parts for, and can generally be bought cheap in the first place. LeBarons are derived from the K-car, along with 95% of Chrysler's lineup at the time. This makes parts and parts cars plentiful.

2) domestic: again, this makes the cost of parts lower.

3) convertible: need I say more?

4) easy to work on: as much as you might not want to hear it, K-cars and their derivatives are by far the easiest FWD cars to work on. Ever.

5) I've always liked them: now that's the part that really matters, right?

Turbo engine overhaul Part 1

To make a long story (the first post) short, I'm upgrading a base model 1989 Chrysler LeBaron Convertible to a 2.5L turbo engine and the a520 manual transaxle from the 2.5L TBI and a413 3-speed automatic.

Not that there's anything wrong with that combination. It will likely run forever if you keep oil in it. It's just a little slow for a car this heavy, and therefore boring.

I'm currently in the process of checking the junkyard engine over. It's up on a stand in a friend's garage, where I've torn it down to the shortblock so far. Some observations:

1) Someone's been in this engine before me. I'm not yet sure if that's good or bad. I know this because:

a) the intermediate shaft sprocket mark was mis-aligned according to the other timing sprockets by about 90 degrees. That tells me that someone's at least had the oil pump out at some point.

b) The plated links do not match up with the dots on the balance shafts. That's not the end of the world, but that's not how it would have come from the factory. And no, the balance shafts do not need to be removed to remove the oil pump, and vice versa.

2) This engine is also not original to the donor car. Both the engine block and the transmission case have "89 Dodge 2.5" written on them in paint marker. I'm now dealing with a combination of unknown mileage. Again I don't know if that's good or bad.

3) It looks like this engine might have relatively few kilometers, or at least few kilometers since someone was last in there. Check out that crosshatch!

4) I'm going to use anti-seize compound and stainless fasteners wherever I can. Half of the exhaust manifold studs came out of the head with the nuts, and the exhaust manifold-to-turbo nuts were quite tough. I had a clear shot at 2 of them with the impact gun (which is possibly my favourite tool of them all) but the other two were much more difficult. After soaking for days in penetrating oil, a little ingenuity, a lot of grunting and a shiny new 15mm wrench with lifetime warranty (50% off Mastercraft Maximum wrench sets after Boxing Week!) later, I got the other 2 nuts off.

5) The people at Buck's are F'n A-holes. Yup, I said it. How lazy do you have to be? I think it would actually take less effort to remove the drain bolt from the pan. The location of that hole didn't even drain all the oil out anyway. My plan to deal with this is to pound it out as flat as possible, then either a) get it welded back up or b) jam a bolt through it and give it a nice gob of JB Weld. I would prefer the first option, but I don't exactly have a welder in my back pocket.

6) The turbo is in good shape. There is no in/out shaft play, and minimal (read: about .005" or less) side-to-side play. So much for a good excuse to upgrade to a larger one. The Mitsubishi TE04H that came stock on the 88+ Turbo I engines is pretty small, although it does spool quickly and seem to be good at least to 14 PSI, which I don't plan to exceed anyway.

I don't have more photos showing exactly how far I got at the moment, but like I said I have it down to shortblock right now. I still intend to pull the pistons, and start the slow process of getting everything cleaned. I'm trying to determine where, if anywhere, to take the block to get it checked over, cleaned, honed, etc. as well as the head. At bare minimum I'm going to scrub everything up myself and give a good visual inspection. There were no signs of headgasket failure, past, present, or near future, but I will still check the block deck and head for warpage. There are the usual minute cracks between the valve seats, which seem to be unavoidable on these engines.

When the time comes to re-assemble I'm going to be replacing every seal, plug, o-ring and gasket, along with new rings, main and rod bearings. New oil feed line for the turbo, and new vacuum and fuel hoses. I'll add other parts to this list as I find them to require replacement.

That's all for now, more updates as I feel like posting them.

In the beginning...

Sorry that is post is going to be a little long-winded, but here's all the background story for the rest of this blog:

In April of 2007 my wife and I determined we needed a second car. I had a job where I needed a vehicle at work every day, so it made it difficult for her to either a) be called in to work or b) go shopping, etc. We found a few cars that were more rust than car or barely ran. Then one day my wife happened to mention to a co-worker that we were looking and she said she had an 89 LeBaron convertible sitting on her driveway she wanted to get rid of.

My wife called me and told me about that and I was more or less sold right then. I've always loved the J-bodies, and wanted a convertible for years.

We went out to go see it one night. That time of year it was still getting dark early. The battery was drained so they had put it on charge that afternoon. We did the usual walk-around and poked and prodded at the imperfections like the rust spots and the splits in the top.

The previous owners told us it sat on the driveway for so long because of suspected transmission issues, and that the problem was described to them as a bearing in the differential. I took the car for a quick test drive and felt the shudder they told me about. It was pretty bad. It felt like I was constantly driving on a washboard road. I was a little disappointed and drove back to their house. Then I got out and I saw the "donut spare" was on the front. That didn't help matters, I'm sure.

We left that night saying we'd think about it. I was a little turned off, but it stayed in the back of my mind. Finally a week later it had tortured me enough that I had to go pick it up. I went back with a friend of mine who could give me a second opinion. After his thumbs-up we took it for another test drive, offered the owner a little less than the asking price, and took her home.

183,000 miles on the clock, on an engine rebuilt 70,000 miles ago, supposedly. There is the usual 80's Chrysler clearcoat failure on the trunk and surrounding area, and a bit at the tops of the doors. The passenger's door has some rust on it, as do the quarter panels just above the tail lights on both sides. There is also some floorpan rot on both sides, particularly around the parking brake cable. This is often seen on these 80's Chryslers.

Oddly enough, it has almost power nothing. It has power windows and top, which they all have.
The only option was the airbag, which will become a bit of a thorn in my side in later posts.

Under the hood is the base engine, a 2.5L TBI and a 3-speed automatic, aka the a413. The first thing I did was change the oil and replace tune-up parts ie spark plugs, cap, rotor, PCV valve, air filter, and the coil as the case was rusty.

I discovered the source of the vibration wasn't the transmission at all, but a broken front motor mount and a sloppy inner CV joint. I replaced both and saw a huge improvement. At the same time I adjusted the bands in the transmission and re-centered the engine. After that, I slowly replaced the following parts - front & rear brake pads and rotors, ball joints, outer tie rod ends, EGR valve, AIS motor, and all vacuum lines.

Then, in September everything changed. I found a wrecked LeBaron in the junkyard with the engine and transmission combo I wished this one had: a 2.5L Turbo 1 and the a520 5-speed manual. The car was untouched, with the exception of the radio having been taken out. Over the next couple of days I took the doors as they were rust-free and had power mirrors and locks, the rear quarter windows as the seals are in much better shape than mine, the door seals, a couple of convertible-specific trim pieces, and the shifter boot/cover plate as that is also convertible-specific, as a just-in-case part.

3 weeks later I got the go-ahead from the wife to pull the engine, transmission, and any other parts necessary to do the conversion. She probably agreed just to shut me up. The day we picked to pull the parts was less than ideal. A friend of mine came up to the city to help, as well as to look (unsuccessfully) for parts for his car. That day had a high wind, heavy rain and near-freezing temperatures. We spent what seemed like 6 hours out there in that, while in reality it was probably more like 3. We picked clean what we could, I had to leave the shifter, shift cables, clutch pedal and cable behind, hoping nobody would touch them. We just had to get out of there, we were cold, soaked and hungry.

Of course, the next day was much better, the sun came out and dried up most everything the next morning, and I was able to pull out the rest of my parts I needed.

My co-worker offered up some garage space based on the understanding that I'd help him in his garage with his stuff from time to time. That's an offer I can't refuse. Otherwise my shiny new toys would be sitting outside under a tarp over the winter and I would still not have anywhere to do the work.

Time passes... stay tuned for the more exciting part -- engine rebuilding and ultimately converting a TBI/auto car to a turbo/5-speed!