My 83 Olds Cutlass / Turbo6 build thread
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So I have got the lower end cleaned up, oiled and back together. There was a TON of sludge built up in the bottom of the oil pan. Just nasty.
put the timing cover on tonight. tapping the threads in the block I snapped off the tap! had to fish it out with a couple 1/16th pin punches - phew it came out.
The gasket kit came with lip seal style seals for the timing cover and the rear main seal. a nice upgrade over the crappy rope seals.
When I was cleaning up the timing cover I noticed that the pump cover was damaged, exposing a bolt. See Pic. Decided to leave the pump be and run it. If it needs replacing I will find out pretty fast. but it looks to have been that way for awhile.
So I am making progress on the regasket job. got the timing cover and oil pan back on tonight
I cleaned the heads and valves up a bit. I think I am going to Lap the valves with some compound to do what I can for them on the cheap. Then head assembly and onto the block!
put the timing cover on tonight. tapping the threads in the block I snapped off the tap! had to fish it out with a couple 1/16th pin punches - phew it came out.
The gasket kit came with lip seal style seals for the timing cover and the rear main seal. a nice upgrade over the crappy rope seals.
When I was cleaning up the timing cover I noticed that the pump cover was damaged, exposing a bolt. See Pic. Decided to leave the pump be and run it. If it needs replacing I will find out pretty fast. but it looks to have been that way for awhile.
So I am making progress on the regasket job. got the timing cover and oil pan back on tonight
I cleaned the heads and valves up a bit. I think I am going to Lap the valves with some compound to do what I can for them on the cheap. Then head assembly and onto the block!
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Pretty cool so far, looks like you're not throwing too much money into it either. It's kind of cool to see someone breaking down a 6 cylinder and cleaning it up for a rebuild.
I disassembled the Olds3.8 for parts. Usable parts I am saving: nice timing cover with a newer (and known good) water pump, Fuel pump, Starter, drivers side exhaust manifold (the 225 one was cracked), pulleys, balancer, flexplate, Upipe, motormounts, HEI, 8mm wires, alternator.
The "U" pipe from manifold to manifold will need to be modified a little bit to fit the 78 turbo manifold but that shouldnt be too hard. I notice that the turbo manifold (pass side) has what appears to be a crack starting. I think I will stitch that together with some weld before installing the engine.
I have both exhaust manifolds installed on the block at this point. I had to drill and tap a couple holes but it went well.
Fuel pump bolt holes in the 225 timing cover are rounded/stripped - I am considering drilling and tapping the next size up.
inching the project forward.....I cant wait just to drive it.
pics later
The "U" pipe from manifold to manifold will need to be modified a little bit to fit the 78 turbo manifold but that shouldnt be too hard. I notice that the turbo manifold (pass side) has what appears to be a crack starting. I think I will stitch that together with some weld before installing the engine.
I have both exhaust manifolds installed on the block at this point. I had to drill and tap a couple holes but it went well.
Fuel pump bolt holes in the 225 timing cover are rounded/stripped - I am considering drilling and tapping the next size up.
inching the project forward.....I cant wait just to drive it.
pics later
I hope you take the time to scope out the links he posted for you. Lots of good info available from people in the know. As opposed to most sites where you have often well intentioned people giving bad advice. 
(don't even think about nothin else jus drop that boat anchor put u in a 355 with a 600 holley n sum 4.11 u be all set) 2nd Bweavys advice. Having it out & apart I would of had a hard time not honing it as seal is even more critical with boost but I am for the get it running & drive it a bit while you put together a confidently thought out game plan & get parts in hand. Plus just driving it you get a better feel for what you will really want and need for your build.
Never drove a 225 but the 3.8s carbed or FI always seem to be a little sluggish in a bigger car until you come up on boost or get up in the rpms a bit. I assume its lack of low end torque relative to the gear and weight. I have to say the 4.1 274ci conversion motors I rode in moved the car noticeably more effortlessly without even getting the Rs or boost up. Always wondered if they might not get better mileage just driving around as you don't open the throttle as much to get them moving with traffic. Fuel economy is always mostly about the combination of throttle opening & load be it carb or FI. I even noticed that with my big block once you get past the gawd this if fun and you control your right foot to just travel with traffic it accelerated so effortlessly that you didn't need to open the throttle as much and it wasn't hard on fuel. Well relatively speaking as in it didn't take much more fuel than my 307 until you smashed the go pedal.
Aside from some salvage yard collected intercooler and home made pipeing. (if your are a fabricator) Great safe cost effective power can be had here; http://www.alkycontrol.com/
(don't even think about nothin else jus drop that boat anchor put u in a 355 with a 600 holley n sum 4.11 u be all set) 2nd Bweavys advice. Having it out & apart I would of had a hard time not honing it as seal is even more critical with boost but I am for the get it running & drive it a bit while you put together a confidently thought out game plan & get parts in hand. Plus just driving it you get a better feel for what you will really want and need for your build.Never drove a 225 but the 3.8s carbed or FI always seem to be a little sluggish in a bigger car until you come up on boost or get up in the rpms a bit. I assume its lack of low end torque relative to the gear and weight. I have to say the 4.1 274ci conversion motors I rode in moved the car noticeably more effortlessly without even getting the Rs or boost up. Always wondered if they might not get better mileage just driving around as you don't open the throttle as much to get them moving with traffic. Fuel economy is always mostly about the combination of throttle opening & load be it carb or FI. I even noticed that with my big block once you get past the gawd this if fun and you control your right foot to just travel with traffic it accelerated so effortlessly that you didn't need to open the throttle as much and it wasn't hard on fuel. Well relatively speaking as in it didn't take much more fuel than my 307 until you smashed the go pedal.
Aside from some salvage yard collected intercooler and home made pipeing. (if your are a fabricator) Great safe cost effective power can be had here; http://www.alkycontrol.com/
here are some more pics.
drivers ex manifold I scavenged from the Olds 6.
Pass turbo ex manifold
crack in turbo ex manifold
welded turbo ex manifold
Olds U pipe needed only a small 1" or so extension to fit the turbo ex manifold.
So at this point the engine is actually in the engine bay. I need to clean up the TH350 and get it back in there. Then I can start hooking things up and working on the turbo exhaust routing.
drivers ex manifold I scavenged from the Olds 6.
Pass turbo ex manifold
crack in turbo ex manifold
welded turbo ex manifold
Olds U pipe needed only a small 1" or so extension to fit the turbo ex manifold.
So at this point the engine is actually in the engine bay. I need to clean up the TH350 and get it back in there. Then I can start hooking things up and working on the turbo exhaust routing.
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Looks like you are coming along Ken,
Why dont you turbo a Buick 350 like my plans are probably going to be so I can have you run into all the issues first :lol:
Why dont you turbo a Buick 350 like my plans are probably going to be so I can have you run into all the issues first :lol:
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