Restoration of an American classic.
10-06-12, 05:35 PM
#1
Dysfunctional Veteran
Thread Starter
Restoration of an American classic.
A 1983 Pontiac "Recaro" Trans-Am, With a 305/quadrajet and a borg warner 5 speed. Of the 1500 of these cars made, there are only 500-ish known to exist today. My buddy has one of them. We are rebuilding the engine right now. but eventually will move on to total restoration.
^reason why we went with a rebuild. Every seal on this car was was leaking. Literally faster than we could put it in. It was dropping a quart of oil every 20-30 minutes while running. It would blow blue smoke on start-up which also told me it needed headwork. So we decided to take $300 and do a DIY rebuild. I had a set of 327 heads that I donated (needed internals, I only had the heads), so we can get a little more performance. I have been doing this for years, so nothing to it for me. I told him for beer I would donate my labor hours.
I told him a 24 pack a day. We are on day 3.
^Colby (my friend) and his "oh-****-what-did-we-get-ourselves-into" face. Chill out Colby. I got this brother.
^Motor's out and we are about ready to begin pressure washing/degreasing. What an ungodly horrible mess.
Degreased (for the most part) and pulled the oil pan (yesterday) Not bad. Mains all look good but we are replacing rod bearings and main bearings anyway.
^Cylinder's look good, no scoring, pistons are carboned up but otherwise ok. This is a budget rebuild so we are going cheap and just cleaning the pistons up a little. No hot-tank here. Pistons out, clean-em up, new rings, bearings and torque the caps and mains down.
^New front and rear main seals, and new timing chain. Taken after the fiasco you will read about below.
^Got to this point... got the oil pan put on, timing chain put on, timing chain cover installed, harmonic balancer put back on, and... fack. The timing mark on the harmonic balancer doesn't align with the marks on the timing cover. Fan friggin' tastic.
Pull it back apart, break ANOTHER (3rd) oil pan gasket, only to find its a good thing we did, we were 6 degrees off TDC. The engine would have never started at best, at worst it would have bent a valve. Timing reset, found a brittle seal for the crank on the timing cover (thought we got all those!) so ordered that and will reassemble tomorrow. But heads are on, valve lash is eliminated and the timing is right. Every gasket is new, so we should be good to finish up the rebuild and re-install the motor tomorrow. The most time consuming part (the head rebuild) is done. All-in all, a productive day.
^reason why we went with a rebuild. Every seal on this car was was leaking. Literally faster than we could put it in. It was dropping a quart of oil every 20-30 minutes while running. It would blow blue smoke on start-up which also told me it needed headwork. So we decided to take $300 and do a DIY rebuild. I had a set of 327 heads that I donated (needed internals, I only had the heads), so we can get a little more performance. I have been doing this for years, so nothing to it for me. I told him for beer I would donate my labor hours.
I told him a 24 pack a day. We are on day 3.^Colby (my friend) and his "oh-****-what-did-we-get-ourselves-into" face. Chill out Colby. I got this brother.
^Motor's out and we are about ready to begin pressure washing/degreasing. What an ungodly horrible mess.
Degreased (for the most part) and pulled the oil pan (yesterday) Not bad. Mains all look good but we are replacing rod bearings and main bearings anyway.
^Cylinder's look good, no scoring, pistons are carboned up but otherwise ok. This is a budget rebuild so we are going cheap and just cleaning the pistons up a little. No hot-tank here. Pistons out, clean-em up, new rings, bearings and torque the caps and mains down.
^New front and rear main seals, and new timing chain. Taken after the fiasco you will read about below.
^Got to this point... got the oil pan put on, timing chain put on, timing chain cover installed, harmonic balancer put back on, and... fack. The timing mark on the harmonic balancer doesn't align with the marks on the timing cover. Fan friggin' tastic.
Pull it back apart, break ANOTHER (3rd) oil pan gasket, only to find its a good thing we did, we were 6 degrees off TDC. The engine would have never started at best, at worst it would have bent a valve. Timing reset, found a brittle seal for the crank on the timing cover (thought we got all those!) so ordered that and will reassemble tomorrow. But heads are on, valve lash is eliminated and the timing is right. Every gasket is new, so we should be good to finish up the rebuild and re-install the motor tomorrow. The most time consuming part (the head rebuild) is done. All-in all, a productive day.
10-07-12, 05:32 AM
#2
Out of Warranty
Good job! And what a great project! 
Good to know that old GM head swap trick still works - in the '60's, slapping a set of 327 heads was pretty much the standard procedure for hotrodding a 283. Even I did it on a 'vette my roommate and I flipped one summer. The 327 heads were a simple bolt-on and got you a bit more compression and considerably larger valves for very little work. We pressed in a new set of valve guides too. Seems that GM had always had a problem with them - the result of which was that puff of blue smoke on startup you mention . . . it was sort of Chevy's signature. The OEM guides were trash, but almost any available from the local parts store were fine. Never figured out just why GM didn't address this for years.
Keep the pics coming!
Good to know that old GM head swap trick still works - in the '60's, slapping a set of 327 heads was pretty much the standard procedure for hotrodding a 283. Even I did it on a 'vette my roommate and I flipped one summer. The 327 heads were a simple bolt-on and got you a bit more compression and considerably larger valves for very little work. We pressed in a new set of valve guides too. Seems that GM had always had a problem with them - the result of which was that puff of blue smoke on startup you mention . . . it was sort of Chevy's signature. The OEM guides were trash, but almost any available from the local parts store were fine. Never figured out just why GM didn't address this for years.
Keep the pics coming!
10-07-12, 05:19 PM
#5
Dysfunctional Veteran
Thread Starter
A 350 swap would be easy money in this car, but we can't because of the rarity of this car, he wants to keep it original. I can respect that.
^Intake Manifold and spark plugs in!
^Exhaust manifolds and new gaskets. Also drilled out a broken stud and replaced it with a bolt.
^Oil pan, timing chain cover, and all pulleys except the alternator back on.
^pressure washed the engine bay and underside of the car AGAIN, to get any oil/grease that I missed. I still didnt get it all, but thats good enough.
^Engine is in!
^Starter, flywheel inspection cover, and flywheel are in place. Clutch and transmission went on next.
^End of the day shot. Engine, Trans and rear diff refilled with appropriate oil. Radiator, fan, shroud are just set in the engine bay. We are waiting on the new Rochester Jetted Quadrajet 4 Barrel to come in, along with the MSD distributor, rotor, cap and wires.
All will be in on wednesday!
^Intake Manifold and spark plugs in!
^Exhaust manifolds and new gaskets. Also drilled out a broken stud and replaced it with a bolt.
^Oil pan, timing chain cover, and all pulleys except the alternator back on.
^pressure washed the engine bay and underside of the car AGAIN, to get any oil/grease that I missed. I still didnt get it all, but thats good enough.
^Engine is in!
^Starter, flywheel inspection cover, and flywheel are in place. Clutch and transmission went on next.
^End of the day shot. Engine, Trans and rear diff refilled with appropriate oil. Radiator, fan, shroud are just set in the engine bay. We are waiting on the new Rochester Jetted Quadrajet 4 Barrel to come in, along with the MSD distributor, rotor, cap and wires.
All will be in on wednesday!
10-07-12, 07:14 PM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
Nice project, Josh....and good luck to you and your friend. A close friend of mine has a fully-restored black/gold-trim/chicken-hood 1979 T/A "Smokey and the Bandit" special wth the big-block 403 and 4-speed manual. He drives it around to local MD/VA car-shows.
A close friend of mine has a fully-restored black/gold-trim/chicken-hood 1979 T/A "Smokey and the Bandit" special wth the big-block 403 and 4-speed manual. He drives it around to local MD/VA car-shows.
10-11-12, 07:39 PM
#7
Dysfunctional Veteran
Thread Starter
It IS ALIIIIVE!!!! 
Project "kitt" Runs, although not very nicely, but thats what we were after. Still has a BADASS exhaust leak on the passenger manifold, and the ignition timing needs tweaked. But shes running!
Project "kitt" Runs, although not very nicely, but thats what we were after. Still has a BADASS exhaust leak on the passenger manifold, and the ignition timing needs tweaked. But shes running!
Trending Topics
10-11-12, 09:45 PM
#9
Dysfunctional Veteran
Thread Starter
It really sounds horrible, like a cominbination of exhaust pressure leak and pre-ignition so bad you could mistake it for piston slap.
10-14-12, 10:57 AM
#12
Dysfunctional Veteran
Thread Starter
Doesn't mean it cant be put in 
Fired her up yesterday. Got the timing close enough that it runs, but now has no power above 3k RPM. Thinking the QuadraJet 4-barrel got tipped over and the ball bearings got all FUBAR inside. We are rebuilding that now. It is running better than it was and I was able to drive it yesterday. The new Crower Cam makes it sound amazing. We have the factory exhaust with a cat delete for now, coming soon are Hooker Headers and a true-dual setup. The exhaust leaks are fixed.
Video to follow.
Also fixed a power steering leak, a hole in the radiator with some JB weld (for now, he just needs to be able to get it to the house for the week and bring it back to my shop next weekend). Got the power steering bled, did tie rods and an alignment. Also, We did front and rear shocks (Gabriel). One of the strut mounts (R/R) tore the mount out of the metal in the unibody, so we had to weld a new steel plate in place and drill a hole in the center of it so we could re-mount the new shock. The old shock wasnt even connected to the body at all, it was just rattling around inside a giant hole, making it bigger and bigger with EVERY bump he hit.
"Hey Colby, I think we found the clunk!"
Next weekend we will be tackling the interior. Gonna start with carpet. Going from the original tan (which is ruined) to a nice black. It works because the door panels and interior trim is tan, the seats dash and center console are black. Still deciding if we are going to try to find a new dash, or just have the cracked one repaired.
Fired her up yesterday. Got the timing close enough that it runs, but now has no power above 3k RPM. Thinking the QuadraJet 4-barrel got tipped over and the ball bearings got all FUBAR inside. We are rebuilding that now. It is running better than it was and I was able to drive it yesterday. The new Crower Cam makes it sound amazing. We have the factory exhaust with a cat delete for now, coming soon are Hooker Headers and a true-dual setup. The exhaust leaks are fixed.
Video to follow.
Also fixed a power steering leak, a hole in the radiator with some JB weld (for now, he just needs to be able to get it to the house for the week and bring it back to my shop next weekend). Got the power steering bled, did tie rods and an alignment. Also, We did front and rear shocks (Gabriel). One of the strut mounts (R/R) tore the mount out of the metal in the unibody, so we had to weld a new steel plate in place and drill a hole in the center of it so we could re-mount the new shock. The old shock wasnt even connected to the body at all, it was just rattling around inside a giant hole, making it bigger and bigger with EVERY bump he hit.
"Hey Colby, I think we found the clunk!"
Next weekend we will be tackling the interior. Gonna start with carpet. Going from the original tan (which is ruined) to a nice black. It works because the door panels and interior trim is tan, the seats dash and center console are black. Still deciding if we are going to try to find a new dash, or just have the cracked one repaired.
Last edited by ArmyofOne; 10-14-12 at 11:02 AM.
10-14-12, 11:23 AM
#13
Dysfunctional Veteran
Thread Starter
10-14-12, 11:46 AM
#14
Lexus Test Driver
The video is still processing. I'll have to catch it later.
I drove down to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway yesterday and watched the NHRA Jegs Pacific SportNationals.
Firebirds and Camaros were tearing it up in the Stock, Super Stock, and Super Street classes.
It was mostly 1st and 2nd gens though, with a few 4th gens and maybe a couple of 3rd gens.
Now I just need money so I can acquire and restore my dad's 67 Firebird 400 Convertible.
I drove down to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway yesterday and watched the NHRA Jegs Pacific SportNationals.
Firebirds and Camaros were tearing it up in the Stock, Super Stock, and Super Street classes.
It was mostly 1st and 2nd gens though, with a few 4th gens and maybe a couple of 3rd gens.
Now I just need money so I can acquire and restore my dad's 67 Firebird 400 Convertible.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
whit3b0y
LS - 1st and 2nd Gen (1990-2000)
4
11-04-12 12:24 PM
2008, chain, cruiser, degreasing, engine, fj, is250, lexus, ls400, motors, pics, rebuild, restoration, timing, typewriter
