horsepower rating for an 84 T-type?

[novaderrik]

hey, all. i might be getting an 84 T-type, and am curious what kind of power it should put out in stock form, and how fast it truly is. also, what kind of mpg does one of these beasts knock down?
also, since i am typing, it runs fine, but only on 5 cylinders. it smokes from the tailpipe and also from the K&N breather in the valve cover- the smoke pulse from the crankcase seems to match up perfectly with the timing of the "lope" from the dead cylinder. would this be a blown head gasket, broken ring, busted piston, or a combination of the 3? radiator is full, and oil is also full with no coolant in it. the engine was a replacement long block installed like 3 months before something broke, and the turbo was replaced with a stock reman at the same time as the long block. i'm hoping it's a head gasket or something simple liek that.
it has been sitting since 93 because of the way it runs, and the car has only 56,000 miles on it and looks brand new except for a couple of rust holes along the rear of each door. it can be mine for $2000, and i will probably get it and try to get it running for daily driver duties.

 

[edchapman]

stock

Stock they were rated at 200 HP. My best ET was with a
2.48 60' time on stock Goodyear Eagle GT tires. I believe it
could get into the upper 14's with a decent e.g. 2.20 time.
.
bye, Ed
http://edchapman.tripod.com/cars.html
84 T-Type WH1 15.4@89 stock, 87 T 14.1@97 stock, 87 GN stock 399/400 points

 

[ngianop]

If one cylinder is not firing, check the spark plug and wires. If those seem fine, check the coil that feeds the #5 cylinder. Put an ohm meter across the plug wire towers for this coil and measure the resistance. If it's over 12k ohms, it may be bad. I'm going by memory and it's pretty foggy so someone else on this forum may know better.

 

[cool 84]

You probably have a blown headgasket, the only thing that worries me is it's smoking out the tailpipe. Hopefully not rings/piston. You say it's a replacement motor, make sure it's an actual turbo 3.8. It was common for people to buy a replacement longblock and get a non-turbo motor. This means weaker pistons, weaker crank, and headgaskets that will blow as soon as you make a run. The only way to tell is to pull the heads and see if you have a steel shim gasket or a composite gasket. I believe all 84-85s whether turbo'd or not had the steel shims but most of the replacement motors came with composite non-turbo gaskets.

Stock, they were rated at 200hp and 300lbs. I think the mags rated them at 15.4-15.8 in the 1/4 but a number of us have run 14s stock. 13s can be had pretty cheaply.

 

[WH1Driver]

The boys at JS manufacturing just dynoed a tired Hot Air before rebuilding it

Poor little thing looks worn out but then again that is probably at the wheels.

 

[typhoon]

Yes, those #'s are at the wheels on a tired engine.

Was not tuned per se, just as installed stock configuration. Was still very rich, 12psi boost, stock wg rod, etc.

Car is currently being redone, and once I figure out a few issues will go in for dyno again.

 

[novaderrik]

i got the car friday, and tore the heads off it saturday after running a compression check. 120 in all the holes except #6- which had zero compression. after several hours of swearing at the car and finding the hidden bolts that hold things together, i got the passenger side head off, and what did i see but a 1" wide gap in the head gasket pointed straight towards the lifter valley. it had some crappy composite gaskets in it, and i don't know how to tell if the pistons are forged or not. they have a pretty severe dish in them and have the number "40" stamped right in the middle of the top of the piston right behind the arrow that points to the front of the car..
the head bolts on that side were waaay too easy to take out, and the knock sensor wasn't hooked up. i kind of think the missing knock sensor might have led to some pretty severe detonation, which took the easiest way out of the combustion chamber through the gasket between the loose bolts. i'll try new head gaskets and see how it holds together- what is the best brand and part number head gasket to use? how about torque specs? do they need to be re-torqued (god- i hope not. all that turbo plumbing on the passenger side is kind of a nightmare to get around)?
on the bright side, the car is pretty much MINT for a 20 year old car- and only 56,000 miles. paint is faded, with a couple of dents and scrapes, but the interior looks brand new except for the front of the headliner is starting to sag and someone thought 4 gauges would look good in the plastic panel on the passenger side of the dash. no real luxury options, either. 60/40 split bench, non-tilt column, no cruise, and crank up windows. just the way i like 'em...

 

[cool 84]

The stock steel shim gaskets work good or you can use the factory 86-87 composites. The composites are thicker and you lose a small amount of compression but not enough to tell a power difference. It's good that the gasket went. On mine, the steel shims held and I cracked a cylinder instead. Run new head bolts and you don't have to retorque them but it's a good idea.

The 40 on the top of the pistons most likely means it's bored .040 over which is the limit.

 

[novaderrik]

i got it back together today and took it for a little 1/2 mile drive (with tabs that expired in may of 93- please don't call the cops).
man, that is a fun car. feels like every other 3.8 powered G-body i've driven ove the years- for about a second. then the boost kicks in and it just goes. i like it- but would rather not have the little lag. this is my first turbo car (and one of only a few that didn't have 8 cylinders), so the whole experience is kinda different.
ride is nice and tight- but not too firm. just like any new car out there. can't wait to get it registered and insured so i can park the gas hog LT1 powered 220,000 mile 94 Caprice cop car and drive the T-type.
what kind of fuel economy can i expect to see out of it if i can drive it nice? the 93 octane is $2.11 a gallon, and i will want to use as little as possible.

 

[WH1Driver]

You could probably run 91 with a slight tune down. I'm considering it for my daily driver.