Hello! My name is Chris Lee and I recently purchased TTA #81 VIN # 1G5FW2173KL227269. My car was rough when I bought it and am trying to go through it as best I can. Basically the motor mounts and turbo where shot, the tranny had been gone through but was replaced with a non BFG code tranny with the wrong converter and speedo gears. On top of that when I pulled the engine to install the new cam (208/208)and valve springs the oil pan had a lot of trash in it (timing gear pieces and what looks like old head gasket material) so the main caps were pulled. Of course the bearings had grooves in them from trash passing through them. So now I have some questions. I want to rering and install new bearings in this motor, do the TTA pistions use the same rings as the buick motors do? I am wanting to use Total seal rings and Clevite 77 bearings, does any one have the specific part numbers for standard bore rings and .010 under crank bearings. I allready have most of the parts for this motor, cam, lifters, gaskets, timing chain cover with high volume pump, motor mounts, vacuum lines, pts 9x11 2800 stall. I've also flushed the intercooler like described at gnttype.org. Can any tell me which speedo gear combo the TTA uses? I'm wanting to get a three angle valve job for the heads and have the machine shop inspect them, I really cant afford to have them ported right now. Any suggestions on anything would be greatly appreciated. I have some pictures of the car when I bought it and up to the point I'm at now, if any one can host them I would gladly post them. Over all the car has a very good interior (cloth car) and the body is straight but in primer . I plan on running a pt51 turbo, unless the new gt's come out before then . Also, I want to have the headers coated, but jet hot doesnt offer there high polish finish in the heat range I want, what have others done? Sorry for jumping from topic to topic but I keep remebering things as I write. Thats all I can think of at the moment but I'm sure I will remember things later on. Thanks for the help!!!
Well, the TTA pistons do use the same rings as GN's and the bearings will be the same also. As far as your speedo goes, I am pretty sure that the setup is TTA specific as the GN had a different rearend gear ratio and the 200-4R was never used in a regular F-Body. If you can contact the last owner that had the tranny changed and find out what happened to the original, it would help. I am guessing that it was some small tranny shop that just took it as a core and had no idea there was any difference though.
Nice to see someone taking the time to fix one of these cars back up to what they should look like. Most people just buy a low mileage car in good shape as it is cheaper in the long run. Good luck and welcome to the board.
1badTTA - Thanks for the info. Unfortunately the tranny was done two owners ago and at least a couple years back. It does seem to have the correct governer in it because it shifts correctly and actually quite firm. I'll probably still have it torn down and looked at by a friend of mine, who builds performance trannys. Since these cars have 1LE, arent the drive shafts suppost to be aluminum?
Let me give you a little more background on the car. The previous owner bought the car not running, turns out the ignition module was bad. So he basically stole the car from him because it didnt run. Then thats when the other problems started showing up, since the tranny now had the wrong converter and the turbo had wear and an exhaust leak at the turbo to maifold seal, this thing was a complete dog. So I think that guy decided to quite messing with it and so it sat for probably a good year. I had know about the car for quite some time, and finally the time was right for both of us for a deal to be made. On top of the car not running right, the engine bay was bad, very bad. It looked like one of the hoses's blew and spewed rusting looking water all over the engine bay, and a nice oil/dirt mixture was all over the lower half of the engine. Oh, and the intercooler, this thing had more pine needles and twigs in it than some bird nest. So I decided to rip it all out and start over. Engine, tranny, wiring harness, heater box, everything came out and now the engine bay has been degreased and is ready to be painted. Well I think that about sums up my adventure so far.........
im pretty sure the drive shafts are steel, i never really noticed them being aluminum-
but i do know your spare tire probably has a aluminum rim it just looks steel, try sticking a magnet to it-
you will be able to get clevite bearings from NAPA- just call them so they can order you the correct size ones- triple check them when your putting them in if they ALL are the same size!
do a search about the PTE 51 turbo, there have been alot of failures, you should wait for the GT series turbos.
you should be able to call up the dealership and ask them what color the speedo gear should be, that or do a search, i think it has been asked before-
HTH
BW
Speedo on these cars was very unique..GN used cable,our cars are electronic.. chances are if its the wrong tranny..it probably has the rite gear on the sensor but wrong gear on the tail shaft..I dont want to say what the fix is..total dis to get the tailshaft gear out. Its like the very first thing that gets put on when a tranny is assembled.
. I plan on running a pt51 turbo, unless the new gt's come out before then 
. Also, I want to have the headers coated, but jet hot doesnt offer there high polish finish in the heat range I want, what have others done? Sorry for jumping from topic to topic but I keep remebering things as I write. Thats all I can think of at the moment but I'm sure I will remember things later on. Thanks for the help!!!
