what 2 do before I rebuild..**

[79turbosportcpe]

I have a 79 Buick Regal Turbo SportCoupe stock..
I bought it from the original owner about 4 years back.. It is Baby Blue, a real sharp looking car with power.. It had at that time 50,000 miles.. now at 80 something miles, it is not running like it used to.. I think i will have the engine rebuilt..
But before I do this, what should I do to the other parts in the engine??
I will change the thermostat to a 160, I will put in a pf-52 oil filter..
I want to keep my 79 stock but at the same time upgrade what should be upgraded. I want this sharp looking car to run smooth
and quite but with a little extra boost..
What would be the first things you would do to reach my goal?
I am learning about engines as I go along & I am glad thou I found
people who love what I love, A Buick Turbo*

Know any trusted engine rebuilders in the Los Angeles area?

 

[Ttype83]

What is your car doing that you think that you need to rebuild from the bottom up? You may just need to replace and rebuild a few things.

 

[79turbosportcpe]

oil is leaking, I think it is my headgaskets. when at a stop, It gets "the chills".There is a ringing(school bell) around where the carb attaches to the eng., now there is some black smoke puffing out and a couple times recently it has been lagging on take off.It started knocking all the time..
I also suspect bad vacuume valves.. I am just getting started on this car..So I want to start to upgrade or get new parts that I never payed attention to before. I might not have it rebuilt, just have to know what to check and get first?

 

[b4black]

I would make sure everything's right and in tune before pulling the motor. The turbo boost tends to magnify small problems.

Check all the vacuum lines, check the ESC, check the PECV, and do a compression test to check the headgaskets.


If I were rebuilding, I would port the heads and intake. And change the intake gasket to a '80 style. It has a smaller crossover opening to keep the intake cooler.

It's all about tuning to keep the detonation down and then increasing boost.

 

[79turbosportcpe]

how do you check compression

How would I check my compression..?
I have a head gasket leak.(I think)

v6 turbo 231 3.8 1979 buick

 

[Ttype83]

Your oil leak is more than likely coming from your valve covers and the rear main seal. Is there oil on your cross over pipe at the bottom? This is very common.

To test compression.
1. remove all plugs
2. remove fuel line, use a long hose to reroute fuel into a 5 g fuel can (2 g is to small)
3. makesure that your battery has a good charge.
3a. Open the primaries on carb up (almost forgot again)
4. screw in tester start at #1 and crank the engine until psi stops rising. about 7- 10 cranks.
5. write down all readings.
There should be no more than a 10 % diff between the cyliners

Or you can take it to some one to have a compression/leak down test done.

 

[79turbosportcpe]

you're on it...

There is oil on my cross over pipe under the car. So I can fix the valve cover gasket and rear main seal.. as far as the compression leak, would I find which cylinder it is; then do what?

When changing the gaskets, What is down in there that I can look at or test while I'm in there ?( any upgrades?) would the starter be tucked in on the underside..

Is the leaking gaskets makeing the car puff out black smoke or would it be the compresion problem?

 

[Ttype83]

Re: you're on it...

Originally posted by 79turbosportcpe
There is oil on my cross over pipe under the car. So I can fix the valve cover gasket and rear main seal.. as far as the compression leak, would I find which cylinder it is; then do what?
Wait on the rear main, let's work on the easy stuff first.

When changing the gaskets, What is down in there that I can look at or test while I'm in there ?( any upgrades?) would the starter be tucked in on the underside..
Valve springs

Is the leaking gaskets makeing the car puff out black smoke or would it be the compresion problem? [/B]

No, that would be the carb and/or 02 sensor. Black smoke means your running rich. Give it a good tune up. Check all your vac lines, they are more than likely cracked. Replace all that like bad and then some.
Do you have a boost guage?

 

[79turbosportcpe]

I do not have a boost gauge.. What is a good one??
Today I started up and I got a couple puffs of white smoke.. This means something is coming??

So far,
tune my carb(black smoke) or change 02 sensor
check all vacuume lines
rear main seal and valve cover seal
when in there, check the valve springs(how?)

what seal is causing the oil burning(white smoke)?
check pecv
check esc
change intake gasket to a 1980 gasket
port heads and intake

get a boost gauge
any other gauges?

 

[79turbosportcpe]

picture of my 79 turbo

Well, something did happen..
I started up my car and heard a "pop"
Then checked under the car and saw water spraying out of the exhaust pipe under by the oil pan
some coming out the tailpipe
and my radiator water gone
Well, Its got to go in the shop for exploritory surgery
It could be a
headgasket
intake valve or ?????????????????
.
(how do I put a picture of my 79 on here??I scaned a picture of it onto a disc)

"A:\scan1 79 turbo.jpg"