83 Turbo problems

[Guest szlash280z]

I just bought an 83 turbo motor for swap to a 78 body. I have dismantled the engine for a rebuild but have noticed some things that seem weird.

 

First, the 83 Dizzy seems to have electrolyte leaked in the inside under the crank position sensor. That doesn't look good. Any way to check if its ok?

 

Also, there is a thick flaky crust on the valves and on top of the pistons. It wiped off the pistons easily. What could this be?

 

Wear of the main and con-rod bearings doesnt look bad. There is no indication of burning. I haven't taken the pistons out yet.

 

Also, on the P90A head, I have 2 lifters that have some kind of retaining caps that are damaged. It is at the top of the base of the rocker arms. They spin easily on all lifters. The way the 2 that are damaged are one is popped up and bent and the other is partially popped off and bent. What are these for and what kind of damage would that idicate?

 

thanks for any kind of help

[Lockjaw]

Originally posted by szlash280z:

I just bought an 83 turbo motor for swap to a 78 body. I have dismantled the engine for a rebuild but have noticed some things that seem weird.

 

First, the 83 Dizzy seems to have electrolyte leaked in the inside under the crank position sensor. That doesn't look good. Any way to check if its ok?

 

That may be ok. Not sure if mine doens't look the same. I know of no way to test the thing besides putting it in another car and trying it.

 

Also, there is a thick flaky crust on the valves and on top of the pistons. It wiped off the pistons easily. What could this be?

 

I think that is like mildew or something from moisture. Was the engine sitting for a long time?

 

Wear of the main and con-rod bearings doesnt look bad. There is no indication of burning. I haven't taken the pistons out yet.

 

Also, on the P90A head, I have 2 lifters that have some kind of retaining caps that are damaged. It is at the top of the base of the rocker arms. They spin easily on all lifters. The way the 2 that are damaged are one is popped up and bent and the other is partially popped off and bent. What are these for and what kind of damage would that idicate?

 

Someone may have tried to get in there and see if they could clean them out. Those lifters go out sometimes, especially if the vehicles owner did not change the oil at proper intervals. I would replace them, although they may be fine. It really needs to run to make an accurate assessment. I hate those lifters BTW. Solid lifter head is the way to go, IMO.

 

thanks for any kind of help

[Guest szlash280z]

The damaged parts look like they came loose and the lifters just smooshed em down.

 

I heard the rocker arms at least are unavailable now for the P90A, are the lifters still available? Are these heads pretty much unfixable now?

[opie]

I checked the Z-Barn once for source, and good/used hyd units were $8 each:if you don't mind the used route. BTW, I had 218,000 clocked when I sold my 83zxt and only one would announce it's presence on cold mornings b-4 warm up. So used doesn't always mean junk. Doug.

[Lockjaw]

The rocker arms are the same for all of the L6 engines.

 

Lifters I don't know about, but I would not put used one's in my engine, but that is just me.

 

I don't think the head is junk. I am sure with a good oil changing schedule they will last for a long time. It's just you don't really know what the previous owner did, so you could have a sweet head,or one that clacks alot, or some variation in between. Mine drove me nuts, so I went and bought a solid lifter head, and never looked back.

 

You can always run it and see what happens. No sens replacing it until youknow it is broken.

 

Good luck.