Mobjak

With all of the great insights, might this be the base car. http://fotos.arcar.org/vehiculos/61635-ford-1937-coupe-cabriotel.jpg The trunk lid does not match, but the front end was also pretty heavily modified! Thoughts? Thanks, Mobjak

I made a recent visit to a junkyard in Maine and came across a few cars that I could not identify and all the badging or plates were missing! Anyone think they can identify this car? Thanks

Hello All, I am having a similar problem to DamnTheTorpedo with a slight twist. I replaced my accumulator about a year ago and the brakes had been good and then not so good over time. I recently dusted the car off and followed the directions for bleeding the brakes and all seemed good. This is what I have started to experience on my '89 TC, if the temperature is cool, I experience exactly what DTT describes. If the outdoor temp is warm to hot, the brakes work like a champ. Any idea's why ambient outdoor temperature would affect the braking system. I will most likely follow up with a new master cylinder, but hard to justify on a car that I paid $900 for to begin with.... Thanks in advance! Mobjak

I wish it was a performance top end rebuild, purely stock. Where would I measure the vacumm for the turbo? TIA

Well, I do have one motor mount problem. The passenger side mount is missing the horizontal bolt that runs fore and aft. It seems to work fine, I had to remove the bolts to the engine block and frame support when replacing the head gasket to remove the timing belt. It seemed to support the engine entirely without the bolt. I plan to try and identify the bolt size and buy a bolt locally tonight or tomorrow. By the way your description of the sound might be a little more accurate than mine, it just sounds low pitch. Since the noise does not happen in reverse or neutral, does that rule out the catalytic converter? TIA

Hello all, Well the '89 has been on the road running very well after the head gasket replacement! And a very big thank you to all who assisted with valuable information during that project. Especially when it came to the fact the the VIN did not bring up the correct gasket for the head. It seems that I may be in that boat again. I noticed that under excelleration, a low rumble started to be heard. It has slowly gotten louder, but seems to have leveled off. I have determined that it does not make the sound in park or in reverse. I believe the exhaust manifold to exhaust pipe union is leaking due to the torque of the engine when in drive. I did not replace these when I replaced the head gasket. So, off to Chrysler with VIN in hand. Opps, doughnot too big!!%#$%!@ I am guessing that I have to get a gasket for a 1987 Dodge Daytona 4-cyclinder again? And does it make sense that the sound would be the exhaust and not the turbo? Turbo is working fine and spins up as usual. TIA

Thank you very much TC Toad, The timing belt from the '87 Daytona worked like a charm! Everything but the valve cover gasket has gone pretty well. I looked at the '87 Daytona valve cover gasket diagram at the dealer and it looks like it is the wrong one. The one they showed was a three piece gasket with no rubber piece for the one end of the head. The exploded diagram at the dealer also showed a baffle the full length of the head, which mine does not have. Any suggestions? VIN gasket does not fit. 87 Daytona gasket looks like it won't work since it only has three pieces not four. TIA

Thanks TC Toad, It looks like the valve cover gasket won't work either. The one I purchased is for the valve cover with a slot along the edge to hold the gasket in place with little wings along the edge. I will try the '87 Daytona route and see if that helps. TIA

Thanks TC Toad, What ever happened to quality assuarance?@!#$!# Time to return that new belt. One thing I have notice is that the old belt looks to be in very good condition, and I am thinking it has been replaced. Old Belt Does the part number look like a replacement? And tensioner pully... old and new Again, does the Germany/part number look OEM or replacement? Thanks for any help you can provide. BTW... lost out on my third 89 service manual on Ebay...

OK, Making progress, head bolted down securely and moving on to the timing belt. Ordered new one from local Chrysler dealership and used VIN to order. It seems way too tight trying to install. I have had to remove the tensioner pully to even get it installed. I checked it against the old belt, tooth spacing seems correct, length appears correct. There is one difference, the shape of the new belt tooth is curved or rounded. Old belt is more of a flat tooth? With the new belt, the trough or low part of the belt (between the teeth) does not touch the pully? Does all this seem ok? I got the belt on the car but without the tensioner. Trying to figure out how to pull the belt to one side to install the tensioner? Any tips? TIA

Hello all, Quick question, does anyone know and can post the head bolt torque and pattern for the 89 2.2 litre? Self update here.... I have been bidding but not winning on the TC service manuals... But, I do have the old Haynes and I followed the first two steps. Torque pattern was stated as.. starting at center front bolt to center back bolt, clockwise pattern Round one 45 ft-lb Round two 65 ft-lb Big question, round 3- 1/4 turn or 75 ft-lb and should the engine be hot??? TIA

Thanks for the link Cowancom to the parts on the web. I am wondering about oem parts, I checked with my local Chrysler dealership and they can get head gasket, bolts, valve cover gasket etc. Can/Should I use these, they are considerably cheaper? I do not plan to upgrade any engine components, I am pretty much a "keep everything stock" kinda guy. Also, are the FWD turbo supply hoses significantly different from OEM hoses? One other question, can I use permatex HTV sealant for the fittings to the turbo and head (ie brass fittings on turbo and head)? TIA

Ok, a couple of questions? So far three out of four fluid supplies/returns have come off easily. The last one is coolant return and it is siezed very tightly. Also the fitting attaching to the turbo has a lot of corrosion. I am using PB on the fitting and retrying to break loose. Question: Is this often a problem spot for damaging the turbo/connection? Should heat be applied? Here is the picture of the failed gasket. Failed on cylinder #1. I used a large industrial straight edge to check the head and check length wise and cross corner to cross corner, all was very tight. Here is a pic of the failed spot on the gasket. Question: I tried one of the links to locate a felpro or mopar gasket and no luck so far. Local Napa was no help. Should I stick to a dealer for sourcing this? An additional pic of at least one clean side of the head.

Here is where I am with the current repairs, and a couple of photos. I recently replaced the CV boot on the passenger side, and that went pretty well. Cleaned out all of the old grease and it actually looked very good. I currently have the axle out in order to gain additional access to the exhaust to remove the head so that i can replace the gasket. A couple of additional pics If you could see my basement, that would more than makeup for how clean the garage is. Also, it is only 2 years old and still in the process of being finished off.....

Here are a couple of pics of the car. The current status...

Hello again everyone, Slow progress, but I have finally gotten the head off of the car. I followed the suggestion of keeping the Intake/Exhaust/Turbo all bolted on and with the help of a friend, it came right on out! Question, while I have it on the bench, should I remove those parts or just clean up the mating surfaces and put a new gasket with new bolts into the car? (I do plan on checking for warpage) As far as I can tell, there are no leaks on the manifolds. I am looking at replacing/cleaning up the oil and coolant line fittings due to corrosion. I also hope to purchase a manual this week per the suggestions of the forum.

Well, I guess I have one more oddity, the shifter is leather covered, not wood... I wish that little ol' pipe maker started a little earlier! Thanks

Thanks TwinCamFan, I will search for the manual, and proceed with the head removal without removing intake/exhaust/turbo. Car details, 1989 TC with 2.2L Turbo 8 valve, California car. Car was imported to CA and then sold to VA resident with 4k on the clock. I am the second owner and could not resist the car for $800.00 About 61k on the odometer, which of course does not work. I did check out MyTCToy web site and will repair the odometer after engine repair. The car is red with ginger interior, all very nice except for quite a few dings in the rear deck lid and hood. The convertible top and hard top are both in excellent condition. Carpets in very good to excellent condition. I have noticed that most other cars of this year have the wood surrounds for console and dash, mine has black plastic and two air vents in dash just above the radio(was wondering why?) I work in the automotive retail industry in central Virginia so the car thing has become a habit. I typically like unusual cars, something out of the norm. Small seems to be a subconsious desire when looking at cars, things like the BMW Isetta, Fiat x00 series, Morris Minor etc. Looking forward to being a member on this forum! Thanks for the help.

Thanks My TC Toy, By repair manual, I think that I have only seen two manuals, The Haynes "Chrysler Mid-size 1982 thru 1995" that I purchased and I believe I have seen a Chiltons referenced somewhere. Are there others? My real challenge right now is that I don't want to break apart any of the turbo if I can help it. That may not be possible, unless I can disconnect it where it attaches to the exhaust manifold? TIA

Hello all, First post here and a some what new owner of a 1989 TC, red with the classic Maserati orange interior. I seem to have blown a head gasket and was looking for any additional hints/tips for replacement. I have a haynes manual but that comes up a little short for this kind of work. So far I have removed most everything from the engine except the intake/exhaust manifolds and turbo. I have also removed the right front drive axle to allow extra access to the rear of the engine. I searched the posts, but did not come up with much. Any hints/tips for some good DIY docs? Thanks, Mobjak