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Thread: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

  1. #81
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    Update: no start on the Lebaron, cindy is sending me another.

  2. #82
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    Updates: 02/1/15

    I have had the car for little while now and it is a blast to drive, aton of comfort with the Mark Cross interior. It has enough pep in stockform to be joyous at times. The trans, turbo, and engine are all doinggreat. I replaced the fouled plugs withnew 9yc’s gapped at .035 is that good? At the same time I replaced the intake filter with K&N just to helpthe little bugger breathe a bit more.

    I noticed the little tires were at 46psi and dropped them down to 32psi all-around, amazing how they didn’t blow.

    I had time to look underneath and everything looks sound except for the rearsuspension and the exhaust job the previous owner made. The exhaust has a test pipe un-welded at thecat delete location and had put spring-spacers in to lift the rear end due toworn out coils and blown shocks.

    I have a DynoMax Thrush 17713 Turbo Muffler coming for $20 shipped, and willbring it to an exhaust shop and have a 2.25” pipe welded up from the existingcut back to remove the 1.87” neck in OEM form. I read that this will remove some drone, quiet it down a ton, but stillhave a nice sound under WOT with minimal back pressure. This should maintain/increase currentperformance and relieve me of my CO headaches!

    I also have a pair of
    OEM Monroe 5864 Shocks + 2 MOOG CC703 OEMcoils. I will likely need a springcompressor to put these in correct?






    Future thingsto address include:
    1) Driver’s Window stuck closed, likely bushing or gear since I hearpower. Is there a schematic for all thescrews to remove or should I just dive in once it gets warm? – Also, when thedoors are locked you cannot open the Driver’s door with the key but you can thepassengers?.. The electric door lockswitch is also the only electric component that doesn’t work.

    2) The reverse lights still do not come on in R, the cluster needle is off byabout ¼” so when I am in Drive it’s just to the right of D, is there a switchthat might be broken to realize I have put it in R to turn the lights on? New bulbs installed.


    3) Thespeedometer cable needs inspection still, what lube is to be used and where inorder to get the needle to stop bouncing around until 20mph? I also need to address the ringing/dingingwithin the cluster itself driving me bonkers.



    I currently have the car listed FS on Craigs since the whole reason I wanted a Turbo-K was for fun and mileage so I coulddrive it often to save the SRT. This isnot the case with the 3spd Auto as my last few tanks have been 16mpgcombined! I have found a couple 5spd Tvans that I would love to have, but cannot afford both. If I find a complete 5spd in the near futurethen I may go that route for the LeBaron, it just seems a shame to cut into thefloor on such a young guy with only 58,000 miles…

  3. #83
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    You won't need a spring compressor. You'll be able to put the body on jack stands and slowly lower the trailing arm with a jack. That will allow the springs to come right out with no issues.

  4. #84
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    does the car have the load leveling system???

  5. #85
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    I am not sure what that is.

    Here are images as of recent. I love the car every time I drive it, maybe maybe if I can find an A525 then I will undertake the swapping. No welding needed or anything right, just need to cut a hole for the shifter in the floor then somehow seal it? I will use the search for how-to's. Is that the only 5spd that will work?






  6. #86
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    You can use any of the transmissions. I would recommend against the 525 due to the fact that it is so weak. The latter transmissions will just require a hole in the floor or two in order to pass the shifter cables through. It's pretty straight forward and not too bad IMO.

  7. #87
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    ​So the neutral safety switch is a possible culprit to the reverse lights not coming on, how could that be if it's just to allow the car to be started when not in gear?

  8. #88
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    Tried for the sale, 30 watchers no takers. With the new 2.25" installed, removing the leaking clamps the last owner had my fill-up was 19.6mpg 50/50 driving. A considerable increase from 16.2 that I was getting for the same commute. The 19.6 commute included a good amount of time warming up, slipping on snow, and cold temps.

    I will look into the 5spd more in depth now that I will keep him. The replacement STG2 LM should be here any day now, and hopefully this one works. Possibly an increase could come from that as well? On the spec sheet and when talking to Cindy she needed to know if it was auto or not, since it's mechanical why did she need to know? Basically asking, will I need a new STG2 LM if and when I do the 5spd swap?

    Also, these cars are HORRIBLE in snow, my goodness these skinny tires are brand new tread and good General Snows at that, I couldn't make it up my driveway last night... What is the fattest tire / rim combo I can put on this LeBaron and make it look less like a hood-rat? Planning on a 440 tread or the like all-season for this car.

  9. #89
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    Here's my old 87 Yorker:





    Getting new shocks on it probably helped with the MPG as it lowered the nose and lifted the rear helping aero. Also you it probably accelerates better now as it doesn't squat when the light turns green. 19.6mpg is much better. Make sure your odo is reading right if that's what you're using to calculate mpg. Pretty sure these cars were rated 19/25 out the door. Notice the big air dam on mine. It's from an 80's Chevy S10 and helps with cooling and aero and is cheap from Rock Auto brand new. You want the one without tow hooks or fogs. The wheels on mine were 15x6 lace rims off an 88 J-body Lebaron. I had 205/60 15's on them and it was fine in the snow. Try taking the front sway bar out in winter and seeing if that helps. I put end links on mine which allows the sway bar not to bind up the suspension like the stock one does. The difference is amazing. I literally do NOT need an LSD in the trans any more as it spins both tires equally in every situation I've put them through.

    You might want to think about upgrading to a 89/90 dual pivot kmember and a-arms with Energy Suspension bushings. This will relieve more of the binding, allow a better ride and more traction as well as lower the front of the car a bit more which helps with Aero too. Small things add up.

    My car also had 3" exhaust from the turbo back. Average 50/50 was 22-23. I never drove it on the freeway long enough to get a mpg reading there.

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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    Try taking the front sway bar out in winter and seeing if that helps. I put end links on mine which allows the sway bar not to bind up the suspension like the stock one does. The difference is amazing. I literally do NOT need an LSD in the trans any more as it spins both tires equally in every situation I've put them through.

    ^^ This part a little more please.

  11. #91
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    1985 CHEVROLET S10 PICKUP 1.9L 119cid L4 : Body : Air Dam <<< This? $7.80 yay, $38 shipping ahh!
    Last edited by TopGunRMNP; 03-05-2015 at 04:15 PM.

  12. #92
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    The neutral safety switch is also the reverse light switch on these cars. It's a 3-terminal switch that grounds the coil side of the starter relay in Park and Neutral, and hooks a power wire to the reverse light wire in Reverse. You can pull the connector off the neutral safety switch and jump power to whichever wire is purple, and if your backup lights come on, then everything from there back is good. One of the other wires should have power 12v when the key is on. If you've got the 12v when the key is on and putting power on the purple wire lights up your reverse lights, you need a new switch.


    How big of a tire you can fit depends on the wheels and on how much, if any, you plan to lower it. Bigger tires do drag down your fuel economy somewhat so be prepared if you plan to go big!

    Dont push the red button.You hear me?

  13. #93
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    Pics of how to make your sway bar actually work like it should.

    Those are 1/2-20 threaded shperical Rod ends from MSC, The center bushings are Energy suspension with a bottom plate made from flat stock steel from Home Depot or any material company. You have to open up the slots on the bushing bracket to get them to fit our bolt spacing so I use a beefy piece of flat stock to hold it all in place. This allows the sway bar to rotate freely without moving in directions you don't want it to and allows the suspension to move as it was designed too. The stock setup binds up the a-arms from moving which then unloads the weight from one side or the other and causes the light wheel to spin. With equal weight being allowed on both wheels all the time both wheels spin equally. I've had one tire on gravel and one on tarmac and they both light up. It' a bit scary in the snow as the front of the car will slide towards whichever way the road is leaning when you lose traction if you don't compenstate for it but both tires will put power to the ground. Tons more grip when turning hard and accelerating. Really it makes the car have the grip of not having a front sway bar at all but then keeps the car from leaning like a sway bar should. So it's the best of both worlds. I was really wanting to get a Quaiffe LSD until I did this mod. Now, it'd be $1300 down the drain.






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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    Update: Getting 20mpg 50/50 average now. Seafoam, oil change, and trans lucas fluid next. Then perhaps the s-10 air dam.

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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    In the time it takes you to do the air dam you could replace the transfer gears.

  16. #96
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    ​That will destroy what little spirit it has now would it not?

  17. #97
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    Acceleration on these cars is easier to fix than MPG is. Anything you would lose from transfer gears is probably not more than 3-4psi of boost to get back.

    Dont push the red button.You hear me?

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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    Quote Originally Posted by Vigo View Post
    Acceleration on these cars is easier to fix than MPG is. Anything you would lose from transfer gears is probably not more than 3-4psi of boost to get back.
    I would agree there. I didn't notice any difference when I did them in my neon, but I did not take it to the track either.

  19. #99
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    About how many qts of ATF4 drains out when you replace the A/trax gasket and filter? I didn't want to do this since there were no leaks, but I loosened a few bolts to try and drain a bit to have room for Lucas additive, and it all fell out so yeah..

  20. #100
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    Re: Purchasing a 1985 Turbo EFI Lebaron

    4 Quarts.

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