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Thread: 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade

  1. #1
    Garrett booster
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    Thumbs up 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade

    Recently picked up another engine for my New Yorker. The engine in the car runs ok, but it's got 150,000 miles on it, so I would like to redo this other engine over the winter. What I'm looking for is info on making sure it's reliable. A little extra hp would be a bonus. I haven't torn into the engine yet, but I got it from a friend, that said it ran before he parted out the NYr it was in. It was suggested that I should do a turbo 2 upgrade, but not sure what that entails or where to get the parts. Any info about block, head prep and what to look for upon disassembly, would be greatly appreciated.

  2. #2
    Supporting Member II Turbo Mopar Contributor ajakeski's Avatar
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    Re: 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade


  3. #3
    Rhymes with tortoise. Turbo Mopar Staff cordes's Avatar
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    Re: 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade

    There's not much to it. Just a couple manifolds, compressor cover, TB, throttle cable, and the associated plumbing for the most part. You have to look out for some things like the fact that if you have an 85 a larger set of head bolts would be a very good idea. Not too bad to tap the block though.

  4. #4
    turbo addict Turbo Mopar Contributor iTurbo's Avatar
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    Re: 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade

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ID:	64532I rebuilt a 'log' TI engine a few years back. It was an '85 2.2L engine (G-head/pistons) originally out of a Shelby Charger, but I rebuilt it for my '86 GLH Turbo. I mostly built it for reliability, but with a little extra power. I used a ported head from Todd Nelson, along with some basic mods such as a TU 3" swing valve, grainger valve boost controller with ~12 psi boost, and an MP stage II logic module. The car also has a cat-less 3" exhaust from FWDPerformance. I also deleted emissions equipment such as EGR, and greatly simplified the vacuum line setup with a distribution manifold.

    You can definitely make a log TI fun for daily driving duties. While I doubt it makes over 160 wheel HP, it is nearly as much fun as the tired 2.5L "TII" and NPR intercooler setup that used to be in the car.

  5. #5
    Garrett booster
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    Re: 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade

    My very first turbo car, was an 86 GLH turbo. That car surprised the hell out of me the first time I floored it from a stop light. Wasn't prepared for the torque steer. I discovered yesterday, that my 87 New Yorker, is actually an 86. Which is a bit strange, because it's registered as an 87. I ran the VIN and sure enough, it comes back as an 86. I went looking, because I ordered a MAP sensor for an 87 and it's different than the one on my NYer. The spare engine I have, is supposed to be an 87. Is there a way to find out what year it actually is?

  6. #6
    turbo addict
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    Re: 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade

    going from log motors to the TII style manifolds I kinda noticed the early log motor was more like a cat that had learned to play with it's claws out
    snarley , nasty and snappy
    the blow through cars .. not so much

    log motor /12#'s on 13 inch vectors does the best burnouts for a "stock"

    billowing clouds of smoke all the way through first and second gear .. then the car starts to move away in third
    completely useless in the rain though

    if you're going to stay stockish there's really no reason to go TII
    log motor is 146 hp
    TII is 175..

    the effort to put a 175 hp motor in is better spent making the 146 hp motor into a 200 hp one
    -same for the budget

    the log motor only really lacks the cool looking intake in stock form
    and you can't see that from the driver's seat anyways

  7. #7
    Rhymes with tortoise. Turbo Mopar Staff cordes's Avatar
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    Re: 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade

    If you're going to run a stock computer, or a DC computer, then I don't see that much of a problem sticking with the early TI setup. However, the support for TII style systems there, whereas the TI log stuff just isn't. That's one reason why if I had a TI log car that was nice, it would stay nearly dead stock.

  8. #8
    turbo addict
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    Re: 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade

    Bolted a T2 setup onto my 87 Yorker when the headgasket went. WAY WAY better! A stage 2 GLHS cal will bolt right into your 86, I used a ShelbyZ T2 cal since mine was an 87. A little tweaking of the stock tune to turn the over boost off and set the ECU to run the boost at 14.5 and ramp to that as soon as possible and it was a riot. Low 14's on stock full exhaust with a cat. Ultimate sleeper. Blew by a cop (he didn't get me on radar) doing 70MPH in a 35 blowing the doors off a souped up truck across the intersection. Told the judge there's no way this old K-car goes that fast. Got a fine for 5 over

  9. #9
    turbo addict
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    Re: 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade

    lol
    better:
    BEATING the cop across the intersection when the cop has a 40 ish mph rolling start

    ...and your "little ordinary turismo" just SMOKED his XXX from a standing start

  10. #10
    Hybrid booster
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    Re: 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade

    Direct Connection did come out with a logic module for intercooled 85/86 T1s, I had one in my 85 Daytona Turbo. I don't know if anyone has submitted the cal to the calibration repository or not. Otherwise I think there is a cal that increases boost to 9 psi for those early T1s. I'm sure there are other means to get more power from the non-intercooler setup.

  11. #11
    Garrett booster
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    Re: 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade

    Anyone use a FWDPerfomance logic module? Also, when changing the LM, do I have to change the PM as well? I've owned a few turbo cars in the past, but this is the first time I've actually got into more than just basic maintenance.

  12. #12
    turbo addict
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    Re: 87 Turbo 1 engine rebuild and upgrade

    turbo car PM is the same PM for all turbo cars from 85-87

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