1985 turbo sunbird - Page 2 - First Generation Forum

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Re: 1985 turbo sunbird
Monday, January 14, 2013 5:17 PM
new cap, rotor, plugs, wires,k&n filter, oil change, and took for first drive, smooth and flat moves i like it.
bad is heater core is leaking, lol guess i start on that tomorow



Re: 1985 turbo sunbird
Monday, January 14, 2013 5:19 PM
bet you can mess with the honda boys with this


Re: 1985 turbo sunbird
Monday, January 14, 2013 10:00 PM
Good luck on the core work.I would def flush the system really good using some lime away(yeah really) this will remove more sediment and flush it before and after you install the core and you might want to update your cooling hoses and thermostat and so forth.And while at it ,do a new radiator cap,new coolant sender since system will be drained.Just some preventive can save you later.



Re: 1985 turbo sunbird
Tuesday, January 15, 2013 5:32 PM
I've got some terrible news for you John....

You've unfortunately got A/C in your J. Don't ask me why, it is one of the great mysteries, but Pontiac 1st gens with the 1.8 and A/C are impossible to find heater cores for. Been all over the Internet, shopped all my car parts stores. They list them on EBay but when you order it it is a phantom part - they list it, and then tell you it is out of stock after you pay for it. I had the fortune of finding out mine actually was still good, but I know the day will come it is gonna fail, and I am at a loss at what to do.

You might be able to get yours rebuilt at a radiator shop, but I have no idea what kind of cash you're looking at.

Here is my posting and information during my adventure:

http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=28&i=14858&t=14858

At least Paul94Z28 has been able to source the heater hoses for his. He is replacing some goodies while he has had his head off this winter.

If you do find a source for your Heater Core please share!!



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Re: 1985 turbo sunbird
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 3:11 PM
well pulled the heater core out and its fine the problem is the tubes going in/out are 2 pieces and came apart ( sleave ) so i resealed and put clamps so i will see


Re: 1985 turbo sunbird
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 3:26 PM
Sounds like you and I both managed to dodge the bullet John!!
Hope your Rabbit Foot keeps doing it's thing!!



.........................................................................V ....V



Re: 1985 turbo sunbird
Thursday, January 17, 2013 1:19 PM
Just remember, it wasn't all that lucky for the rabbit...
Re: 1985 turbo sunbird
Sunday, January 20, 2013 12:51 PM
Hi John,

My friend Tom Stroup (member of this forum) has a non turbo '85 'Bird in the same exact color combination you've got. There is a picture of my Cavalier being followed by his 'Bird on the Cimmaron thread on the second page. It's a picture of our cars in the parade of cars for the Eastpointe Michigan Gratiot Avenue Cruise (it's a baby brother to the Woodward Avenue Cruise). We were honored to be asked to be in that parade. Tom's got his car put away for the winter but when we break them out for cruise season, I'll post some picture of his engine bay and pictures of his car for everyone to see. The color is called Russet. Enjoy your bird, if your heater core fix doesn't work, contact me and I'll ask Tom if we've got an extra core in our collection of spare parts. We've parted out 5 Cavaliers and Sunbirds to this point in time. I know for sure that we've done two Sunbirds and we do have some spare parts.

Enjoy your Sunbird

Walt Lewis


Re: 1985 turbo sunbird
Monday, January 21, 2013 3:00 AM
nice car, lol alot of nice cars on this site, and thanks for the help.
sad part is kind of makes mine look like a pig in a prom dress lol time will tell


Re: 1985 turbo sunbird
Saturday, January 26, 2013 8:51 AM
John,

All it takes is time and patience to clean her up! Tom and I make remarks about how he will "Martha Stewart" his cars, and he's helped me to get mine just as clean. We win a lot of trophies at car shows due to the fact that we really pay close attention to details when we clean a car. Your car is now a survivor, and deserves the attention she deserves. From pictures you've posted on other threads, it just needs a good cleaning and waxing. Hopefully, your interior and body are solid. You can really enjoy your car. The thing I remember is this: Other muscle cars are a dime a dozen, but J Bodies are now pretty rare! We get so many remarks at shows, like "Wow! I used to have one of those, this one is so clean and in great shape". Fortunately for us, the judges of our club don't discriminate against us for having a J Body, and not a dime a dozen Muscle car. You should see the looks when we beat those guys in our class. They show up with filthy engine compartments, and think, "I've got a Mustang, I should have beat that Cavalier and Sunbird, just because my car is a Mustang"...too bad, as we haul off the hardware. Most of the time when we're at shows that aren't a part of our club, we get beat by those guys, as they don't show us much "love"...LOL. We don't care, we know what we've got and are so very proud of what we've done to them.

You should have seen mine when I first took her to her new home in Michigan (it was brought from North Carolina). My brother in law (who stored the car for my father in law after he'd gone into assisted living) had parked it under a pine tree, and there were long needles EVERYWHERE! The interior was filthy, and it took a LOT of Simple Green, a scrub brush and elbow grease to clean the seats, door cards and other interior parts. The engine compartment was just an oily mess, with oil caked on hoses (the engine had a leak from the harmonic balancer and from the oil filler on the valve cover) and we took the car to a quarter car wash and with a lot of that engine cleaner GUNK, quarters and we home steam cleaned the engine. I also spent quite a bit of time with a Mother's clay bar system cleaning the finish and then using Maguire's cleaner wax to bring out the finish. The original wheels were in need of a coat of paint, so some silver Rustoleum paint cured that (the next year I found a set of 1992 15 inch Z 24 wheels to put on it). This just didn't happen over night, I'm still finding things that I want to do to tweak the car. Plans include repainting the door jambs, converting the seats to power with power seat rails, replacing the bumper covers, deck lid and door side moldings. Eventually, I will have the interior completely redone. It's so much fun to show up to a Cruise in with it and spend time with a new set of friends who've got some cool classic cars!
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