'86 Lebaron Convertible Turbo

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'86 Lebaron Convertible Turbo

Postby ryanjay1 » Sun Nov 10, 2013 1:58 am

Hi,

I was given a one owner 1986 Chrysler LeBaron Convertible Turbo. It's in really good shape, but it's been sitting forever, has some mold on the interior. It needs:
1. Blown head gasket repair
2. Seized brakes. It's been sitting for a long time.
3. A very good clean inside and out.

I got it from my Grandmother for free, she bought new in '86. I will begin working on the car in a couple of weeks when I get paid.

Is there anything I should look out for? This is my first Chrysler.

Thanks
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Re: '86 Lebaron Convertible Turbo

Postby capev86 » Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:56 pm

the only head gasket you want to use is a Mopar Performance one. unfortunately Chrysler no longer sells them, so you will have order from one of the vendors (fwdperformance, turbosunleashed, etc).

there is one model for T1 and Carb (and early TBI) applications and one for T2 (and late T1, 90's TBI). The T2 spec unit is for cross drilled engine blocks and cylinder heads (extra coolant passages that combat the lack of water jackets on Siamese cylinders bores). T2 gasket can be used on an early car engine too, so don't worry if you can't find a T1 gasket.

as for brakes....turn in the calipers and brake cylinders as cores and get fresh stuff. if your car has the dinky 9-1\2" rotor system, which suck, take this opportunity to upgrade to the 10-1\4" rotor setup. much better setup and will fit in 14 inch wheels.
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Re: '86 Lebaron Convertible Turbo

Postby 89ARIES » Wed Nov 13, 2013 1:40 am

Thankyou capev86. But, do they still make them? I am hearing rumors now that we are stuck with Felpros, and all the good ones have been bought up.
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Re: '86 Lebaron Convertible Turbo

Postby carguyray » Wed Nov 13, 2013 5:29 am

Wow, I sure hope not (with so many of my own) but I have a guy here in town I work with who changes them regularly for people BEFORE they go bad. I'll give him a call tomorrow and post what he says. Looking forward to some good news here.
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Re: '86 Lebaron Convertible Turbo

Postby capev86 » Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:11 am

Felpro's design is worse than the factory installed unit I hear. Mopar Performance gaskets are out there...Chrysler just doesn't produce them any more, so you have to depend on dealer stock or the aftermarket suppliers mentioned above.

the original gasket on my 86 Aries wagon 2.5 tbi made it 150,000 miles. i don't worry about a head gasket unless i'm having trouble or the engine is apart for work anyway.....THEN i upgrade to a Mopar gasket!
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Re: '86 Lebaron Convertible Turbo

Postby carguyray » Sat Nov 16, 2013 3:42 am

Well, they're not really out there. I've spend the last 2 days checking all my sources and what I've been told is the supply has been depleted from the resellers. One other board I'm on has people who've bought 10-20 at a time to save them up. Also, I've been told by 3 different resellers that at this point the "best and often only option is to buy the 'cross drilled' gaskets (again, IF you can find them) for the newer engines and cut to enlarge the holes using your old one as a template". Not what I wanted to hear. I've also found that the only one of the "006" (cross drilled) gaskets that I can find are in a kit that includes all the other upper gaskets that I can't use on my T1 2.2

I'm still looking 'cause I'm buying another T1 convert that needs a HG job, so I'll keep everyone posted if I find a good source.

PS: Many of the turbo sites are saying that the current FelPro gaskets are much better and have metal reinforcements. Some still hate them, other swear by them so you never know. A number of guys have said that they new design is just fine if you're NOT overboosting or racing so I may try that with my next one.
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Re: '86 Lebaron Convertible Turbo

Postby 89ARIES » Sat Nov 16, 2013 8:23 am

Would not be surprised if they did this on purpose to wipe out the K. Make a POS gasket in the first place out of laziness back in the 1980s, and then when a fix comes along, stop making the fix. :mrgreen:
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Re: '86 Lebaron Convertible Turbo

Postby capev86 » Sun Nov 17, 2013 8:10 pm

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Re: '86 Lebaron Convertible Turbo

Postby carguyray » Mon Nov 18, 2013 1:21 am

Nope... not go!

If you click to add it to your cart you'll see it's "backordered. no delivery date available". I even called the owner and chatted with him and that's where I got the info about having to use the 006 gaskets and cutting them out. Also, the 006 is ONLY available in the "87-89 upper gasket set" which is a waste of all the others to us 84-86 owners.

I'm still looking too.
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