Leaderboard

This is going to be a great thread to follow...

I do not have a starter for it and I have no idea why it didn't run. It actually was an accident victim, and I simply chose the engine out of several cars that were lined up, which I pointed out to the worker with the giant payloader who scooped it up and carried it away to be relieved of it's heart. It was a somewhat uncertain time for the yard and the counterman originally quoted me a little higher price, like $225. He lowered the price when I came to pick it up and called it a core engine, but I am not sure why? There is no doubt their familiarity with Dave has a positive effect on their attitude? I intend to pull the heads and maybe a few bearings to look inside, even if it was a runner. I already know the crankshaft is different for two reasons, it has a one piece rear seal and the flexplate bolts on with eight bolts rather than six. I also know the rocker arms in the head have roller trunnions rather than the sled type pivot, but the arm itself is just stamped steel, similar to ours. The internal condition will determine what becomes of the longblock.

A short preface: This topic has been a long time coming and may be somewhat slow moving. I always wanted a supercharged engine for comparison to the turbocharged iterations I have experimented with for many years. None of this is hardcore performance, just what can be done with a little work and optimization. Originally I planned to add a supercharger to an LN3, our stock N/A engine from 88-90, or the 91 L27. With that in mind, and the spare block and heads I got from Daves89, I had it bored, and decked to end up with a 9:1 compression ratio and purchased pistons of an unusual design for an Australian Holden V6. I also purchased a S/C damper and had the rotating assembly balanced with the S/C damper. Moving forward, a couple of years ago, our largest local junkyard got in legal trouble and it looked like they were going to have to liquidate and shut down. With that in mind, the time to act took on more urgency, and thanks to Dave's help, I secured a complete take out '95 supercharged engine from a Riviera. Since it was listed as non running on their inventory, I bought it for the core engine price of $175, complete with alternator, power steering, a/c compressor and even the torque converter on the flexplate. It turned out they did not go out of business but it does seems prices have increased a bit and they are less inclined to let things slide. I finally started looking the engine over and noted it turns over freely and appears to have compression. All of the accessories also spin freely although the a/c compressor has since seized, probably from being open to atmosphere? My original intent was to just to salvage the supercharger but of course my curious self wonders if the entire package may be salvaged, either supercharged or more highly boosted turbocharged? The other engine is still in pieces but before I commit any more work on it, I intend to at least partially tear down my junkyard core. I just spent a couple hours today stripping off the leftover wiring, belts, hoses and other misc. stuff, much of which had been cut or disabled by the removal crew at the junkyard. I noticed immediately the front motor mount is completely different, being bolted on the front corner of the engine rather than being part of the A/C compressor mount on ours. There is a massive aluminum casting bracket that covers the entire front (belt end) of the engine to the rear of the crank centerline, It carries the alternator and power steering pump as well as a single and double idler and a belt tensioner. Unfortunately this bracket is cracked and the tensioner is broken. It is right at the bottom so it likely was more prone to damage. Attached is a photo. It appears the charcoal canister venting is done differently through a vacuum/electric valve on the intake manifold. The EGR is a totally different type and is located on the front of the intake manifold and attached to the front exhaust manifold. I suspect I could adapt our EGR to this location but it is in a butt ugly location. I would prefer to keep a functioning system rather than deleting it, but that is to be determined. When I removed the EGR I noted the intake manifold end of the feed pipe was slathered with a blue silicone (photo) as was one of the water pipes for the heater? Clearly not a stock repair. One of the fuel injectors was missing the clip that secures it to the fuel rail but otherwise everything looked pretty good and came apart smoothly. The fuel injector part number indicates they are 28# vs the 19# for the n/a engine. I need to investigate the proper removal procedure for the crank damper. It appears to have a plastic shield on the backside and if there are tapped holes, they are hidden inside three open slots on the front. I don't know why the photo of the large bracket is turned sideways? I t should be rotated clockwise 90* to place the crack and broken tensioner at the bottom.

When I received the engine initially I noticed the exhaust manifolds were a similar design to ours with some notable changes. They are tubular and very similar up front except the front manifold also includes the crossover pipe to the rear as a single piece. In this case it also has the fitting for the EGR on the front manifold. The rear manifold is a different design while still being tubular sheet metal. It is definitely more efficient than ours. The construction is such that it appears as an upper and lower half with a seam along the entire length on both sides. The opening to the exhaust is completely clear and actually has a bit of a funnel shape for smoother flow and the stub pipes from the exhaust ports do not extend into the main log to introduce turbulence. The down side is there is no EGR tap but that could be added easily. The rear manifold is an exact replacement for ours in all other respects and I actually put it together with our front manifold and crossover pipe. Interestingly, the outlet stub is exactly the same as ours even though the rest of the exhaust system is supposedly larger diameter? It sure starts off as 2.25" even on the latest Series 1 supercharged.

I just received a set from the above referenced vendor ... I am pleased with the quality of the product and quick delivery from ECRP! See photos

Thank you for all you do. I know this is a hard time to be a nurse. I'm happy to be able to help you.

For anyone in the future looking at replacing these for the same reason, East Coast Reatta parts has them for sale. 54 bucks for the pair. Made from polyurethane so should be alot more robust!