Turbo ID for the 1978 LeSabre

[dmoberg]

I have an original 78 LeSabre Sport Coupe with the 4-barrell rochester. I'm trying to verify which turbo is on this thing. It has AirResearch stamped on it, and the only markings are AR.42 and A/R.82 ACD. I'm what you'd call uninformed when it comes to this. I've been quoted $400 bucks to rebuild, but since I have two of these things I'm considering finding the kit and trying to make one work. I've thumbed through the tech pages but I'm still not 100% sure which model I have. Any special tools required? Best left to the pros? The procedures in the manual seem too easy, but I've been surprised too many times before. Any info would be appreciated.

[kenmosher]

That sounds like the right turbo, but it's hard to tell from stampings. Since the performance market for the carb'ed cars is pretty limited, it's a pretty good bet that it hasn't been tampered with much (i.e. a hybrid aftermarket unit with new wheels and bored out housings).

The rebuild is relatively straight forward, but clearances (as you can imagine) are pretty critical. $400 seems awfully steep for a rebuild. You might try a couple diesel places around you ... lots of times they have pretty decent prices and they have all the balancing/tools.

[Keller]

A shop nearby (run by a guy in his basement workshop) can usually do a rebuild with parts for $100-150, if that.

Try a diesel shop, or find a different turbo specialist.

[charlief1]

The parts can be bought from Gpop shop for around $100. You can do it yourself without to many problems. If Keller would be kind enough to post the write up on rebuilding the turbo it's pretty much a no brainer. Unless there's some damage to the compressor or turbine then it shouldn't be to much over $200. If you need a guy that may be able to help you send me a PM and I can send you his phone number.

[Keller]

You mean http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/turbo/turborebuild.html ?

Note that the location for Limit has changed. It is correct in the Vendors list.

[charlief1]

That's the one Scott. Since you know the site better than anyone I figured you could find it easier than I could. Since all the turbo Buick V6 cars came with a T3 center and most of the parts interchange the directions are the same for all of them. There may be minor differences between all of them but the directions posted should give you all the instructions to do it yourself, unless one of the wheels or shaft is damaged.

[kenmosher]

Yep, as long as things are in decent shape you can do it yourself. If there's a scored shaft or nicked turbine/compressor, a diesel place a lot of times can touch it up and rebalance things (or replace with new parts on hand).

I used to have a local diesel place that could do a good quality rebuild (with the revised seals and such) for about $125 (but that was about 10 years ago). Since at the time, parts were about $90-100 for me to buy, it was worth the $25-35 for them to do it. Probably not the case any more though ...