Hey guys,,I just bought a 90 sunbird LE conv turbo.Been told RARE ! I`m a turbo GM collector,I own 1 84 buick t-type thats been converted to all 87 stuff,and a 87 buick T-Type w/only 84K on the clock .I`ve researched that in 1990 GM didnt make any cavelier conv or any sunbird GT conv,only did they make the LE conv models,,what happened in 1990 to convertibles to limit them to only the LE sunbirds? I also noticed that in 1991 they picked back up the convertible modles in both the cavelier and sunbird GT,,BUT,the dropped the turbo engine altogether.What happened here? I see that the turbo engine has 165hp,which is pretty darn good for a little light weight car,why did they do this ? My sunbird isnt running right now,needs a fuel pump,but otherwise is real good shape for 16yrs old.Oh,and this little road rocket has the WS6 suspention,,wow,a small version of the trans-am ! Any way,I`m on the fence here of whether I should restore this car or not,,what do you guys think ? -----Jack

All we've been able to get from GM are total production numbers for Sunbirds.... those are in the FAQ. But never a breakdown of different models, sorry.

The turbo motor was not the most reliable... tended to blow up prematurely. If yours hasn't yet, take good care of it...

GM also had a baby T-type , it was the skylark (same basic car as the sunbird)

but it was black and silver , similar to the regal t-tpye/grand national , and it had a turbo in it , the 1 i saw at a local yard had a 1.8 turbo

had it not been in the junk yard , i woulda bought it cause it was cool looking

Thanks for the replys guys,but I wish I had gotten some better news on the production figs anyway,what a bummer.Anyway on the turbo eng going prematurly,this one has 122k all orig miles,no problems other than the puel pump,but I do know from past that if you over heat an alum headed eng then pour cool water down the radiator,you`ll probley warp the head,thus a blowen hd gskt.I`ve owned turbo buicks for a little while now,and know that if you let the turbo go "all out" ,that is remove or change the pressure limits ,it will blow the head gskt also.Dont know too much bout these little 2.0L eng (that is how much turbo pressure these will take),I know that my turbo buick will take 20-22 lbs of pressure.I think this 2.0L is set by the fact to boost up to 7-10 lbs,I THINK,,sombody correct me if I`m off base here. I got this car cause I think I can have some fun kicking the s---t out of those ricers.I`m 50 yrs old ,and I just think it would be a blast to show em what good ole USA built american cars can REALLY do.Cant wait to see their eyes after I blow em off,,and if I do get beat,then I`ll just go get one of the buicks--------Jack

id love to have one of those turbo sunbird conv'ts

halfj99------Yea,at first when I bought this car I was thinging bout fixing it up good enough to run decent,then re selling it,but after researching it and driving it for a day with the top down,decieded to keep it and fix her up more and use it as a dailey driver---Jack

Hi Jack-

I also have multiple GM cars that I am working on. I have the 84 2000 Sunbird Turbo convertible, and a 94 Camaro Z28.

For what it is worth - I feel GM did well with the turbo options - considering the warranty costs. A little $.95 relay can cause the failure of the head gasket in a 1.8, leading to a $725 head gasket job. They could have gone one step better before switching to v6s, but then they would have been in the same place Ford was with the SVO mustang - a better car, but priced out of range.

I plan on keeoing both of my projects - my 84 is on 10K on a complete mechanical rebuild (144K total miles), I am in the process of finishing up paint and interior restoration. I will be modding it so it keeps up with my 94. The 94 may turn into an all out drag car - I do not know yet. Right now I enjoy cruising in both. My Camaro is way fater, but not rare enough for me. I like the rarity that this car has, especially in MI.

Regards,

Paul

halfJ99 (Nik) wrote:id love to have one of those turbo sunbird conv'ts

should have bought the one at the car show/swap meet last weekend.




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