Well, I found a mint 1990 Sunbird GT with a 2.0l turbo and an automatic for $650. This thing is mint! I was hoping to find a similar J body with a V6 to turbo, but this thing is just sooo clean! What potential does the 2.0l turbo engine have? I know head gaskets are a weakness but what about the turbo and the rest of the engine? Any ideas?

 

As you know they have a head gasket issue, don't think the auto trans is that great, I would put a meth kit on it, turn up the boost a couple pounds and have a fun driver.

 

honestly i wouldnt bother witht he sunbird

id wait and find a clean 6cyl car to turbo

with a 3400 v6 and a few mods and a t3/t4 hybrid can get u into the 12's with as low as 9-10 psi depending on what mods u do to the motor.
my camaro has the same motor except 3.1 L with iron heads and at 9 psi it went [email protected] with a crappy launch.car wieghed in at 3422#'s that run

 

I believe that that engine is quite decent, and much overlooked.

Heck, iif it's nice, it would make a nice fun daily driver for that price.

Dave

 

I never new there was such a car. Any factory turbo car can be fun. Hell I had one of those old school turbo probes (someone gave me) exhaust hacked off of it, a DIY boost controller, & tires it was a 13 second car! Any anyone you asked about them siad they were junk.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_122_engine#1.8L_SOHC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Sunbird

 

Lol, sounds like fun!

 

I had a bunch of info on those engines, but I can't find it. There's a member here named Jeff that knows these engines. Perhaps he'll see this thread and comment.

 

My Grand Am 2.0L turbo, 16v Opel (Daewoo) head swap, homemade distributor drive, T04E O-trim, Super 60, FMIC, yada-yada... 370whp. 4 years in the making. The stock 8v is good for 350+hp with a GT28. Gotta intercool it. Put ARP rod bolts and main studs in it if you have the engine out. Shim the oil pump spring for about 70psi WOT. I have a factory 5-speed swap for it, with GM torsen LSD Id sell. I put a 4T45E 4-speed auo in my car. It ran 115mph in the 1/4 basically accelerating in thrd and 4th (with the 5-speed) Severely traction limited. That's why I put the AT back in it.

I have alot of info on these if ytou get the car. I say do it, they are fun drivers and killer sleepers!

 

More info:

Factory rated at 165hp/175lbs.ft on 9psi, non-intercooled. Designated C20GET, RPO code LT3. The same ecm is used in the Sy/Ty trucks. it is a great ecm. Batch-fire injected, 2-bar MAP, speed-density. Forged pistons, cast steel crank. The stock turbo is good for nothing. The McLaren Turbo GP T-28 is a good upgrade, good for about 260hp on 17-18psi max. That'll give you 200whp if you do a FMIC. Don;t try to run any more boost until you intercool it. I built a junkyard kit using a mazda RX-7 turbo 2 intercooler with modified tanks. Then I went to a Starion intercooler, bigger pipes, bigger turbo (Mitsu 16G) and made 240whp on the same 17psi. Blew it up (stock rod bolts) found the Daewoo engine, same Opel engine as Pontiac, did the head swap and distributor drive set-up, bored it and used o/s GM forged pistons. ARP offers ARP2000 rod bolts, main studs, head studs for the 16valve head. Cometic makes a h/g for the early head (C20) and GM makes a MLS for the 16V head (1995-up Opel/Daewoo).

After 4 years of tuning, I got it up to 370whp on 18psi with a big FMIC on 93 octane. It is a one-of-a-kind show stopper. I am now running a 2.2L (Isuzu Rodeo) bottom end with the same Daewoo top end, 4 years old now. With the auto and 20-22psi it will be over 400whp and run low-11's this spring. The car weighs 3000 with me in it, fully loaded with factory options, all street trim.

The Daewoo 2.0 16V is a direct swap, but you have to figure out a way to drive the dist or run aftermarket efi system. I know a guy who has a daewoo 2.0L in his n/a sunbird running great on the stock ecm. You could run it on the stock n/a sunbird b/c it was waste spark also. The you have to run an fmu or rrfpr. You can install the Daewoo 2.2 (Leganza) also with a few motor mount mods.

Feel free to ask any questions. I am the (self-proclaimed) C20GET guru.

 

Its pretty neat how these korean car mfg's copy the desing of other things. I know hyundai has a motor that is identical the mitsubishi's 4g63.

 

Daewoo IS Opel, not a copy. Daewoo is GM-Korea. They were sold in the US as a low-price import from 99-02, GM pulled out the rug and left dealers stranded high and dry. There were still new 02's on a few Chevy and Olds lots as late as 2004! One had brand new, never titled cars for $5995.00!!!

The T20SED 2.0L Daewoo is identical to the X20XE Opel/Vauxhall 16V engine, save only a drop in compression from 10.0:1 to 9.3:1. it is rated at 135hp. I am making over 450hp on a stock, unmodified head. I do have a slightly hotter intake cam and custom intake manifold on mine, though. The peak hp rpm moved from 6000rpm stock cam and intake (turbocharged) to 7200rpm new cam and intake on the same boost level. I picked up over 75whp at 7200!

 

You could do a junkyard 3400 swap and add a turbo. Of course, you would be better off starting with a 6 cylinder car for that swap. Mine went 12.2 at 119mph on drag radials using one of Jeff's Engineered Performance limited slip diffs. $500 junkyard venture van 3400 with 13psi of boost (car only weighs 3,000lbs with me in it).

This was with the stock Getrag/Muncie 5spd, except for the EP LSD. The problem I'm running into now is that I cannot find a clutch to hold. I've had 4 different clutches in this car, the best was a Bully stage 3 which held up well until I started to get a hotter tune in it on drag weel '08. I needed 0.018s to be the fastest 6 cylinder and the clutch was the only thing that kept me from closing the gap. I have more money in the clutch than the motor.

Jeff, I'd like to talk with you a little about the 4t45e you built for your car.

 

hey, I can;t remember who you are, but the clutch issues ring a bell. email me off site.

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I have a 90 sunbird (customer) with a hybrid 3100 Intercooled Turbo (McLaren GP) top end/3400 bottom end, T3 50-trim/std. T3 turbine, .63a/r. Basically a stock T3. It made 250whp on 10psi behind a Getrag 5-speed.

 

Yeah, you got me wanting to do one of the early J body cars! I decided not to pick up the Sunbird and just wait for a V6 powered one instead.

 

In had an old turbo probe. That was a fun car.

 

Hey pontiac Jeff I just signed up and read your article, I've got a 90 sunbird gt turbo that I have had a long time. It used to be my go to work car and now I wondered if you knew of boneyard cars that I could get a intercooler from, and some more information about the daewoo head.
Thanks Mikeit

 

why not just put in an aftermarket front mount intercooler as long as you have some space for what you’d spend on a boneyard piece. I used to have an 87 2.0 sunbird 5 speed with massive 13” diameter tires. It was a good car.