My 1989 Chrysler LeBaron GTC Turbo 2: The Red Baron

      This is my 1989 Chrysler LeBaron GTC. It came with the Turbo 2 setup. It's 1 of 1,033 Turbo 2 hardtops produced that year. I bought in June of 2004 from someone in Ohio. I bought it as I was looking for a project car and I had owned a nice one of these that was totaled in an accident. I flew out there and bought the car for a mere $600. It had a good sized dent in the driver quarter panel and the door skin was rippled. The previous owner's son backed into it with the family Buick which was the reason he was selling it. I drove it all the back to Utah where I promptly fixed quite a few issues. My intended purpose of this car is to bring it back to new, if not better than new condition. I would also like to make it occasional track car, with emphasis on handling. When I'm done it should be putting down 350 HP to the wheels.

History: The Project Begins

      Before I even got the car home a lot of issue became apparent. The PCV valve hose kept popping off under boost. I didn’t fix that until I got to Colorado to visit a friend who had an extra screw clamp. The tires were cracked but didn’t show me that one of them had a slow leak until somewhere around the Indiana border. The brakes weren’t in good shape, they would fade easy and there was a good amount of pedal pulsation. Once I got it home I removed a lot of yellow “dress up” items under the hood, some pinstripes, the mud flaps, and a steering wheel cover.

Current Work: Where To Start?

10.19.2009

      Well, Friday I put the car up on jack stands and got to work removing the suspension, brakes, and all the under body metal. A lot of the bolts are rusted in the bushings, rust welded to the inner sleeves. I've already begun using a cutoff wheel to cut off the ones that I can. I'm hoping I can use a press to get the two out that I can't get to with the grinder. The bushings and all the other rubber underside looked like I expected it to, came out in pieces. Now all the metal is out and all I need to do is remove the control arms and I can take it all off to the powder coater.

      Some other unforeseen issues cropped up. Rust was the word of the day, this time with the rear hard lines on the brakes. They promptly broke so they will be replaced along with the SS flex lines. Also, I forgot about the C/V boots. Being rubber, when I removed them the boots pretty much came apart. So, I had to go buy new axles as well. I figured since I apparently have a money tree growing out of my ass I should replace the rack, lines, and power steering pump while I'm in here.

      The car also barely passed emission this last time. It's been running rich and blowing some black smoke at WOT. So, I'll be replacing the O2 sensor while I'm here. The new clutch, flywheel, and pressure plate have already been installed. The old clutch looked to be in fine condition but the fly wheel had cracks in it. I assume it was overheated from a weak pressure plate. Also, while I was in there I changed the rear main seal. Tomorrow I will be cleaning up the outside of the transmission, installing the new polyuerthane motor mounts, and removing some undercoating, as well as buying some parts that I need. Once I get the metal back from the powder coater the new Koni struts and shocks and Eibach springs will go in with all of the polyurethane bushings and solid adjustable track bar. The brakes will be reinstalled with Hawk HPS pads, SS lines, and some fresh ATE Super Blue fluid. I also am painting the rotor hubs black to keep them from rusting.

      Some of the final touches will be a new valve cover and gasket, plugs, wires, and coil. I might also try to tackle some of the interior if I have time but I might have to put that off since I'm spending more than I put aside for this work. The icing on the cake is that Quafie discontinued the LSD for my trans so I had to buy one of those as well. So I pruned too much off the money tree and it died.

11.29.2009

      So, it's been a while since I've updated this and a lot of work has been done. There have been a lot of road blocks thanks to rust. The control arms refused to be separated from the sub frame and had to be cut out and I had to buy another set. The hard brake lines going to the rear would not break loose from the flex lines and had to cut as well. In fact, just this weekend when trying to hook the new front lines up the driver side hard line snapped as well. The sway bar bushing don't fit and different ones had to be found. After assembling the struts I had to take them apart to install a plastic washer underneath the bump stop and remove the lower isolator. I had to find a lot of new hardware because of rust and the cutting to remove it. Getting the transmission back in took about three hours. The list could go on, but it annoys me just to type it.

      As of the this weekend I've gotten all of the powder coated material back, the new brake lines, the subframe and controls arms are back in, as is the power steering system, new O2 sensor is installed, new PCV is in, new plugs and wires, the intake is back on, the transmission is back in, axles and knuckles are isntalled, rear axle and suspension is in, parking brakes are refurbished, one strut is installed with one side of the strut bar bolted down. All that's left is to get the new brake line bent up and installed, install the other strut and bolt down the strut tower bar, install the rear lines, install the rear hubs, install rotors/pads/calipers and refill and bleed the system, refill and bleed the power steering system, install the sway bar and panhard bar, make sure nothing leaks, and then take it in for alignment.

      So, everything should be done this week. Sadly, the interior was supposed to be done with all of this as well, but due to to unforseen issues I had to spend money on things I didn't intend to. I should have seen it coming being a 20 year old car that came from Ohio. But now the direction of the car has changed somewhat. The focus remains the same but everything is being replaced. To the point that this will be a new car when it's done.

12.19.2009

      Today I got to work and got the driver suspension bolted up. I bolted on all the rear brake lines. Bolted on the adjustable track bar. Bolted on the front and rear hubs. And I tried to get the center bushings on the sway bar bolted in but I'm going to need to bore out the volt holes a little more as they don't line up.

Table of Contents:

Page 1: Background, History, & Current Work
Page 2: Exterior
Page 3: Interior, Audio, & Gauges
Page 4: Wheels/Tires, Suspension/Steering, & Brakes
Page 5: Engine & Transmission
Page 6: Extra Shots