I recently purchased a complete 3.8 SC engine with a 4T65E transmission in the cradle that was originally in a 2000 Park Avenue Ultra. It has the starter, alternator, power steering pump, a/c compressor, brakes, struts, power steering system, exhaust manifold and many other parts.

Now for the kicker, it has zero miles on it. The car it was in was never finished on the assembly line before Pontiac shut down the plant. After the plant was closed many of the parts and cars were sold and this setup was bought in 2000 by a used car dealer that is right next door to the plant in Pontiac MI. The man that bought it put it in a trailer, covered it with a tarp and there it set for the last 14 years. It looks brand new.

Unfortunately when it was removed from the car the wiring harness, hoses, lines and other items that connect it to the car were just cut. There is oil in the case, it looks like it was just put in, clear and clean. The spark plugs look like they've never been fired but there is some soot in the exhaust pipe. There is no fluid in the reservoir for the power steering pump, it looks like there never was, it's bone dry and clean.

After removing the spark plugs I put a ratchet on the crank and slowly started to turn it. There was no resistance to turn it at all, it didn't feel like there was anything stuck or binding and it was easy to turn with very little effort. I stopped turning it after about 1/8 of a full turn, not wanting to do any damage.

Having spent a fair amount on this I want to know what should be done before I attempt to start it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Here's a few pictures.

nice pick up! Is there anymore available?

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Turbo 3800 E85 F23 5spd spec5
10.91@133.1

Nice score! Although I'm curious as to how Pontiac closing a plant affected the assembly of a Buick Park Avenue Ultra?

quote Originally posted by Justinbart: nice pick up! Is there anymore available?

Not that I'm aware of.

On an engine sitting in storage 14 years, I would generously fog the cylinders with oil, make sure that the crankcase has fresh oil in it and insure that the injectors are cleaned of old gas if any.

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" THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Powerlog manifold, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Flotech Afterburner Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite.
"THE COLUSSUS"
87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H
" ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

Got a borescope into the cylinders today, that's cylinder #1 in the picture. The other 5 all look the same at #1.

The second picture is the top of one of the pistons.

quote Originally posted by mrfiero: Nice score! Although I'm curious as to how Pontiac closing a plant affected the assembly of a Buick Park Avenue Ultra?

Easy to answer, I worked for GM at their assembly plant in Massachusetts we built Buicks, Pontiacs, Oldsmobile's all on the same line. It's not uncommon as cars of the same style, size and everything else share some parts. GM wastes a lot of money when they close plants down, lots of things are just destroyed, he was lucky to find that one.

Now on to the engine, those are assembled at an engine plant not the auto assembly plant that installs them. They are coated at least all the moving parts of the engine are coated with assembly lube, think of how a gun made for the army used to be coated with a grease like substance, I forget the name. engines are not put in right away, they are also not started at the engine assembly plant before shipment, so all that assembly grease would be there for a long time and made to last until they finally assembled all the extras on the engine. You know power steering pump, AC pump, and everything else considered an accessory are put on at the auto factory on the engine line.

I was utility repair so I worked all the lines, there are lots of different lines.
cushion room assembled all the sets in the auto plant, then there was,
IP line,
engine line as I said above,
Not until the car reached final line would the engine been filled with fluids and seeing it really is a sealed unit everything in there should still be pristine, but like someone else said I would fog the cylinder walls of the pistons. I would also fill the crankcase with oil and prelube the engine before ever trying to start it. Anyone who has ever rebuilt an engine before they put the distributer in or even in a remain engine it is recommended to prelube the engine by turning the oil pump with a drill threw the distributor hole with a special tool. you would need to have the valve covers off or at least the oil fill cap off if it has one on the valve cover to see when you have oil running threw the entire engine. remember you need to get oil all threw every oil passage so it will take a few min. with just a drill as it is not running at the regular engine speed.

if I can remember anything else I will post again but I thing that is about it.

Enjoy your Brand New engine.

Steve

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Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't



Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.