Chipped piston, blew motor, L32 going in (updated w/ injector flow data)

Thanks Jason, but found a low mile L32 locally for sale.
Pulled the blower and I/C off last night, lots of metal in the LIM. Some of it went through the bypass hole and out the blower, ate some of the coating on the rotors.

List of parts for the swap so far:


changing over the water pump, alternator, roller rockers, blower, TB, and pulleys.

Am i missing anything?

Injector report came back.


Kind of expected cyl 4 to have flow problems but its the opposite. did it have too much fuel and caused the detonation?

Oh welcome to the chipping club dude!
So how did it completely pop? Piston shattered apart? My L26 made it the rest of the summer and through winter and was kinda getting worse towards the end but never just died on me.

I thiiiink you need to swap on your oil filter neck so there's that gasket and you can put a couple #8 washers behind the spring for the oil pressure mod while you're there.

Mr.Riviera wrote:

Injector report came back.


Kind of expected cyl 4 to have flow problems but its the opposite. did it have too much fuel and caused the detonation?

No, too much boost, not enough octane, hot spots from carbon, plugs too hot, those are the things that cause detonation. Lean can do it also.

Thanks guys.

I have been running the same boost level for years now. it was a cold morning (at least for FL) @ 30° and i was WOt doing 80+ when the first chip happened.
Running 103 plugs and 93 fuel. beat on that motor literally every day of its life so i wasnt really surprised it failed.

Bought a L32 from a local yard and picking it up wednesday.
Current problem is i think the motor is seized and so i cant get the other flex plate bolts out of the TC. Guess i need to pull the botom end apart. kinda want to see the carnage in there. i do have piston pieces in the LIM and the #4 plug is F'd up.

Mr.Riviera wrote:

Thanks guys.

I have been running the same boost level for years now. it was a cold morning (at least for FL) @ 30° and i was WOt doing 80+ when the first chip happened.
Running 103 plugs and 93 fuel. beat on that motor literally every day of its life so i wasnt really surprised it failed.

Bought a L32 from a local yard and picking it up wednesday.
Current problem is i think the motor is seized and so i cant get the other flex plate bolts out of the TC. Guess i need to pull the botom end apart. kinda want to see the carnage in there. i do have piston pieces in the LIM and the #4 plug is F'd up.

I'm sure you have been running like that for years, but all it takes is a few times for it to detonate and the piston will fracture. Even if you run all the supporting mods, one day the coolant gets a bit too hot, the gasoline you buy isn't quite up to snuff, a plug gets a bit too hot, or a fuel injector gets clogged, and it detonates under full boost and WOT.  Forged pistons would be much more tolerant, but any engine that detonates will eventually pound out the rod bearings as well, just ask Aaron.

Any reason the L32 calls for a different exhaust manifold gasket than the L67?

also im stuck, or rather my motor is stuck with a chunk of deformed piston wedged between a connection rod and the block. cant turn it to get the flex plate bolts out.
going to try to drill it tonight.

nevermind. looks to be a EGR difference with rivs vs grand prix.
some of the gaskets are the same part # across the years and other brands changed them.

could take the heads off and see if there's any way to go at it from the top to either force-ably dislodge it or break it up?

Mr.Riviera wrote:

Any reason the L32 calls for a different exhaust manifold gasket than the L67?

also im stuck, or rather my motor is stuck with a chunk of deformed piston wedged between a connection rod and the block. cant turn it to get the flex plate bolts out.
going to try to drill it tonight.

Can you turn it backwards?

No wouldnt turn backwards. drill bit wouldnt touch it so i pulled the head.
a BFH later and i have it free. comes out tomorrow!


Worst puzzle ever btw.

Damn....

Wow!

motor is out. pics to come...

Swap is done. Motor runs great! Had some hiccups along the way and will share my experience so it will hopefully help those that need to do this in the future.

I did need to change out 2 sensors as they dont work on the 96, may not work on the newer rivs either.
The coolant temp sensor from the L32 is a 2 wire sensor, our (or mine) is a 3 wire. Same goes for the oil level sensor in the oil pan. I still havnt replaced it because even though its unplugged i dont have a low oil light...so $56 saved.

Motor being pulled:

And out:


L32 from the bone yard: Came from a 2005 Grand Prix with "unknown miles". I ran it and looked the car over and everything was immaculately kept by previous owner. Delco wires and coil packs with numbers still on them. Stock everything and from the next pic the inside of the motor was super clean. Couldn't be more than 100k on it but the dash didnt work so couldnt verify. I do have the vin and plan to check carfax at some point just for curiosity but i really dont care how many miles if it was well cared for and dealer serviced.




Swapped over all mods, all new gaskets and mostly new accessories except for PS pump.



Heart transplant:


After getting the motor in i came to the conclusion that the flexplate from the L32 does NOT bolt to the 4T60 TC in the 96 riv. the bolt pattern is off by about a 1/4" on all holes. So i pulled the motor back out and swapped my plate over.

Then i turn the key and get a fuel leak. WTF?! I didnt even take the fuel lines apart, just rest them on the windshield for a month. So i go to tighten the fitting and this happens:


Ok, replace the part and then this leaks:


Last new AN fitting came in yesterday and no more fuel leak.
https://youtu.be/ma2C5FiRSaw

Oh and while the engine was out my exhaust hangers decided to give out from the stress of no headers.
Part is very difficult to find.
However, the jeep cherokee hanger is very similar to ours in size and hole location.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CWA-52001759

Fits like a charm. You will need 2 for the mid tailpipe hanger. Takes a little finagling to get onto the metal hanger as the new ones holes are tight but it will work just fine.

Good to see you're up and running again!
sorry about the bad info with the the flexplate. I forgot you had a -60 trans and didn't think to see if that was a different tc pattern than the -65e

Sux,but looks to be a Good swap.I'm diggin on your steel toe boots in pic 5 tho

turtleman wrote:

Good to see you're up and running again!
sorry about the bad info with the the flexplate. I forgot you had a -60 trans and didn't think to see if that was a different tc pattern than the -65e

No worries! I knew it would be somewhat of a learning process since so few have done the swap.

Did some pulls this morning and its running great. Small vac leak intercooler to LIM, but thats it.

The L32 apparently has 260 hp at 5600 rpm compared to the 240 hp at 5400 rpm in the stock Series II SC engine in my '96.

Does anyone know what changes were made to the L32 to pick up the 20 horses ?

That is, what is the benefit of installing the L32 over rebuilding the stock engine with some minor mods (aside from not having to mess around with rebuilding the engine in the first place)?

brutusk1 wrote:

Does anyone know what changes were made to the L32 to pick up the 20 horses ?

That is, what is the benefit of installing the L32 over rebuilding the stock engine with some minor mods (aside from not having to mess around with rebuilding the engine in the first place)?

GenV supercharger.

And the benefit is newer engine and forged rods. and cost of course.

Thanks. Sounds like what I should be planning to do when the time comes. I'm hoping to get 300k out of my motor though. Currently 220K. We'll see.