High Compression L36 bottom + L67 SC (Corey's Engine Build)

palermocorey90 wrote:

BTW im not im school so bye bye 100K paint booth

The auto body class I'm taking is an adult continuing education class from our local Voc-Tech school. It costs $150 plus materials. Hello 100K paint booth for $150!! Never hurts to stay in school!

$700 Riv + $1000 engine + $______ nice Grand Prix donor car = ?

(I'm guessing the total will be more than the cost of some paint, and the time/effort it takes to swap the engine again.)

AA wrote:

$700 Riv + $1000 engine + $______ nice Grand Prix donor car = ?

(I'm guessing the total will be more than the cost of some paint, and the time/effort it takes to swap the engine again.)

Work... some ain't skeered.

He'll mainly be paying to have a 500# lighter car thats got 4-5yrs less rotting and corrossion in regions that require maintenace. We can get all 4 complete strut assemblies for $25-50 each off near-new '04+ cars, and upgrade the laterals/sways/stb for $125 new from GMPD. The cost of just going through and making many things under his car safe again after breaking the bolts loose will match that easily, before even attempting upgrades.

Plus, who wouldn't wanna do THIS swap?

But back to the reason for this post (let's stop the hypothetical discussions for now)...

Doing the shift kit right now, then droping the tranny in. Engine will go in soon after, and final connections/fillings will take place hopefully this afternoon.

- Dave

yea corey i see where ur coming from too, u gotta a pretty good deal on the riv for 700 bucks though. its ur time and money, and if the like the grand prix better u should go for it. i guess i just wanna see someone turn the riv into a 10 or 11 second car. i would if i had the mechanical experience and money, but unfortunately i have many other expenses; maybe someday.

dboy - tell me you're coming to the UNYCGP meet... it's literally a half hour from you, if that. http://forum.unycgp.com/unycgp/viewtopic.php?t=5973

Turning it into a 10-11sec car would be kinda cool, but honestly it's the same as doing it to any other 3800 car ($8,000+ for XXX mods to get 500+whp, pray that a still-vulnerable $3,000+ 4t65e can hold up, and get it to the ground).

Ran into 2 small catch's with the swap that'll push it out about 2-3 days...

- the S1 A/C pulley is in the way of the S2 s/c belt (so all the grinding I did to make the S1 bracket fit was for nothing & we are gonna use an S2 compressor or bypass)
- the driver's side tranny mount for the 4t60 appeared to have the same bolt pattern as the 4t65... but when I attempted to drop it in and bolt-up, I saw that the new tranny has a flat face, where the older one had 2 offset bolts by about 1"... therefore, we're going to the yard to hopefully get a 4t65 mount from a G or H car with the same chassis connection
- there weren't local sources for L67 injectors, so I had to call a friend in MI to send a set (also sending an A/C compressor)
- still have to get to the store and buy fuel lines when the engine gets in... will be nice quick-connects to both ends, though

- Dave

dezldave961 wrote:

AA wrote:

$700 Riv + $1000 engine + $______ nice Grand Prix donor car = ?

(I'm guessing the total will be more than the cost of some paint, and the time/effort it takes to swap the engine again.)

He'll mainly be paying to have a 500# lighter car thats got 4-5yrs less rotting and corrossion in regions that require maintenace.

- Dave

no offense, but if all that work of anothe swap is just to save 500lbs, why not buy a fiero or cavalier and swap into that? Obviously youre not afraid of the work, and if you're gonna swap bodies, drop some real weight. Like a half ton or more.

because i dont like cavi's, last time i checked i have a pair of balls

if i wanted to drop some real weight i would do a saturn SC2

Remember, the main reason this car is considered temporary is the condition of it. He could buy one of the newer Riv's for sale locally for much less than cleaning his up would cost, and GP's happen to be alongside them in that list of something to replace the worn out '95. Corey made a mistake, in my opinion, buying a car A) when he was 17 & didn't have cash to spare B) it didn't run right & had to be towed C) needed to swap to get the performance engine setup to start playing with D) got the better motor setup & started playing I'm trying to help him squeeze blood from a rock to have something notable for a setup on a very tight budget, but it's also hurting the schedule to wait to buy things instead of having them ready to go.

I actually might have a Fiero swap guy lined up soon as well. The difference there is daily usage, though. I've considered doing one myself, but keeping my GP as stock afterwards for the usual comfort driving. Any of the cars that came with 3800 S/C's from the factory were comfortable cars that have plenty of cargo space & passenger room, along with all the comfort options in the higher trims. Fiero's are a much more purpose-bought car, especially in the 3800 world. I've got a Michigan friend who daily drives his, but that's because his '97 GTP (another 1st year abomination mobile) is also in very rough condition, on the verge of scrapping.

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Parts should all be ready in the next 2 days, and I can seal up the engine bay (tranny is hanging inside, waiting for the proper mount & the axles to get rebuilt). I've actually suggested that Corey pick up one of the newer/cleaner Riv's when he gets the money, but for now we've got what we've got.

- Dave

tranny and axle all buttoned up, engine start up tomorrow. expect video ! ! !

well hear some pics of the engine in.

Trans installed yesterday, once we got the newer driver-side tranny mount. Ran the new cooler lines, converted from '01 Intrigue lines & adapted ends to keep pre-00 style fittings. Shift linkage arm swapped from the '95 tranny, because the '98 arm was too far from the rod-end. For axles, just had to adapt the driver's inner cup, passenger fit right into the L36 tranny for now (2x4 on cradle is the way to keep tranny level for engine re-install... these cars actually could use a tad more lift there for the WP mount afterwards).

Ended up having to dig into my stash for a 7k '04 GTP power steering pump that I was gonna save for my car if it crapped, because the Series 1 didn't fit this motor, unfortunately. Dropping motor in was somewhat of a pain, as it can be for aligning the bellhousing occassionally. You can see pics with the lift just pulling passenger side lift bracket to align that damn front cover (passenger) mount... If there ever comes a day when I meet the designer of this mount configuration, they're getting a jack handle to the skull.

I'll finish wiring some "safety" relays for accessory power & starter enable tonight, and possibly a couple other things, so that when Corey gets here tomorrow, we can do the final touches before test-firing.

- Dave

Great work Dave, I can't wait to see it go. The front mount... drives me crazy. First time I went to change a belt on one of these I was totally baffled. They changed one of the things I always loved about the 3800 (3 minute belt change) into a 2 hour job!

deekster_caddy wrote:

They changed one of the things I always loved about the 3800 (3 minute belt change) into a 2 hour job!

Does the Series I engine still have a 3 minute belt change, or is 2 hours it because it's in a Riviera?

The Riv's S1 had a similar bracket since it goes to the same framerail mount, but not sure if it interfered with the belt change (inside belt loop) or not.

- Dave

It's alive!!! After a bunch of little wiring issues, and getting a 98 GP GT pcm to write the file to, since the 98 Park Ave seemed to not like the DHP tuner. Re-pinned about 5-6 things there, ran a few wires I had to change elsewhere, and it's working.

Fired it up for a few 2-3min spurts (open downpipe FTL, gotta "fix" the cat, then weld up to his current exhaust for now). The junkyard O2 sensor isn't behaving, so that should be the last thing needed before touching up some fluids, etc. before we button it up for a short drive up & down the block.

Got some short vids, forgot laptop's SD card adapter for my cell's microSD, so they'll be up tonight.

- Dave

Awesome...I can't wait to see this!

Early present (took a 13sec clip short enough to send from my phone to email)...

Click image to watch


I borrowed the idle settings from my old Detroit roommate with an S1x cammed GTP, which he spent a couple weeks trying various RPM's for a cool idle lope.

- Dave

there iLan now u can see it

I'm seeing both. Why can't Ilan see the first one?

cuz his computer sucks IMO

Every time flash decides to update, I get left out of the party...for some reason my computer doesn't want to install the new flash player.

AHHHH thats sweet!

thanks everyone but the real credit goes to Dave, he did all the work

palermocorey90 wrote:

thanks everyone but the real credit goes to Dave, he did all the work

just a teaser i will post more later

BTW go grab ur self a tissue





theres the video you have all been waiting for. thats the S1X cam, with a open DP