70 replies to this topic

[Ben98GS]

Well, I did not ever start a project post in this section I guess and figured I would "recap" it... Copying from another forum, so if there are some odd responses in the text descriptions of what is going on, just ignore them.

And so it begins:

1/19/2007

Well just got an email from my aussie friend and he says he has almost all my parts tracked down now. I am using the Aussie upper and lower inlet manifold so there were a few items that I did not realize that I might need to switch over that I do. Then got the manifold and it came with an aluminum fuel rail already so I was like, hell, I will swap heads and use the N/A heads and this cool fuel rail, since I am usuing the fuel rail though then I need to have all the hoses to go along with it...

So here are some pics of the misc parts that will be on their way soon:

[Ben98GS]

3/22/2007

YAY! The parts are actually shipped and should be here in about 7 days or less... Reason it was taking so long is no one wanted to cut up an engine harness to get me the electrical connectors I needed. The guy that supplied the stainless steel pipe (in the last picture above, and actually supplied almost all the other parts that I did not buy new in the first round) had a harness that he already cut the knock sensor harnesses off of and just sent the whole harness to my friend over there. He then cut off what I needed and sent it.

Either tonight or Saturday I am going to drain the fluids out of the car and start tearing everything down and cleaning it up. Hopefully pistons look good as with 168,000 miles on the motor I am leary of what I might find (our cars are known to chip pistons if they had a lot of Knock Retard).

[Ben98GS]

3/26/2007

Well, I started tear-down on Saturday and could have gotten more done, but I was taking my time.

Here is a picture before I started:



And I did to a little more after these pictures, but this is basically the way that I ended my afternoon:

[Ben98GS]

4/2/2007

Motor is out!

[Ben98GS]

4/9/2007

Got motor stripped down to the bare short block. Pulled out the balance shaft. Just have to clean it up and block the oil feed for the balance shaft and I can start reassembly.

On a positive note, no cracked/chunked pistons. And in fact, my 164,000 mile motor looks cleaner and has less carbon build up then my 100,000-120,000 mile spare motor.

Here is a piston out of my motor, the one that was in the car and is going back in (168,000 miles):



Here is a piston out of the "spare" motor with only like 100,000-120,000 miles and its carbon buildup:



These last pics are before I pulled the balance shaft and removed the oil pan:

[Ben98GS]

4/17/2007

Plans might have slightly changed... Will update with pics hopefully tonight

[Ben98GS]

4/18/2007

Pics, as promised... got a STEAL on this motor... It is a 2006 Series III L32. The blower is a GenV M90 and when I sell it, I will have a "free" motor. Has only 11,000 miles on it and instead of cast rods, it has stronger powdered rods. This should help me out and I have less to do to this then I would my other motor.

[Ben98GS]

4/26/2007

Well worked on the car more last night, mainly cleaning stuff up and getting all 164,000 miles of oil and crud off the engine cradle and other parts. You will also see the new brake booster and the way that the car currently sits.


Here is the new (smaller) brake booster. This will give me the clearance needed to run the turbo piping (off of a Impala):


My front bumper just laying around:


What the neighbors see when I am working with the garage door open:


Picture of what the engine bay currently looks like:


Empty brake booster location:

[Ben98GS]

5/11/2007

Well the motor is in... but it is coming back out due to problems (I will explain below)

Well, here is a picture of the motor in:




Here is one of the problems... The 1998/L67 motor had a stamped sheet metal oil pan. The 2006/L32 motor has an aluminum one that is thicker. The motor mount bracket actually bolts to the block on the L67 and bolts to the oil pan itself on the L32. The lower motor mount bolts are going to be a PITA to tighten. It even looks like they notched the aluminum oil pan to help, but I still wont be able to fit a socket in there:





And lastly, the reason it has to come back out. Due to the oil pan being thicker/bigger, it hits the subframe:

[Ben98GS]

5/11/2007

Sorry to see that! what are your ideas' to correct the oil pan problem?

A die grinder

[Ben98GS]

5/15/2007

Subframe is notched and the motor is in. Now I just have to get the heads and exhaust stuff done so that I can really start bolting it together.

[Ben98GS]

6/21/2007

Not a lot more to talk about as I am waiting on my Manley Valves which are on backorder. I cannot do anything as I am ready to bolt the heads on, so I need those valves.

I did get the AC compressor, Crank Pulley, Flexplate-Torque Convertor bolts, and Power Steering pump on. The Power Steering pump was a little bit of a pain because the adapter for the turbo oil feed makes the pressure sensor for my gauge hit the PS lines. I had to bend and force it into place. The lines now sit on/touch the sensor. It is going to be a bitch to attach the oil line as well.

Finally I got the IC mounting taken care of as well. I cannot really do the piping yet as I need the heads on to mount the Aussie LIM. I do think that I am going to have to put cradle spacers in to drop the subframe/motor to clear the hood.

Now for the pics:

[Ben98GS]

6/22/2007

I did a "full mock up" last night and found another problem. My Aussie coolant tensioner/bracket hits the power steering reservoir. Should not be TOO hard to fix, I am just going to have to remote mount the reservoir and tap an NPT fitting into the pump to run the lines. Guess that is what I am doing today.

Here is some of the "mock up" pictures with the head, LIM, UIM, Alt., etc. bolted to the car. You can see that I did not push part of the coolant tensioner/bracket into place, but you can see it easily clears the power steering pump without the reservoir on:

[Ben98GS]

6/29/2007

I know we have all been there, but because I am a dumbass, the motor has to come back out .

Seems that when I chose the location for the turbo oil return line I forgot to take into account the location of the starter. So now I can either have a starter... or an oil return line... Not both .

I should have a new oil pan being shipped hopefully on Monday and trying to track down another aluminum bung as well.

This is "kinda" a good thing, because the place the welded in the other one told me they could weld aluminum and then after they "tried" said we really arent that good with aluminum. When they welded it in they screwed it up somehow and the fittings do not really want to thread in easily at all (actually I can only get them to thread in less than 1/4" ). So now I can take it someplace that can do it right and be able to have the fitting welded in and actually be able to thread stuff into it.

That in addition to the fact that my valves still are not in are just delaying this project "until further notice" At this rate I will have the Saturn completely rebuilt by the time I even have the Regal together again.

[Ben98GS]

8/7/2007

Oil pan has been redone. A/C mounted. PS pump mounted. Heads are bolted down. Rockers and pushrods are in. Rear Exhaust manifold block off plate was installed. Both exhaust manifolds are bolted in...

Starting to make some progress again finally. Hoping to have the intake manifold on today and possibly even have the motor mounts hooked back up so that I can start finalizing the IC piping. If I get some good work done today I will try and post pictures...

[Ben98GS]

8/9/2007

BASTARD... Well due to the '98 Regal being the ONLY w-body with a unique ABS system (all the other year Regal's, Grand Prix's, Bonneville's, etc. seem to have the same setup.... In ONLY the '98 year Regal did they have a different setup) I cannot get my turbo downpipe to line up as it hits the Master Cylinder/ABS assembly:








Just for reference.... Here is what the setup looks like on most of the other cars... Notice how mine bolts DIRECTLY to the master cylinder while this one has lines off the master cylinder to the ABS unit.

[Ben98GS]

8/9/2007

I ordered a 99+ style non-ABS master cylinder and am just going to bypass the ABS system and get rid of it... Actually getting rid of the ABS will make a TON of things easier anyway. It's gonna suck to bend the lines but I could really use the room.

[Ben98GS]

8/30/2007

Here are some pictures as of last night of the intake manifold... The new master cylinder should be here in the next few days:

[Ben98GS]

9/5/2007

Got side-tracked and bought a '99 Saturn SL2 that needed a rebuild.

YAY!!! Saturn rebuild is done and it is running great. That means I can start working on the Regal again (after I clean out my garage. )

[Ben98GS]

10/19/2007

Blah... No, not working on it until after Nov. 7. I have torn the braking system completely out though. I just have an actuarial exam to further me in my career and so I have been using my free time to study and try and make sure that I pass the exam (means a raise ).

After Nov. 7 I am going to try and crack down on the car again.