258,026 miles and......

[The_Eric]

It blew a head gasket. My wife's 95 Grand Am 3.1. The plan was to swap a ready and waiting engine in when she heads to Oregon for a couple of weeks... Do you think it could make it? No. Getting ready to head home from a friends, she complained that the heater wasn't working in spite of the engine being at temp. Rut roh... We went through this before a few months earlier, but some air bleeding and stop leak fixed it. At the time I was really hoping the air lock was due to a (quite) leaky timing cover gasket. So I told her to take off and watch the temp gauge while I followed. She made it one mile and pulled over. I had her pop the hood and felt the hoses. Top one was cold. I cracked the reservoir cap to vent the air/pressure and the T-stat opened right up. Told her point it toward the house. She made it 5 or 6 more miles and I had to repeat the procedure. Got home and the engine was missing and smoking up a storm... Yup, circle the wagons, turn out the lights and stick a fork in it... It's done. Four more days and I would have been home free.

So I got a head start on yanking it out - wasn't really that hard to do. Remove the upper intake to access the fuel lines, and remove the pressure and return lines of the P/S pump, disco the wires, yank the crank damper and lower mount and you're home free.


I have:
-New radiator (I've done it before with the engine in and vowed not to repeat it) and hoses,
-P/S pump, rack and pressure/return hoses
-ATF cooler hoses
-Crank damper
-Plugs and wires
-Fuel pressure regulator
-Both crank sensors (AC Delco) and rear crank sensor wire harness
-Dayco serpentine belt and tensioner (Because of Dayco's excellent Q&A)
-New intake boot
-Coolant temp sensor
-A/C compressor and receiver dryer
-Torque converter seal

The plan is to drive the car into the ground, after all it's paid for and saves us a car payment.

Hopefully I'll get it dropped in this weekend and (maybe) fired up?

Only other thing is the exhaust. I'm strongly considering deleting the catalytic converter and the resonator due to the converter's age and the condition of the mating flanges. The whole exhaust is original... I'm not sure that I want to spend the money on the cat, but am really wondering what the effect will be on interior noise? There should be no computer backlash from deleting the cat because it only has one O2 sensor.

Since I forgot to take pictures from the start, you'll have to make due with current status...

Got the old engine out and hanging from the hoist. At this point, I've already taken some stuff off of it and transplanted to the new engine.

The new bullet, ready and waiting. I've tried to put on as much stuff as I could now to avoid a hassle later.

The freshly pressure washed engine bay.

 

[tig1]

It's good to see older cars still on the road due to engine replacements. Where did you get the engine from? Be sure to let us know how the new 3.1 runs.

 

[ls1mike]

You won't even notice the cat gone...if you keep the resonator. Otherwise, it will drone.

 

[L_Sludger]

I truly admire your efforts but they're nothing that I would undertake due to the abundance of very cheap Grand Ams (A cherry 2001 with no rust can be found here for less than $2,000) http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/2708233039.html and the fact that time does equal money for most, I'd never personally be able to recoup the cost savings.

That being said, the car will drone pretty hard with the cat removed, and will also stink to high heaven when cold started.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: tig1
It's good to see older cars still on the road due to engine replacements. Where did you get the engine from? Be sure to let us know how the new 3.1 runs.


I work at a shop and bought an almost identical car from a customer who couldn't afford his intake gasket repair.

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
You won't even notice the cat gone...if you keep the resonator. Otherwise, it will drone.
Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
I truly admire your efforts but they're nothing that I would undertake due to the abundance of very cheap Grand Ams (A cherry 2001 with no rust can be found here for less than $2,000) http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/2708233039.html and the fact that time does equal money for most, I'd never personally be able to recoup the cost savings.

That being said, the car will drone pretty hard with the cat removed, and will also stink to high heaven when cold started.


So I gather that the droning will be experienced as interior noise?

Sludger, it's like the Johnny Cash song "One Piece At A Time". This way, the cash outlay is much less, but otherwise, you're right.

 

[The_Eric]

Oh and since this IS BITOG, the initial fire up will be on PYB 5w30 and a Wix 51036 (longer 51040). I will run that for a few miles then go to QSGB and a 51036 for a couple thousand miles. After a few short OCI's, I'll head to M1 and the NAPA Platinum filters.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: tig1
It's good to see older cars still on the road due to engine replacements. Where did you get the engine from? Be sure to let us know how the new 3.1 runs.




+1

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: tig1
It's good to see older cars still on the road due to engine replacements. Where did you get the engine from? Be sure to let us know how the new 3.1 runs.




+1


Oddly enough, even though it's a 1995 AND in the middle of the rust belt, the car is in pretty darn good shape. It does have some rust, but not enough to warrant replacing it.

 

[tomcat27]

the car will not drone with the cat removed. the muffler and resonator are enough. that being said, I would leave the cat in place until its toast.

very cool - keeping old cars alive! over the years I have done one swap and two rebuilds....

 

[exranger06]

Removing cats is illegal....

What do you hope to gain by removing it?

 

[jigen]

Is it illegal in every state?

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
Removing cats is illegal....

What do you hope to gain by removing it?


I've done it before

But I did it for performance reasons. But on a DD car, I wouldn't remove it. Your exhaust gas smell will be pretty bad without the catalytic converter. It won't be unbearable, but you'll smell it every once in awhile and it ain't good. If your state doesn't do yearly inspections, I doubt anyone will find out if you remove it. But I do know that some states ticket you VERY heavily if you somehow get pulled over and they find out that you do not have a cat installed. IIRC it was something like $10,000! If you do any sort of traveling, keep the cat. And check your state's laws on it.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
Removing cats is illegal....

What do you hope to gain by removing it?


Originally Posted By: jigen
Is it illegal in every state?


Yes it is. It's just that in some states, like mine, there is no annual inspection, so there are no real ramifications.

As for why I want to remove it, well the wife has been complaining of lower power and fuel mileage. Cats can and do plug causing these sorts of issues and with the mileage it has on it, even if it isn't plugged it's distinct possibility that it could happen later on down the road. That is something I really don't feel like doing later either. Also with the mileage that's on it, I'm having my doubts as to how well it's working. There's a good chance that it's just along for the ride at this point.

Now, I can get a replacement, but companion flange on the resonator is toast as well which will make for more work to get it seal up. The last reason that I am hesitant to replace it is money. I've got a fair chunk of change in this project as it is and I'd like to draw the line somewhere...

 

[saberz]

You are correct about the cat, it will also cause the car to lug/chug if its full blown clogged(01 Impala had it). Delete or replace either or. The only difference is the smell of fuel on cold days(might get into the cabin a bit too).

 

[Nick R]

Buy a new cat for $100 (better than nothing), take it to BJs, or a muffler shop, have them cut the old one out, weld the new one in. Cost $100 when we had to do it on the cavalier.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
I've done it before

But I did it for performance reasons. But on a DD car, I wouldn't remove it. Your exhaust gas smell will be pretty bad without the catalytic converter. It won't be unbearable, but you'll smell it every once in awhile and it ain't good . . .


Interesting. I've never experienced any unusual exhaust gas smell issue on catless fuel injected vehicles. Replacing old or failed cats with a straight pipe is SOP here. Not enough population density for smog so it's legal.

Interior noise levels are a non-issue as long as there's a resonator. Muffler shops will usually recommend installing a resonator in place of the cat if there's no other resonator present.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
Removing cats is illegal....

What do you hope to gain by removing it?

So is speeding, not using your turn signal and cruzing in the left lane.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: exranger06
Removing cats is illegal....

What do you hope to gain by removing it?

So is speeding, not using your turn signal and cruzing in the left lane.


Those are moving violations.

And far less than the $2500 Federal Fine.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: exranger06
Removing cats is illegal....

What do you hope to gain by removing it?

So is speeding, not using your turn signal and cruzing in the left lane.


Those are moving violations.

And far less than the $2500 Federal Fine.

My post was geared more towards safety than the fine. Lots of things are illegal, why singal out no cats.
My WS6 passes emissions without cats. I put them back on because it was too loud with headers and larger exhaust.

 

[daves87rs]

Ouch...