'96 Century general project thread

[LeftVentricle]

Mock-up. This is in no way complete, but it makes me feel better seeing what the finished product will look like.


During the mock-up, I tried to figure out if I can use my stock intake hose and air cleaner. I mentioned this before, but if I can't make that work, I will have to use some ricer bullshit that will completely ruin the aesthetics of my stock-appearing engine bay. It's difficult to visualize just what position everything will be in when I don't have a throttle body. It's also looking more and more like I'm not going to be able to use my stock cables. However, a member of the A-body board told me over Facebook Messenger yesterday that I might be able to use some from a '96-99 Lumina, which has the newer style throttle body I guess? Instead of being confined to a '96 van, which I've said before is not easy to find in the yards, whereas Luminas are plentiful.

As an aside, does anyone have any images of a stock Lumina engine bay, or is willing to take some pictures and post them here? May or may not be helpful, but I would appreciate it.

Marking some more stuff off the list, namely mounts, axles, downpipe and power steering pump, and adding one thing I forgot. You can see it in the upper left of the picture above: the crank pulley. Kinda need that to run the engine.

• *****Reinstall transmission mounts.*****
• *****Axles back in to the transmission.*****
• *****Bolt downpipe to rear manifold.*****
• Wait for the rest of my custom parts to show up, namely:
  —Modified dogbone bracket and requisite head bolt. (This car uses a stud on the end of the forward passenger side head bolt to stabilize the dogbone bracket. Failure to use that stud will result in the bracket breaking. Ask me how I know.) (Torque is 44 ft-lbs + 95 degrees.)
  —L67 fuel injectors and modified fuel rail brackets. (The stock injectors are rated at 19 lbs, which would be insufficient flow for the new engine. L67s are 36 lbs.)
  —Crank trigger to bypass the in-block crank position sensor. (I think the only alternative is to swap the internal trigger wheel from my stock crank to the LX9 crank, which of course requires a teardown of the bottom end, and fuck everything about that if I don't have to.)
  —Throttle body. (Hopefully this will be modded correctly to use my stock throttle linkage, otherwise I have to try to track down a '96 van cable set (good fucking luck).)
  —1997 PCM. (with modified pinout to clip back in to my stock harness and tuned to run this engine and transmission.)
• Crank on the crank pulley.
• Install dogbone bracket and AC compressor.
• Fuel rail back in with new injectors.
• Bolt upper intake back on.
• Attach TB to upper intake and work out an intake hose situation. (I may end up having to use a ricer cone filter if I can't figure out a way to hook up my stock air cleaner with something other than dryer hose. I'm probably going to bypass the TB heater lines, since there really isn't a reason I should need that in Las Vegas.)
• Drop radiator back in.
• Reconnect transmission cooler lines.
• Cooling fan.
• Alternator.
• *****Power steering pump. Gotta get to the yard and get some more bolts for that.***** It's fine. Two out of three bolts held it together for three years before this.
• Hook up all wiring and hoses.
• Fill with fluids. Oil, transmission fluid, coolant. Two bottles of Lucas for the transmission, since it will need all the help it can get. I need to remember to pull the thermostat housing off and fill the block first. This should facilitate easier bleeding of the system.
• Belt.
• Crossover pipe.
• Couple more gallons of fuel.
• Battery.
• Start!
• Struts either bolted back on to the knuckles or replaced with the van struts kicking around the garage. (Still need to buy dust boots before they can be assembled.)
• Front wheels on.
• On the ground.
• Drive!
• Enjoy TWO HUNNERT HOARSPOWAH!

Also, I think I'm going to just bypass the throttle body heater hoses, since that seems to be the main reason I would need to use my stock LIM coolant pipe.

Also also, it looks like I managed to fuck something up. There is a split in the driver's side inner CV boot. It's small right now, but I'm sure it will completely fly apart the first time I try to drive it. Can something like that be repaired with, say, a bicycle tube patch? I'd rather not have to buy another $70 axle.

[Purple pit]

With you on the spacers, doesn't make you feel real sure of things when riding around with very old wheel studs. Sounds like this 3.33 is going to happen. Can't wait to hear how this engine and FDR combo turns out.

[robertisaar]

3.33 works pretty well with a W chassis, which is at a weight disadvantage compared to probably any A-body that isn't an AWD 6000. taller tires as well(26.3ish).

[LeftVentricle]

Always fun to read your posts and look at the photos.

Above all else, I aim to please.

Can say that I like my 3.33FDR(3.43FDR could have been better). You should have a good amount of torque, so the 3.33 may not be needed as much. Still, around town the engine will be just sipping gas as it will not take much pedal to go from light to light. It's really not that big of a jump from 2.97FDR. If it ever rains be careful, the tires are going to break loose pretty easy off the line or if trying to pass.

3.33 is a great final for city driving. My old 2.8 Celebrity used to knock down 20 mpg in the city all day long with a 3.33. Some quick back-of-the-napkin calcs says that, with my tire size (25.5"), the engine should be spinning right around 2000 rpm @ 65 mph in 4th with a 3.33, which should bring some equally impressive highway economy. I am already well-versed in the traction in the rain issue. Even with the 2.97 and "only" 185 ft-lbs from the stock engine, I could spin the tires all day in the rain. As for the tires, a 225 is realistically the widest this chassis can accommodate without wheel spacers. I'm not a fan of spacers.

Cranking the vac mod all the way up is hard on the pump from what I'm told. Just use as much as you need.

I will be careful. I'm not gonna make it slam-bang, but it definitely needs to be firmer.

[Purple pit]

Always fun to read your posts and look at the photos. Can say that I like my 3.33FDR(3.43FDR could have been better). You should have a good amount of torque, so the 3.33 may not be needed as much. Still, around town the engine will be just sipping gas as it will not take much pedal to go from light to light. It's really not that big of a jump from 2.97FDR. My car did seem to like it though, but it's a bit worn out.
If it ever rains be careful, the tires are going to break loose pretty easy off the line or if trying to pass. Might need some more meat(wider tires) to counter act that. That is if you can do it.
Cranking the vac mod all the way up is hard on the pump from what I'm told. Just use as much as you need.

http://www.verociousmotorsports.com/Shop-by-Category/Silicone-Hose-and-Fittings

Just something to think about. Damn stuff costs a lot! Good for air flow though!

[LeftVentricle]

Stuff occurred! Things happened! POST ON THE INTERNET ABOUT IT!

The drivetrain is back together. Things were touch-and-go for a while, with a torque converter seal that didn't want to come out, then didn't want to go back in, and me boneheading the fact that the LX9 flywheel has multiple TC bolt patterns to accommodate both the 4T45 and 4T65 transmissions and having a minor freakout about needing to buy new flywheel bolts so I can swap the L82 flywheel over. Note for posterity: One of the bellhousing bolts has fled. I need to go to the yard and scare one up.




The passenger side engine mount bracket, despite not being used in the car this engine came from (Malibu), had the bolt holes both existing and tapped to mount it. Hurray for unintentional backwards compatibility! I will be using a stock-style solid rubber mount, since this is a "budget" build. I'm sure a polyurethane version exists somewhere, but this will do for now.

One of the parts included in the 3500 swap kit is this differential bracket, which is modified to fit the 4T60E transmission, rather than the 4T45E the Malibu the engine came from uses. I tried my stock bracket. The bolt holes in the 3.5 block do not line up.


Another one is this cam position sensor, which is able to read the LX9 cam and clip into my stock harness. Good thing too, since the one on my old engine is more or less welded in there. I figure, if I actually wanted to remove the old cam sensor, I'd have to pull the timing cover.


Dad.



dadgif





Wife and dad mugging for the camera.









Things went mostly smoothly. I had to remove the transmission mounts to facilitate easier entry, even though it's a right kick in the dick to install the rear mount in situ. I also gaffled a downpipe bolt from the gold wagon since it appears that I either lost or forgot to install one of the two when I was in here last (2014 for a transmission swap). The power plant is currently sitting on a jack because I couldn't close the garage door with the crane holding it up.

Pictured above in a few shots is an adjustable vacuum modulator for the transmission. This was installed on the junkyard transmission when I bought it, but I swapped it for the stock modulator because of the different positioning of the vacuum nipple (front vs. side). Running some new rubber on the hard line will cure any positioning ails. I'm glad I kept it, since I will need it now to keep the damn gearbox from flying apart at the seams behind this more powerful engine. After dumping half of its fluid on the road late last year, the transmission doesn't shift correctly from first to second. One of my posts on the last page shows a disconcerting amount of clutch material in the pan. I will probably have to adjust this modulator pretty stiffly to counteract the damaged clutches, which will probably end up being annoying to drive, but I will just have to deal with it. The plan is to have another one built some time next year, then do this whole thing all over again. I'm still debating whether I should stay with stock 2.97 gearing or have it re-chained to 3.33. The computer will have to be retuned to compensate, but with a newer style PCM, that isn't an issue.

List of things still to do before first start:

• Reinstall transmission mounts.
• Axles back in to the transmission.
• Reconnect transmission cooler lines.
• Bolt downpipe to rear manifold.
• Wait for the rest of my custom parts to show up, namely:
  —Modified dogbone bracket and requisite head bolt. (This car uses a stud on the end of the forward passenger side head bolt to stabilize the dogbone bracket. Failure to use that stud will result in the bracket breaking. Ask me how I know.) (Torque is 44 ft-lbs + 95 degrees.)
  —L67 fuel injectors and modified fuel rail brackets. (The stock injectors are rated at 19 lbs, which would be insufficient flow for the new engine. L67s are 36 lbs.)
  —Crank trigger to bypass the in-block crank position sensor. (I think the only alternative is to swap the internal trigger wheel from my stock crank to the LX9 crank, which of course requires a teardown of the bottom end, and fuck everything about that if I don't have to.)
  —Throttle body. (Hopefully this will be modded correctly to use my stock throttle linkage, otherwise I have to try to track down a '96 van cable set (good fucking luck).)
  —1997 PCM. (with modified pinout to clip back in to my stock harness and tuned to run this engine and transmission.)
• Install dogbone bracket and AC compressor.
• Fuel rail back in with new injectors.
• Bolt upper intake back on.
• Attach TB to upper intake and work out an intake hose situation. (I may end up having to use a ricer cone filter if I can't figure out a way to hook up my stock air cleaner with something other than dryer hose. I'm probably going to bypass the TB heater lines, since there really isn't a reason I should need that in Las Vegas.)
• Drop radiator back in.
• Alternator.
• Power steering pump. Gotta get to the yard and get some more bolts for that.
• Hook up all wiring and hoses.
• Fill with fluids. Oil, transmission fluid, coolant. Two bottles of Lucas for the transmission, since it will need all the help it can get. I need to remember to pull the thermostat housing off and fill the block first. This should facilitate easier bleeding of the system.
• Belt.
• Crossover pipe.
• Couple more gallons of fuel.
• Battery.
• Start!
• Struts either bolted back on to the knuckles or replaced with the van struts kicking around the garage. (Still need to buy dust boots before they can be assembled.)
• Front wheels on.
• On the ground.
• Drive!
• Enjoy TWO HUNNERT HOARSPOWAH!

Easy peasy, right?

[LeftVentricle]

Today I made some progress, but only took two pictures.

I bought a new transmission pan, one with a drain plug, since unscrewing twenty damn bolts to drain the trans sucks majorly. This is what the fluid and pan looked like. Click for bigger.




As some of you may recall, a blown oil cooler line led to some burnt clutches in the 1-2 shift. That looks like a lot of clutch material to me. I'm a little worried that it won't work when I put it back in. I will be putting a couple bottles of Lucas additive in.

I also removed the oil filter adapter from the new engine and installed the threaded thing the filter spins onto from the old engine. The LX9 filter adapter puts the filter in interference with the subframe of my car. Just for notation purposes, the three bolts holding the adapter onto the LX9 have a 10 mm head, there is a gasket that has to be removed, and the threaded dealy needs a 10 mm hex socket.

I had to stop for the day after that, because I broke a 15 mm socket trying to break loose the crank pulley bolt on the old engine. I don't think it's ever been done.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

LOL it looks like you guys have it under control!

Can't wait to see the new powerplant go in there. Going to be interesting and rewarding to get it running and see how much peppier it is.

[LeftVentricle]

[carbon]

Please do it. It would make some poor corporate brow beaten GM automotive design engineer from the 1980s sooo happy.

[LeftVentricle]

Good god if you cammed that LX9 it would be an epic sleeper... I had an '84 Olds Cutlass Cruiser wagon with the 92HP Duke and a 3-speed. Even if left stock, I can't imagine how much fun it would have been to be around 200HP in an A-body wagon.

It definitely should be interesting! It probably won't make 200 hp to start with, since I'm still using my stock exhaust and an LG8 upper intake. At a later date, I would love to do exactly that: ported heads, intake, and exhaust, and a torque cam. 16s or bust!

[carbon]

Good god if you cammed that LX9 it would be an epic sleeper... I had an '84 Olds Cutlass Cruiser wagon with the 92HP Duke and a 3-speed. Even if left stock, I can't imagine how much fun it would have been to be around 200HP in an A-body wagon.

[LeftVentricle]

Interesting swap. It is ironic that a newer, better engine now costs less than locating a good/used one exactly like what came in the car!

The cost of the engines were approximately the same, within about $50 of each other. The ancillaries tipped me in favor of the LX9. If I went with a stock replacement, I would have had to rebuild the top end, just for peace of mind, but I would still just have an L82. The cost of that compared to the computer/custom parts to swap in the 3.5 ended up also being ballpark, so why not? Why not get an extra ~35 hp and ~30 ft-lbs for the same price? Not only that, and I've probably said this before, but I believe that I will be the first person to swap an LX9 into an A-body. I would love for this to be an example to others that the A-body is a viable platform, and it's not that difficult of a swap.

[davida1_hiwaay_net]

Interesting swap. It is ironic that a newer, better engine now costs less than locating a good/used one exactly like what came in the car!

[Purple pit]

Did that myself. The key to stopping my leak was to make sure that the rear hose clamp was tight and that the stock tube was under tension toward the 3400's tube. Then the clamp was tightened on the 3400's tube while pulling back on the stock tube. The "leak" really was do to the nut on the stock tubes mount being loose(didn't catch the universals false feedback). That tension was an overkill safe guard.
The problem was that under WOT the tube would just pop out and spew coolant. Even with the very short rubber hose there was flex and the very slightly loose mount bolt added to that(if the tube had been welded it would have not come all the way out). That O-ring on the 3400's tube just doesn't hold very well(lol duh).
You may not even have a problem so all that is just FYI.