GP1138 Posted March 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 Update, just got raped at the dealer - $130 for a whole gasket set. Fortunately, AutoAdvanvceautopartszone would have charged me ~$200 for a head gasket set.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudefyet Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 $130?? I thought all you need were intake gaskets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted March 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 $130?? I thought all you need were intake gaskets I got the whole gasket set since I'm doing the heads as well. I didn't think it was a good thing to reuse gaskets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudefyet Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 oh, so you're doing the head swap too? or just changing the head gaskets? and what all does a gasket set include that makes it so damn expensive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted March 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 oh, so you're doing the head swap too? or just changing the head gaskets? and what all does a gasket set include that makes it so damn expensive? I heard that the stamped rockers on the 94-95's still hit against the 3400's LIM even after you grind away some of the material on the bottom of the runners. Safe bet would be to pick up a set of roller-rocker heads (mid 96-present) so you don't run the risk of damaging the motor... I don't know why the gaskets were so damn expensive... hell, I spent almost as much on the damn things as I did the intake in the first place.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudefyet Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 heh...nm...i checked felpro's website... makes sense what it includes head gaskets, exhaust manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets, etc. so did you get some heads yet? if so what year/engine were they off of? and you still doing it friday/saturday? let me know...i need an excuse to do something friday night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted March 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 heh...nm...i checked felpro's website... makes sense what it includes head gaskets, exhaust manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets, etc. so did you get some heads yet? if so what year/engine were they off of? and you still doing it friday/saturday? let me know...i need an excuse to do something friday night You're welcome to come over here Friday night, and stay over I guess. I hope to have the heads tomorrow, so that I can get started on this Saturday. I'm gonna go bankrupt over this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbtk2 Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 oh, so you're doing the head swap too? or just changing the head gaskets? and what all does a gasket set include that makes it so damn expensive? I heard that the stamped rockers on the 94-95's still hit against the 3400's LIM even after you grind away some of the material on the bottom of the runners. Safe bet would be to pick up a set of roller-rocker heads (mid 96-present) so you don't run the risk of damaging the motor... I don't know why the gaskets were so damn expensive... hell, I spent almost as much on the damn things as I did the intake in the first place.. Yup, gaskets are definately not cheap. Getting the actual parts needed for the swap is usually fairly easy/cheap, but its the stuff you need to put it together thats expensive. I wouldn't have even done my topend swap if I didn't need to tear the engine down and rebuild the heads anyways. With this gasket set that you got, did you get new head bolts or are you gonna re-use your originals? Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted March 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 oh, so you're doing the head swap too? or just changing the head gaskets? and what all does a gasket set include that makes it so damn expensive? I heard that the stamped rockers on the 94-95's still hit against the 3400's LIM even after you grind away some of the material on the bottom of the runners. Safe bet would be to pick up a set of roller-rocker heads (mid 96-present) so you don't run the risk of damaging the motor... I don't know why the gaskets were so damn expensive... hell, I spent almost as much on the damn things as I did the intake in the first place.. Yup, gaskets are definately not cheap. Getting the actual parts needed for the swap is usually fairly easy/cheap, but its the stuff you need to put it together thats expensive. I wouldn't have even done my topend swap if I didn't need to tear the engine down and rebuild the heads anyways. With this gasket set that you got, did you get new head bolts or are you gonna re-use your originals? Shawn The tech there said I could just use the originals, which is good enough for me. The only reason I'm doing this swap is because my intake gaskets are probably going bad. There's no indication that they were done, and there was smoke coming out of my intake when I did top end cleaner, so I think that's reason enough for some preventative maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutlsp Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 uh you might want to get new head bolts because they tend to strech :? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted March 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 uh you might want to get new head bolts because they tend to strech :? The guy said that on V6's, they aren't nearly as bad as 4-cylinders. I tend to believe him, he seemed to know what he's talking about. If I really feel the need, I'll just run over and get some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutlsp Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 i heard any head bolts strech though but i don't know its up to you i plan on NEW head bolts when i do my head gaskets on my 89. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maybe2fast Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 you can reuse them, on he 60 degree motors the bolts are fine to reuse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutlsp Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 your sure about this what if they have 175k miles on them? are they streched out of shape then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted March 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 your sure about this what if they have 175k miles on them? are they streched out of shape then? Mine only have 132k on them, so I feel safe reusing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted March 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 UPDATE: 95% Success!!! I just got done driving my new 3400/3100 hybrid Grand Prix home from my grandma's house. She and my grandpa are the only ones who I know who are nice enough to let me use their garage for a whole night. A huge, very large thanks to CHRIS (White93Z34) and MATT (InanimateDecay) for helping me with this job. You helped more than you can imagine. And thanks to Chris for mangling the quick disconnect fitting on the cooler line. Anyway, the whole thing went alright, but the biggest news is we discovered something that (I think) nobody else really knew yet. My car is a 1995.5 model year, made in May of '95. It had the provisions for roller rockers, and we just swapped the roller rocker arms onto the new heads. This apparently has worked perfectly, as I don't hear rockers hitting intake runners. The heads with the rollers that I picked up from the junkyard ended up being fairly nasty, so we just decided to try the roller swap, and it ended up working perfectly. A shame we found that out AFTER we pulled the 3100 heads. We ended up doing that like 3 times, and the exhaust manifolds are a BITCH on this car. For being the first engine job I've ever done, I'd say it went smoothly. I'm already noticing high end (read: +5500RPM) gains, not a huge amount, but the car pulls to the yellow line on the tach now. The ass dyno is definitely accurate here. I'll post pics later tonight, my lungs hurt from breathing in coolant fumes (from bleeding the #@$%$%@# cooling system) and working in a fairly chilly garage, and the CD with the pics is in my car. The only problem I have right now is that the engine runs hotter than it used to. Maybe there's some air still in the system, but it just worries me. It doesn't peg itself like it was doing when we were bleeding the system, though. That was annoying as hell. Again, I'll post some pics tonight. We worked from about 1 in the afternoon Saturday until about 5 in the morning Sunday, so Chris and I are fried. Matt didn't seem to get tired at all, we got back to my house and he just drove the hour home right then while Chris and I just crashed. Definitely a bitch of a job, but a lot of fun, too! And I can say I've modded my car beyond adding Beavis and Butt-head stickers now!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudefyet Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 w00t! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted March 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 w00t! For the record, you look exactly like that smiley face in person. Thanks again for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryk2003 Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 glad to hear your swap was sucessful...i'm guessing if its running hot its prolly like you said...still a lil air in the lines (i've noticed some of these 3x00's are a PITA to get the air out of)...but, glad to hear its going good...now i just need to see pix! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudefyet Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 w00t! For the record, you look exactly like that smiley face in person. Thanks again for your help! Muyahaha... get those pics up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokemBokem Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Good job! cant wait to see teh pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoStudd Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Excellent! Can't wait to see the pics!!! Regarding your "hotter than normal" situation, did you happen to replace the thermostat? I could see that as being a culprit of the motor running hotter than usual... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudefyet Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Excellent! Can't wait to see the pics!!! Regarding your "hotter than normal" situation, did you happen to replace the thermostat? I could see that as being a culprit of the motor running hotter than usual... Yep, we did replace the t-stat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoStudd Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 My old 95 GP ran a bit hotter than usual when I changed the T-Stat. It never went over 220 (or whatever the half-way mark is) after changing it, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryk2003 Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 BTW: forgot to ask ealier...but, do you happen to have a total cost of the swap!?...i MIGHT end up doing the same swap to my car in the near future as there appears to be a lil seepage around the LIM and i don't trust that gasket... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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