57k Mile LX9 Alero [[swap]]

[slowalero]

Here's a pic of a friend's, very clean, '05 Malibu Maxx 3500. Looking closely you can see the crankcase ventilation routing is the same as I, and GM have done on the 3400. This LX9 has a riveted PCV valve which is peculiar because my LX9 is a 2005MY as well, and as the pics above show, does not have such equipment.

[jmgtp]

Mine did not come equipped with the riveted in PCV valve either. Very interesting.

[slowalero]

Here's one more meticulous modification I made. I decided against the use of harness extensions, butt connectors, and soldering when it came to changing the MAP/CTS wires. Like many others, I recieved the harness extensions in my box-o-parts from Milzy but that makes more connections inline and causes voltage drop, which is the same story with connectors or soldering. That and soldering wasn't recommended for wire repairs under the hood during my formal automotive education, and the extensions are far longer than the LX9 3500 OEM wires which means some tucking is necessary and it's unsightly. So I borrowed a terminal extractor kit by MAC tools from a friend and it made all the difference. I simply removed the MAP/CTS leads from the LX9 3500 injector harness and the LA1 3400 injector harness and swapped them.

The first photo show the LA1 3400 harness with it's Multec 2 injector connected on the left with it's MAP/CTS connectors, and the LX9 3500 harness with the Multec 3(?) injector connected and it's MAP/CTS leads on the right.

Photo 2 has the 3400 harness with extensions on the left and the unmodified 3500 harness right. Here you can really see how far the extensions reach. For my standards, that's excessive.

The final pic tries to show it all together. The original LA1 3400 injector harness has it's Multec 2 injector plugged in and the LX9 3500 modern MAP connector and longer CTS leads. You will never see this mod under the hood or have problems down the road. Pun intended.

[Starglow]

So in a nutshell.... you installed the 3400 wiring harness connector pins into the 3500 harness plastic shell connectors... right? That's a cool solution, however most people doing this mod would not have access to a terminal extractor. Although I like your approach as something I would want to do also, however unless the extended wiring connections are really shoddy I can't see the voltage drop being significant enough to make a huge difference on such short runs to affect anything other than aesthetics. But again, your method does offer another option for those with the proper skills and tools to do the connector swap.

Can you post a picture of the tool? Perhaps a modified or similar tool would also work. It might help to have a short process description on removing the connector pins as well if possible. At least we now know it can be done.

Thanks.....!

[jmgtp]

Clean way to do it. When I did my LX9 swap I had to re-do a lot of my wire harness since I was coming from the DOHC motor. I did cut, solder and shrink tube. When I needed additional wire I used the wiring from the LX9 harness (came with the motor) since it is auto grade wire and constructed to handle under hood temps.

I bundled the wires with OEM type wire wrap. It all works just fine but I'm not thrilled with how it looks. Its a bit bulky, routed poorly and excessive long in some places. I admittedly did rush it together to get the car running. Once the car is down for the winter its on my list of things to make right. I think I'm going to rewire the whole thing, make sure it is all cut to the right length and have clean looking install.

[slowalero]

Starglow;
No, just the opposite actually. I kept the 3400 injector harness otherwise intact, just removed the MAP and CTS leads. I then removed the 3500 MAP and CTS leads from it's original harness and plugged them into the 3400 harness. When you push out the leads, it tends to bend the lock tabs a bit so you gotta pull 'em up a little. I'd rather do that to four terminals instead of however many there are there. You'll see what I'm talking about later in this post. And for the most part, you're right about the minimal voltage drop present in a short run like that. Milzy doesn't do sub-par work, the extensions work fine and tested OK so I could use them, just dont wanna. I find myself thinking about silly details like this throughout the day so that's enough to make me go the extra mile.

Photo #1
Here's an up close shot of the MAC extractor tool. Real little. Bends easy. Meant for finger strength, obviously.

Photos #2, 3
This is the tool in action. For these blade terminals in this specific application, you simply slide the tool on the top (the seam side) of the terminal and push easy until you feel the terminal break free. Once it releases, pull the tool out and the terminal will almost fall out. DO NOT forget to remove the retainer on the back side of the connector. It's the large purple thing in this case. You will not get the terminal out with the retainer in place. This also increases the risk of bending the tool.

Also note the "C" marked on the end of the tool.

Photo #4
This shows the retention tabs that may get distorted upon removal. It's pretty self explanatory what goes on here but the tool, or rather it's shadow, is pointing to the detent that locks it in place. They are very delicate so refrain from using large tools here. A little does a lot. Just tug on them, don't yank.

Photo #5
Remember the "C" marking? The sticker inside the tool kit gives the specs of each tool. This may help those seeking a homemade implement. Just make sure you're edges are smooth.

Hope this helps, always happy to answer questions. Just moved from a 55' x 19' shop shared with two Honda kids (one of which scrapped for a living) to a 42' x 22' shop for myself. The cars (there's also a Camaro and a Firebird) are very dirty from them sweeping the nasty floors everyday so she's gonna get out and get a bath within the next couple days. Things have been kinda tight lately so my last box of parts is gonna have to wait a little. Feel kinda lousy getting this car done so late in the year. Almost don't wanna wait till spring but I've had the car a year and the engine since May.

More later!

[Starglow]

Wow....nice to have a shop like that to work in. My GA is outside right now because I had to make room in the garage for the engine and hoist. I still have a few parts to order, but I'm going to hopefully hit full throttle over the next few weeks to get mine done before the snow flies and it gets too cold here to work outside.

As others have mentioned, I have to deal with the M1 to M2 fuel injector connector swap on mine since it's a '99 and doesn't have the M2 connectors so that would involve a lot of extra work swapping the pins.

[slowalero]

Probably should've posted this first photo at the begining of my build thread, but here's proof. I know most people on this site are probably not as much into the idea of a hot rodded Alero, but regardless of manufacturer a low mile project car is the tits. Clean bolts, no rust, less time on squeaky GM interior panels. Good things.

Second pic isn't much. Engine is 100% bolted in, all 15 of 'em. Still have everything else to hookup; steering pump, manifolds, accessories....Got all the sensors necessary for engine management; still need heater hoses, a radiator cap, heater pipe o-ring, thermostat bypass pipe, and 3.5L temp sensor.

Tried welding the bypass pipe but my flux core welder burns through. Looking at a local welding shop to possibly TIG weld it or I may have to break down and buy one from Milzy.

Try to ignore the cold and kill time in the shop tomorrow and get it running, if it's for 30 seconds at a time.

[slowalero]

Some more pics for everyone. Made more progress in the cold the other day. Got all the necessary sensors to make it run.

They really engineered this external trigger well. Probably an 1/8" between the plastic and the sensor.

New knock sensor and oil pressure switch mounted on the front. Bagged the front harness retainer bolt individually so I could keep up on the details.
Milzy's A/C adapter doesn't allow you to use the bottom bolt. I've read where people have had good luck using just the two. Hoping the for the same. Last pic shows most of the accesories in their final assembly.

Got to pull the fuel rail up one more time and tuck my homemade injector harness under the steering pump. Kinda lazy to climb under the car again to install torque converter bolts, starter and shield. After that the front exhaust manifold and crossover can tie up the big stuff. Forgot the serp belt had to go on over the side mount, but that's ok now.

[slowalero]

Most of the clearance issues are actually with the regulator bracket and not so much with the regulator itself, granted the regualtor body needs room too. There was a lot of flashing from the castings that I wanted gone so I ground the front of the manifold smooth too. My manifold looks much better now, gotta smooth it out some more then more Toyota paint. But in the end, I got all 6 bolts to drop in and thread in without a side load. Very successful. Thought it looked good trimmed of all it's fat and black bolts.

[Starglow]

I'm getting things closer to being ready to install the engine...hopefully by next weekend. I bought the FPR adapter bracket from Ben so hopefully I don't have to grind the UIM. I still need to splice in the M2 fuel injector connectors on the wiring harness for the 28# fuel injectors I bought but I haven't got the 55 psi FPR yet.

Are you using the stock 3400 exhaust manifolds?

[slowalero]

Sounds good, I'd like to know how you make out. I'm deathly afraid I'm going to have issues upon start-up. I shouldn't, everything's in place. Just pre-start jitters I guess.

Mike @ Milzy suggested not using the relocation bracket. It makes sense because your stock FPR is centered in the rail so the new bracket will only clock the regulator. There's more clearance when the regulator top rolls toward the UIM, but it still hits. I tried mine w/o the bracket on it and you still have to grind it. Even with the rail assembly pulled as far forward as it will go. And like I said in the last post, the FPR bracket itself needs grinding too. Just means less aluminum to remove and reduces that risk.

As for the stock exhaust manifolds, I am using them. At least for now. Spring time will bring Pace Setter headers. They have a 2-1 collector to the downpipe which I may not use and devise a dual exhaust, however the fuel tank stands in my way.
Milzy also noted that the manifolds are not as restrictive as the dual-wall downpipe that reduces to 2" inside. What sucks is that part is staying for now as well because I'm undecided on the rest of the exhaust.

The way I see it is, I have proper tuning, proper injector size, proper throttle inlet and everything is clean and put together right. I can sacrifice a restrictive exhaust. Stock LX9's had larger manifolds yes, but the chassis' they were fitted to also suffered from choked down exhaust.

[Starglow]

I bought a complete 2006 Chevy Uplander exhaust manifold set from a salvage yard. It's made for an LX9 but exits from the rear like the 3400 instead of down like the G6 that my engine came from. Even though the stock 3400 manifolds would work, I feel better using ones designed for the LX9 with the larger ports. I also got a Multec 2 injector harness, FPR, & EGR salvaged from an '02 Alero. I bought brand new 28# injectors as well. Engine assembly is going well and I''ll be ready to drop it into the chassis in the next week or two. Have you done anything with the vacuum port mod on the 3500 UIM?

[slowalero]

It runs!!

It's been too long, but about a week before Christmas I had to rob the crank sensor harness (and battery) from my '99 daily driver to make it run. Bought the car last year so the gas in the tank had expired. I used the pump to empty the tank and changed the filter before start up too. First crank revealed a crossed 1 and 5 plug wire, second crank revealed I had the firing order out of sequence on two coils. Third crank lit right off like the engine actually had a soul and knew how long it had been since it's last time. I'm always nervous before start up so when it fired, it shocked me because of the reality and that it was 100% sound. Runs f***ing great. I donated my power steering fluid and the pump sat upside down for a few months so I had a huge air bubble upon start up too. Sounded like a '92 Ranger. But that's gone now.

Need to do a few more things. Engine can't retain coolant right now so run times are very limited. Apparently during the move to my new shop, I lost the crank sensor harness and the heater pipe that extends from the thermostat housing. So I need them. I've also decided on drilling and tapping the EGR block off plate for a vacuum fitting to supply the FPR and HVAC system.

Some more updates later when I get more time to post on here. Car is apart for deep cleaning too so I don't think she's ready for a photo shoot just yet.

[young gun]

Nice just read through it all! we should meet up sometime i got a grand am with a 3500, ran 14.6 in the quarter at Empire dragway