Bringing a 95 Grand Am SE back to life

[SappySE107]

Thanks! I am going to try to get that out today if I can get the manifold set before USPS shows up. Virus has me doing as little as possible outside the house. Wish I could help with welding, but I can't weld thin metals yet. I don't even know what a weld through seam sealer is. I have used youtube a lot for welding videos though. Wish I had some clear cups but god knows that isn't my problem right now hahahaha.

[manbearpig]

Intake gaskets are much nicer than what I had, even the upper plenum gaskets:

[manbearpig]

Timing chain pics: No comparison here on what's the better choice... the aftermarket cam gear was rubbing where the numbers are on the back, GM one is fine of course. How they sell the rubbing one is beyond me.







The tensioner makes it even better!

[SappySE107]

I haven't seen the gear with the numbers cast in like that but it is where the bolts for the cam cover go so it doesn't surprised me that would hit. Good looking setup on there now

[manbearpig]

I'm guessing the original belt tensioner came apart because there's a huge pulley shaped gouge in my front cover. I could probably still use it, but since I'm going through all of this trouble, I'm going to find a junkyard replacement (no picture of that currently).

As for the lower intake, the bolt kit I bought didn't come with any washers. I found my original bolts and honestly don't remember if washers were on them when I took them off.



I'm guessing I'll need to hit the dealer (if that's even possible right now) to acquire these washers, or do you have these on your site, Ben?

[SappySE107]

They are washers that have a rubber seal on the ID. Its only the 4 longer/middle bolts that have them. You can put some silicone under the heads to do the same thing. Its there to make sure there isn't a vacuum leak. A lot of timing chain covers have a line where the tensioner is. Never really thought about it actually.

[manbearpig]

I think what I have is a little more than a line, LOL. I've never seen one like this:

[SappySE107]

That'll buff out:P Its not going to hurt but that is quite the gouge.

[manbearpig]

Do you have any tips for cleaning out the lower intake manifold? Mine is nice and caked with carbon buildup... My parts washer isn't cutting it. Thinking carb and choke cleaner or some acidic aluminum wheel cleaner?

[SappySE107]

mapp gas. I have an oven that I use after I get most of the crap out with a torch and then blast them.

[Evan Walker]

Oh wow! That looks amazing!

[manbearpig]

Still going... been cleaning and organizing my messy garage. The sooner I get this together the sooner I'll be able to get it out of the garage and free up some space. Ben, the mapp gas did the trick. Still got a little more cleaning up to do but it looks way better than it did.

[manbearpig]

I'm still going on this... progress has been slow over the summer. Planning on having the engine together by the end of the month, going to try and get the car on all four wheels again. Found AC Delco hub bearings on ebay for 40 bucks a pop.

Need to get new lower control arms, I saw on jbody.org that the aluminum 99 Grand Am arms will work on a Jbody with minor mods. Not sure if it's worth the trouble though because I'm sure they are longer than the ones on my Grand Am.

Trying to find some kind of database of interchangeable parts between N-L-J bodies, but it looks like I'm going to have to spend some time in the junkyard figuring it out for myself. For one, I'm trying to figure out what cars I can grab the frame rails from. Mine are salvageable I think, but they're pretty rusty and I think I could find some better examples.

[manbearpig]

Hey SappySE107, do you have any tricks to cleaning out the upper plenum? I've hit it with MAPP gas, and got a lot of it clean, but it's hard to get it completely cleaned out. Just wondering if you use a special brush, pipe cleaner, or something along those lines.

[SappySE107]

I bake them in an oven and then blast them. A container that will fit the manifold and fill it with simple green will also work, but you gotta let it sit overnight. If you can get formula 88, that is what I would use instead but it isn't available in Indiana.