How Complete Can I Keep 3.4 DOHC....

[lkurek]

.....when dropping it in my engine bay? It is 1000 times easier to bolt up the alternator, A/C, Starter, mounts, etc on the motor while it is on my engine stand, than after the motor is in the engine bay. No biggie either way....but....any gotchas from experience appreciated...

Also, as far as motor mounts go......can I bolt them up to the motor first as well, or will I need to bolt it to the Kmember/Trans first? The front mount looks pretty straightforward, but that back one.....dunno.

What I would LOVE to be able to do is dress the motor while it is on the stand....wiring, mounts, etc....and then drop it in. I know I need to pull the passenger side half shaft, but I guess I would want to see if I can still drop the motor into the engine compartment, and slide it on the trans (both at the rear of the engine and mounts) intact.

If anyone has swapped this motor out, and can comment.....it may save me time and aggravation

Oh....and as you can see, despite some of the feedback I received about the 3.4DOHC motor being a bad choice to replace the 3100......that's what I am going with. Why? Because dropping in a 311 or 3400 would be too easy.....and I want to make my life difficult

[jeffglitman]

Well I'm just about to drop in a NEW 97 DOHC motor into my wifes 1995 Grand Prix GTP. I pulled both the motor and the tranny as one unit. I only had to remove the AntiLock Brake controller along with the Brake Master Cylinder.

I have all 3 motor mounts installed on my engine while it is out of the bay. I also have the Alternator and pretty much everything else top end and bottom end installed ready to drop in. It all fit coming out so hopefully it will drop in fine. The only two items I don't have bolted on is the A/C compressor since I didn't want to drain my freon and the Starter. Basically besides these two items I only should have to connect up some wiring and a few vacumm lines. I will have to install the serpentine belt after it is installed since I don't have the A/C compressor hooked up. Although I am thinking about installing the A/C compressor when the motor is hanging on my engine hoist 1/2 way in the bay. I think I will have enough A/C hose lenghth to do this. It is so tight to install the belt and A/C bolts when it is in the engine bay I'm hoping this will work. I'll keep you posted.

Jeff