questions on swapping an 98 3100 in an 03 malibu

[jim68127]

Thanks in advance for answering my questions.

I recently bought an 03 malibu LS for my daughter who is turning 16. Car is in beautiful condition except for partially seized motor due to oil pump failure at 103,000 miles.

Someone I trust has a motor from an 98 or 99 lumina. He has the motor tagged with the miles (72,000). He cannot recall with %100 accuracy which year lumina he pulled it from. Upon research I find that the torque specifications for the cylinder heads differ between 98 and 99. I need to remove one head and have a broken exhaust manifold bolt removed. (much easier to do correctly with the head in the drill press.)

Question #1: Where is the casting ID on the block? This should give me a number that corresponds with manufacturing date so I can use the right torque specs.

Question#2: I had planned to transfer the crank and cam sensors as well as the intake manifold from the 03 with the 03 injectors and larger ports to the 98/99 block and heads because I assume they work with the ECM on the 03. Is this the proper way to proceed?



I am very familiar with doing this type of work, although the last time I swapped a motor it was a direct swap of the same year of motors. So my final question is there anything else I need to be aware of in swapping the 3100 but from different years.


Yes I am aware that you are not supposed to swap an older motor into a newer car but until the EPA hunts me down I need a cheap car for my daughter to drive.

Thanks

[SappySE107]

The torque specs for the heads have been revised, and should be the same for 94-05 engines. We have the updated specs on this site. If you are going to swap the manifolds and injectors (very good idea), why not swap the heads? The 03 heads are better casting quality, and flow better. I understand this isn't a performance setup, but it may net slightly better MPG. If you weren't pulling a head anyway, I wouldn't have mentioned it. The crank is the same, the cam sensor works the same so long as it routes/reaches the connector in the car. Otherwise you can swap, no problem there. With the manifolds and everything on them swapped, the engine will be as close to the 03 motor as you need to get for the computer.

[jim68127]

Thanks for the quick reply. After looking at the intake ports on the heads from the 03 I realized I really need to use those heads with the 03 lower and upper intake. However, one problem with one of those heads is a stripped rocker arm stud. How reliable is using a helicoil for a repair? I would have the local machine shop do it since I am going to have the head off anyway and they have probably done a lot of them in the past. I have also read about using a time-sert thread kit. Does anyone know what kit you order for my application or do I just order one for the metric specs for the studs in the head?

[SappySE107]

IT is actually more common for the 8mm rockers to strip compared to the older 10mm. The older heads will work just fine, its a very slight mismatch on the ports, that we don't worry about. They would seal up just fine. Helicoil will make the 8mm rockers stronger than the stock aluminum threads.

Some people do a procedure when torquing the rockers down. The make sure the rock being torqued is not pressing down on the valve itself, so rotating the crank to make sure of this is an added step. Also make sure you don't over tighten the rockers.

[jim68127]

Thanks, I'll go with the older heads I already have them cleaned up and they have 30,000 less miles on them.