corny4u Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Yeash.... I have been a back yard mechanic for many years, used to be a fuill blown one back in collage, now I just tinker, Well, I bit a big one. I purchased a '96 Z34 from a friend who gave up on the car and I got it for a steal. This guy who gave up on it didn't know a thing about cars, he couldn't even add winshield washer fluid. So I got this car and gave it to my son, who drove it for a year, it had about 110k on it and ran okay, for a Z34. Well, one day I get a call, "Dad! the tranny went out. :cry:" So I made a deal with him, he gets the tranny rebuilt I do the motor. So we did a full engine/tranny drop out the bottom. I saw in another thread under engine pull for w-body, someone asked if anybody did a full engine tranny pull out the bottom, well I did it! I can't beleive anybody could cram so much shit in such a small space - wow! It was like trying to get sardines out of a can without opening it. I could go through the whole shebang on what we did, But I have a job to go to in the morning, So basiclly we unconnected everything. The hardest parts was disconnecting the steering column form the steering rack. (I don't know how I ma going to get that back together when I assemble it! ) Simply undid all wire connectors, My son got impatent with one that wrapped THROUGH between the engine and tranny, as it would have to be laced through the two to get it out, and I beleive that the connectors wouldn't fit between them unless I have a shoe horn stuck on my head and did a tap dance on the ceiling to get it out, so he cut it!!! I'll have to fix that when it goes back togther, which included the main charging wire from the Alternator. To make a long story short from this point, the tranny, the lower frame, and motor are very accessible now and easy to pull a part. The tranny has been rebuilt and is sitting in a corner waiting for a paint job and to be reinstalled. My son is going to tackle the suspension frame to rebuild, New sway bar mounts, CV joints, clean it up and paint it. I am tackeling the motor. I think I got the raw end of the deal!!! Which I have stripped down to the main block. The last thing I have to do is to pull the crank and pistons. The heads have been turned in to be milled and cleaned. at this point, I have looked the motor over and basically it is okay, The main reason why I took on such a task to pull the heads, is that the heads leak oil, out of both sides of the head gaskets, leaking down the side of the engine block and all over everything, we where going through a quart a month or more. It wasn't burning it, it was leaking out. So when we pulled the whole tranny/engine enchalada, that was how I figure out where that dang oil leak was. Both heads had to be pulled to get it fixed . This was when I dicovered all the cool things about the '96 "X" DOHC 24 Valve 4 cam belt driven, by an intermedeate gear and chain motor. It is unique to its older cousins (92 through '95). Mostly becuase of the extra large exhaust ports. GM wanted some extra horsey power out of it, they then made it breath easier by changine the intake ports as well. But the down side to this, is purchasing a set of upper head gasket sets for this. NOT CHEAP buy any means! However, I am going to do it, YUP, I am going to get a full 300 + horsey power out of this motor. Hook or by crook!!! Being I got it out of the car, it will be easy to do, It will be a summer project, but it will get done. If it breaks me, mentally and financually! So I am going to be on this site with questions, answers, and discoviers as I go through this. I will create different threads for the different things I do for this project, and will cover some of the things I have learned and will do to get that horsey power I want and need . There are a couple of options I have considered. some of these are. If anybody has any questions about what happend when I did this let me know. Plan #1 Headers Where can I get headers for this? So far I have found a set that "CLAIMS" to bolt on to the DOHC "X" 96, but when I look at their pictures, it is for the pre '96, and the want over $800 for the set. So.... I think I will find a set for the grand Prix, and modify the manifolds to fit a '96 "X" LQ1. I am in the racing community and know people who cut steel and stuff with water cutters etc. so I can get a set of manifold plates that will fit these extra large exhaust ports, and then modify a W-Body header set to fit. Then I will have headers. Plan #2 Remove the EGR valve assembly and ports, not needed with headers Plan #3 Polish the intake ports and exhaust ports on the head and intake manifold. Simple, but busy work. Plan #4 Injectors - Redo all the injectors and increase their fuel capacity, the mixture can be adjusted with option #8 Plan #5 - optional, Wild Ass dream!!! [/font] Blower - Option to consider, Find a blower to fit this engine on the intake, I have been looking but have only found blowers that fit the 3800 series engines. Anybody Know one that will fit this engine? If not, it would be a hell of a modification to make an intake manifold and would be cool! AND How much increase would I get with this vintage '96 DOHC engine with Four Valves per cylinder. There is A LOT of breathing room on these engines. Plan #6 More relastic, Polish all the intake plenum ports and open them up a little, To make the air flow smoother, then increase the stock size Flow sensor to a larger diameter, and add a smooth tube cool air system to allow moore smoother air flow. Plan #7 - Optional Add NsO, But do it sparingly, to not over do the engine, otherwise, all the stuff I did for the other options I can flush down the toliet. Plan #8 Add a Plam pilot interface to mount on the dash, so I can adjust the timing, spark advance, transmission shift points, fuel mixture ratios, and recordings of output signals. And then have several settings so that I can pick one for fuel economy, or if I want to race a Jap beer can. Anyway, I will upload pictures of all the parts, pieces, and stuff I have done so far, and will add more as I go... Till next Time, as we say in the racing world, Keep your wheels down, go fast, and turn left!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscsc Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 I am also interested in the headers... A blower would be bad a$$! Good luck though, unless you want to modify a different one to work on the LQ!.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonteCarloDude Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 headers can be found here. http://www.milzymotorsports.com/ BTW welcome to the forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscsc Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 headers can be found here. http://www.milzymotorsports.com/ BTW welcome to the forums. I didn't look very hard but I didn't see any LQ1 stuff...I wonder how much they'd be... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonteCarloDude Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 headers can be found here. http://www.milzymotorsports.com/ BTW welcome to the forums. I didn't look very hard but I didn't see any LQ1 stuff...I wonder how much they'd be... $1000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RareGMFan Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 For headers: http://www.w-body.com/forum/index.php?topic=66597.0 Josh just got his car back from FINALLY having this completed. Still a couple bugs they're trying to work out when I last spoke with him. Too bad he couldn't find enough interest to get the jig for it. As for boost, I'd go turbo as opposed to a supercharger. Many have already done this on the LQ1 between this site, and http://www.60DegreeV6.com, are running anywhere from 325 - 400hp ATW, like so... http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2957656 http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2148595/2 http://www.w-body.com/forum/index.php?topic=46351.0 http://www.60degreev6.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37899 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscsc Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 headers can be found here. http://www.milzymotorsports.com/ BTW welcome to the forums. I didn't look very hard but I didn't see any LQ1 stuff...I wonder how much they'd be... $1000 Hehe, I could buy a whole new car for that! Granted, it would be a beater but...I should have known, headers are expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z34Phoenix Posted June 13, 2008 Report Share Posted June 13, 2008 as for a palm based tuner haha NO... none exist for this car/engine. the only tune that "was" avalible was the DHP Powertuner... now that tuner is no longer avalible. your only option is to buy one used and then send it in to get support for the dohc motor. if you get your hands on one I will be glad to help you tune it. when it comes to obd2 dohc i (as far as i know) have done the most research and tuning for them. i have a few nice tricks and tables to put in the tunes to bring this motor alive. as for headers... becareful at adapting other headers to this engine... remember this is a 60degree v6 most of the other headers are for the 3800's which are 90* v6's with that much modification it would be better off making headers from scrach. also many of these headers are for the later Wbody's like the 97+ gp that is a 2nd gen Wbody ours is a 1 to 1.5 gen (1.5 in the case of the Monte) to change to a diff MAF sensor and injectors you will deff need some sort of tuning... either the tuner i mentioned. or a Mini AFC. this is a little inline box that goes into the maf and helps recalibrate the signal... this will get the car to run but is very limited when compared to tuning. just for refrence i am runing larger injectors, a bored out stock maf, ported intake manifolds and ported TB. i also have diff gears in the trany for a better boost in 1/4 time.... most of which wouldnt be possible without my tuner. oh and i get better mpg then stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corny4u Posted June 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Thanks all for the helpful tips. I went to that web site http://www.milzymotorsports.com/ And they DO have a set for this engine, but as being said, I could buy a whole 'nother car $$$$ Pricy $1000 bucks!!! But these are the ONLY Ones I have seen. However, OldSkoolGP in his DOHC header thread http://www.w-body.com/forum/index.php?topic=66597.0 He does have a plan to get a freind to make a bunch up for this engine, If we can get enough interest we could get a real good price. I have friends at my end who could ceramic coat them for me. And Thanks All for the feedback. I will be taking some up on it. Corny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corny4u Posted June 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 For headers: http://www.w-body.com/forum/index.php?topic=66597.0 Josh just got his car back from FINALLY having this completed. Still a couple bugs they're trying to work out when I last spoke with him. Too bad he couldn't find enough interest to get the jig for it. As for boost, I'd go turbo as opposed to a supercharger. Many have already done this on the LQ1 between this site, and www.60DegreeV6.com, are running anywhere from 325 - 400hp ATW, like so... http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2957656 http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2148595/2 http://www.w-body.com/forum/index.php?topic=46351.0 http://www.60degreev6.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37899 I have been contemplating that idea. I have seen and heard of 400+ out of one of these engines with a turbo. If I went that route, then traditional headers would be out the window. The battery would have to be relocated, and a complete new exhaust type system would have to be made up to fit a turbo. Could be done... Still contemplating, and will do research on it. Thanks for the tip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corny4u Posted June 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 as for a palm based tuner haha NO... none exist for this car/engine. the only tune that "was" avalible was the DHP Powertuner... now that tuner is no longer avalible. your only option is to buy one used and then send it in to get support for the dohc motor. if you get your hands on one I will be glad to help you tune it. when it comes to obd2 dohc i (as far as i know) have done the most research and tuning for them. i have a few nice tricks and tables to put in the tunes to bring this motor alive. as for headers... becareful at adapting other headers to this engine... remember this is a 60degree v6 most of the other headers are for the 3800's which are 90* v6's with that much modification it would be better off making headers from scrach. also many of these headers are for the later Wbody's like the 97+ gp that is a 2nd gen Wbody ours is a 1 to 1.5 gen (1.5 in the case of the Monte) to change to a diff MAF sensor and injectors you will deff need some sort of tuning... either the tuner i mentioned. or a Mini AFC. this is a little inline box that goes into the maf and helps recalibrate the signal... this will get the car to run but is very limited when compared to tuning. just for refrence I am runing larger injectors, a bored out stock maf, ported intake manifolds and ported TB. i also have diff gears in the trany for a better boost in 1/4 time.... most of which wouldnt be possible without my tuner. oh and i get better mpg then stock. Thanks for the info, I will take you up on the tuner part. I have a friend of mine up in the Oregon area and he has a Palm Pilot program for this DOHC. So. I am going to hit him up tomorrow and find out whet he really has... Where can I get injectors and what should I do with the ones I have? There wasn't anything wrong with the ones I have, but they should/could be exchanged. And after all this stuff with removing eth EGR, I will need to make some serious tuning mods. Especially in NY, where we got to have all the signals correct to pass inspection. So I am going to chat more with you on this topic. I am a Computer software junkie as well (that is what I do in my real job) So this part will be fun. Thanks Much Corny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ns87 Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Where in upstate NY are you? I'm in Oneonta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corny4u Posted June 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Well, my heads are done, they have been cleaned, pressure tested and Milled ( I will get some increased compression). The gasket set cost more then the milling work. (another rare item). Anyway, I will sit down with my son and show him how to take an air grinder and dermal tool and methodically polish the ports. I found the lifters cost almost $30 apiece, and there are 24 of them..... So I checked mine all over, and they Look perfect. But they do need to be cleaned. Once the intake and exhaust ports on the heads are done, I will check and lap the valves. Next step, taking the block in and having it cleaned and checked. I am not going to bore it over as getting oversized pistons and rings would be co$tly and fun to obtain. I will have to get a set of new rings and bearings. After that I can start putting the engine back together. Now what should I do about the cam timing. I have heard a lot on that subject and few people have experimented. That would be a whole ‘nother topic. I will drag a digital camera out and take some snaps of what is going on. My sons friends look at all the parts strewn all over the garage and they are making bets that I would not be able to get it back together.... HaH!!!! ……. I will make Fools of them .... If they only saw how we strip down a complete race car every year to nothing but a chassis and parts, and then piece it all back together, they would be amazed…. So I have acouple of questions, Who does polishing work on the plenum and intake ports for this? I found one guy willing, but I lost the link... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corny4u Posted June 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 as for a palm based tuner haha NO... none exist for this car/engine. the only tune that "was" avalible was the DHP Powertuner... now that tuner is no longer avalible. your only option is to buy one used and then send it in to get support for the dohc motor. if you get your hands on one I will be glad to help you tune it. when it comes to obd2 dohc i (as far as i know) have done the most research and tuning for them. i have a few nice tricks and tables to put in the tunes to bring this motor alive. I am hunting for a DHP powertuner as you suggested. Can you give me more information on them? What does DHP stand for? Who made it? What kind of interface are used for these? Can they hook to a laptop? Is there anything out there can can be used with a laptop? I have plenty of those avalible. Thanks Corny Corny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corny4u Posted June 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Where in upstate NY are you? I'm in Oneonta I live in the Monroe County Area, near the lake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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