im pulling my little 98 into the garage, im going to fix everything on it, redo the inside, lower it with new struts and spring combo. Exhaust system of some kind. It is close to needing a clutch too. I am going to check and replace every item i find that has wear or possible reliablity issues. maybe put in a sunroof, of course a booming sound system.
i may even look into a new engine or rebuild. and then send her out for body work and paint. i will have it down to bare bones for a while

it will be a garage car from then on, and a nice little ride

Before and after pics are a must in a situation like this.

have fun with it!

already have that started.

hey since i have th engine and tranny pulled out , im thinking maybe i should put in a new steering rack.
any other parts i should look at while i have the engine bay empty?

I always forget to take before pics of any project I do, including my home improvement. It sucks. Try to remember to take pics and not get so sucked into working on it that you forget. (That's what I tend to do. )

so a new engine looks to be around 1100 or so, maybe i should see if i can get a 3.4.
i still need to look at the old one first.

i should have done a compression test before i pulled it out.

Shop around at salvage yards. You should be able to score a low mileage 3100 or 3400 for half of that. Once you get the rest of the stuff you need for the swap, you'll probably be back up around there, but it will be much more fun than another 2.2!

so i look for grand am or related gm cars, or is other than A body a choice too,
this car is just a toy so im in no hurry to get it on the road.

i wish a northstar would fit

herculesinwyoming wrote:so i look for grand am or related gm cars, or is other than A body a choice too,
this car is just a toy so im in no hurry to get it on the road.

I would look for a Grand Am or Alero with the 3400, and try to get the following out of it with the engine:

ECM/Wiring harness
PS lines
Downpipe
Radiator hoses
Heater hoses
Intake duct
Throttle cable
Brake booster hose

You have a couple of options with the upper motor mount:
You can get the entire mount fromt he donor car, which should unbolt from the passenger side frame rail,
Or you can swap around the belt system to the 3100 style, and get the 94-98 Grand Am Y-bracket that bolts to the front of the engine, which will have a T-bracket that will bolt right into you factory upper mount on the frame rail. If you use this mount, you need to gain an inch in height on the passenger side. I did it by custom making an offset T-bracket. If you have access to a machine shop, I think this is the cleanest route. Check page 2 in my post "IT LIVES!" and you will see the piece I made. Two other guys on here (John Beers, and RSF98) have done something different. John made a spacer to weld up under the frame rail bracket, and RSF98 machined down an inch off the Y-bracket. Any of these will work fine. It's just up to you which way you want to go.
The other thing you're going to need to fabricate or modify is the lower mount that hooks to your factory dog bone. The one that comes on the V6 is a little over an inch out of line. Some guys have made a mount. I got the Grand Am mount and cut the yoke off and moved it in to where it needed to be. This only serves to keep the motor from twisting. It doesn't actually support it.

thanks i saved your info to the laptop. i will go see what i can find