Impala Forums banner

Engine Mods and Engine Pull

5K views 21 replies 7 participants last post by  kingnutin 
#1 ·
Well, I think my boy has almost talked me into pulling my engine. I haven't pulled an engine since 1991 and that was in high school :giggle:. My question are How difficult is it to pull out and also what should change if it's pulled out. So far my plan is to:

Take off those hot ass Hooker Headers and replace with OE stock
Change rear main seal? Looks like I have a small oil leak where the oil filter is
Change Opti-Spark to MSD
Change the converts replace 02 sensors


Other than that I really don't know what else to do. I want to add some more horse power, but don't know what to replace if I take the engine out. I know I can do all that with out taking the engine out, but I'm on the bubble. So any help or suggestions would be great. All I really want is to get to 350-400 hp then I'll be good:eek:k3:

Just to caveat...pockets are not that deep..lol
 
#2 ·
Why does the engine need to come out to replace those things?
 
#3 ·
Take off those hot ass Hooker Headers and replace with OE stock
Change rear main seal? Looks like I have a small oil leak where the oil filter is
Change Opti-Spark to MSD
Change the converts replace 02 sensors
Why does the engine need to come out to replace those things?

if it is a rear main.. he'd have to pull either the engine or the trans to get to it...


Jackson, what's your budget?
 
#7 ·
if it is a rear main.. he'd have to pull either the engine or the trans to get to it...

Why don't you let the guys who have these cars, answer these questions. You don't have to pull the engine to change any seals or gaskets on them. You can even do the oil pan gasket with the engine still in the car. The trans has to come out to do the rear main seal. I can have a tranny out, and back in on these cars in 3 hours. Engine... give it a weekend of busting ass non stop.

With that said, none of my one piece rear main seals leak enough to warrant me changing them. Even when I had the engine out, I still did not replace it. The intake manifold, and timing cover however. I've had serious oil leaks from them on more than one engine.
 
#4 ·
HP goal is very unrealistic with stock exhaust manifolds unless you are hanging a turbo from them.

The MSD opti is a step BACKWARDS the stock one is BETTER.

Rear main leaks are very rare, more often the intake manifold or the oil filter adapter.

You say your pockets are not deep but one of the first things you decide to do is waste $500 on a JUNK MSD opti when a $125 stock cap and rotor will likely serve you better.
 
#6 ·
I honestly don't know what to say on headers, the Hookers and Edelbrock are the only emissions legal shorties still in production as far as I know, neither is really all that great though if I had to choose I think it would be the Hookers with good ceramic coating. The best of the shorties was SLP but those are long out of production.

Far as non-emissions long tubes you have a few choices MAKING cheap header for another application fit, possible some banging or grinding on the car or headers needed as well as custom exhaust hookup. MrBuick can offer some insight there.
There are two shops hand building very heavy duty headers for these cars BUT the prices and fit are not not great. The boltin fine but things like bolt access and sparkplug clearance are a hassle at least with my aluminum heads. Been so long since I ran the iron heads I forget how the plug access was. I know most folks will BLINDLY tell you how wonderful Clear Image Automotive headers are but my experience and close friend's has been overpriced,6 month wait, mediocre fit, bad coating, cracked primarieS, and mild steel flanges on $400+ stainless cats. On other forums any naysayers get personally attacked by the faithful. Actually a very common way for vendors to maintain a reputation they don't deserve.

If you are willing to spend a lot on longtubes I would look at Headers for, Chevy, Corvette, Olds, Buick, Camaro, Firebird high performance automotive and marine engines. I have run their Tri-Ys and 1 3/4 quads, both well built, the 1 3/4" quads are a bastard to change the plugs in the aluminum heads. 1 5/8" on stock iron heads would should greatly reduce that hassle.
 
#9 ·
Far as non-emissions long tubes you have a few choices MAKING cheap header for another application fit, possible some banging or grinding on the car or headers needed as well as custom exhaust hookup. MrBuick can offer some insight there.





I know most folks will BLINDLY tell you how wonderful Clear Image Automotive headers are but my experience and close friend's has been overpriced,6 month wait, mediocre fit, bad coating, cracked primarieS, and mild steel flanges on $400+ stainless cats. On other forums any naysayers get personally attacked by the faithful. Actually a very common way for vendors to maintain a reputation they don't deserve.

The first set of CIA headers I bought were the CIA "Budget" 4-1 headers. I waited over 6 months for them. It took so long, that I totaled the car the week they got here, and never ended up putting them on. Tried to put them on my next car, which was a Roadmaster, and they refused to clear. On BOTH sides. Drivers side hit the steering shaft, pass side hit the frame rail in the exact same spot as the Flowtech Afterburners. I ended up tradding them in to CIA for the set of Tri-y's, I said I would never buy. They were used, but one of them had a cracked primary, so one was new, one was used. I got more money for the Budget headers in credit, than I had paid for them, since I got a cash discount. The price of the Tri-y's was much less than a new set, so I gave the coated headers a shot. I was told I had a 1 year left on the original coating warranty. So... put them on, and 6 months later, the NEW headers was rusting through the coating. The used side looked horrible. It had tiny rust pitts all over the top of the primary's. My 7 year old Flowtechs didn't suffer from rust like this! Told CIA I wanted the coating warrantied, and they told me they don't warranty used headers. That really pissed me off. I had them coated locally by a friend, then sold them off.

I replaced them with a set of the G9001 Summit headers. More on that later.

The Roadmaste I have now, came with a set of the CIA Tri-Y headers. These have the satin coating, which seems to hold up much better. 5+ years old, and they still look decent. However, the primary tube is cracked on one of them almost all the way around the tube. When I told them about it, they did send me $30 to have it welded up at a shop. CIA blames it on people not hooking up the exhaust mount at the tranny. Really, it's just a stupid ass place for a butt joint on a set of headers.

There are a few cheap long tube options. The G9001 summit headers, you have to cut out the frame braces. On 93 and older models, this brace was bolted in. It's welded on these. They also hit the A/C lines, so they have to be bent out of the way. They are a bitch to get in there . you need the car up HIGH, and have to really work to get them in from the bottom. I never 100% got them in due to time constraints. I was forced to just put manifolds back on that car. Then it was demoted to winter beater, so I never messed with it again. The Flowtech Afterburner 49001 headers is decent. Driver side has no issues. Pass side, they sometimes hit the frame rail. The header was beat on with a hammer to clear the frame on my 96 9C1. The headers were on it when I got the car. Even then, they were a "C" Hair from hitting the frame.


Here is a thread with some options. I really need to update it, but I'm lazy and don't really care about that forum these days.

Header & Catback options list. - Chevrolet Impala SS Forum : Chevy Impala SS Forums
 
#8 ·
I have seen a LOT of claims of rear mains leaks on these but don't know that I ever saw one verified. Like I said it is usually something else.

The usual oil leaks on these are, rear intake at the china wall, oil filter adapter, oil cooler lines, waterpump drive and once you start making power I have seen a few squeeze a bit out around the dipstick base at the block.

Obviously anywhere there is a seal it is possible to get a leak.
 
#10 ·
The usual oil leaks on these are...... .....oil cooler lines,

Oh god... those oil cooler lines. Why GM, WHY!!! Those things would make a puddle where I parked my car. I forgot how bad they were on that Roadmaster with the towing package. The intake manifold on that one leaked so much oil, that the transmission was mostly black.
 
#12 ·
Funny you mention the oli lines...I see oil ripping on there after I drive and that's could be part of the problem if not the problem. I still see a little oil on the oli filter trying to drip too. It's bad, but I know it's there when I pull out of my garage. As far headers go. DAMN!!! That's a lot to take in. I gotta do some more research on headers. The Hookers just get so damn hot. One that are not wrapped, but I have heard and read they still get hot even wrapped.

I need yalls opinion on this. I found this on craigslist. Here is the description below

lt1/ lt4 ported and polished intake manifold never installed straight from machine shop (runners and plenum ported and gasket matched ) 58mm throttle body ready ported and polished heads with new manley stainless steel raceflow valves new seals 2400 miles were put on these so they are just broken in only heads and intake ported polished to match for high flow for lt1/lt4 engines might also fit tuned port engines

What do you think...don't have a price yet put the pic looks good. The guy is also selling a Posi unit with 65K on it...it's from a 9C1. Will that fit an SS since mine is shot. This guy also has a 4l60e trans w/80k miles. I heard these trans have issues though. He also so has BBK Throttle Body which 53mm vs stock 48mm...I need you guys input. I have learned so much since I've been back on the forum. Really appreciate it. I want to get this stuff done before I deploy in a few months.
 
#13 ·
Header wrap is bad, coatings can help a LOT, I might just keep the Hookers if emissions inspection is a concern and just have them ceramic coated. It does help with the heat.

Far as the heads and intake there are professional shops that do little but ruin them and there are shops that make them work so well aftermarket heads endup being a poor idea and everything in between. Without knowing the shop that did the work and knowing for certain the shop claimed to have done it did we can't give any meaningful advise. The fact the seller thinks they might fit tuned port engines is a big red flag though, shows ignorance so I would question his ability to have made good choices.

I would not bother with a used stock posi, yes it would fit as the Impala and 9C1 are just Caprices. I might buy a 80K mile tranny for a spare if it were verified functional and maybe only $300 and would consider it a short term fix if I were in a bind.
The tranny is setup too lazy from GM and their assembly tolerances were pretty wide, some last a long time, others fail easily, most of the 4L60E's bad rep comes from bad builders though, the one in my car is going on 8 years old, over 5 years ago I began hitting it with more than 100hp more than I asked it be built for, sofar so good.

If the BBK TB is say $180 or less you might try it, though the pcm needs reprogramming or the tranny needs a shift kit to go with it, for 52mm though I prefer a rebored stock TB, all the aftermarket ones have idle circuit issues that require further attention after installation.


I know there was not much good news there, but it is good information. I have been playing with the car for a decade, made a lot of mistakes and eventually a LOT of success once I was able to sort out what people say is good vs what actually is good.
 
#14 ·
Hey I rather ask the question and get a honest response verses wasting my money on junk or could end up junk. The guy was asking 200 for the posi but I rather spend an extra 300 or 400 for new one. So what shops could coat the headers? I had to replace my AC lines cause they melted from the headers...I might need another PCM cause mine is throwing the P1661 code too, but the car still drives fine...well, was driving fine until the 02 sensor wentr bad..lol
 
#15 ·
200 for just a stock posi is too much, I paid 300 for an entire rear end with 80k.
 
#16 ·
I paid under $200 for a complete Roady axle from drums to swaybar and springs and the driveshaft removed by the boneyard. The drums did need to be turned after I installed it.

The labor to install a posi is at least $250 so if paying for an install I would always do new. I mean what if the used one starts doing a one wheel peel after a month.
 
#18 ·
Yeah, forgot to mention this was a 9C1 disc rear, complete with control arms, sway bar, and brakes. Found it on craigslist, not a yard.
 
#20 ·
My car came from Ohio, where the seller had 4 or 5 SS's. You'd be surprised!

You got some good advice so far. I'm pulling my entire powertrain to go through the entire thing (and swap a few new "goodies" on). Mine is no exception to oil leaks. Changed the front seals the month after I bought the car (w/ 176k miles). Now at 184k, the intake leaks toward the front, pass side, and rear of the motor. The oil filter assembly leaks a little, but that stupid oil level switch doesn't seal at all!
 
#22 ·
Yes. Look around the engine and see where its coming from, most likely is the rear of the intake.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top