I need to know realistically how long this should take and if me and my buddy and a lift can have this done in a days time. As I had planned on doing this this coming Sunday

Pacesetter LT's
Poly MM
Plugs and Wires
Hi-Flow Cats
Bosch 13111's

I really need to know if this can be done cause I know the guy letting me use the lift is NOT going to let me leave my car there. Can it be done in a 12-13 hour time period?? If not less??

 

I didnt do the poly MM but I can tell you that i did everything else on that list on jackstands by myself in 5 hrs start to finish so yes I'd say its easily done.

 

The guy that did the work on my car (on jackstands) did it by himself in 11 hours, and he did:

LPP LTs and x-pipe
Spohn Solid MM
dropped tranny, installed new clutch, reinstalled tranny (had someone else rebuild it while he had it out)
installed UMI 3 pt SFC, torque arm relocation, and tq arm
Tick master cylinder
removed AIR pump
plugs

So you should be able to get your stuff done with a friend in 12 hours, provided you have all the tools and everything you need right there, and you know what you're doing. I don't know what I'm doing which is why I had someone else do it, lol.

 

Easily done in that time. You may run into problems with the cats (problems with the exhaust being stubborn) and possibly problems getting the new headers in (however, having the lift will make it 20x easier). I never did motor mounts, so I can't comment on those..

 

I had my mechanic weld on 3 bolt flanges on the header collectors and on both ends of the cats so I can just bolt everything right up together.

And I don' know what I'm doing other than the writeups I have read on here so many times I have committed them to memory, but I can't learn what I'm doing unless I do it so thats why I'm not going to pay someone to do it I want the knowledge myself b/c I want to become a gear head b/c I enjoy it and its really the only "MAN TIME" I get due to work, wife, and kids is my car so....... My buddy has done MM's and taken motors apart so he has some knowledge he has just never done one of our kind of cars before. Me and him pulled the whole motor out of my old 2002 Cavalier and rebuilt it putting in new rod bearings, main bearings, piston rings, and changed every gasket and that took us 13-14 hours.

 

Just my 2 cents based on helping with a few of these and doing my own...

You'll want to spray down all those exhaust fittings with PB blaster the night before. First time I used that stuff, I could not believe how well it worked. It will definitely save you some time.

With 2 guys and a lift that is plenty of time. Make sure you take breaks to eat and rest your back and stuff. Trying to get it done real fast, working straight through is where you run into problems, get stuck and/or screw things up. Again, that's plenty of time, so think everything through before you do it and if you get stuck, especially trying to line up your MM pedestals or work a header into place, STOP and take the time to find a constructive approach. You may have to use force at some point, but ensure you think it through and apply the force judiciously.

 

Can I spray the header bolts with PB or will this start a fire the next morning when I start it to drive it where I need to go??

 

Hi,
the aforementioned are correct.......it will require a good days work with some frustration.......work from bottom and top on header install..finger tighten all bolts . You will probably want to remove the plugs..(easier).
Make sure to exercise all safety precautions to avoid injury and double check your work.....good luck and have a blessed week...........jim

 

Since I am changing the plugs can I just leave the old ones in as to keep anything from falling into my block. I figured its better to break an old plug than have some dirt or what not fall into the block....

 

yeah with a lift and a friend you should easily get that done in under 12 hours,I would pull the plugs man,just one less thing to worry about,I did plugs and wires when I did my longtube install,also there are lots of good write ups I suggest you print one out just to have handy,also read about some of the common issues people run into,so you can be prepared with the right tools etc,

 

I'll be in a trash truck mechanics shop. I will have access to every tool under the sun from sockets to torque wrenches to welders etc.... And BELIEVE ME I have read and read and read write-ups on here for the past 4 months til my eyes bleed. I have internet on my phone to pull up the write-ups if need be!!

 

It won't start a fire, but I'd be careful spraying it around the plugs/coils, etc. I know that stuff should be somewhat weatherproof, but still... Maybe if you have one of those little straws to control where you're spraying it. I didn't spray the manifold bolts when i did mine. Those fittings attaching the manifolds to the cats, and the cats to the y, etc, anything under the car, unless your car never sees the rain like mine, will be rusty and a bitch to get off, so I'd definitely spray the hell out of those.

 

yeah with a friend and lift as long as you have an idea of what your doing which it sounds like you do it could easily be done in that time frame...i just installed my lt's a month ago i did it myself with a lift and it took a good saturday to remove everything and bolt her all up..Good Luck!

 

why is everyone worried about the y to manifold bolts? break them, it takes like 3 seconds and it's not like you're going to reuse that junk.

i had the plugs, coils, stock manifolds and y off my car in less than 30 minutes without a lift. it shouldn't take you very long to complete this work.

did you get o2 extensions? the motor mounts are easy to get to once the manifolds are off. if i remember correctly, to get the driver's side loose i removed a bolt from the alternator and swung it out of the way. i also did that on a qtp header install to gain access to the mount bolt for removal...to jack up the motor.

 

Don't need extentions I am using Bosch 13111's, however, I do have extentions and may use those for the rear ones if they don't reach where I need them to.

 

The job would take half the time if our engine bays weren't so cramped. Have fun with the #8 Spark plug. I've got small hands, and the just couldn't get past the accumulator. Easier from underneath? Probably. I didn't have it jacked up than though.

The hardest part would probably be the Motor Mounts. Everything else is just time consuming... Unbolting almost everything just to be able to get XXX off.

Sometimes I wish I had a honda again. Top mounted spark plugs. Front mounted manifold. A half hour to replace both those, the belts, and the motormounts

 

Well mm and headers were finished on Sunday but ran into a snag when trying to bolt up the cats. The drivers side hits the floor right on the fuel line so progress stopped there. Going to cut the inlet of the cat to angle it downwards away from the car and reweld the flange back on and cut the outlet to where it makes it straight again. Will update this weekend......

 

With ANY job, you need to over budget for time.

IF you have a good helper with LSx exp. it will go much quicker. I was doing a header install on a 01 T/A, A set of Kooks but ran into issues as the owner had no tools and I was promised everything was there. Very fustrating. I spent about a good 5 hours trying to get all the stock crap off with out rounding off header bolts or snapping off stuff. I had to stop at the 5 hr mark but basically there is about 1-2 hours worth of stuff to get barring no clearence issues.

The thing is I am not being timed, and this is not for the land speed record so its not an issue where the car needs to be driveable for monday.

With any aftermarket part one cannot assume its going to go in perfect, sometimes modifications are needed. Plus running into stupid stock hang ups like a studded nut on the rear of the coil pack on the driver side that had a bracket sandwiched inbetween for the AIR valve. Real annoying or Seezed wires on the rear most passanger plugs with those goofy metal heat shields.

The helper I had was no help at all, no mechanical ability nor inclination to learn. More like a gopher for dropped sockets and wrenches. Which is some help but IMO for you. You need a good helper.

*** Side Note

On my car a GM tech and me did a Clutch install in my car and was running smooth, ran into a snag when we could not get the trans back on the rear of the engine block. We had a good 1/3" gap and could not figure out why.

But we managed to use the bolts to draw it on and it worked. Not what I wanted to do but we were late in the day on Saturday and the car had to be out so I have been there. It sucks let me tell you.

 

I have great help it took us 6 hours to complete mm and header install and that included eating time and f$ckin around time lol

 

..... doing mine soon - should be FUN! YAY! ...... ah crap, better go smooth.