Ideal mods for $1000.

[BJPbrandon2448]

Alright thanks Aaron and Colin I will be placing a order for the downpipe w/cat and the throttle body tonight!!! Would the throttle body fit onto the stock 3400 UIM if not im gonna start searching for that 3500 UIM which I hope will just bolt on??? If you cant tell im kinda new to performace mods! .

[BJPbrandon2448]

Okay, I have my cart loaded up and ready to check out. Does this sound like a good way to start out? : 3100/3400 65mm Billet Throttle body
3400 to 3500 Throttle body Adapter
MMS stainless downpipe w/hi flow cat
3500 stock U.I.M.

Am I good to go? Speak now or forever hold your peace? . And would there be any benefit to having the 3500 ported since I will have about $200 left over? If not the extra money is going into the headers fund! Thanks.

[lone_wolf025]

Doesn't really matter if you do the 3500 or not at this point. I've got ported upper and lower, 65mm tb, headers, dp and hi-flow. Used to have a cut-out but the welds on the y-pipe broke and I had to have it fixed. Anyways with all that a CAI and tune I've done a 14.8 on street tires.

[AaronGTR]

The 65mm TB will not fit on a 3400 UIM without porting the opening first. The throttle plate hits the inside of the neck and won't open all the way. You really want it port matched anyway.

I would have just bought a ported 3400 UIM to go with it. I don't think you will notice any appreciable difference between the two manifolds, and the 3400 UIM will fit on a 3500 engine. Also 3500 UIM will take more modifications to adapt it to your engine. It isn't a direct swap in like another 3400 UIM would be. Some of the vacuum ports are different, the 3500 MAP sensor mounts directly on the manifold, and of course you need the TB adapter.

[locoman99]

If u want to open up your 3400 uim for the 65mm tb you can do it yourself very easily...there is a thread on here somewhere with good pics.. I did mine in less than an hour with a die grinder and a.couple rolls. Im sure a dremel would also do the job.

[_HeC_]

3500 engine - $300
LX5 TB adaptor - $55
LX5 65mm tb - $50
external crank trigger - $150
tune - $100
total of $655 and easy mid 14s IMO

keep the extra $300 incase anything breaks during the swap, new fluids etc and if theres any change leftover put it aside for future mods. or dont do the $100 mail in tune and spend more on a in car tune IF you know of a local/good tuner

[locoman99]

Plumb lim with foggers, race fuel pump and secondary fuel system....$900
Strip the car of everything not needed to go, steer and stop...free
11 second grand am for a $900
Tow bill from track to your house after it blows something up...$100

$1000 well spent...

[AaronGTR]

I have yet to find ANY place with a complete 3500 engine for $300. Especially one without a sh!t ton of miles. Try more like $700-1000.

[BJPbrandon2448]

Originally Posted by locoman99

Plumb lim with foggers, race fuel pump and secondary fuel system....$900
Strip the car of everything not needed to go, steer and stop...free
11 second grand am for a $900
Tow bill from track to your house after it blows something up...$100

$1000 well spent...

Okay guys I havent dropped the payment yet, and well after reading more comments here is the revised list... Ported 3400 UIM, Throttle body adapter, 65mm TB, and the 2.5in. downpipe w/cat. Now is this final!? What counts is that I want to use all of these on my current motor, while being able to use all of these on my 3500 when swap time rolls around! Sorry to keep this Thread running on and on, but hopefully it would benefit to someone else who is within the same spending budget as me? And thanks Loco for telling me how to make my grand am a "race car"

[locoman99]

Originally Posted by BJPbrandon2448

Okay guys I havent dropped the payment yet, and well after reading more comments here is the revised list... Ported 3400 UIM, Throttle body adapter, 65mm TB, and the 2.5in. downpipe w/cat. Now is this final!? What counts is that I want to use all of these on my current motor, while being able to use all of these on my 3500 when swap time rolls around! Sorry to keep this Thread running on and on, but hopefully it would benefit to someone else who is within the same spending budget as me? And thanks Loco for telling me how to make my grand am a "race car"

I really think you can do the port matching of the tb on your own uim...that would save u some dough

[BJPbrandon2448]

Originally Posted by locoman99

I really think you can do the port matching of the tb on your own uim...that would save u some dough

Idk. I would like to give it a try but I wouldnt want to Eff something up in the process! So I would rather just by one that way I know that everything will be set up perfectly!

[HOYS]

Originally Posted by BJPbrandon2448

Okay guys I havent dropped the payment yet, and well after reading more comments here is the revised list... Ported 3400 UIM, Throttle body adapter, 65mm TB, and the 2.5in. downpipe w/cat. Now is this final!? What counts is that I want to use all of these on my current motor, while being able to use all of these on my 3500 when swap time rolls around! Sorry to keep this Thread running on and on, but hopefully it would benefit to someone else who is within the same spending budget as me? And thanks Loco for telling me how to make my grand am a "race car"

You don't need to use a Tb adapter if your going to use a LA1 upper intake.

Originally Posted by locoman99

I really think you can do the port matching of the tb on your own uim...that would save u some dough

Yeah it would actually, or you could just buy a UIM with the 65mm inlet porting and thats all.

[chris_gt_74]

Are you getting a TCE throttle body or going the cheap way and get an LX5 throttle body and get the wottech adapter?

[BJPbrandon2448]

Originally Posted by chris_gt_74

Are you getting a TCE throttle body or going the cheap way and get an LX5 throttle body and get the wottech adapter?

TCE it looks way nicer! I dont wanna throw a stock TB on their, it just didnt look clean for me.

[chris_gt_74]

Originally Posted by BJPbrandon2448

TCE it looks way nicer! I dont wanna throw a stock TB on their, it just didnt look clean for me.

Yeah the tce is nice but pricey. I went the LX5 route for less than $100. Other than having to bend the bracket to fit it doesn't look that bad imo but no where nesr a pretty as the tce.

[SPAZ]

Engines are air pumps, the faster you can get the air in and out the more efficient it will be.
The first mod in any car is always exhaust restrictions ie: headers, down pipe, high flow cat ($65), cat back exhaust, then CAI, throttlebody, upper and lower manifolds, then fuel, then ignition, then heads, cam , and tune, then boost that bitch ��

[_HeC_]

Originally Posted by AaronGTR

I have yet to find ANY place with a complete 3500 engine for $300. Especially one without a sh!t ton of miles. Try more like $700-1000.

depends on your area i guess, that really sucks for you My LX9 is sitting in a friends shop with 85km(52Miles) for $350 delivered

[lone_wolf025]

Originally Posted by HOYS

You don't need to use a Tb adapter if your going to use a LA1 upper intake.



Yeah it would actually, or you could just buy a UIM with the 65mm inlet porting and thats all.

If you do the TCE route def go with the inlet ported upper. My ported upper was ordered with the inlet setup to handle the 65mm TB. No adapter required.

[BJPbrandon2448]

Originally Posted by lone_wolf025

If you do the TCE route def go with the inlet ported upper. My ported upper was ordered with the inlet setup to handle the 65mm TB. No adapter required.

Yeah thats what I plan on doing... by the way how difficult is it to remove the upper intake manifold? Im a newbie, but I know how to follow directions! . And would it be benificial to me to go ahead and replace the UIM gaskets? FYI this car has never had that done before.

[lone_wolf025]

Originally Posted by BJPbrandon2448

Yeah thats what I plan on doing... by the way how difficult is it to remove the upper intake manifold? Im a newbie, but I know how to follow directions! . And would it be benificial to me to go ahead and replace the UIM gaskets? FYI this car has never had that done before.

The upper isn't a huge deal to take off. Pretty simple but you do have to remove the vacuum nipple for the power brake booster from the old upper and put it on the newer one. If its plastic just snug it don't crank it tight. I made that mistake once...ratcheted it once too many times and it snapped and had to replace it - dealer part only . Oh and the ICE TB has no lines for coolant so you'll have to bridge the line with one of the old hoses.

You will need a new upper gasket which may or may not come separately from the lower gasket because the old gasket will be garbage when you take the upper off. Oh and GENTLY remove the old gasket CAREFULLY WITHOUT SCRATCHING THE MACHINED GASKET SURFACE! Lower one is a huge pain and that is the one that always winds up leaking on these engines. If you have good mechanical skills you MIGHT be able to follow the walk-through on the forum (floating around here somewhere) but it is still an involved job. I'd be real hesitant to do it myself on my own car!

Do a search for LIM replacement on the Technical Q&A section for more info.