So we still have a lot of snow in Ohio and it's freezing. What did I do this morning? Bundled my self up and drove about an hour from home to the Pull-A-Part in Akron on a treasure hunt! And I got all I was after and some extras!
One of the L67 coil packs (aka "the blue plug") on the black monte has a crack in and I trust junk yard OEM over my aftermarket experiences. Both Montes and my 3400 Grand Am have L67 coils (all salvage). Since the black monte needs a new one, I wanted to get a set of three (or more) to have a couple spares for the future. I was lucky to get ONE! There were plenty of options, but GM uses a tiny 5.5mm hex screw/bolt. my 5.5mm socket has seen better days and will be retired (the sides are rounded on the inside). So ONE L67 coil.

Since I am removing the Novi Paxton from the black monte, I found one of the original aluminum engine brackets for the dog bone mount is cracked. I could use the one from the blue monte, but I rather not. So I scored one of those today.

I found a 2001 Monte SS in the junk yard that I am sure has a story.... This car looked to be very rust free, pretty clean interior. The driver's leather seat had no splits, but the leather finish had worn a bit. And for having the airbags in the seats, NONE of the traditional issues with the trim around them. So many signs this car was someone's pride and joy and was involved in an accident that landed it here.
The black monte needed the passenger side seat belt loop. It was cheaper to buy the entire head rest from that clean car. The loop is in such good shape, it doesn't even have wear marks from the seat belt rubbing. I don't know when the cut off year is, but GM has one style loop for 2000 and 2001. Another for 2004 and 2005. I am not sure which styles were used in 2002 and 2003. But I was happy to get what is period correct for the black Monte (as right now it has a newer style on it).
And the other piece I grabbed with the driver door window outside sweep (not sure the right name). The rubber on the black monte is coming off. THe drive side is discontinued and the passenger side new is like $150. Since I only needed the driver side, I practiced on the passenger side of the junk yard car to remove it. SUPER easy. Helps to take the side mirror off (which requires taking the interior door panel off). One 7mm hex screw! Remove and pull up and that's pretty much it! SO I scored that piece today. Won't go on the black Monte until spring. The sad part, all of these junk yard rubber pieces are ultimately on limited time, they are all old. I am curious if there is a way to put new rubber on these. SOmething I might tinker with later.

Outside of that, I grabbed some small stuff that is no big deal.

 

Here is something I found funny. So.... The tensioner bolt on the 3800 is left hand thread. I probably would have replaced the blue monte's bolt with a stainless one years ago if I could find one. I had the bolt and washer stripped and a friend powder coated it aluminum (to match the aluminum pulleys I put on the blue monte). I made a mistake this year when I needed to remove it using a wrench and not a ratchet and I messed it up. I'll spare the details, but I wanted to get another one done in aluminum and figured "just grab the pair from the black Monte until I can get a replacement from the junk yard). And what did I find??? The black monte did not use the large washer, the bolt had a LARGE built on flange. And yes, I did "borrow" this from the black monte and it is now prepped for powder coating. I like the one piece setup. Only "issue" I see between the too styles is depth of the bolt's head (the later style had more room for a tool to bite on to when adjusting to remove or put on a belt).
And yes, today on my junk yard trip I grabbed an extra of both style.

 

Not much to report, but remember those radiator brackets from a early Buick Century W-Body? Well, got them back a little while ago from powder coating. So much nicer. Sure, some pitting because of the rust (nothing anything can do about that). But I should be putting them back on the black Monte soon. I have more parts being powder coated for this car, so more updates to come.

 

Cross over pipe hardware is now stainless. I am still goofing with the front exhaust manifold hardware. I was using set screws for "studs", but not liking the look as much (look at the set up holding the oil dip tube). So I think as I move along, I will stick with bolts. And to think, I am crazy enough to want to repeat this on the blue Monte.

 

This silly bracket on the back of the engine serves three uses. Holds the O2 sensor connector, holds the engine cover and holds parts to the California emissions setup. Since I am removing the cali emissions, that bracket is as useless on the black Monte as it was on my blue Monte. GOOD BYE! And yes, I will support the O2 sensor wire so it is not at risk of resting on the exhaust manifold.

 

And back to removing the California secondary air system. I pulled the last of it out the other night (which was the pump behind the bumper cover). All tubing and pump, now gone. I have a vacuum connection I need to put a cap on. And for now, the Cali Rear Manifold stays, but I put a block off plate on it (which happens to be the PCV plate off a L67, I just had to widen the holes a touch). Used some exhaust gasket sealant and should be all good. At some point, I do want to switch this to a federal emissions manifold (which I have in the garage waiting).

 

My friend doing some of my powder coating work got some of the black items back. There are two brackets used to hold the connection with the brake line and brake hose. At the moment I don't plan to use them, but since Mike had them in a box of the extra calipers, I figured "why not". If I ever need to disconnect the hoses, I can swap these in. Or they just sit in the spare parts bin lol.

I am anxious to get the red stuff back! I did the same red/black caliper combo on the blue Monte and I think this will look sharp on the black Monte.

 

Glad to see a bunch of extra parts I had laying around coming to good use!

 

I guarantee you, if you did not have that spare set of calipers with the car, I was not taking this on. But since I know friends that help keep cost of the caliper job down, why not! Plus, having done this before, makes my more comfortable to do it again. These will look outstanding on the old girl!

 

OK, nothing new to the 3800, intake manifold gasket issues. But, I dove into this NOT because of the traditional coolant leaks. This was due to oil pooling on the top of the lower intake. Something I want to point out, @ChibiBlackSheep, the original owner of this Monte who know over 200K, informed me, to his knowledge these are the FACTORY lower intake manifold gaskets. Now some observations:
- Some of the bolts holding the intake in were still tight. Others, tight, but I doubt still torqued properly. And when they came out, COVERED in an oil like slime! My guess, oil traveled up the bolts and eventually landed on the upper intake.
- To my surprise, the plastic of the gaskets are in pretty darn good shape. You see little to no collapse or separation around the coolant ports. But, the rubber seals are very flat/pressed and no longer pliable. This is the bigger failure on these gaskets. Even the upper manifold gasket has some signs of being flattened with age (and that gasket was new when he did the HV3 insert).
- No signs of corrosion on the aluminum where there are dead-end coolant ports in the gaskets. And all coolant pathways were very clean, no signs of coolant sludge. The dead end coolant ports do have a oil (not coolant) film. The manifold in general is pretty clean given age and mileage.
- Looking at the engine, no coolant sludge in the heads either.

For 200+k miles, pretty remarkable. FYI, this car has been running AC Delco Dex-cool since day one, per Mike. I will continue this.

Today, I used some engine de-greaser and the the car wash pressure washer to clean it. Over all, it did a nice job. I let it dry. I will make two mods before I re-install. First, enlarge the "coolant bypass" (two small square openings that have a cap bolted to it). I did this for the blue Monte years ago to improve coolant flow. Also, plug the ports to feed coolant to the throttle body. I also want to point out, the ports on the UIM have the same factory casting obstruction my 2004 blue monte manifold had. It is NOT coolant sludge, it will break with enough pressure on a pick.

FYI - When I re-assemble, this Monte will get: Fel-Pro metal core gaskets, stainless upper/lower intake manifold bolts, new t-stat and aluminum coolant elbows.