Thread: Need Advice on 97 GTP

Originally Posted by GreenNirvana101

However, there is a minor oil leak coming from the intake manifold which they quoted me at $900. Luckily, right after that, I went over to my buddy's house and his stepdad has worked on the 3.8L and has already had to replace the intake manifold on his Impala. He said he would do the job for me when it warms up for the cost of parts and $20 an hour as long as I helped him. He said it should only take about 4 hours to get the job done because you have to take a lot of parts off. Sounds great to me because I could use the experience!

With regards to the intake manifold gasket. Im assuming lower intake manifold gasket:

1. Do yourself a favor, go to ZZP and order the updated aluminum LIM gaskets (again, assuming you are speaking of the Lower Intake Manifold). They are something like $50 and well worth the money.

2. Go to either the local GM dealer or to a parts store help section, like Autozone and get the coolant elbows. If you look at your LIM from the passenger side down below the nose drive, you'll see one of the coolant elbows. Replace them now if you're going to do that work as they can be prone to cracking.

3. Kiss your oil change good bye. You'll need to change it again because it is likely you will dump coolant into the engine when you pull off the LIM. Get an extra quart or two of oil the pour into the valley. Of course, be sure to have the oil drain bolt pulled out so it will pour through and wash out the coolant.

4. Now is a GREAT time to do your coolant change since you'll have to drain the coolant anyway and you might as well change out the upper and lower radiator hoses. If you dont change them out, be sure to pull the lower hose so you drain more of the coolant out.

5. If you need a new serpentine belt for the accessories or the blower, now is a fantastic time to take care of that.

6. Of course, plugs wires, thermostat and all that can be changed now with ease.

7. Oh and without a doubt, be sure to get valve cover gaskets. The OEM gaskets are prone to leaking and you might as well change them now since it will be easier to do. BE SURE you get gaskets for the GTP/L67 engine as they are different from the GT/L36 engine.

8. Obviously, since you have to pull the fuel rail, this is a great time to replace all the injector O-rings. In fact I would not do the job without them.

9. Dont forget all the gaskets you'll need. Supercharger gasket, Lower Intake Manifold gasket (obviously), throttle body gasket (if you separate the throttle body from the supercharger, you dont have to though), etc.

I know it seems like a lot, but if you are doing the Lower Intake Manifold, you have to pull the fuel rails, the supercharger and obviously the lower intake manifold to do the work and all the other stuff will be much easier to do now. Yes, its added money, but if you do it now you will have it out of the way instead of it popping up on you at inopportune times. Also, dont forget either some blue loctite or thread sealant as I believe it is needed either on the super charger bolts or the LIM bolts, or both. Also, there is a tightening sequence to the LIM bolts, they have to be done in a particular order. And please use a torque wrench (I assume your buddy's stepdad would have one, but it cant hurt to mention it).

I guess thats it. And again Im working from the assumption by manifold leak you were referring to the Lower Intake Manifold, so if thats not it then obviously I spent all this time typing all this up for no reason

Originally Posted by GTPluv

Ain't it past your bedtime!

Im just getting warmed up to follow you around this forum all evening and harass you wherever you may go and post. Aint life grand?

Originally Posted by GTPluv

It's Friday night. I'm goin out and gettin drunk!



Oh, no I'm not. I got kids. I should be drunk! I'm pi$$y because I didn't get to go see Linkin Park tonight.

Why would you be in a bad mood because you didnt get to go to the park?

Thank you very much for posting that Synthetic - I probably will do most of that other stuff while I have the car apart. Makes the most sense - and it will be a great learning experience. I don't think he really wants to do it until April when it starts getting a little warmer - so hopefully it doesn't get worse!

I also looked at those supercharger oil write-ups and am pretty confident I can do it myself - AND save myself a LOT of money! Thanks Zef!

Also - my driver window will go up about half way and then it seems to get off track, and then I re-align it, and it goes all the way up.

I have previous window motor experience, but I think it would be the track? Anyone know anything about this?

I have to do a few things today, but I will be sure to clean up the car and engine bay and post some pics later!

Alright - well I cleaned out the engine bay and gave her a wash today. I posted some pics on Cardomain - check them out.

Stock 1997 Grand Prix GTP... for now - Brookfield, Wisconsin

Very nice indeed.