01 grand am 3400 head gasket?

[LoMbArD]

I did get the valve guide seals with the gasket kit so I'm good there. I didn't have a good way to give the intake/heads a chemical bath, so I put the wife to work with carb cleaner and a wire brush and it's turning out pretty good. Amazingly enough the tops of my pistons are VERY clean. We're finishing the cleaning this evening and then it's on it's way back together. The only bump we've run into (besides time) is that two of the exhaust studs sheared off on the front exhaust manifold. Fortunately they're easy to drill out and replace for $6.

[cboy2us]

Maybe you could give a guy tips on how to get a wife/gf to use a wire brush and carb cleaner......I think that would be the hardest part, lol.

If the tops of the pistons are really clean, it was probably due to water hitting them while they were hot. I learned this one on an old 455 with a split cylinder wall. had one of the cleanest pistons I have ever seen after years of use.

[LoMbArD]

well, all I can say for getting the wife/gf to clean parts is to make sure you pick em right. my wife is awesome. even if there isn't anything for her to help me with she holds my drop light or just keeps me company while I am working.

I would guess that the AF on the pistons is correct as to why thy are clean, there are a couple that are quite a bit dirtier than the rest on the opposite sides of where the LIM gasked failed.

[LoMbArD]

OK, so my heads/block are all shiny happy, but I did notice on the heads, where the LIM gasket go around the water jackets, that there is a small amount of pitting in the head. Like the gasket ate away at the head a little bit. It appears to me to be tiny and that the gasket would still seal fine as the pitting is on the outside edge and there is plenty of smooth surface left to make a seal, just wanting some more opinions before I get it all back together.

[xeroinfinity]

Minor pitting is normal on the intake side of the heads.
It wouldnt hurt to clean the gasket surfaces with acetone and a link free cloth/rag. Just helps the gaskets seal better IMO.

[LoMbArD]

got busy tonight and didn't get a chance to get started getting things back together, and then the idea hit me. Anyone have a ball park on getting the heads ported and polished? Would it be worth it for the HP gain since I've already got them off the car?

[xeroinfinity]

Hard to say exactly how much it would cost, couple hundred at least, if you can find someone who can do it in your area. Most are not familar with the 3.4 heads modification. I do machining and I screwed up 3-4 heads before I got the valve areas right, took to much off.

Just gasket matching the exhaust and intake ports will improve performance. Casting flash is what I call it, where the runners are fatter at the edges. Here's a couple pics that'll give you an idea.

Hope that helps.

[LoMbArD]

OK, long story short. I had to buy new heads, the old ones were pitted so bad the machine shop couldn't machine them and keep them in spec. so I ponied up the $$ and got some refurb heads from autozone. I got the car all back together.
Somehow in torqing the upper intake, WAY before I got to torque specs (hadn't even registered 10 ftlbs yet) the back right corner bolt of the upper intake started free spinning instead of tightening. Upon further inspection I saw a corner of the LIM cracked where the bolt threaded down. How screwed am I?

However misguided the thought may have been I decided to start it up anyway so I could get some fresh oil slung around inside and flush it out a bit.
It started right up but there is a loud rhythmic popping sound. Could it possibly be a "backfire" from where the LIM and UI meet where it is cracked?

[xeroinfinity]

So you're saying the lower intake cracked? was it just the bolt hole piece that sticks up or all the way thru the intake ?

And the popping sound is probly the rockers.
Could be the push rods are mixed in the wrong spot, and or the rockers are to tight.

Btw, what did the refurb heads cost you at autozone ?

[LoMbArD]

as far as I can tell without taking it off just the outside of the dogear where the bolt goes through (back right hand corner) cracked off. It didn't crack into any of the runners or anything, I just can't get any tightening pressure in that corner for the upper intake now. I'll give a go at loosening the rockers a bit. I don't hear the popping noise when it isn't fired up, only when it's running. When it's just turning over (don't have spark hooked up/whatever) I don't hear the popping.

I paid $~200 ea for the heads.

[LoMbArD]

I should finally have a bit to work on this again this evening. Can you give me a rundown of the order for the push rods? I am 99.9% I put them in how I took them out, had them in a marked box.

is it (facing the car)

EX IN | EX IN | EX IN

IN EX | IN EX | IN EX ?

Thanks.

[3100]

wherever you see injector that is intake others are ex.

Intake push rods are 5 and 3/4 in long
exhaust push rods are 6 in long

torque for rocker arm bolts =124 inch lbs
lower intake tightening sequence
8 4 2 6

7 3 1 5

on the first pass in sequence tighten them all to 62 in lbs
then 1 2 3 4 in sequence to 115 in lbs on the final pass
and 5 6 7 8 in sequence to 18 ft lb on the final pass


upper intake plenum junk yards sell for 25$ but I would not worry since other bolts will be more than enough. just put some hight temperature gasket sealant around the bolt opening just to prevent any leaks (just in case)

anything else just ask

[zarroc]

Quick question, Will the heads from an 01 3.4 fit on my 02 3.4?

[3100]

yes since 99 they are the same engines. However, if you are not sure then print the picture of your old one and compare it to the internal parts of the other head.

[xeroinfinity]

Here is a pic of where the push rods go if that'll help.



Here is a link with the torq specs for the 3.4 heads.

And yes intakes are cheap at most salvage yards, and plentumful. lol

I think the rockers for these 3.4s torq at 118 in lbs and an aditional 30 degress.... I'll double check.