themoneypit

I know i should just have it fixed, but cant afford a 2k bill rite now!! SO if i was to swap a 2.2l into this 97 OBW 5spd, what years are an exact fit? does the donor car have to be auto or manual? this is prob the route i will go, as reading all the HG failures, and re-failures etc... id rather put a bulletproof 2.2l in her. as of now, ive put over 100 miles on it w/o the t-stat w/o any overheating or bubbling out of the overflow bottle. i know its not good for the motor, but hey these motors are no good anyways atleast from what ive read thus far....

hey gary.. now that the tstat is removed, the car runs in the cold basically. itll get to temp if it sits and idles, but while driving it, its barely above the C on the guage. also, i dont think the system will build pressure with it out, so hopefully itll be ok.

i first thought it was a bad thermostat. lower hose wouldnt get hot, and radiator cap was never hot either. i replaced it, same results. to be honest, i just bought the car recently. ran fine on test drive, temp guage read normal, below half, after driving for a couple days, i smelled antifreeze when i parked it. popped the hood and saw it shooting out of the little hole in the top front of the resevoir. after reading several posts on here about the phase I 2.5l, it has all the signs of the HG being bad.. car is very clean, no rust, 131k on it. but i dont have any idea if/how bad it was ever overheated by P/O. i bought it as a winter car, because i dont want to drive my super clean xt6 thru the salt, and my avalanche has a big block in it, so gas mileage in that kills me. i think i made a huge mistake thou!!

ok, so my 97 OBW has blown headgaskets, i know big surprise huh!! so anyway, i read somewhere on here about removing the thermostat and you can drive it like that. so i removed it, and wondering how long i can go like this. it runs in the cold all the time, unless parked idling, then it will reach normal temp range. im no longer blowing all the coolant out of the resevoir bottle, however it still bubbles in there. i just cant see spending a ton of money to have the headgasket job done. and kind of hoping for a quick fix. im in CT, so winter is around the corner. it seems to have decent heat rite now with the t-stat out, is it going to be enough once winter sets in thou? anyone in or near CT that does these headgasket jobs cheap?

UM whats with those mudflaps???

is that my kit your talking about??? thats actually kind of good as money is a bit tight rite now. im not working since i messed up my knee, and was really robbing peter to pay paul... uh steve... for the kit. ill have to wait till theyre ready. anyhow, prob not bringing the xt cuz i cant drive it, and depending on when/what i hear from the doc about my mri results will determine if i can even still go. (god forbid i need surgery on it) anyways, if i do go, ill head out thursday night late and get there friday morning or early afternoon if all goes well. connie, worst case if i cant go, you guys can take my reservation for the campsite and just pay for the other nites that youll be there. (the first nites on me as i already gave them a deposit.) but thats worst case scenario im always a pessimist. will keep yall posted as i find out. on here and or on xt6.net when that comes back online.

yeah i hear ya there, when i drive to work theres a few good size hills on the highway, and i hate "crawling" up them, i advanced the timing as much as possible, still same result, its gotta be that 4spd... if i do the 5spd swap, would i use the 4wd linkage from the 4 spd with the stock lever? if not, do u have to leave the center console pieces out and have it look like crap inside? i know the ea82 d/r trannys had a different style lever for the 4wd.

yeah, have the complete ea81t wagon, i will look at that spi link too if thats easier.. i mean i have an xt6 to drive too, but id love for the hatch to have some more nut to it, as i want to put a lift and 15s on it, ill prob keep the 4spds till they ************ the bed, then find a 5spd for it, unless i find one in the meantime at a price thats right. the wagon only has 92k on it so its a low mileage motor i dont think overheating will be a problem. the car was my bro in laws and he drove it every day till the automatic tranny popped. i dunno what im gonna do yet, this wont happen till spring or summer anyhow, was just gettin some ideas of what to do when the time comes...:cool:

well im probably going to leave the 4spd for now, the wagon has another good 4spd d/r in the back of it, so cant see buying another tranny. i was planning on dropping the entire crossmember front end and engine, but if those motors are known for bad head gaskets, i wonder if its even worth all the hassle? maybe i should put a weber carb on the stock motor first and see if that makes it good enough for now. then when i have the extra cash ill have that motor gone thru before i do the transplant. i just hate the fact that climbing hills on the highway the you practically have to be in the slow lane :-\ even with ur foot to the floor. thanks for the input thou

ok, probably a stupid question but here goes. i just bought an 84 gl turbo wagon. it was automatic 4wd but shes pretty rusty. will that turbo motor bolt up to a 4spd 4wd d/r tranny or do i need a new bell housing? ive got an 87 hatch i want to put the turbo motor into. ive got the complete wagon so all the wiring/ecu etc... shouldnt be a problem. let me know guys thanks, any advice will be awesome