I bought a 2000 LS1 a couple years ago that didn’t run. It was an upper mid model with electric cloth seats, sunroof, spoiler and ABS with rear drums. It has some minor rf damage including the fender, headlight, bumper cover and a little bend on the corner of the hood. I have all the color correct parts in stock other than the hood. I will just straighten the corner and it will be good enough for a grand daughter. I transferred the car into my name and let the plates expire a year ago. The grand daughter will be 16 in April so no rush to get new stickers yet.

I bought a 2002 Olds Alero with a 140,000 mile 2.2/4t40 with the air bags out for $300. I qualified the engine and trans with a long road test and ripped the car apart.

I am currently taking the Saturn apart for the swap. I have to change some of the bolt on cooling system parts that are different between the two engines. My usual swap routine is to strip to a long block and build back. I am striping the engine in the Saturn while it is still in the car. I removed the valve cover to verify the reason for zero compression and found the broken timing chain I expected. The engine is nice and clean inside so it will go on a stand in the shop. Also the car was running and driving when the chain broke so I will consider the transmission as good and save under the bench. I now have an early and a late good transmission for a 2.2. I also have a good 2001 3.0 and transmission looking for a worthwhile car. There is a 2005 L300 with a bad engine near me but I am a little behind on my projects. They seem to be fairly common so another will come around.

Back to the shop and tear down.....

 

I removed all the Oldsmobile stuff and now have an engine ready to receive the Saturn components. I still need to swap the shift lever and the neutral safety switch. I have installed three of the Saturn mount plates to the engine/trans combo. I did buy a new front torque mount. Everything is different between the L series and the N body GM stuff. I am going to replace the axle shaft seals and buy a new oil pressure switch. All the other stuff should be here this week from Rock Auto. If you get a chance to order parts from them the stuff is about half the cost of local parts stores. Now if your local stores are actually locally owned please support them, if they are National chains and corporately owned you might as well save some cash if you can wait for a week. Busy day and I feel that I accomplished a lot. The Olds powertrain was just dropped out complete and I got the Saturn engine and trans out and apart. Now it is a little cleanup and assembly next weekend. Wow two three day weekends in a row. The car should be on the road after New Years weekend!

 

Nice.

I guess I've always been s car centric (duh). Never realized how widely the 2.2 ecotec was used across the GM line. I know it was in the Cobalt, and I believe it was an option in the Malibu or the Impala. What else do they use it in?

 

It became their four cylinder engine across all brands in 2002. They still use several variants today in different displacements. It has had many refinements including variable cam timing and direct injection plus boost. It has been factory supercharged and later factory turbocharged. I have a turbo version waiting in the wings for my L200.

 

Installed and test driven, most of the things work properly in this car. The power seat and the power mirrors do not seem to have power. I will install the hood, front bumper cover and fog lights next weekend. Then a much needed bath for a car that has been sitting in the driveway for a couple years. Good weekend, and happy granddaughter.

 

Update. My daughter has been driving this car since the transmission came undone in her awd Chrysler T&C minivan. No way to calculate miles driven of economy since the BCM will not calculate mileage. The speedo works correctly and the service minder also works. So comparing it to my car the oil minder is about 4000 miles. So she has put 16000 miles on it since the swap, uses about a quart per 4000 miles.
She is in no hurry to get her van back since this car gets twice the fuel mileage of her van. I finally have all the parts and have begun cleaning transmission parts. She now has two teenager's with learner’s permits so the pressure is on. LOL I do have an L61 powered Olds Alero for the oldest and the Saturn is for the younger one.

 

You're a great Dad and Grandpa, Andy. I feel for your daughter, though, as having teenagers on your insurance policy is EXPENSIVE. Keep on doing what you do and I hope you're helping your grandkids become safe drivers.