I bought a 2002 L200 stick for $400. I will pick it up on Monday, it is 300+ miles away. It is the same year and the same color as my wagon. He said the windshield is good, mine is not. The car died going down the freeway so it probably dumped a timing chain and bent the valves. I have another 2.2 Ecotec on the engine stand looking for a home. The sedan has a sunroof, leather and nice wheels. Let the fun begin, I may just fix the sedan or transfer the running gear to the wagon.http://images.craigslist.org/00505_a...Xx_600x450.jpg

 

Nice score, Andy. I'd just fix the sedan. Whole lots easier than swapping the entire running gear to the wagon. Why do two when one will do?

 

I am excited about the new L200. Not really looking forward to the 377 mile one way trip to Moses Lake, WA . But we get to see our daughter and the grandkids that live in Tri-cities, WA. If the back seat folds down I will probably fix the sedan and get rid of the wagon.

 

Keep us posted on what you're doing. Sounds like a good project to me.

 

I would be excited about a nicely appointed stick shift L200, too... The back seats fold, IIRC, but my memory is foggy... If you've got another L61 ready to drop in, I'll be excited to see the results... Personally, I would grab as much front clip off the wagon as possible(in case of Bambi), and fix up the sedan...

 

Just got home at midnight, we left at 6 this morning. 750+ miles is a long ride towing a trailer in one day. They claimed to not know why it died but the valve cover has been off, the bolts for it are near the wipers under the hood. I'm sure it dumped a chain and bent half the valves, not a tuff fix. $400 for a fairly clean loaded L200 stick, I am happy!

 

Sounds like a score to me. And you know people are NEVER honest about what they're selling. Let us know what you find.

 

Indeed...

Heeey, you know what's great about the L61 that's been proven(unlike the V6 in your wagon)? They like boost(even in stock long block form)...

...and I think the L series has HPTuners support...


just planting the seed...

 

Unloaded and in the shop. The rf door skin is cracked on the sedan, I happen to have a perfect one on the wagon. I will repair the L61 and qualify the rest of the car before I decide which car to drive. I have invested a little in the wagon over the last year. New brake booster, major 4 wheel alignment with smart shims in the rear. I only have new tires on the front and need rear tires soon. The sedan has 16" wheels, the wagon has 15". The leather is in better shape on the sedan. Remember I drove a Metro coupe for 8 years so the sedan will have plenty of room. I think the sedan is the way to go, I will charge the battery and see what works. I will dive in this weekend, we are camping the next weekend.

 

Meanwhile, my Lw300 has been running poorly. Really surging just off idle and very flat with a missfire mid throttle. It has been getting worse the longer I drive it. I have put about 20k on it this year. So I have a 45 minute commute each way every day so I have plenty of time to think about this car!
I started to remember a 4.2 liter F-150 that would missfire at part throttle several years ago. It ran fine at idle and full throttle. Similar to how my car is running. Unplug the egr valve and the problem goes away!
What I found on that F-150 was the egr port in the intake manifold was partially plugged. They have an egr port that runs the length of the intake with an opening at each intake runner. The front 4 ports were plugged with crap so all the exhaust gasses killed the back two cylinders at part throttle. I am going to pull the intake apart on the 3.0 and see if it has the same issue. I will take some pictures if it has that problem.
I had a flat tire this morning in the driveway before work, oh joy. I have the tires off the l200 so I installed one and went to work. My wagon has 205/65r15s and the L200 has 195/60r15, the abs was not happy with that. I put all 4 of the 195s on it until I get the 205 back from the tire shop. Life goes on.