New thread: my new L200, stick
 

I picked up this car last Monday in Moses Lake, Washington. This is 350+ miles from home in Oregon. It is the same year and color as my wagon. I was told it quit on the freeway, I figured it dumped a chain and coasted to a stop.
I put the battery charger on it Thursday night. Friday night I tried the lights and most of them work!
Today I turned on the key and it came to life! The sunroof works, all the windows work, the hvac blows, the dash lights up. So what the heck, let's see if it turns over. It started on the first revolution, scared the crap out of me. It only has three rods attached and bangs loudly. Up on the rack I can see the crack in the block lined up with #1 rod.
Good thing I have a short block on the stand out of a Cavalier. I also have a couple heads in various state of assembly. I have to clean out the shop from taking an Explorer completely apart for my Ranger project.
Happy Father's Day to all!:D

Shop is cleaned up, I even have an empty bench. Dig out the Ecotec parts in stock, the engine on the stand looks good. Disassembly has begun, almost ready to lift out. All that's left is the exhaust, both axles and the two main mounts. Today I will go to my buddy's tranny shop and retrieve my cherry picker and another of my engine stands. I am building a list of parts, looks like Rock Auto is the place to get OEM parts. Cloyes is the OEM timing chain manufacturer and Rock Auto is $20 cheaper than Napa. And I get Napa at a huge deal through work.
Off to Camping World for some last minute details for the motorhome. My wife has a list, I am the driver.LOL

I am looking at 2 more L series cars right now. I have left messages and texts. One add is a little old but the second is only 7 days old. I am looking at a 2000 lw300 with a broken timing belt for $500 and a 2002 l200 automatic with a bad timing chain for $350. Either one will work as I have a plan. I could fix the l200 with the parts I have or put my engine in the other Lw and convert my wagon to a l61/5. I will let you guys and gals know which way I go.

Looking forward to hearing about your projects, Andy. Have fun with them.

I bought another 2002 l200 today, it was in southern Oregon. We left at 1330 and just got home and unhitched at 2300. It is a beautiful base model with 130k miles. Steel wheels with hubcaps, cloth manual seats, base stereo w/ single cd. Only flaw on the body is a very minor scuff on the rear bumper. Untouched under the hood, new front tires and a good quality 2 year old battery. Engine spins like no compression, dirty oil but on the stick, full of the correct coolant. I gave the asking price of $350+ $65 fuel and another $100 for meals for the four of us, happy early birthday to me.
Attachment 1494
Attachment 1495
Attachment 1496

Another score. Are you going to start a used Saturn car lot?

I will fix the gold car and drive it while I build a new L61 for my wagon. It looks like a lengthy conversion on the wagon. I don't know how deep into the wiring it will take to make the Lw300 into a Lw200/5 speed. I have a complete donor car both high line cars with the same options. The only real difference is that the silver sedan has a sunroof, that could be a stand alone option. The engine cradle is different due to shift linkage mounting to it and possibly other mounts. Now I can stay off Craigslist and plan my projects.

Finally caught up some enough to get the L61/5 out and partially apart. I was hoping to only need a clutch disc but the pressure plate main spring is broken. Still has a GM clutch though pretty good for 200k. The drain plug on the tranny did not look too bad, it is worth a try with new oil. If it is noisy I will buy a low mile 3.62 ratio trans out of a Cobalt XFI. I think these are 3.8 something. I pulled the head and the #1 valves have hit the piston, that is the "loose" rod. Looks sad to see three pistons up and one down, not pretty. I will strip the short block and save anything usable. The gold L 200 will go to a grandson in a couple years. His older sister received a 2002 Olds Alero with a L61 from me last year. So parts may be needed in the future. Going to dedicate a whole shelf to spare L61 parts in the shed.

I took apart the short block to keep any usable parts. I saved all the chains and guides, they show no wear. Then I flipped the block on the stand, and there were big pieces free in the bottom. Not a good sound when big pieces move around on their own. I knew the block was junk but I wanted to keep the pan. Here are a few pics of the carnage and a savable head.
Attachment 1489Attachment 1490Attachment 1491

You could always use that block as a boat anchor, Andy. That is, if you have a boat! Man, that is messed up!

That block looks trashed, lol... Definitely not what I seen as I opened up my LSJ project, lol...

Could you photo the (intake and exhaust) ports for me, please? Just wanting to compare to my LSJ... If you were closer, I would be happy to port it for ya...

I have torn down the engine in the gold car. It had the early restricted chain oil nozzle. The main chain broke, it is one long chain with a broken link on each end. The balance shaft chain also shows wear and will be replaced also. The water pump was dripping when I raised the car on the rack. It bent two intake and six exhaust valves, the engine is very clean inside. So I ordered this parts list today, should be everything except coolant and oil.
Attachment 1488

Man, $5.79 EACH for AC spark plugs? You get all that at a dealership?

No, that is RockAuto online. I use that series plug in the GM trucks at work. It is a true 100,000 mile plug. I ordered two sets of head bolts on EBay. This is the car I am rebuilding for a grandson, he turns 15 this week. I will drive it for the next 6 months or so and repair any other problems. The air conditioning and the transmission are still unknowns. This car has California E.P.A. smog and the other sedan is a 49 state car. I will compare any obvious differences and let you know.

From what I'm aware, most 4T40 transmissions seem to last forever behind the L61, the one in our old L200 had 262k on it, and was working fine when the engine went out and we crushed the car...

The 4t45 in my LW300 has seen better days, when hot it will fail on the 1-2 shift and turn on the wrench light. I can spin 2nd gear if I tip in the throttle at the wrong time. I am looking forward to the l61/5 speed in the silver sedan. If I really like the combo but not the sedan I have everything to convert my wagon, time will tell. Parts arrive for the gold L61 early next week.

I couldn't say whether it was the original trans or not... I know our little L61s lack the torque of that V6, so the trans you have might still be good...

And yes, you'll enjoy that F23 trans... I know I really miss the third pedal while im driving my Malibu

I drove my 4/5 early Metro for several years, I miss that third pedal also.

All the parts showed up by Saturday so today I worked on the gold car. I replaced 16 valves and seals, installed the cylinder head, water pump and assorted piping, both manifolds and the throttle body. I ordered just the guides and tensioner for the small chain. The small chain drives the balance shafts and the water pump in this engine. The guides showed a little wear but the sprockets looked good. Also Rock Auto didn't sell a Cloyes kit for the little chain, just components. I will install the cams and the big chain kit and crank for oil pressure before buttoning up the engine. It will run tomorrow, I will let you know how well it runs tomorrow.

excellent sir.

in all seriousness, must be nice to have the knowledge and manual dexterity to fly through the work as you do.

We may need to form a company---Bones included---that does nothing but hot rod Saturns as they approach classic car status......

It lives! Runs great put 45 miles on it tonight. Tranny is good, a/c does not work. This is a very nice car. A couple small issues, the blinkers don't cancel and the headlights don't work correctly. I think someone put the wrong multifunction switch in the car, I will try the one out of the other sedan. It is going to be 103 on Friday, that is hot for here.

Congrats sir!

I am glad the fruits of your automotive labor have paid off.

What multifunction switch in a saturn had turn signals that did not self cancel? Though that was a pretty universal design throughout the industry...unless they broke off the "stops"

The car has the automatic headlight sensor in the center of the dash, it has a switch with an off position. According to the factory operators manual that combo did not come from the factory. If you have the sensor you have auto lights, I will try the correct switch out of the other sedan. They may have used a generic switch and the canceling parts might not line up correctly.

I just narrowmindedly assumed that they would only install saturn components in a Saturn....how silly of me.

I'm sure you've seen some "creative" solutions to various problems in your time......

After looking on EBay it looks like the car has a 2000-2001 switch. They did not have automatic headlights.

The PO probably went to a junkyard and grabbed one at random...

Glad to hear of it running though! Now, the $64k question, what becomes of the silver sedan? Donating a trans to the silver wagon? Or getting a freshened, possibly warmed over L61?

Parts
 

Here is the latest nearby Craigslist find $100 with title, wrecked a couple weeks ago was running fine. New tires L200 automatic.Attachment 1486Attachment 1487

Be careful -- I think the frame is bent.

It is a parts donor, power train and small parts. Scrap the shell, save the pieces.

It seems as if you're slowly forming an L series graveyard... I need to start collecting IONs... I own the one, but have access to a second if I ever need parts

Just kiddin, sir. Should have put one of those emotionalijicons in there.

[THREADJACK]
It's a "strip n ship"

Strip the parts worth keeping
Ship overseas where even with travel costs both ways, it can be crushed, cleaned up, strained of junk, and the remainder reprocessed into steel -- which is then sold back to the US at under competitive prices relative to US manufactured steel.
[/THREADJACK]

We are going after the wrecked L200 on Sunday. I will see if it will run and drive, I always qualify a parts car if it will drive. I have purchased several wrecked cars over the years. I purchased a rolled 1973 or 4 Oldsmobile Cutlass back in the early 80s, I had to jack up the roof with a high-lift jack to be able to drive it. It ran great so all the power train went into my father-in-law's 68 Cutlass, he got another 8 years out of that car. I was the city mechanic in the early 90s and I bought a wrecked State Police car with 5000 miles on it for $500.00. It had hit a power pole while hydroplaning in the rain, hit square in the passenger door. The car was kind of banana shaped, the driveline and the exhaust occupied the same space. I removed the exhaust and installed a straight driveshaft from another patrol car and took it for a drive. Everything became parts for our patrol car fleet, saved the city thousands of dollars over the next 5 years that we ran Caprices.
My wife did ask where I was going to store this gem, I told her it would not be here for very long. LOL

Not able to get ahold of the guy with the wrecked L200, typical Craigslist didn't bother to call me and now will not answer. I will try one more time in the morning, then I will get on with life. Like the Jamaican's say " no problem man".

I will be driving the gold L200 for the next 8 months or so. During this time I will put the silver L200/5 speed together. I went to Walmart and bought some r-134 tonight to check out the a/c. This is a nice car, smooth rotors and round tires. I bought an owners manual on EBay for $7.00. Do I need to change my handle here or can I keep the LW300? I need to polish the headlights and figure out the a/c, this will be a great car for my grandson. If I can live with the sedan I will restore the silver L200/5 speed, if I miss the wagon I will convert the wagon to a L200/5.

No, you need not change your handle. It represents your roots here on the forum. Just keep piecing those L's back together. SOMEONE'S got to do it. Besides, you have the means, motive, and opportunity.......

I just heard from the guy with the wrecked L200, I am going after it in the morning!

And to think you'd written the guy off. Shame on you, Andy! LOL Let us know what you're going to do with it when you get it home.

I got it home and unloaded, up on the rack for an evaluation. The car is undrivable and not worth driving. It is very basic, manual seats, no abs, drum brakes on the rear. However the engine runs great and the transmission has all its gears. The rear tires are new, it had a new set of Walmart hubcaps in the trunk( they went right on the gold car!). Both driver's side rims are bent but both passenger side wheels are straight. The rear tires will go on the wagon's aluminum wheels and match up with the two new front tires that I bought when I had it aligned. All the door skins are good and all the door glass is there, the doors however are very bent up top. The lower control arm is bent on the drivers side and it looks like the cradle may be ok, no it is bent. The exhaust is good and the little storage box/armrest between the seats is not broken. Well worth the $100 plus lunch and gas. I siliconed up the cracks in the aluminum oil pan, added 4 quarts of oil, turned it over by hand and fired it up! Sounds great, now I have a running engine for th silver L200/5 speed car!
Pretty good day :)

Sounds like a great score. And you'll recoup your investment at the scrap yard, most likely!

I drove the gold L200/A to work today, what a nice car. Quiet and smooth, good power and the tranny is perfect. I need to work on the a/c, it has freon in the system. The engine throttles up when you push the a/c button, so the bcm sees the a/c command. No compressor clutch, I will get into the system with my Snap-on scanner and see what's what. Looks like Rock Auto is the best deal on a Luk clutch, about $190 delivered.