Im looking at pulling the intake apart on my 88 GXL and port matching everything. While its apart, im going to be removing and blocking off a bunch of things as well as trying to find what happened to the O2 sensor wire. Will also be rebuilding my leaking OMP. This is what i have in my cart so far for parts..

cold start assist plate and gasket
Air control valve plat and gasket (previous owner removed the 6port actuators, do the valve is useless)
fuel pulse damp delete
injector grommet kit (injectors look wet around them)
EGR plate and gasket
OMP rebuild kit and gasket
upper, lower and plenum gaskets

im not sure if i should order the oil metering lines or not... hoping i can salvage them.
any suggestions on things i should do while its apart or things im forgetting?

 

*sighs and groans*




the O2 sensor plug will be laying on top of the rear iron on the passenger side of the engine. usually you can find it by poking your fingers back there. unless it has been relocated during the work on the engine or carelessly ripped off.

 

oh i know where it should be, but i spend 40 min looking for it the other day and the only thing i can figure is when the engine was pulled (previous owner) that it got put back somewhere under the intake. because when i got it, the O2 sensor was plugged into the wire for the trans ground.

 

May as well replace your oil pedestal orings also

And i wouldn't worry about port matching or gasket matching, took the time and did it to mine, didn't make a difference, and if you scoure the forum enough, you'll read portmatching a stock n/a actually makes the airflow worse

I did what you wanna do, but when i replace my engine (whenever the hell that is) i'm putting stock intake back on it, and putting my port sleeves back in and gonna make the actuators work again, granted it is driveable without the sleeves, but it IS pretty doggish down low, sure me opening the ports didn't help either

May even go s5 intake, since that is a better flowing intake

 

yeah, port matching will be a total waste on it, and reverting some of the stuff while you are there would be beneficial. hence the groan, i just love those who tear into the n/a looking for better performance when it's already there. the only tiny bit left on the table requires tearing the whole engine apart and/or removing the cats.

 

well, its already had internal work done. im not sure exactly what, but last year it made about 170HP at the wheels. So it has to have some kind of port job done to it. I also put on a shorty header and full 3" exhaust w/o a cat. from what ive read, yes port matching the intake on a stock engine doesnt do much, but you can gain some when you have other work done.

as far as the 6 port actuators being gone. im not sure whats going on there, but i cant move the little ares that are there by hand, so im guessing they are either suck or forced to stay open some how.

 

probably just stuck, it's a common failure. if you remove the intake manifold then you can soak them with MMO or PB blaster and slowly work them loose.

 

and then ill have to find both the actuators, then rig up and elctronic control via rpm switch. the air pump was already pulled when i got it. thats why i was just gonna pull the air valve.

 

if your in there, go ahead and replace the omp lines, they are plastic and brittle and you will most likely break on or more. Trust me been there done that.

 

well it's your choice if you want to leave it dysfunctional as the PO left it.

 

is there a cheaper place than atkins rotary? they are like $105

it just seems like a big headache to try and rig up a way to make them functional. But i will look at them when i pull the intake

 

or you could block off the omp then premix then not worry about the omp lines

 

The proper procedure for this requires replacing the fuel pressure regulator with one that has a built-in pulsation damper (Aeromotive or SX brand), or installing an aftermarket pulsation damper. I recommend going with the upgraded fuel pressure regulator, which will give you more control over the engine and also has a port in which you can easily install a low-priced fuel pressure gauge for tuning and troubleshooting. Make sure you use parts and hoses rated for fuel injection.

Buy new OEM intake gaskets. Unless you really know what you are doing, attempting to use RTV will result in a vacuum leak that will haunt you forever.

^ This

Making them functional will yield much better results than port matching.

Read the below link for suggested exhaust sizing. If you open up to 3" too early you will kill your power on an NA.
Rotary Tech Tips: Exhaust System Configurations

Are you implying that 95% of the people who rip stuff off their engine end up with the same or less power, at least one annoying driveability issue, and at least 3 months of internet forum back-and-forth troubleshooting to figure out what they screwed up by accident? Say it ain't so!

 

naw, i love spending my time helping people for not a damn thing in return but the occasional thanks, because that helps me put food on the table.

 

i looked at aeromotives site and im not exactly sure which one i would need.


i was already planning on getting new gaskets for the intake


forgive my ignorance on this on... but oil pedestal? is that the thing that holds the oil filter?

i have 3" exhaust because i bout the system used for cheap and my factory exhaust was full of holes and the cat was pluged. She runs much better now than with the plugged cat, so im calling that one a win.


as far as the port actuators. i guess ill make that decision when i pull the intake and see what condition everything is in... and if i can track down the actuators. i had a page saved somewhere about using a small electric air pump and a rpm switch to run the ports...

 

the oil pedestal is the aluminum base for the oil filter, it has 2 o-rings that get hard and tend to leak after a number of years. viton seals will last considerably longer in that spot and is all i use.