Sunfire action

**JoshuaGrooms83** · 02-26-2011, 06:39 AM

WEll as luck would have it

I came across a poor car in need of a good owner.
A Red 97 Pontiac Sunfire convertible 2.4L M5.
Its abit beat up with some rice add ons and some maintainance BUT i have finaly found my wnter beater for the low price of $100. Car runs and shift alright. Need some TLC that i can provide it. Thank god it doesnt have a ginormous wing on it. The drop top is actualy in good condition and the motor is sound. Brakes need some work and the exhuast has a rattle but fixable. HAs a fart can on it but it does have a LT header setup and a nice Cold air intake. Has a rollbar in it.. not sure why. NOt entirly sure of the suspention but for winter and daily driving, i wont complain.
Pics will follow. At least im keeping to a Pontiac.

**Smittro** · 02-26-2011, 08:08 AM

If it has the quad motor in it you will be replacing the isuzu trany if the mileage is high..

Quad motors are HO engines they can produce anywhere from 160-180-225 crank..

**Smittro** · 02-26-2011, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by Smittro

If it has the quad motor in it you will be replacing the isuzu trany if the mileage is high..

Quad motors are HO engines they can produce anywhere from 180-225 crank..

May I suggest one of these..

**JoshuaGrooms83** · 02-26-2011, 08:47 AM

Id have to serch the VIN and look aruond. I pretty much was hande dhtis car so I wasnt complaining. IT runs and drives. Thats what counts. Im not sure the differrence in Motors other than the sunfires came with 2.2L old syles, 2.4 DOHC (I believe the quad) , and then the new 2.2(maybe 2.4) Ecotech motors. If i could get that in the car that would be awsome.
Youll have to elaborate a little more on the tranny for me. This one is a stick shift. Im gonna be honst, I dont even know whats good or not in this thing. I know it has teh better 2.4L DOHC motor (which was in Grand ams and cavaliers AND malibu's) in it. THe old 2.2 was the old tired motor that was in the old S10's.
ANy info would be great.

**Smittro** · 02-26-2011, 09:12 AM

Originally Posted by JoshuaGrooms83

Id have to serch the VIN and look aruond. I pretty much was hande dhtis car so I wasnt complaining. IT runs and drives. Thats what counts. Im not sure the differrence in Motors other than the sunfires came with 2.2L old syles, 2.4 DOHC (I believe the quad) , and then the new 2.2(maybe 2.4) Ecotech motors. If i could get that in the car that would be awsome.
Youll have to elaborate a little more on the tranny for me. This one is a stick shift. Im gonna be honst, I dont even know whats good or not in this thing. I know it has teh better 2.4L DOHC motor (which was in Grand ams and cavaliers AND malibu's) in it. THe old 2.2 was the old tired motor that was in the old S10's.
ANy info would be great.

The 2.4 dohc is the newer version of the old HO Quad-4 w41 engine, and the old version was forerunner to the v6 engine in my avatar. Very good motor for a 4cyl. But the trany in your car and the z24 cavi (96-98 iirc) is the weak Isuzu version of the Muncie 282 on my bench in the pic.. The 282 can handle v8 power and is one of only a few GM FWD manual trannies that can be bullet proofed. GM had a thing for using it here and there with a mixture of Isuzus which were all just cheap knock off of the Muncies.. Plastic syncros instead of bronze. It will start to show if it is going bad by not staying in reverse. Causing you to have to hold it there. After a short while it will not stay in any gear. Change the trany and you can relly on it for years and years.. If you deside to add power the Muncie will handle most anything a quad can throw @ it..

**JoshuaGrooms83** · 02-26-2011, 12:04 PM

ok cool. Ill keep that in mind when i start dving more into it. For now im freshing it up for everyday use. So the one above is the Manuel tranny i want if this one goes out?

**Smittro** · 02-26-2011, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by JoshuaGrooms83

ok cool. Ill keep that in mind when i start dving more into it. For now im freshing it up for everyday use. So the one above is the Manuel tranny i want if this one goes out?

yes..

**JoshuaGrooms83** · 02-26-2011, 01:55 PM

cool. Just got a bunch of brake stuff to get it back to safe standards. Thats the first thing i always do when i get a new car. Dont care what the last owner did.

**JoshuaGrooms83** · 02-27-2011, 08:06 AM

Well heres the new red headed stepchild. As you can see, there alot to be desired lol.
The front body kit is at best horendously distastful. but i can fix that

and somebody threwup yellow all over under the hood lol

and my first mod, removing the stupid looking front splitters.

The fake hoodpins gotta go, the front body panels need sprucing up, the front headlights need to be bolted down. Im thinking of getting the stock fenders in place of the current ones. the fornt bumper is not the best fit, but i think i can make it work with some paint.

**bluehawk2000** · 02-27-2011, 05:56 PM

Wow who thought they were in the fast and furious and put that yellow shit under the hood of a red car...

Good find guess it was a german wannabe japaneese kid!!

**Smittro** · 02-27-2011, 07:23 PM

Bad motor mount on the driver side..

**JoshuaGrooms83** · 02-27-2011, 09:41 PM

yeah the NHRA and Eibach stickers gotta go lol I dont even have stickers under the hood of my TA.
You can tell it has a bad motor mount from the Pic?

**Smittro** · 02-28-2011, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by JoshuaGrooms83

yeah the NHRA and Eibach stickers gotta go lol I dont even have stickers under the hood of my TA.
You can tell it has a bad motor mount from the Pic?

Sure can..

Motor has a definet lean towards the driver side..

GM small FWD engines should always sit level in the bay..

The differential housing is likely hanging slightly below the K-frame too which can cause it to come into contact with road debris..

The engine and drive train maybe comming into close proximity to the steering rack as well..

If not corrected the ehgine can shift and posibly smash or break the steering rack housing..

I had a 96 z24 5spd myself, same drive train..

**Smittro** · 02-28-2011, 09:14 AM

This version of the Quad-4 has the ignition module and coils built into one unit completely housed and attached to the bottom of the center engine cover..

It's the part that say's "twin cam"..

Has no plug wires..

Just plug boots containing a small very stiff set of springs that is used to complete the curcuit.

These springs are sometimes lost because they don't always stay in place when removing the cover unit..

Anti arcing grease (cant remember the right name for it) must be coated on the springs prior to reinstallation..

Without the spring contacts the engine will not run...

**JoshuaGrooms83** · 02-28-2011, 09:30 AM

Thanks for the info Smittro. Ill keep that in mind. Im new to the 4cycs a bit so any help is awsome.

An update:
All the yellow wire loom off today. Holy cow there was alot.
Found out why the head light dont work, it had HID's and they cut the ballasts out leaving them usless.

**Smittro** · 02-28-2011, 09:42 AM

No prob.. Good luck!

**JoshuaGrooms83** · 04-14-2011, 10:42 PM

update

the sunfires front bumper and fenders now somwhat match the rest of the car lol i did alittle compound polishing and waxing to get the colors to match again lol. Also got the headlights to work and replaced a cracked tail light. cars needs a some rear brakes and a parking cable and this thing is ready for inspection time. Oh and some lower control arm bushings aparently. other then that, the car is pretty sound. Also learned that this idiot that owned it before put a governor kill switch in the car, BUT when you do that the speedo dies and you dont know how fast your going. I personally wouldnt want to take this thing past 100mph anywhere let alone 120-130 ish. thats just scary in a convertible sunfire.

**JoshuaGrooms83** · 04-15-2011, 11:42 AM

its coming along

**JoshuaGrooms83** · 04-30-2011, 05:24 AM

Everything is almost fixed to pass inspection, just gotta install new front lower control arm bushings. Not looking forward to that.

**JoshuaGrooms83** · 11-01-2011, 01:24 AM

well an update, fixed all the problem other then it being a sunfire lol
i actually sold it to a friend for $600. She drive the shit out of that car lol She loves it. runs great and is reliable. Hell I spent maybe $150-200 on it and got $600 for it. NOt a bad deal. could have sold it in the states for at least $1500 if i wanted. but alas, with 3 kids i need four doors lol
WHICH!! i did get lol just last week I picked up a 97 Chrysler (euro spec) Neon SOHC M5 for $250 lol which all i have to replace is the muffler and the motor mount which is a stupid design. they stick a dinky little hollow bushing in there to hold that ENTIRE motor, granted its only a 120hp 4 cyc, for now lol, but still. looks like i gotta go on some neon forums now to see what i got.