Story of a ZZP Engine Swap
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 02-09-09
Posts: 4,374
Likes: 5
From: Tejas
Story of a ZZP Engine Swap
I decided to make a thread here that covers all the ins-and-outs during the process of my ZZP engine swap. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll probably have a lot of pics.
Background: On a cold night in November, the number 4 piston went out at around 6,000 RPM on E85, after ~70,000miles on it. It burnt/pumped a quart of oil in about five minutes. Oil was even dripping out of the tip of the catback. So it was time to start fresh. Engine was ordered on Black Friday and arrived January 16th. ZZP clutch that was ordered on Cyber Monday was delivered January 30th.
Engine was bought as a "ZZP Performance Engine" if I remember right, basically including what's in the "Ecotec Forged Shortblock" plus the "Ecotec Ported head and cams" kit (minus the tune).
Features/options are:
-Girdled block with improved oiling
-Wiseco forged pistons (86mm... went for the 2.0L option)
-ZZP forged 4340 rods
-Stock forged crank
-ZZP neutral balance shafts
-Fidanza flywheel
-ATI balancer
-ARP head and flywheel bolts
-ZZP Stage 1 ported and polished head
-ZZP Stage 1 cams with enlarged fuel lobe
-ZZP 82lb valvesprings and retainers
*5 Qts of Brad Penn break-in oil is included
*Engine comes with new, modified oil sump/pan for ATI balancer clearance
*Ships with a valve cover, but is for shipping only. You will need to swap that one with your current valve cover.
I put together a list of the things I needed to get separately. They were items that either I wanted, or needed to do because they were one time use. This list included:
-Spark Plugs (AC Delco 41-108 / NGK 5476)
-Fuel Injector Seal kit (12633374)
-Oil filters (12605566)
-New wideband O2 sensor (12589380)
-Coolant Pump (12624936/*12630084) - Turns out it was included with engine after all, so wasn't needed. *Has a new part number.
-Thermistat (12622410) - Comes with a seal.
-Thermistat Housing seal (90537471)
-Coolant Pipe Seals going into Thermistat Housing (x2) (90537379)
-Will need a new 5-rib accessory belt that's shorter than the stocker, due to the smaller balancer pulley. The stock one is a 5-rib, 1017mm length "5PK1017" by Dayco (24466973). *Update: A Gates K050385 (5PK981) 5 rib, 981mm length, belt ended up working. A 965mm was too small and 1005mm was too long.
-Clutch Slave Cylinder/TOB (24242805)
-Intake Manifold Gasket (12589366) - Ended up getting the Phenolic Spacer from Werks.
-Exhaust Manifold Gasket (Not sure on GM Part#, as I got one from a friend.)
-ZZP Adjustable Clutch Rod
-ZZP Stage 4 clutch - You will need to buy/provide your own clutch alignment tool, as one was not provided with the ZZP unit.
-And of course, coolant to top everything back off again, and DOT3 brake fluid for the clutch.
Now for the fun part...
While the car was waiting, 07BoostedG5 helped me with some interior work...
Engine arrives
Clutch and Clutch Rod arrive
Werks Phenolic Spacer arrives
Late night flatbed - Headlights, front facia, intake, charge piping, and intercooler removed.
Next came removal of the crash bar, radiator, and parts of the A/C system
...and drained/removed...
Cubaniche assisted with removing the old injector seals and installing the new ones
Nasty intake ports/valves. Had a lot of oil in the charge piping too. Was probably much worse than it would have been, due to blowby caused by the piston issue. Still nasty though. In order, starting at cylinder 1...
The new ZZP intake and exhaust ports
Stopped for a picture
Supporting engine and beginning to drop the subframe
Subframe is down. My friend David approves. lol
Rolled the subframe/engine away from the car. Had to keep the Pedders coilovers connected, as the bottom bolts had somehow seized. Would have been easier had they been able to be disconnected at the bottom. Also, make sure to keep the Brembo calipers hanging out of the way, and it helps to jack the car as high as safely possible and to remove the washer fluid tank.
Stopped for an ice cream break to celebrate. lol First time in like 15 years to stop an ice cream truck.
Discovered we forgot to buy the three thermistat housing seals, and I started shopping around for them. They go on each side of that pipe on the left and the middle of the housing on the right.
Accessories unbolted from old engine and bolted to new engine. Thermistat housing installed. Exhaust manifold installed. Turbo installed. Shorter accessory belt needed.
Here's the tightening order on the exhaust manifold
Exhaust Manifold to Cylinder Head Stud
10 Nˇm
89 lb in
Heat Shield to Exhaust Manifold Bolt
23 Nˇm
17 lb ft
...and that's as it stands as of right now. We only have one day on the weekends to work on it these days, so progress has been slow and steady. I'll post up more as things progress.
Flywheel Bolts
First Pass
53 Nˇm
39 lb ft
Final Pass
25 degrees
Feel free to post up questions if I forgot to mention or address something.
Background: On a cold night in November, the number 4 piston went out at around 6,000 RPM on E85, after ~70,000miles on it. It burnt/pumped a quart of oil in about five minutes. Oil was even dripping out of the tip of the catback. So it was time to start fresh. Engine was ordered on Black Friday and arrived January 16th. ZZP clutch that was ordered on Cyber Monday was delivered January 30th.
Engine was bought as a "ZZP Performance Engine" if I remember right, basically including what's in the "Ecotec Forged Shortblock" plus the "Ecotec Ported head and cams" kit (minus the tune).
Features/options are:
-Girdled block with improved oiling
-Wiseco forged pistons (86mm... went for the 2.0L option)
-ZZP forged 4340 rods
-Stock forged crank
-ZZP neutral balance shafts
-Fidanza flywheel
-ATI balancer
-ARP head and flywheel bolts
-ZZP Stage 1 ported and polished head
-ZZP Stage 1 cams with enlarged fuel lobe
-ZZP 82lb valvesprings and retainers
*5 Qts of Brad Penn break-in oil is included
*Engine comes with new, modified oil sump/pan for ATI balancer clearance
*Ships with a valve cover, but is for shipping only. You will need to swap that one with your current valve cover.
I put together a list of the things I needed to get separately. They were items that either I wanted, or needed to do because they were one time use. This list included:
-Spark Plugs (AC Delco 41-108 / NGK 5476)
-Fuel Injector Seal kit (12633374)
-Oil filters (12605566)
-New wideband O2 sensor (12589380)
-Coolant Pump (12624936/*12630084) - Turns out it was included with engine after all, so wasn't needed. *Has a new part number.
-Thermistat (12622410) - Comes with a seal.
-Thermistat Housing seal (90537471)
-Coolant Pipe Seals going into Thermistat Housing (x2) (90537379)
-Will need a new 5-rib accessory belt that's shorter than the stocker, due to the smaller balancer pulley. The stock one is a 5-rib, 1017mm length "5PK1017" by Dayco (24466973). *Update: A Gates K050385 (5PK981) 5 rib, 981mm length, belt ended up working. A 965mm was too small and 1005mm was too long.
-Clutch Slave Cylinder/TOB (24242805)
-Intake Manifold Gasket (12589366) - Ended up getting the Phenolic Spacer from Werks.
-Exhaust Manifold Gasket (Not sure on GM Part#, as I got one from a friend.)
-ZZP Adjustable Clutch Rod
-ZZP Stage 4 clutch - You will need to buy/provide your own clutch alignment tool, as one was not provided with the ZZP unit.
-And of course, coolant to top everything back off again, and DOT3 brake fluid for the clutch.
Now for the fun part...
While the car was waiting, 07BoostedG5 helped me with some interior work...
Engine arrives
Clutch and Clutch Rod arrive
Werks Phenolic Spacer arrives
Late night flatbed - Headlights, front facia, intake, charge piping, and intercooler removed.
Next came removal of the crash bar, radiator, and parts of the A/C system
...and drained/removed...
Cubaniche assisted with removing the old injector seals and installing the new ones
Nasty intake ports/valves. Had a lot of oil in the charge piping too. Was probably much worse than it would have been, due to blowby caused by the piston issue. Still nasty though. In order, starting at cylinder 1...
The new ZZP intake and exhaust ports
Stopped for a picture
Supporting engine and beginning to drop the subframe
Subframe is down. My friend David approves. lol
Rolled the subframe/engine away from the car. Had to keep the Pedders coilovers connected, as the bottom bolts had somehow seized. Would have been easier had they been able to be disconnected at the bottom. Also, make sure to keep the Brembo calipers hanging out of the way, and it helps to jack the car as high as safely possible and to remove the washer fluid tank.
Stopped for an ice cream break to celebrate. lol First time in like 15 years to stop an ice cream truck.
Discovered we forgot to buy the three thermistat housing seals, and I started shopping around for them. They go on each side of that pipe on the left and the middle of the housing on the right.
Accessories unbolted from old engine and bolted to new engine. Thermistat housing installed. Exhaust manifold installed. Turbo installed. Shorter accessory belt needed.
Here's the tightening order on the exhaust manifold
Exhaust Manifold to Cylinder Head Stud
10 Nˇm
89 lb in
Heat Shield to Exhaust Manifold Bolt
23 Nˇm
17 lb ft
...and that's as it stands as of right now. We only have one day on the weekends to work on it these days, so progress has been slow and steady. I'll post up more as things progress.
Flywheel Bolts
First Pass
53 Nˇm
39 lb ft
Final Pass
25 degrees
Feel free to post up questions if I forgot to mention or address something.
Last edited by Stamina; Feb 12, 2012 at 10:47 PM.
Thank you, I've got a major rebuild planned for April and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to slide the whole enchilada subframe and all out the front, looks to me like you did just that.
Former Vendor
Joined: 06-03-08
Posts: 4,169
Likes: 8
From: Grand Rapids, MI
Good work so far. I don't envy having to do engine swaps on the floor or outside. That was how we started out as well, though. It makes us appreciate having lifts and a shop full of equipment.
I agree a lift would have been nice when i did my engine build lol but i got it out of there. removing the front crash beam helped a lot so i didn't have to jack it up to the moon
