2000 Trans Am WS6 - LS1 Power Plan - Pontiac Tech

The spring kit comes with hardened alloy black-oxide coated valve seats that fit into the spring pockets without having to machine the cylinder head to accept the seat. Rather than using the standard retainers, Comp supplied titanium retainers (PN 754-16, retail $265.61), which are produced from 6AL4V alloy that's stronger than the steel-based factory retainer, while significantly reducing valvetrain mass. Viton-based steel-jacketed valve seals are supplied that are specifically designed for the application to ensure proper oil control.

While the fluid is draining, RPM technician Manuel Bejar connects an A/C evacuation machine to the A/C fittings and proceeds to pull out the R-134 Freon. Once complete, the 10mm bolts attaching the A/C lines to the condenser and accumulator are removed. The radiator and condenser are held down by the lower airbox assembly. The airbox is removed by unscrewing the band clamp to lid connection, then removing the four 10mm bolts that hold the lower airbox to the core support.

While the fluid is draining, RPM technician Manuel Bejar connects an A/C evacuation machine to the A/C fittings and proceeds to pull out the R-134 Freon. Once complete, the 10mm bolts attaching the A/C lines to the condenser and accumulator are removed. The radiator and condenser are held down by the lower airbox assembly. The airbox is removed by unscrewing the band clamp to lid connection, then removing the four 10mm bolts that hold the lower airbox to the core support.

Before lifting out the radiator and A/C condenser, the aftermarket transmission cooler lines are removed and the wires to the electric fans disconnected. Bejar proceeds to remove the upper and lower radiator hoses, then enlists help so that the radiator and A/C condenser units can be taken out as a unit.

Once the assembly is out of the car, the drive pulley and A/C belts are removed and both radiator hoses are unclamped from the water pump. Only six 10mm bolts attach the pump to the front of the engine, and once the bolts are free, the pump lifts right out.

The idler pulley is then taken out with a 15mm socket and a 3/4-inch impact gun. A 24mm socket takes care of the crankshaft balancer bolt.

In order to get to the timing cover, the harmonic balancer has to be removed, which is accomplished using an LS-series-specific balancer puller. It mounts inside the harmonic balancer and a long crank bolt is threaded in, pushing the balancer off of the snout of the crank.

The timing cover is retained by a total of 10 10mm bolts. Two bolts are removed from the oil pan to the timing cover, followed by the remaining eight that bolt the cover to the front of the engine. Before removing the timing chain and camshaft, the engine must be rotated to top dead center (TDC), which necessitates removing the spark plugs and rocker arms.

After removing the aftermarket strut-tower brace from the engine compartment to allow valve cover removal, the first task is to disconnect the coil pack harness, along with the fuel line to fuel rail connection on the driver side. Once accomplished, the MSD 8.5mm plug wires are removed from the ends of the coils and a 10mm socket is used to free the coil packs from the rocker cover. The coil packs are then taken from the passenger side, along with the dipstick tube. For '98-'00 LS1-equipped Birds, the AIR tubes that connect to the exhaust manifold or headers are then removed from both sides.

The valve covers are retained with four center-mounted bolts on all '99-'02 cars while the '98 model year utilized perimeter-mounted bolts in its design. The LS1 has a non-adjustable valvetrain that features 1.7-ratio rocker arms mounted to a pedestal rail. An 8mm swivel socket is attached to an air ratchet in order to loosen each rocker arm bolt.

Once the bolts are loose, the process is repeated on the passenger side and the pedestal rail and rocker arms come out of the engine as a unit. (Carefully store the rocker arm assemblies in cylinder-and-bank-specific order.)

Each of the stock GM pushrods were then removed, as were the plug wires and plugs from each cylinder bank. Before moving forward, RPM carefully inspected the valve cover gaskets for any signs of leaking, then removed each rocker arm to inspect for abnormal wear on the pivot point. Since the plug wires were new, along with the NGK TR-6 plugs, RPM gave them a quick look to verify that the wires hadn't come in contact with the headers and that the plugs weren't showing any signs of detonation.