2007 Saturn Sky Redline Engine Removal and Installation
General Motors hit the market with a pretty great sports car in the mid 2000's. Using both their Saturn and Pontiac brands to turn out the Sky and Solstice respectively. It was a classic front engine, rear wheel drive design, called the Kappa platform, boasting a well balanced chassis and solid handling. This was paired with either a 2.2l naturally-aspirated engine or a 2.0l turbo-charged variant making a very respectable 265-ish whp.
Unfortunately, the economic downturn led to new vehicles not selling in the numbers GM had hoped for. Not even Pontiac or Saturn survived the recession, which means their 2-door sports car offerings really never had a chance.
That doesn't mean the cars themselves were hopeless. The chassis and engine are well made. The soft parts/interior parts can be another story. Not really a Miata or S2000, HPMotors views them as something close to a smaller Corvette. It was also marketed in as the Opel GT in other world markets, and can be seen as the second generation Opel GT that was offered in the U.S. market many years ago. Not a bad heritage, and overall, not a bad car.
This Car:
Both platforms and both engines are robust, and can stand up to a lot of abuse, but no engine likes to see high turbo boost and a lack of oil. That seems to be exactly what happened to this one. When it arrived, two of the four cylinders were down on compression with an associated misfire, and engine oil coated the passenger side of the block where the turbo oil return line was not sealing properly to the block. It definitely has a dead motor, so let's get to it.
Both platforms and both engines are robust, and can stand up to a lot of abuse, but no engine likes to see high turbo boost and a lack of oil. That seems to be exactly what happened to this one. When it arrived, two of the four cylinders were down on compression with an associated misfire, and engine oil coated the passenger side of the block where the turbo oil return line was not sealing properly to the block. It definitely has a dead motor, so let's get to it.
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While HPMotors is capable of rebuilding engines, there's a reputable Solstice/Sky specialist right down the road. Since they offer rebuild services, and will also be the ones tuning the finished project, it makes sens to send the engine off for its rebuild there. Let's get the transmission and a few other things pulled of the motor before we send it away.
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Transmission is pulled and inspected. Now's the time to replace that clutch if necessary. Chances are it's a good idea.
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We'll pull of things like the flywheel, clutch kit, starter, manifolds, turbo, etc as needed before ending it off.
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It's been a little bit and the engine is back, but wait. It looks like this is an updated LDK engine block mated to the original LNF head. It also has a bigger turbo. The LDKs are a bit of an update to the LNFs using better casting methods, higher compression pistons, and a few other bonuses. They're capable of handling around 400whp, which means this car will be no slouch. Let's put everything back together and get this beast running again.
That's a wrap. The car's hood was reattached and then it was sent off to be tuned. According to the tuner and owner, it is indeed a rocket ship. These are neat cars, and we hope you enjoyed following along.