howdy

[hemidad]

im new. i recently bought a 99 grand am GT. im researching what i wanna do with it. i definately want to put a turbo on it but im unsure if i should just use the 3400 or try a swap. id like to do a 3.8 but ive heard its a complex swap with not much to gain from it. any help and info i can get on your site will be greatly appreciated

[robertisaar]

Welcome

1.

http://60degreev6.com/forum/f109/3800-swaps-t43847

2.
a 3500 swap would be a good investment with about a 15-25HP advantage from the start and can stand up to boost better, especially with a forged crank.

auto or manual? and do you have pics?

[hemidad]

mine is an auto but ive heard if im gonna make much boost i may need to swap in a 5-speed ?? id love to swap in a 5-speed if thats not a major ordeal. where is a good place to find parts like forged internals, cams, valve springs, etc for the 3400 and the 3500 ? it sounds like the 3500 swap is pretty easy. considering all options at this point before i buy an engine to start building

[robertisaar]

all 3500s have forged rods, most have forged cranks, pistons would need to be custom though.

most of the parts you would want to find would be at WOT-Tech.com

i really don't know about swapping a 5 speed in a N car.

[[ChaosweaveR]]

Swapping a five speed to a V6 is not easy to do, very few have done it. Lots of SES bugs to work out as well. But totally do a top swap. The LX9 LIM will bolt up to the block, and you can use the LX9 heads. The LA1's UIM will bolt up as well. As said, WOT_Tech has all the goodies for that swap. And don't even bother with an L36 in the N-body, there are no gains to be had.

[hemidad]

um im very new to these engines... lol. which one is the LX9 and which is the L36 ?

[[ChaosweaveR]]

um im very new to these engines... lol. which one is the LX9 and which is the L36 ?

Alright, I'll break it down:

LA1: 3400 motor that GAGT's come with
LX9: 3500 motor, used in G6's, 04-06 Malibu's, 06+ Impala's and the later Minivans
L36: 3800 motor, a 90* V6, used in F-bodies, W-bodies and many others.

[hemidad]

ive found some info that sounds like the 6-speed out of a G6 is do-able ??

[robertisaar]

it has been put in W's, fieros, and probably more...

i don't see why it couldn't be done to a N...

[[ChaosweaveR]]

GAGT.com isn't working for me as of late, but the six speed trans from a G6 GTP can be mated up to the LA1. It's not easy though, the car that had the swap had a lot of trouble dialing it in. Threw a lot of codes.

[pocket-rocket]

I would think that 75% of the work would be computer work and 25% would be actually installing the tranny in the car. My 91 started life as an auto (4t60-e) and when I got tired of blowing autos (went through 2) I swapped in a 5 speed. Then again mine had the option for a manual so I had very little to do wiring wise and mount wise to get one in the car. Luckily I had Ben to take care of the computer, but after getting the 5 speed in initially it was pretty wild on the road bucking and snorting. I ended up letting him keep it for a couple weeks while he dialed things in and it worked great after that. So being through an auto to manual swap already before on my own car, I can say the computer part of it is going to be the largest hurdle, which is backed up by ChaosweaveR's comment about the N body guy having his throw a lot of codes. The computer is going to be looking for hardware that just isn't there anymore and that's going to make it cranky. If you want to do the swap though, do it. It's plenty worth it in my book, especially once it's done and working.

[hemidad]

what if i got the 3500 and 6-speed together along with the computer and wiring harness and swapped it all in together ?

[pocket-rocket]

It wouldn't be a whole lot harder than swapping just the manual but you had better know how to computer tune or know someone who can, lol.

[[ChaosweaveR]]

He's right. Getting the six speed to work reliably will take some time. The one owner who did it, never got all the SES issues solved on it, and I believe he sold it. Pretty much, the guy got sick of it, but he made it work.

[robertisaar]

this just makes me shit rainbow sherbet since i know there aren't issues doing this with OBD1