Modded 3400 (LA1) vs. Stock L67

[Robb235]

Ok, for the record, I do realize this is a 660 website, so of course you guys will pull for the 3400. I also want to say that I don't want this topic locked so no dumbass comments, flaming, or anything else that will cause this to be locked.

Ok, recently I've been looking at the L67 swap and thinking it might be a good idea. However, looking thru various threads made wonder what all I would have to do to get the LA1 to compete with with the L67.

Now, assuming I did do the L67 swap, I would prolly be paying around $1,500 - $2,000 (assuming I got parts from a junk yard, and did labor myself), I get a supercharged engine that puts out 240hp and 280 ft-lbs, a better transmission (4T65-E HD), and a PCM to control it all.

Now, lets say I pick up a 3400 for about $500. Now, with a budget of $1,000 - $1,500, what all would I have to do to put out similar numbers as the L67?

[pepsi_coke]

Forced Air Induction ..

[Robb235]

Though I have not actualy looked for turbo's or super's for the 3400, I would think it is more than $1,500.

[DEI37]

Do a custom job. Get a T3/T4 hybrid, and go from there. If you can, use stand alone engine management.

[Guest]

I built and installed my Turbo Hybrid for abround $2000 CDN, it can be done, just sourcing the parts out is key.

When you are comparing these engines, don't just look at HP numbers, since there is a weight factor here as well. the 3400 weighs considerably less than the 3800, exact numbers I don not have. Also if you were to add a turbo to the 3400, I'm sure it would make higher numbers than the 3800, just by looking at specs and comparing each engine.

[Robb235]

$2,000 Canadian translates to about $1,600 U.S. dollars (for the turbo), not including the ~$500 for the engine itself. As you can see, that has already exceeded the budget already given. Not to mention that with a turbo I would have to upgrade the trans which equals more $$.

I'm not being biased towards the L67, but like I said before, for around $2,000 I can have a supercharged engine, a strong tranny to handle the power, and all other supporting mods needed as well as have access to a huge after market should I choose to continue modding.

So unless there are alternative methods to getting the LA1 to rival the L67, it seems that at this point the L67 swap would be the more cost effective swap.

Don't get me wrong here, I'd rather find a way to get the 3400 in the same league as the L67 because swapping in an LA1 would be far easier than the other.

[Z2_4cams]

no no the 2000 cdn includes building his engine

[Batman96LS]

Germ did a 3400 swap with a t3/t4 hybrid with intercooler. no custom cam yet and he estimates that he has around 300hp at the crank give or take. now with a cam those numbers will increase yet again. i believe so far he spent around 2 grand if that on the deal. he said that he could do it for less the 2nd time around cause he wouldn't be buying two or three of the parts of different sizes just to make sure he had the right ones...so probably like...1500-1700.

i'm actually looking to do this myself in the spring.

[geoffinbc]

If you try and put a 3800 into a car that did not have one expect to spend about another $1000 or more for all the stuff you will need for the swap to work.

Dont try and kid yourself. You will spend this much or more.

[bszopi]

I'm pretty sure 96 Lumina's were available with an L67, so it could be realatively easy. I was gonna mention the same thing until I looked at the car...

[SappySE107]

96 lumina didnt come with a 3800. He has a 95 though so that makes it OBD1 and more difficult to drop the L67 in. Money aside, its much easier to turbo what you have than to redo everything. If you are MAF, the stock ECM will accept some boost anyway. There are cheap ways to add boost, and there are better ways with better tuning. If your only trying to match the L67 stock, thats not too difficult to do it the cheap way. Once you start modding the L67, you need to go the more expensive route on the turbo 3400 to allow more boost and better tuning. Internals will take boost on the 3100 and 3400 so either way you are fine without building the motor up.

[Robb235]

Alright, thanks for the replies.

Also, I am working on swapping out my bastard "OBD 1.5" to OBD II so I can do some custom tuning. I think I will opt for the 3400 swap since I think the L67 would be too complex of a swap to do all at once.

[DEI37]

Some Lumina's came with the 3800...not sure of the years, so I won't go there...mainly LTZ models. Fun to drive for sure.

[SappySE107]

Not 95 or 96. I would go OBD2 if you have the tuning source. to do it yourself, the obd1 memcal path would be better. It should be possible to tune the 95 computer as well. I may be getting the hardware to tune our computers, which would allow you to keep your current setup and possibly save some money/time. OBD2 swap would eat into the cash allowance you supplied, and with boost tuning, I would plan on aftermarket above all else at the moment. Haltech would allow you to do tuning yourself.

[Robb235]

I've already got most of the parts I need for the OBD II swap: Engine wiring harness, OBD II computer sourced from a '96 Monte, the 3 wire Engine Coolant Sensor, and I'm about to get a MAF sensor sent to me. I'll just leave the EGR and downstream O2 sensor disconnected and while it will throw a code, I'll just delete both of them once I get the DHP Powertuner.