Swapping a Getrag282/284 into a 03 3400 Grand Am GT

[free03gt]

Hey everyone, I am new here. I frequent the grandamgt.com boards often, however lately it has not been a good source for information. Ive heard of this place and after browsing for a half hour or so, looks like a well built site!

Well onto my question/questions:

I have an 03 Grand Am GT with roughly 25k miles on it. Nice car, mine is relatively quick, I ran a 15.3 with only a cold air intake, and the resonator replaced with pipe.

Basically I want options futher down the line, and I know the 4t45e really wont do the job. Many people would think it is a waste, but I personally love my car (aside from quality issues) and think is worth it.

I read around first to see what cars had the V6 and it appears that 95 Lumina z34s had it. I know that engine is a 3.4L DOHC. I have a 3.4 ... thats it, no nice OHCing at all.

I also read that there is the getrag 282/284 which was installed in those cars. Now I know the 3.4 DOHC is set up differently than the 3400 engine, so it is obviously not a direct bolt up. I am curious though, is it possible.

This is not just a blind wish, I will actually have the funds available to me, and plan to have this done during spring break of 05, while I save during the schoolyear (Freshman at Iowa State)

So to lay it out:
Will it fit?
It appears the 282 is a better choice?
PCM work is needed?
What parts will need to be custom fabricated?
How much of the work can I do myself (I have engine experience)?

Any information would be greatly appreciated. My goal is to be the N-body 3400 with a 5spd, and if thats already been done, then I know I will atleast be the first 99+ Grand Am GT with one. Thanks again!

Jon

[bszopi]

Yo... As I have been a part of almost all of the 5-spd swap discussions on GAGT, I figured I'd chime in here as well. Is it possible. Very. Will it be easy? Depends...

First off, the 284 is a beefier tranny, but therefore also much bigger. Not sure I'd want to try to pry that into an N-body. That, and they are pretty hard to come by. Oh, and they really can't be maintenanced at all considering no one makes parts for them anymore....

Onto the 282. You can pick these up out of pretty much any late 80s, early 90s 5-spd v6. It'll bolt up no problem... to the engine at least. So here are a few of the obstacles you'll have to overcome.

Tranny mounts: these will have to be custom, and pretty much can't be figured out until the engine and tranny are sitting in the car. So look at pulling the engine a couple times (at least).

Axles: There is a very good chance you'll have to get custom halfshafts made, unless you measure for the lengths and compare to various other 282-equipped vehicles. I'm guessing they will probably have to be custom. But you never know, you could get lucky...

ECM: Yeah... this is where it gets really fun! Either goto a standalone ECM so that you don't have to worry about any controls, and somehow figure out how to get anything that was tied into the PCM (dash perhaps?) to work again. Or as a slightly cheaper method, downgrade to a OBD-1 ECM out of a pre-3x00 vehicle. Either way, you'll at least be gaining the ability to easily, and cheaply (after the fact) tune your car.

And then there is always the shifter, clutch, associated cables, etc that will have to be mounted somehow.

As far as how much of the work can you do yourself? Do you have access to tools such as a hoist, welder, cutter? What are your mechanical and electrical skills? Just because you have engine experience doesn't mean you can do this. But I'm not saying you can't, either! And please don't expect to be able to do this over spring break. I know a guy who swapped a 5-spd into a 95 Beretta and it took him a couple months to get it all figured out and running. And his PCM problems were nothing compared to what yours will be. And Berettas didn't change much between the years when the were available and not available with a 5-spd, so many of the parts (mounts, shafts, etc) were already available.

But good luck and feel free to ask any more questions. We will be more than happy to try to help you as much as possible!

[free03gt]

Well it is good news to hear the that the 282 bolts right up. I am liking this. Now I need to do a little research on what all is needed for a manual trans to work.

For PCM work it appears that DHP can retune the stock PCM for me to handle the 282, atleast this is what a few have told me, and some research has shown.

For the mounts there are atleast 3 performance engine shops around the college, I am guessing they could do them, and if not, atleast point me in the right direction.

What is nice is that parts from an Ecotec 5spd will fit my car, such as the shifter panel/trim, clutch pedal, etc. Does a hole need to be cut into the fire wall for the clutch cables/lines or how does that work?

As far as getting it done over spring break, my buddy owns a shop with a lift as well as welder and plasma cutter, so those grounds are covered. He has done alot of work with transmissions and engines and is far more skilled than I, so it should atleast be in there relatively quick.

Gathering a small list I will need:
Transmission (looks to be about $250, not to bad)
Clutch Assemply
Flywheel (going with aluminum)
Clutch Pedal
Shifter Assembly/Trim
Slave Cylinder

And I know there is alot more, where can I find the other items I need?

[bszopi]

Honestly, if you can afford it, your best bet would be to buy a 5-spd donor car (Beretta, Cavalier, etc) and then part it out later. That way you have access to all the parts required for the swap. Sure, you can find a tranny for relatively cheap (I had bought one for $35 when I was planning on the swap), but trying to get all the other peices together can sometimes be a challenge. And then certain pieces may not work interchangably between different years.

Just a thought...

[free03gt]

That is a good idea because then I can see how everything sits inside of that vehicle, and if its running, I can get some practice before everything happens as well. Usually you can get a "Crap car" for pretty cheap around my home town. Where can I find a list of mid 90s GM Vehicles that has the Getrag282 in it, in an application that would best for for my Grand Am? I see Baretta and Cavalier above, does that mean it can be a 4cyl car?

[Paulie02]

Hello, I am new to this form but this seams like a good one. I actully registered because of this topic. There are actully a few other trannys that will work in your car. I have sucessfully completed a swap simialr to this one in a 1996 Monte Carlo. Now it will be a little bit different putting one into your car but not to much. So things maynot need to be changed and some others may. I honestly cant tell you with ont really looking at one of them. But it can be done and for under $2000 mine cost about $1600 but it will probally cost you a little bit more. At least asuming you do the work youself. Here is a link that is hosted by a buddy of mine on mymonte.com there are 4 pics showing the inside of my monte while doing the swap its not just engine and tranny work.

http://bucky.kicks-ass.net/pics/paul/

But i do have photos of this from begininng to end. I do also know of a very good tranny that will work and take abuse and a large amount of power. I on the other hand also know of a 6 speed tranny that will also work and is even stronger. I looked up the track width of the grand am and i am pretty sure i know of axles that would work to. Please if you would like to know more about this feal fre to im me on AIM at EHaven2001 or just write back here i will see it. Well hope this helps out. Paulie

[Paulie02]

Hey I totally forgot to touch on the PCM and time and stuff like that. This project from beginning to end toke just under one month. The PCM you have a few ways to go. I used my stock PCM for a few months before I swapped it out. The only problem I had was a service engine soon light on and the idle was about 200 rpm to low so some times if you stoped really fast and just put the clutch in the rpms would dive a little bit to low and it would stall. Other then that i few simple tricks that anyone with a little bit of electrical know how could do. they will most likely be a little bit different for your car but they shouldnt be to bad. With the stock PCM and the tricks the car always thought that it was in drive 1. So it had a nice air/fuel mix and the normal drive performance of drive 1. Well anything else i missed I will have to get next time. Good Luck Paulie

[free03gt]

Sorry for my silence on the transmission, quite obviously I havent had the money to get this done yet, however I am saving and working on it.

What models have the 282 in it again? MY questions is, do those models also come with the 4t40 or the 4t45 auto tranny? Becuase if so, then I can swap my relatively new (under 36k miles at that point) 4T45e tranny into the car, and simply swap in the half shafts and ECU from an auto driven car of that model. Do any models fit this discription?

They way I look at it, I can probably get a running beater for about $750 or so. I can then swap out the trannys, placing mine into the beater, and then the getrag into my car. Ill then spend a lil time to fix up the beater. Ill finish up my car, and then *hopefully* sell the beater (As I would have fixed it up) for more than I payed for it originally.

Im more or less just talking so no comments except to let me know which vehicles have the Getrag 282, and if some were also able to be equiped with a 4t40 or 4t45

[SappySE107]

You will want the V6 282 as the bellhousing was different on the 4 cylinders. I think the ecotec changed to match the 60V6 bellhousing but im not sure on that. Shifter cables have to be from the same trans as the linkages on the trans are setup different.

Axles, i would count on custom for these since the lengths are different than the V6 5 speed cars (none were N body, only 4 cylinders).

Computer. It takes more than turning off the trans in the code, its the IAC values, throttle follower, decel fueling, and idle speed that are changed for drivability (probably more but those stick out as the most important to me). I dunno if DHP can factor all those in for a 5 speed swap. I would prefer the OBD1 memcal computer because of its simplicity and ease of tuning.

Warranty. You have a 2003 grand am, aren't you concerned with the warranty once you swap out the trans?

Donor car. Good idea but im not sure how much you can use off any other car, nor do I know what has to be done for the firewall. For the W body, you have to drill a hole for the cables, and its best to swap out the plate bolted in since the clutch hydraulics mount to the firewall where the auto doesn't have the right provision. I have no clue on yours. Honestly, it may be easiest to use all the 4 cylinder clutch aspects and possibly modify them for the 282.

[free03gt]

My warranty will be up by next summer, so I dont care. I have puta lot of miles on my car already (which is why it wil be up) so I dont mind.

As for the donor car, what car should I be looking for?

When/if I switch down to a OBD1 memcal ... am I going to lose performance? Will tuning be easier/harder as far as a/f ratios and timing and such go? Will I get rid of those unsighltly DRLs with the OBD1 pcm? lol

[SappySE107]

You can remove the DRL anyway I believe, its just a module that hooks up to the ignition and runs the brights at half voltage. Tuning will be easier, performance wont be an issue with tuning...and I would say you can get more performance out of it with tuning as well. Donor car, hard to say since there isn't a N body for you to do direct swap in parts for the shifter and cables. My guess is the L body will be the closest to matching but I may be wrong (L body is beretta and corsica).

[free03gt]

Well the project begins in roughly two months, so I need to get my research going here. As of late everything is a vague over view. Now Im pretty good with a wrench, dremel, etc ... im good with mechanical type tools is what I should say, so I think Im going to dive into this project on my own, without the use of a shop (accept for the axles)

Set up I prefer to use:
Getrag 282
Shifter Housing and Clutch Pedal Assembly from 99+ 5spd SEs

What kind of firewall work needs to be done?

What are the honest differences between the OBDI and OBDII computer, as I really am not understanding this concept, if they both need to be tuned, I might as well stick with the original PCM from my vehicle, no?

Wiring! I read the wiring information in the transmission section about the 284 being put into an originally 4t60 (i beleive) car. Where can I find the wiring diagrams for such?

Shafts/Axles (what ever you prefer) can I just get these made off of measurements or will the car need to be at the place that will be making these for me? Is CF an option for these as it is for drive shafts in may RWD and AWD applications? (more expensive I know...)

Lastly, what am I getting my self into? lol! I plan on buying a donor car (I know a guy who can get me those CHEAP!) and I can get a running beater for about $250-$350 to drive while my Grand Am is out of commision. Im missing alot of things, I know, and Im just trying to pick up as much information as possible. I usually just "jump into" installs, but ... for something like this, Id prefer not to!

Thanks so much the 60V6 community rocks!

Jon