I had a weird idea that popped in to my head with all of the hunting around the forums I've been doing lately. I haven't caught one glaringly obvious project; which could require a ton of work, but could also certainly be worth the payoff.

A lot of people have discussed possibilities and even procedures on swapping to the 303HP SS V8, but I haven't seen anyone try or even talk about a potential swap to the 302HP V6 and 6-speed auto trans offered in the 2012 Impalas or the 305HP version used from 2013-2016 in the Impala Limited. I'd be interested in it not only for the power gain, but also the transmission improvement.

Here's what led me to this. Our '06/'07s are basically already identical to the Impalas of the same years. The Impala then didn't change much, if at all, through 2011. The new LFX engine became the only option for 2012s, carried over with improvements for 2013s, and then stuck around until 2016 in 'Limiteds' - which means the parts are certainly out there and available. I have my doubts that GM re-engineered the front end too much to accommodate the new motor, knowing a replacement was on the horizon, but then again I'm just speculating here.

Thoughts? It would require swapping out a lot of minor parts, down to even the cluster and center shifter, but has this been done? Have folks considered it? I'm really interested in a discussion about potential for breathing new life in to these final-gen Montes down the road.

Keep in mind, I'm used to Saturns, where nearly everything everything was bolt-and-go. That spoiled me, in terms of replace/repair simplicity.

 

Don't think anyone has done this before. If you're going to swap, swap the LS4 in as it has the most power. Your issues with the 3.6 and 6 speed will come down to getting the computers working properly with everything and then ofcourse getting it all mounted.

 

It has been talked about in the community. If someone has done it I think a Fiero guy did. You have to keep in mind with an ls4 it has more torque than those newer Impalas. I would wonder if there is any aftermarket for them.

 

I agree with what was said above, the hp is roughly the same as an ls4, but torque is down like 65 lb ft, which would be very noticeable.

I think there are two big reasons no one has talked much about it:

-the l67 swap has been done so much that all of the needs and issues have been well documented. The ls4 swap has also been done a good bit (albeit not always into wbodys), so there aren't as many unknowns to them. With a whole new powertrain like this, there are a lot of potential issues that could be hard to overcome for a home mechanic (mainly dealing with the electronics).
-the ls4 and l67 can both be easily modded to make all the power you can handle in a fwd car. I'm not sure how much aftermarket there is for the newer v6s (maybe it won't be as bad as the older 3400/3500/etc since they put it in the camaro), but it cam be hard to justify doing one of those engines just to be different when you cam make all the power you would ever need for much cheaper in a 3800 or ls.


I do think the idea is neat, I like seeing different stuff, just giving some opinions as to why I think it's not talked about often. I guess my last point is that of the people that post up talking about engine swaps, only a very very small percentage actually go through with it. Even an engine replacement with the stock engine is a pretty large task for an average home mechanic, so adding custom stuff in the mix can easily push it over the edge of being too much.