Now this may seem a little crazy but I have a 2003 Monte Carlo LS with 141k miles on it. The engine is getting tired and the tranny is starting to slipp. I've kept up on all the maintenance since I bought it on my 16th bday. Long story short, I've realized its a lot cheaper to rebuild a car then buy a new one and was wondering if a new 350 V8 would be a realistic swap for my ride and what tranny would anybody recommend? I've got about $7500 to play with on the rebuild. Any thoughts are appreciated

 

Save yourself the time and effort and just swap in the L67 Supercharged V6. It's MUCH MUCH easier of a swap, and with only a few modifications as fast or faster than the LS4 v8.

 

A 5.7L 350 is alot cheaper than the v6. I can find them everywhere for around $2500. Granted it is for a fwd car, the engine shouldnt have too much of an issue fitting in since the 5.3L fits in pretty easily.

 

have fun trying to bolting up the 4t65e to a 350!

 

i dont know about how easily the 5.3 fits in there. i own one and i can tell you tis a tight fit. the cranks are shortened and the motor runs a different belt setup than the other ls v8s. with that said yes the v8 will fit in the car. ive seen an ls6 one but it had a custom belt setup which was the ls4 prototype. ive also seen a northstar swap with a stick. youre not going to be able to do it with the money you have unless you own your own fab shop, which im going to assume you dont since you asked this question. save your 7500, save up another 3500 in the next few months, and buy my ls4 monte when i go to sell it.

 

You can buy a complete L67+4t65e-HD trans for like $800 used. Grab a PCM that is tuned for the L67 with your VIN from ZZPerformance.com. Do a simple splice in your engine harness and you are basically done.

You are going way too custom for the LS1 engine. Remember these cars engines are 90* turned.

 

Im gonna ask a stupid question. why cant you get the computer from the wreck car with the motor and trans ? why do the have to program your vin ? sorry for asking this.I know ive bought computers from salvage yards for other cars ive owned and it didnt matter.

 

Haha for 2500 you can have one hell of a v6. He must know something we don't.

 

Your car's security system makes sure the Vin matches, as well as other parts of the car make sure the vin match. The BCM and PCM won't talk, the radio talks with it, etc. It's just much easier and not that expensive to grab a PCM tuned for the swap.

 

Its called the power of google. They are everywhere. I can find a 5.7L 350 HO for $2500 OR LESS on gmperformance.com, summit, ebay, etc. I can also find a remanufactored engine with a warranty on it for $1500 from GM.