Hey there guys, I am new to the gm world. I have a mustang guy forever and just recently picked up a 98 z34 that I had a question about. I picked up this car today for 500 with a blown head gasket. All I know about the car is that its all stock. I have a 94 Bonneville 3.8 supercharged motor in the garage with a trans behind it that I was going to use for a different project. My question is will this motor trans combo work or can I even use this motor? Thanks for your time. Sorry if this a newbie question.

 

The Bonneville engine is too old, runs OBD1. Do a topswap instead since you need to change the head gaskets anway.

 

I'm not sure he can top-swap parts from the '94 Bonnie on to a '98. Isn't the '94 Bonnie a Series I 3800 SuperCharged and his '98 is a Series II? I thought I read somewhere that there were significant differences in the engines (possibly in the block itself)....
I would recommend some research first.

 

Wasn't talking about putting the M62 on his 3800. To clarify, I meant to do a top swap with an L67.

 

Yeah a top swap would have to involve a Series II L67. The Series I L67 is completely different (and not a whole lot more powerful than the Series II L36)

Even the N/A L36 isn't a bad motor. I've worked with more Series II 3800s than I have Small Block V8s to be honest.

Welcome to the site btw. Those Series II motors sound as good as a lot of V8s to be honest. They also perform well. Since you have a 98, it should have the somewhat stronger 4T65E as opposed to the older 4T60E which was on the 97 L36s IIRC.

I'd probably replace the head gaskets and run it as is till I could get everything together for the top swap. Maybe even build a separate L67 to swap in at a later point. That's just how I'd do it personally. There are some very well done 5th gen Montes on this site btw. You should check them out.

 

SupplySgt - Monte's didn't have L36's in '97, they had LQ1's mated to a 4t65e. 95's and 96's all had 4t60e trannys.

 

This is true, and what SupplySgt said is true too, lol. 97 L36's in 2nd gen w-bodies had 4T60E's. Like already mentioned the 94 engine is incompatible.

But there are still lots of options for that Z34...

 

topswap topswap topswap topswap topswap topswap

 

Like Zipper said, all the other W-bodies had gone to the 3800 in 97 and were mated to a 4T60E (with the exception of the L67s which got the 4T65E a year before everything else). I was referring to the 3800s in general.

I still would fix the immediate problem while I set up the topswap though. That's just how I think though.

 

Gotcha
I had a feeling that's what you meant, but had to be sure.