This may be a naïve question, but is there a different transmission other than the stock or the hd version of 4t65e transmission out there for a series 2 3800 sc engine? I plan on this car to be a project car. The car is a 2000 Monte ss. I plan on, in time, throwing a z7 turbo kit with intercooler on her. Overall I want to achieve 500+ whp. I also plan on rockers, ported heads, different pistons and such. Need a bit of guidance on how to achieve this. BTW, this is/will be a gift to the wifey. She wants a sleeper car on the road to chew others up like crazy. Lol

 

I am not aware of any other transmissions available that will bolt onto the engine. There was a member here who had all upgraded internals but I cannot recall his name. I'll have to go back quite a few years in my posts to find him.

As for getting 500+ whp, you are going to have a hell of a time not just sitting in place spinning.

 

I can't seem to find it. Bumpin96monte might remember or have some suggestions. He talked to the guy about his monte more than I did. If I remember correctly, bumpin was the only one to actually get to see his car.

 

There isn't anything else that will work easily as in total plug and play. There are certainly other transmissions that can be made to work, but there is a lot of custom work involved.

There are some older getrag manuals that'll work with some custom work (282, 284)- but I can't see those surviving 500+ whp in a full street weight monte for a long time. I also don't know much about those transmissions, maybe there is more aftermarket than I know of.

As far as automatics go, the 4t80 is about the only other option. They have less aftermarket (as they mostly went into larger FWD cars - cadillacs, etc), but are built from the factory to hold more torque in a heavier car. The downside is, it is much larger and the internals are heavier meaning it takes more power to drive. This also is far from a simple drop in.

Going to any other auto than a 4 speed is going to mean a separate trans controller (or ghetto rigged push buttons running all the time at maxed out line pressure).


The way the majority of people go is that they go to a reputable 4t65 shop and have one built. It still won't last forever, but at least you'll get some use out of the car. IMO, the transmission is one of the few top reasons why a lot of the 'big dogs' got out of the wbody game (that and being FWD, lol).

I'd definitely think long and hard before going this route. A Z7 with an IC and injectors is just shy of $5k. A fully built trans is $4-5k (heck the GM racing 1" chain set alone often sells for $1k-1500 just by itself). Heads are another $1-2k. Different pistons implies a bottom end rebuild that can start at say $2k and go up from there. There are also lots of other things to go along with this that you'll need - slicks/DRs, tuning, fluids, etc etc.

My point is, you're talking about a $15k setup on a $2k car. It's not going to be particularly fast on the street (unless you plan to run some fairly sticky DRs with little tread life, you're just going to smoke normal street tires while dig racing), and it's not going to be particularly fast at the track for the money you've got in it (you'll always be hampered by FWD traction and not being able to run nice width tires). Plus, likely it won't be particularly reliable (like any project car). You can certainly make it better and more reliable at the track by gutting it and doing mods to lock the rear suspension (cable mod, cranked coilovers, etc)- but it certainly isn't going to be a 'sleeper' like that.


It's not that I'm trying to steer you away from modding a monte, heck that's the premise of this whole site - I'm just trying to steer you away from dumping an insane amount of money into a crazy build without knowing full well what you're getting into. I've been down the path before myself, and have been involved with many other big 3800 builds. I love my monte, it's unique and different compared to your usual drag strip / car show setups (F-bodys, fox bodys, G bodys,etc etc etc)- but the bang for the buck is miserable at the top levels.

IMO where the 3800 shines is in simple bolt ons. Bolt ons and a smaller SC pulley on an L67 is a sweet spot. If you absolutely wanted a turbo'd track project car - then maybe pick up a used IC'd turbo kit, get some big injectors, a big fuel pump, and run E85.

 

You can bolt a Getrag 282 or a 6 speed transmission out of a G6 up, might need an adapter plate, mod the clutch assembly, and you need to change the oil filter housing to another one at the very least... pretty sure you gotta cut on the car too.

And they're weak transmissions. So are the automatic 4t65s. You can always get a built 4t65 from several vendors... Triple Edge and ZZP are two of the big vendors for transmissions. Lots of people have built 4t65s in their cars.

From what I understand, it's hard to make a Getrag to hold a lot of power - not to mention hard to get parts. The same could arguably be said about the 4t65s, but the parts are out there for sure.

 

I could see much more money being dropped into a ls4 more so than a 3800 cause of all the custom work needed to be done.

 

Actually 500 whp in an ls4 is very easy. The car tuning turbo kit is $5500 and is proven to make right at 500 whp with no other mods outside of what comes in the kit. Obviously you would still need a built trans to keep it alive long term, so factor in another $4-5k for that.

But really there isn't much custom work at all, it's all just bolting on parts - you never even have to open up the engine.

 

I thought a rebuild kit from zzp Would only be 2k-3k and proven to handle most unless we are talking about something completely different lol

 

Bumpin has some good points. I am one of the guys making 500whp in my monte and it's fun but a pain to drive all at the same time, More spin than go etc. Dave at triple edge performance will build you a trans to hold power if you want but even his trans is good for around 400whp unless you source gm racing parts and send them to him to install since he can not get gm racing parts. Then even at that it's sketchy if it's gonna last or not. Leave the bottom end alone! No need to touch it! Heads, cam, turbo setup, fuel system, e85 or meth, a good tune will get you around 500whp. Most people that try and build the bottom end never have success!

 

Turb , if I remember correctly you actually work on your own trans don't you?