i was approved for a loan of $5,000 and was wondering what I could do to my monte with it to get the most HP for the money but still keep it reliable as it is my daily driver. Any suggestions? I have seen a lot of great products that look like they would be a great add on. What do you guys think of Milzy Motorsports? They have a machined and polished lower intake manifold that allows less restriction that sees about a 10HP gain for like $150. I also plan on getting a full exhaust from headers back from SLP as I love the way it sounds but i know there are top end swaps to change my NA 3.8 to a L67 top end. I need help.

 

With 5k i would imagine, you could do quite a bit of modding.

i have spent close to (or more) then that on my Monte so far, and i haven't even installed most of it (i want to get all my ducks in a row so to speak), here is a breakdown of what i bought already.

L67 top swap kit (all parts needed to do the swap, including gaskets, bolts, ect..) $940 from Ed morad http://www.moradpartscompany.com/ (you can also piece this together from private sellers and get this cheaper.http://www.clubgp.com/newforum/tt.asp?appid=33

New cam/cam bearings http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_p...=117&catid=104 + 105# valve springs, modded retainers, seals, 3/8 Pushrods, 180* thermostat, Modular pulley system w/ 3.8 pully (until i can test for KR, then i can drop down to a lower size for more boost) and #103 autolite spark plugs. $800

Porting/Polishing of the SC housing, the Intake manifold, and the heads.
This will be free for me (i have a friend in the business ;-P) i couldn't even begin to guesstimate what the charge would be for this...

Misc. parts, for example; Rebuild kit for the SC snout, SC oil (be careful with this stuff, it has an odor that quite potent, my UPS guy hates me because the first bottle burst in his truck...lol), and a new timing chain dampener. all said, maybe $75-$100

K&N CAI (cold air intake) $300

Next on my list would be a set of SS (stainless steel) headers, SS catless downpipe (no emisions testing in my area), and SS cat back exhaust. rough estimation, would be $700 for the headers and $800+ for the exhaust (depends on MFG and type of muffler/resonator).

All this totaled would be roughly $3600, mind you there is no charge for the porting, or install, and any misc. things you will need (fluids, and "incidentals"), with all this aded up you would be very close to your 5k budget (if not over), and you havent even begun to invest in Tires/Rims/Audio...


Im not saying this is the route you want to take, this is just to give you an idea of what I have invested so far, but without a doubt a top swap is the best "bang for the buck", you could forgo all the extras (except for the CAI, exhaust those will help you breath MUCH better), and run a stock L67 setup for quite cheap!


also, i failed to mention a custom tune for the PCM (or the hardware to do it yourself, but if you have never done anything like this before it can be a bit of a daunting task). im sure i left a few things out, but im sure a few of the More knowledgeable members here will pickup where i left off.


I hope this helps you to make a decision!
here are some other post that may help you to understand what you can do to your Monte.
https://montecarloforum.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=10942
and
https://montecarloforum.com/forum/engine-transmission-performance-adders-12/what-can-i-do-get-more-hp-7747/

and a few places to look for parts.
http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/index.php (choose grand prix)
http://www.3800performance.com/
http://www.intense-racing.com/ (this is who will be doing my dyno tune...hopefully)

 

The best plan? Wait until you actually save up the money, and have half a year worth of reserve money before you buy mods.

Spending a loan on mods is a terrible idea because there is very little return- you would likely get less than 50% of your money back if you demod. Not to mention, depending on how long it takes to pay the loan back and the interest rate- you could end up paying double in the end for the mods.

Also, you don't state the year of your car- but I'm assuming $5k is the majority of the value on your car- if not more than the car is worth. What happens if you total it, and you are unable to recover the mods and insurance won't cover them?

 

x2 on bumpin96monte comments

 

Yea, I would not buy 5K worth of mods on a loan....bad idea. It could all be gone in a matter of seconds, but the laon will still need to be paid for.

 

its not my only car...i have a clunker that runs...but i'm getting a raise soon due to an upcomming promotion so im using about $1500 for upkeep such as changing all fluids/flushes, changing out wiper motors as they stopped working, and other upkeep. thank i figured i'd have about $3500 to play with. I know there's a lot of options out there and i think what i really need to figure out is if i want to stay NA or go supercharged.

 

I absolutely agree with Bumpin's comment!

i cant stress it enough, don't get a loan JUST to mod/maintain your Monte, take your time and piece things together. You said you were getting a promotion, there should be no reason you cant get everything flushed, and repaired on your Monte with the extra income...



if you have already made the plunge then it is what it is... im sure you can still get some very good advise here from bumpin' or other knowledgable people.

 

If you have another car for your daily driver, and you're getting a promotion soon- why not just wait until you're financially able to do it?

I'm not gonna lie, as I was getting ready to do my L67 swap, I did rack up some money on my credit card to get a couple more mods in before the engine went in (poor college student working part time installing car stereos- and we were moving, so I had to get the swap done asap). Needless to say, I regretted doing it to this day- I kept telling myself I'd pay it off asap; but kept paying for almost two years before I finally paid it off while I blew money on other garbage. I hate to think how much money I wasted by doing that- and how I put myself at risk by going into the red for a car project when I should have been saving for graduation/a house/ life in general first. /climbing off my soap box...lol

I dunno, maybe I'm just getting old...

 

One thing I noticed is you said you want to get headers for your car, mainly for the sound. Unless you're going turbo, supercharged, or dropping a powerful V8 in your Monte, headers on a 200HP V6 will hurt your performance more than it'll help, as far as I've seen that is. Thing that controls how your car sounds the most are CAM shaft, mufflers, exhaust system, resonator delete , and a CAI adds to it, so go for those options if you want better sound, but avoid headers unless you're boosting your car. For $5,000 if you spend it wisely I think you should just turbo it, most bang for the buck, might sacrifice a bit of life on the car though, but it'd still be streetable.

 

I honestly think headers change the sound of the car more than a CAI on an NA setup (obviously with the blower whine on an L67, thats a different case).

Also, there were a set of headers made especially for the NA 3800's; they're called S&S- had smaller primaries and like a 2.5" downpipe- so it didn't kill low end that bad.

I'm not sure if anyone still sells them new or not, I've not seen them in awhile except for used on clubgp.