I recently bought a used 2005 LS with 56,000 miles and the 3.4 engine. I need some sources for performance parts, etc. I looked at Jegs and Summit and other places, but most parts seem to be for the 3.8 engine.

I'd really appreciate input on areas to spend a max of $2000 overall to improve my Monte Carlo LS power and keep it as a daily driver! Please list company names- links, etc. I really liked SLP Performance but they seem real heavy into the 3.8 stuff only.

DO NOT WANT nitrous, but open to computer mods, performance heads and intake, etc. so long as I can make the computer accept the changes.


Thanks,
Todd

 

You've already found the major problem with the 3100/3400- very little aftermarket support.

If nitrous is out, and you want a large power gain- then I really only see 3 main roads: boost your 3400, do heads/cam on your 3400, swap in an L67 (s/c 3800).

Boosting your 3400 with a turbo or supercharger is gonna be expensive unless you have fabrication skills- most kits I've seen are $3k+ and are well out of your price limit.

Heads/cam is a good option, and its really the only way to make a big power change NA. The only place I know that does this for your engine is www.milzymotorsports.com Their stage 2 heads/cam with a few mods would put you in the $2k ballpark, but it seems like you're gonna fall from 185-200 wheel horsepower with that setup, which is kinda low for the money (although it shows how difficult it is to make any decent power with that engine).

The L67/4t65hd swap would be my choice. I've seen people pull it off for under $1000, but $2000 would give you a lot of price leeway (may even be able to squeeze in a few mods for that kinda money). What you get by doing this swap is 240 crank hp (~200 wheel horsepower) in a factory reliable powertrain. Plus, you open up a much much larger aftermarket.

 

check out http://wot-tech.com/shop/3400/cat_35.html
for all kinds of cams ported heads ,intakes
check out S&S pace seters for headers
and if you want to go forcsd induction there are a couple of kits out there and there is allwayz the build your own option
a 60*V6 is allwayz alittle more expencif over the 90*V6 but it's a better motor in my opinion
i know of a guy that is making 275H.P @ the wheels with a n/a 60*V6 that's over 300H.P @ the crank i never seen a boat anchor 3800 do that ! not to say it has not been done or cantjust saying that i never saw one

 

not for under $2k though- thats the problem (just like for any engine- FI kits are expensive regardless)

Highest NA 3800 is ~240 whp. Highest 3800 supercharged is ~530 whp (may be one higher- thats the highest I know of), highest turbo 3800 is almost 800 whp. Not bad for a boat anchor huh? The NA record is low because no one bothers dumping money into an NA setup when you can add a supercharger and tons more potential for $500.

The bad thing is, this guy doesn't seem to want to build an all out engine, especially on a daily driver. If he sticks with modding an NA 3400, he's gonna have to start dumping a lot more money for lower power addition after heads/cam.

With an L67 swap, you start with 200 whp, and can get 240 whp (300 crank hp) reliably and cheaply (under $750 if you don't mind buying some used parts- even brand new it should be around $1k).If you pull the swapoff for $1500, and spend another $750- that puts you at a ballpark of $2250 (say $2500 to be safe)for a 240whp / 300 crank hp car. Thats a value of hp/$ that simply can't be done on a 3400- he'd have to add almost 100 whp to his current engine to match that.

 

i am not saying that all 3800 are boat anchors i was just refering to the n/a 3800 as a boat anchor because it is reated 5 hp more than the 3400 n/A and it has to weigh at least 50-75 lbs more
and i know that the 3800 can make power for cheap that's why it's been around for so long
but i am just saying when you compare the same thing to the same thing not the amount of money spent the 60*V6 can make just as much power ! you just have to be willing to spend some cash to be different

 

Not sure where you are getting these numbers from:

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2005/...rlo/index.html

The L36 (3800 NA) is 200 bhp, whereas the 3400 is 180 bhp and only 1 more mpg city. There is also a 20 lb ft gap in torque too.

I think that may be a little high- they're both iron blocks, the 3400's advantage is its aluminum heads, but I don't think thats enough to make the difference. Not to mention, the 3400 has an aluminum upper intake whereas the 3800 is plastic. Even if it is true- a 50 hp difference is a difference of ~0.05 seconds in the 1/4, which really is pretty insignificant.

The only reason I mention it is because the guy does have a limited budget. I'd just hate to see him dump $2k into bs mods for his 3400 and still not be able to hang with a stock L67. Even stock, he has to make up a 20 hp gap just to equal even a stock na 3800- and a 60 hp gap to equal a stock sc 3800. I was in the same position before myself- I had a 3100 in my 96 monte, and I wanted to go fast without dumping a ton of money on 1 off custom parts. The more I researched the 3100 vs the L67, the more I realized it was insanely cheaper to go the L67 route if you do really want to go fast/ make lots of power.

Its ultimately up to him though- some people are afraid of serious modding, but if he's ok with pulling heads/cam, there isn't much left to go to swap the whole engine.

 

a stock 3400 is rate at 190-195 hp i never checked the torque but i am sure there is a big enuf difference in that tho
i never weight in de difference in weight but if it's anything like the small block stuff it enuf difference
and he said he has 2000$ to spare that is a good cam some port work and even headers (if you have skils )
that is more that enuf power to hang with a N/A 3800
you can't compare a boosted motor to a N/A and i know what you are saying that it is cheap to boost the 3800 because they cam that way from the factory thats the only reason that it is cheap

 

You obviously didn't click the link, so I'll post it again for ya:

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2005/...rlo/index.html

I was pretty sure the 3400s were only 180, and that above confirms that it was rated for 180 hp that year.

Ok, so your choice is to spend $2k on his current engine and worry about hanging with NA 3800s, or spend $2k on an L67 swap and blow away both of them significantly. Doesn't seem like a tough choice to me, and you'd have one heck of a time getting a 3400 to gain 60 whp to hang with an L67 for $2k.

Why not? They both bolt in and plug in on his car, so why not? If you'd be going as far as to do a heads/cam on his 3400- an engine swap isn't much worse, so I think its a totally fair comparison- especially since its exactly the same price.

Also, whats wrong with being s/c from the factory- just means its more reliable- definitely more reliable than throwing a bunch of aftermarket parts on a 3400.

 

I did add a cat back dual exhaust to my car and it has the square K & N Filter charger on it now, so I am guesing I may have another 10 HP than stock and maybe 15 more ft/lbs of torque. It sounds okay for a V6 with Turbo mufflers but I'd rather it was even quieter. I noticed the lack of original back pressure seems to be making the transmission shift to higher gears sooner than with the stock exhaust. (Comments welcome on this issue especially) I contacted Nelson tune and Hypertech looking for a performance tune for my 3.4 engine, all I got was a big ZERO. I did look at Milzy's site with a lot of interest and right now, they have the majority of my attention.

A set of prepped street heads and a nicely done intake, plus a better than stock cam & valetrain would be all I need. I want something with some quickness to it, not an all out racer, especially since this is my daily driver. I love the car, just HATE the engine that's in mine...think all all out engine swap would be to much for my limited skills. I have a racer buddy who could help with heds, valvetrain,and cam once bought.

 

Not trying to knock your mods- but even those sounds very optimistic- those parts aren't super restrictive near the stock horsepower level.

I dunno, are you sure it is shifting sooner? I don't think that exhaust back pressure can have any effect of shift points, at least from what I can think of.

The bad thing is- to make any decent power NA, you're going to have to go with a pretty agressive cam, which will require stiffer springs- making the car less of a daily driver due to lope at idle and valvetrain wear. You can buy a more mild cam, but then you won't gain nearly as much power either. Thats the nice thing about boost- you can have a super mild cam and still make gobs of power.

Honestly, if your buddy can help you get down to a cam and heads install- you're going to have the engine down to a bare block (no front cover, nothing on top of the block)- the only things remaining to do is to unbolt the engine from the trans, and the engine from the cradle and pull it out- you'd be 90% of the way there.

If you could get ahold of an 05 monte 3800 wiring harness (dunno if any 00+ 3800 wiring would work or not)- that will take care of all the wiring in one shot also- even for the s/c 3800. Then you could just bolt the new engine back to your cradle and to your transmission and plug your harness in.

Just another option.