RE: newbie motor swap question on a 97 Monty
 

I agree on the L67. I sold my '01 SS to buy the '04 Intimidator SS BECAUSE of the L67 engine.
DON"T forget to upgrade your axles. Something was said about hybrid axles. Not sure about that, but I DO know that the L67 not only has the 4T65E-HD transmission, but also the HD axles. Get them also, but you might still have to modify them?
Also, you will have to replace the fuel pump with the heavier unit, as well as the fuel lines with the larger lines for the L67 to get enough fuel for the larger, more HP motor.

RE: newbie motor swap question on a 97 Monty
 

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I agree 110%, he was talking about swapping it in a near stock form to ease future repairs and such- and in that aspect an L67 would be much better. Stock for stock, an L67 would make more power than a 3400 or 3500 swap. Not to mention you could put the car into the low 14s/high 13s for under $1000 in mods- something that would be completely unheard of with a 3400.

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well yet again going back to what i am saying you are comparing aples to bannas the l67 is s/c from factory and i get the hole bang for the buck thing
and you are right about the 1000$ in mods be cause of the factory s/c put a stock 3400 with a stock 3800 n/a and put 1000$ of mods and there you have a diffrent story !!
that's what i am trying to say

RE: newbie motor swap question on a 97 Monty
 

Do you have any information that says the drivers side axle is any different? I know the inner tripot of the passenger side axle is different between cars with the 4t65 and 4t65hd. However, from the two parts # lists I have, the drivers side axle is identical between both units.

There is no point to buying a drivers side L67 axle- it won't work with the car. If you want a drop in axle for the drivers side- the drivers axle for a 98/99 monte (normal 4t65) should work. On the passenger side you can only use the inner HD tripot- the actual shaft and outer part of the axle must be the factory ones from your monte to ensure proper length and fit (ie the HD GP axles won't fit into a 5th gen monte).

Stock fuel pump is usually adequate for a stock swap, even with minor bolt ons. There are a lot of pre-gen GP's, and 5th gen montes running with the stock pump on their swaps. I agree its definitely a good idea to replace if you're getting into higher hp or if your stock pump is old, but for a stock L67 swap- I don't thinkits necessary.

As far as the fuel lines go, I can't find the part #s for them between a 3100 and 3800 5th gen monte, so I don't know if they're different. I know we had one guy running stock lines (from what I remember) on a 400+ whp turbo swap that ran 11s. So I don't really think bigger fuel lines are that big of a deal unless you're going really hardcore. Obviously a good FP gauge and some scanning will tell you for sure if you do get that deep into it.

I understand a 3400 vs an NA 3800 would be a more fair comparison- but honestly I think either would be retarded for a swap. If you're taking the time to pull everything out and put in a whole new engine, you may as well do an L67/4t65hd. They don't run more than a couple hundred more than an L36/4t65, so it just wouldn't make sense period to swap it in and have a weaker trans and be 40+ horsepower less with less overall potential.

Same goes with a complete 3400 swap. I realize some people love the 60* engines- but if you're spending all that time to swap engines, and he wants the most power he can in near stock trim, it just seems like a no brainer to me.

RE: newbie motor swap question on a 97 Monty
 

First off thanks for all the replys, I'm picking up the car in 2 weeks in Denver, and brining it back to my house in Grand Junction, CO. In the mean time, i plan on gathering a parts list and ordering up all the parts so my brother can come down for a long weekend and we can knock out 90% of the swap over the weekend he's here. So onto the parts list...please feel free to correct or add to it:

-98-04GPGTX L67 motor
- 98-04GPGTX 4t65hd Tranny
- 98-04GPGTX PCM
- 98-04GPGTX pass side axle shaft (use inner for the tranny, and split the stock monty shaft for the outters)
- 98-04GPGTX fuel pump
- 98-04GPGTX tranny lines
- 98-04GPGTX power steering lines
-98/99 Monty 3.8L driver side shaft.
- 98/99 Monty 3.8L wiring harness
- 1 case of new castle brown ale

The other hoses ect..i can buy from NAPA i assume? So what else am i missing

RE: newbie motor swap question on a 97 Monty
 

You have to be careful getting into 04, thats when they started going L32 in the GP's (although kept the old L67 for use in the montes and other cars). The L32 will be a pinch more work- just be forewarned.

Also, 98 still had much higher than normal head cracking (like the 97s). Depending on built date, it could be the old or new head design.

I would say more ideally would be 99-03.

Pretty sure that won't work. The GTP's have a funny venturi setup on their fuel pumps- that would make it difficult to swap into a monte. I would either stick with stock monte for a near stock swap (assuming its not in too bad of shape)- or a walbro (don't buy the GP specific kit- just the pump). The walbro literally drops right in on the montes from 95-97 (I think they changed setups for 98/99) - it just sucks dropping the tank.

98/99 monte Z34 lines will work (since its a 4t65 in a 5th gen MC)- I dunno for sure if the GTP tranny lines will thread in correctly at the radiator or not?

Buy a high pressure PS line for a 98/99 MC Z34, the GTP one doesn't work very well (tried rigging it to work in mine). The one from the 98/99 MC Z34 is a perfect drop in (just make sure you install it on the rack BEFORE you drop the engine in).

For the low pressure line you can just use fuel injection rubber hose- pressure is way lower on the return.

Yep- both upper and lower radiator; the heater core lines, etc etc- all can be bought for a 98/99 monte Z34 and will all drop right in.

RE: newbie motor swap question on a 97 Monty
 

great, thanks for the input....so is there anything i can do to bump up the power just a bit more while i got the motor out that won't cost too much or stray to far from the stock set up? Also...any suggestions on susp, we're thinking we might replace that as well since it's got 100K on it already.

RE: newbie motor swap question on a 97 Monty
 

Depends how much you're looking to spend. Here's some of the cheaper and more worthwhile mods as basic bolt ons:

-zzp power log ~$120, just replaces the front exhaust manifold, supposed to be good for ~10 whp

-1.9:1 modified stock rockers ~$275, pop the valve covers off, and toss on new rockers, pretty easy job with the engine out- I'd figure it would be an easy ~20 whp

-bigger TB- Northstar w/ adaptor, usually ~$300/kit, simple bolt on (really needs a ported blower to take full advantage of it), even still I would think you could pull maybe 5 whp out of it- more with a ported blower- its just 3 bolts to get the old one off

-ported supercharger $175-$350 depending how far you want to go, maybe 12 bolts to pop the blower and fuel rail off- fresh gasket, and pop the new one on- I imagine you could get 10 whp off this, especially with a bigger throttle body

If you do enough of the above mods, you could slap a 3.4" or 3.5" supercharger pulley on there (press on pulley runs about $50, full modular pulleys run about $100)- but that would be an easy 20+whp assuming you had some of the other supporting mods above.

I just don't know how much you want to spend or how deep you want to go- just about any of those will make a nice power increase by itself. If I had to do only one thing on that list though, it would probably be rockers- it gives a lot more oomph to the engine.

Depends on what you want to do, and how much you want to spend. Basic lowering springs run ~$200-400, plus new struts. Coilovers would be the next step up, but they would be at least $1000 for all 4, including struts.

BMR sells new lateral and trailing arms for the rear w/ fresh bushings, but those are ~$500. The only other thing to really refresh would be outer tie rods and ball joints- both of which you could just get good stock replacements.

RE: newbie motor swap question on a 97 Monty
 

Maybe take a trip to the junkyard and look for a 97-99 z34 to steal suspension components off of. I know the brakes are bigger on the z34s and they also have the largest swaybars. I think there is some difference between the ls and the z34 struts. The z34s are stiffer. I have driven a 98 ls and the difference in handling is night and day between the ls and my z34.

RE: newbie motor swap question on a 97 Monty
 

You could do the rear disk swap off a z34 too.

I'd be kinda afraid to buy used springs/struts off a z34 unless it had pretty low mileage.

The rear sway bars are identical between your 97 ls and a 98/99 z34. The 95-97 Z34 sway is a different part #, not sure if its a different diameter or not.

For sure the front sway is bigger on a z34, but its only a touch bigger (I think I went with a 98 Z34 front/rear sways- thats when I found out about the same rear sway).

RE: newbie motor swap question on a 97 Monty
 

Great info Bumpin 96! So would the above 3 items work well in combination together. I'm thinking they're the most cost effective. I know he doesn't want to go nuts building this thing, but he'd like more power for sure. I've got a 12 ton press so the pulley seems like an obvious choice, and the rockers seem like the best bang for the buck. Where can i get these 1.9:1 rockers at? Also thanks for the susp advice...what about just ordering stock 99 Z34 replacementstruts new from Napa?