What would I need to do in order to fit a 5.3 v8? I know I would need to change the transmission too.... Is there a special kit?

 

lol... there is no kit. IMO, if you have to ask what to do to do the swap, then you probably don't have the ability to pull it off. Its definitely not as plug and play as the L67 is- and people struggle swapping them.

 

hmm ive heard this twice recently. U would b better off sellin the 2000 ss and buyin a 06-07 ss

 

dude your crazy haha
youd have to change waaay too much stuff
tranny, all your suspension in order to hold it, the whole engine compartment isnt set up for a 5.3 it would prob jab into the dash.. plus you wouldnt find a clean monte carlo 5.3.. youd prob end up with an avalanche or silverado 5.3 with the wrong chip and tuning.. just sell it if its that bad for you to have a v8.. or take the money from the swap your about to do and put it towards mods to the v6 to make it better than a v8... these kids man ill tell ya...

 

Honestly, its not that crazy of an idea. The way he asked it was odd- obviously there is no kit to make it a drop in, but I bet its not near as complicated as people make it seem.

People used to say doing an L67 swap on the 5th gen montes was crazy- we never had that engine in our body style, and so much would have to be changed- and now look how many people have done it, now that some people have tried and know exactly where the sticking points are.

IMO, suspension shouldn't make any difference. I'm sure the SS suspension is different on the 5.3 compared to his, but not different enough makea suspension swap a requirement to put the engine in. Engine weight shouldn't be that much different- isn't the LS4 aluminum block and heads? The 3800 he has in there definitely is no lightweight as is.

Engine compartment should be no different between the 6th gens- I'd bet they even used the same cradle. If the cradle was the same between the LS4 and regular 6th gen montes- then it would be almost completely a bolt in deal- you could buy axles for an 04 ss s/c, or maybe even use the axles that come with the LS4- they're both 4t65's. The only difficulty should be the wiring, and even then- you should be able to entirely use the LS4 engine harness/pcm.

LS4's are all over ebay- alone and with trans, plus there are some with crazy low mileage.

Here's one example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Parts...ayphotohosting

17,000 mile LS4, 4t65hd, intact wiring harness, pcm, and all accessories- including the downpipe up to right before the cat- all for $2900. Plus its from Ed Morad- the big W body junkyard, if you need any other parts off the car, I'm sure he has it. I've dealt with him a lot before, and he has just about any part you could imagine in stock off Wbodys.


Heck, compare that to parts for an L67 swap from one of our vendors (this is parts only also):

http://www.milzymotorsports.com/miva...e=L67S0005MCSS

$2650 (normal price) for an 80,000 mile L67, 4t65hd, a $100 fuel pump, a $150 radiator, one axle, and some very basic pcm tuning (also no engine bay wiring harness).

So subtracting off the parts that are different, and comparing only the basic powertrain assemblies- he's charging ~$2200-2400 for a 80k mile L67/4t65hd when you could get an 17k LS4/4t65hd for only a little more- doesn't sound so crazy put in that perspective- huh?

 

Sounds like a great idea. I think it would make for an all around better car too. If you take the engine he has an put the money into it, what do you have, a motor that makes close to 300 hp MABYE
303 in the 5.3 is stock, so he would be saving money, and the sound would be very improved.

 

GREAT idea! Should be a piece of cake! Let us know how EASY it was.

 

At this point in time, that could really go either way. $2900 for that LS4 setup could get you ZZP's Z7 turbo kit- which would be $2860 complete- and should put an L36 right around 300 bhp also- so its really a toss up. The turbo kit would be way easier to install- a matter of a couple hours rather than a couple days, but its way more common- just depends what you want.

A lot of it would also depend on the mileage/condition of his current powertrain- that may make it more viable to go the LS4 route to have a basically brand new powertrain.

I really do think as the LS4 cars get older, and you start getting some come up in the 50k ish mile area, that the prices may start becoming cheap enough to make it more common option.

 

do it do it do it do it........ while your at it take it apart and see if you can bore it to the ls1 specs, they already have the same stroke.

 

oh oh oh and make it rwd too