Supercharger for 03' SS
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 744
From: Indiana
Go to www.zzperformance.com and click on the Grand Prix, since it's the same as the Monte Carlo basically. Underneath engines they have a L36 (which is the N/A 3800 Series 2 Engine) M90 supercharger. This supercharger costs $200, and adds 60HP and 60 lbs of Torque! Wow! That's more than the stock '04 and '05 supercharged SS. There are a few other things you have to buy seperately from the supercharger though, zzperformance tells you what they are. Cost to have it professionally installed would probably be 2-4 hours labor, so look for $150-300. Don't forget, when you have the supercharger you have to run 91-93 octane fuel all the time, otherwise you can ruin the engine.
Monte Of The Month -- August 2014
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 25,145
From: Southeast PA
Go to www.zzperformance.com and click on the Grand Prix, since it's the same as the Monte Carlo basically. Underneath engines they have a L36 (which is the N/A 3800 Series 2 Engine) M90 supercharger. This supercharger costs $200, and adds 60HP and 60 lbs of Torque! Wow! That's more than the stock '04 and '05 supercharged SS. There are a few other things you have to buy seperately from the supercharger though, zzperformance tells you what they are. Cost to have it professionally installed would probably be 2-4 hours labor, so look for $150-300. Don't forget, when you have the supercharger you have to run 91-93 octane fuel all the time, otherwise you can ruin the engine.
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 744
From: Indiana
I read Bumpin96 Monte's post on the L67 top swap, he estimates it would cost over $1,500, maybe as much as $3,000 for parts and labors for the top swap. So by those figures getting the L36 M90 kit from zzp might be the cheaper way, plus more performance gains can be had.
Monte Of The Month -- August 2014
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 25,145
From: Southeast PA
M90 Kit:
$200 + $100 PCM + $45 coil adaptor & iron bracket
Ported and Machined Lower Intake:
$100 + $75 + $100 core + $50 gasket
ZZP Fuel Logs:
$429.99 + $25 + Injector Connectors
Ported M90 Supercharger:
$175 + $400 + $10 + price of gasket
Custom Pulley:
$99 + $20
Grand Total: $1828.99
And that's not including shipping, or taxes or labor costs.
That's your ZZP M90 Kit. And that's only to run a 4.2 pulley which gives you 5 lbs of boost. You would still need to do many mods just to get down to the L67's stock 3.8 pulley and more boost.
If you are mechanically inclined this kit is not necessary because you can source your own parts MUCH CHEAPER, and then put them on by doing the top swap. If you aren't mechanically inclined then you would have to buy this kit, and still probably not be able to put it on. Where do you live in comparison to ZZP? Because it's $300 labor (approximately, i'm sure they will hit you for dyno tuning costs etc. also) And you'd have to go there, and stay there until the work was completed.
Having a shop do it, they will have to learn what to do first, and that's billable time, it's an expensive labor cost either way.
Know someone that is really good with engines, or be really good yourself. That's the only CHEAP way to do it. If you aren't good with this stuff...
...estimate $3000+ either way, just to get it supercharged.
$200 + $100 PCM + $45 coil adaptor & iron bracket
Ported and Machined Lower Intake:
$100 + $75 + $100 core + $50 gasket
ZZP Fuel Logs:
$429.99 + $25 + Injector Connectors
Ported M90 Supercharger:
$175 + $400 + $10 + price of gasket
Custom Pulley:
$99 + $20
Grand Total: $1828.99
And that's not including shipping, or taxes or labor costs.
That's your ZZP M90 Kit. And that's only to run a 4.2 pulley which gives you 5 lbs of boost. You would still need to do many mods just to get down to the L67's stock 3.8 pulley and more boost.
If you are mechanically inclined this kit is not necessary because you can source your own parts MUCH CHEAPER, and then put them on by doing the top swap. If you aren't mechanically inclined then you would have to buy this kit, and still probably not be able to put it on. Where do you live in comparison to ZZP? Because it's $300 labor (approximately, i'm sure they will hit you for dyno tuning costs etc. also) And you'd have to go there, and stay there until the work was completed.
Having a shop do it, they will have to learn what to do first, and that's billable time, it's an expensive labor cost either way.
Know someone that is really good with engines, or be really good yourself. That's the only CHEAP way to do it. If you aren't good with this stuff...
...estimate $3000+ either way, just to get it supercharged.
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 722
From: Philadelphia, PA
You should be able to get the top swap parts altogether for around $500-$700, and then the labor cost could go anywhere from $400 to $(alot!) depending on who does the job.
If you took a top swap kit to any local garage, they are going to ream you.
If you want to do a top swap, I'd say either do it yourself, or find someone around you that does work on W-bodies often.
-Riggs.
PS. I don't know where you guys are getting a $150-300 estimate for the top swap labor.
Basically, you are tearing the whole top of the engine off (including the heads) so the labor will run you AT LEAST the price of a head gasket change. Call up some local garages and ask them how much they would charge for a head gasket change on your car. It's not cheap at all. If you can get a shop to do a head gasket change for $300, then I'd assume you're good friends with whoever is doing the job.
Figure that it's almost a full day's labor just to change the head gaskets on these cars.
Since the top swap is a little bit more involved (you're not going to find the procedure for it in the factory service manual....well, technically it is in there), you're going to pay a good bit more.
-Riggs.
If you took a top swap kit to any local garage, they are going to ream you.
If you want to do a top swap, I'd say either do it yourself, or find someone around you that does work on W-bodies often.
-Riggs.
PS. I don't know where you guys are getting a $150-300 estimate for the top swap labor.
Basically, you are tearing the whole top of the engine off (including the heads) so the labor will run you AT LEAST the price of a head gasket change. Call up some local garages and ask them how much they would charge for a head gasket change on your car. It's not cheap at all. If you can get a shop to do a head gasket change for $300, then I'd assume you're good friends with whoever is doing the job.
Figure that it's almost a full day's labor just to change the head gaskets on these cars.
Since the top swap is a little bit more involved (you're not going to find the procedure for it in the factory service manual....well, technically it is in there), you're going to pay a good bit more.
-Riggs.
Last edited by biggriggs; Jul 17, 2009 at 07:46 PM.
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 6,471
I read Bumpin96 Monte's post on the L67 top swap, he estimates it would cost over $1,500, maybe as much as $3,000 for parts and labors for the top swap. So by those figures getting the L36 M90 kit from zzp might be the cheaper way, plus more performance gains can be had.
A top swap can be easily done under $1k, I've seen people pull it off for under $500; I've personally thrown out about 1/3 of the parts needed for a top swap because there was just no demand for people to buy them, so the stuff is cheap and plentiful.
Monte Of The Month -- May 2009
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 774
From: S.F. Bay Area
i can tell you from personal experience about this. i've posted about this more than once (more than twice even) so you really need to do a search honestly. but since i havent posted in a while, what the hell.
you honestly have 3 choices.
supercharger (top swap)
supercharger (zzp kit)
turbocharger
if your going for power and want huge increases, go with a turbocharger. thats where i stop with that.
supercharger top swap: do research. the search tool on this site will be your best friend. just when you think you know everything, you'll find a new thread that will give you more knowledge. if your gonna do it this way i'll assume your gonna do the install yourself, use the search and you'll find exactly what you'll need down to the last gasket. this is obviously the cheaper way, and you'll also be able to do pulley swaps with any other vendor that makes L67 pullies. this kit is much more labor intensive since your ripping everything off down to the block. if your not doing the install yourself, get the zzp kit.
Supercharger zzp kit: This is the kit i got. i love it. im not mechanically inclined so i did the research, compared what would cost more, planned and saved. the perk about this kit is that you can basically buy this in 4 pieces, so you dont have to spend 2000 all at once. buy one piece, save, buy another, etc... labor is much cheaper on this kit because your basically changing out the intake manifold, fuel rails, injectors, and bolting on a supercharger. easily done in a day as my mechanics did. the key is knowing that your mechanic can do it. my guys did no research before this but they've worked on my car doing all my other mods. they figured it out no problem. this kit lets you keep your higher compression, but you have to use zzp modified pullies for this setup. they are specific for this kit. but remember, with this kit a 4.2 pulley is the same as a stock L67 3.8 pulley so dont be fooled, plenty of power. i actually run a modified 3.8 pulley which would be the same as running a 3.4 pulley on a L67. it feeds my need. look to spend around $2500 for this kit all parts and labor included.
its my personal suggestion that you do supporting mods before this kit so you dont just get the ~40 hp but instead get more. simple things like modified rockers, CAI, powerlog, downpipe will give you a much better feeling.
i love my build and i dont care what anyone else thinks, just make yourself happy man.
you got the same year as me, so any questions just let me know.
you honestly have 3 choices.
supercharger (top swap)
supercharger (zzp kit)
turbocharger
if your going for power and want huge increases, go with a turbocharger. thats where i stop with that.
supercharger top swap: do research. the search tool on this site will be your best friend. just when you think you know everything, you'll find a new thread that will give you more knowledge. if your gonna do it this way i'll assume your gonna do the install yourself, use the search and you'll find exactly what you'll need down to the last gasket. this is obviously the cheaper way, and you'll also be able to do pulley swaps with any other vendor that makes L67 pullies. this kit is much more labor intensive since your ripping everything off down to the block. if your not doing the install yourself, get the zzp kit.
Supercharger zzp kit: This is the kit i got. i love it. im not mechanically inclined so i did the research, compared what would cost more, planned and saved. the perk about this kit is that you can basically buy this in 4 pieces, so you dont have to spend 2000 all at once. buy one piece, save, buy another, etc... labor is much cheaper on this kit because your basically changing out the intake manifold, fuel rails, injectors, and bolting on a supercharger. easily done in a day as my mechanics did. the key is knowing that your mechanic can do it. my guys did no research before this but they've worked on my car doing all my other mods. they figured it out no problem. this kit lets you keep your higher compression, but you have to use zzp modified pullies for this setup. they are specific for this kit. but remember, with this kit a 4.2 pulley is the same as a stock L67 3.8 pulley so dont be fooled, plenty of power. i actually run a modified 3.8 pulley which would be the same as running a 3.4 pulley on a L67. it feeds my need. look to spend around $2500 for this kit all parts and labor included.
its my personal suggestion that you do supporting mods before this kit so you dont just get the ~40 hp but instead get more. simple things like modified rockers, CAI, powerlog, downpipe will give you a much better feeling.
i love my build and i dont care what anyone else thinks, just make yourself happy man.
you got the same year as me, so any questions just let me know.
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 126
From: Niles, Ohio
There's deals out there , you just have to keep your eyes open. I picked up a 2000 L-67 yesterday pretty much complete w/ wiring harness and a spun rod bearing for $125.00. Top half was all rebuilt a couple of months ago , and the rod started knocking. Have to decide if rebuild bottom and swap it all or just do the top swap.
