Well I sold my GTP, and the guy who bought it now lives with me. I was scouring craigslist and found this pot of gold.

04 Monte Carlo SS Motor

His tranny is dying and I want a supercharger so we've decided to go half and half on it. Only problem I'm having is I used to have a complete write up with pics of a top swap in my favorites but can no longer find it. Anyone know where i can find a good write up? I already checked the W-body forum.

 

Alrighty Grand Prix forums has it stickied, we should do the same

Top Swap Info and Faqs, Also lots of 3800 Info - 3.8L V6 Naturaly Aspirated (L36)(L26)

 

Alright now I've got a real question, the info I've found is all contradicting itself, some sites say a dyno tune or zzp pcm is necessary, while others say that the l36 pcm will relearn itself after about 300-400 miles with the swap. While i wouldnt feel comfortable driving 400 miles with the car not knowing itself, it would save me a good chunk of money, can anyone clear this up?

 

you NEED a tune, just for the MAP settings in general, but also because you are running boost and where there is boost KR is dangerous and you NEED to know what's going on.

 

That's what I figured, I know a dyno tune would have give more power and stability compared to the ZZP tune, but a dyno is also twice the price if not more. Would the higher cost be worth it or should i stick with the ZZP?

 

Have you tried asking on some of the grand prix forums if anyone with a tuner is near you? That's how I got my tune and it only cost $50

Obviously anything where your car is plugged into real time data and tuned will be more beneficial than a canned tune from the mail.

 

No, but I think I'll go make an account and start asking around. If I dont have any luck though I'd still like to know your opinion on the subject, a $600 dyno tune vs. a $225 box tune, would the performance difference really justify the price?

 

Canned tunes just go on safe readings, so it will never be the cars full potential. You could pick up another like 20HP on a dyno tune compared to the canned tune.

Also you never know what the KR will be after the canned tune.

 

You HAVE to get a custom tune. The PCM will NOT learn the top swap itself. I have actually had to tune and re-tune about 4 times now. There are settings in the L36 Bin file on the PCM that need to be custom changed for it to run with the supercharger (Example-Baro settings). All cars run different also so you might have more knock or less knock than I did, so you have to tune accordingly.

Here is a link to doing the lower intake manifold on a L67. It's pretty much the same but you have to change out the heads when you do a top swap. You will also have to change the injector connecters if they are not the same as the L67 fuel rail. If you do used heads I would also strongly recommend taking them in for a valve job before you put them on.

Top swapping may sound cheap but gets very expensive in the long run.

http://www.cpaclubgp.com/misc/lim-gasket.html

But it is nice to look at this too:

 

I'll admit, I have NOT done all my homework on this subject, but I read this and am asking one BIG question.... Sounds like you are getting an entire L67 engine and trans.... Why do a top swap when you could swap the entire engine?? Would that not be cheaper AND easier??

BTW - When I did my mods, I used PCMforLess mail order (they came recommended to me from a guy I know that works on late 90's Vettes and his Vette is a BEAST). For me, they did GREAT and were very inexpensive compared to the ambiguous pricing of the Dynos around me.
I admittedly never thought to try Chibi's idea and see if a member on one of the forums could help me street tune the car...