Hey everyone great news I just acquired the first piece for my top swap project on my 03 Monte Carlo, got this Gen 3 m90, LMI, fuel rails 36LB injectors, and TB all for 400$. Idk if that's a steal or not but the coupling for the pulley definitely needs to be replace as the pulley has some play side to side, besides that bearings feel great, gunna drain the oil, and flush it, clean it up a bit and start my search for a decent set of L67 heads, tensioner assembly, idler pulley, vacuumlines, etc. I know a gen v would be way better but for that price I feel like I could pass on it. Super excited to finally be making progress on this project and will keep posting updates on how it's going!

 

Not a steal, but its not awful - people have certainly paid a lot more from certain greedy chain junkyards. Injectors / TBs / rails can occasionally be found for free on the big 3800 groups from people upgrading.

I do think we're past the inflection point on falling prices due to age. Back when W bodies were plentiful in junkyards, a lot of people were pulling off top swaps all in under $500. Bang for the buck was unreal. Seems like parts these days are climbing back up quicker than via inflation alone, I presume due to lower supply - especially in some parts of the country. Its hard to find any w body cars anymore at my local yards - seems like theyre sending them to scrap metal / saving the lot space for newer stuff.

I wouldnt worry about it for a second. IMO the G5 benefits are way overhyped for a typical build. No doubt all of the top dyno records are set with them as they can be pushed a little further, but if its not a max effort build, the gains arent massive enough to be paying 2, 3, 4x like some people do. I think the price premium is far more indicative of how much rarer they were rather than for how much performance they add.

Keep in mind ZZP's 10.8 car was on a ported G3 (as was Morad's 11.0) , so it's not like they can't perform. You can certainly port yours if you want to claw back some of that delta. Even just a N* TB and inlet ported to match has proven solid gains without getting into all of the black magic complications of the outlet side.

 

Yeah unfortunately that was one of the cheaper setups ive found in my local area with put having to leave long island, also alot of people on marketplace in my area where asking that price for just the blower no LIM.

One of rhe main reasons i bought this setup to I was reading a couple of your old threads, and such and saw you actually did a whipple swap, and I figured if I ever wanted to "turn it up" I can always go that route with the 2.3 whipple. I was also seeing some interesting things with people using cad and such to make adapter plates to even bolt on m112, or tvs1900 blowers. I was gunna try and get a scan on both LIM, and the m90 and maybe float some of those around. I've been hunting at local yards for l67 heads, but no luck and was thinking about maybe biting the bullet and going for a reman head from zzp, but I'm gunna keep looking and hopefully get lucky, same with a crank pulley, tensioner, and idler pulley. I figured some of those I could possibly get at any local autopart store.

 

Have you tried a JY search engine like car part? Seems like you're in a pretty populated area, Id think there's got to be something in driving distance. Unless they're really cleaning house on the old cars everywhere.

Id even sign up to every major 3800 board / FB group and post a ton of WTBs. Lots of 3800 modders have piles of old parts that they dont have actively listed for sale.

I see those zzp heads are nearly a grand - yikes. Between that and the $400 youve got into the first set of parts that's about what you can buy a whole running / driving gtp out by me (higher mileage, rough body of course). We've got one now on FB marketplace for $1100 - door / rear quarter is smashed up, but its perfect for something like this.

What about any complete L67 drop outs locally? I get you dont need the bottom end, but having a spare doesn't hurt. Cant imagine it would be much more expensive than those reman heads, and it would make it easier to get all of the misc brackets, nuts, bolts, etc all in one place.


Personally, Id encourage doing a new balancer if you can. Its not a common failure point, but OEM rubber is getting pretty old at this point. Its a big enough pain to change due to fwd, that it would be nice to never have to worry about it again while youve got it off.

If you're planning on sticking with a SC, maybe even consider the +5% overdrive SFI version - cuts down a little on belt slip concerns when you're really pushing it.