i recently sunk a fairly large chunk of money into my car on engine uprades for my 99 ls 3.1 such as 3400 top end, cold air intake, performance ignition parts, programmer, high flow fuel pump etc, etc (pictures to follow when they are completed). So it is great and eveything that i will have all this extra power, but all i can think about is all the extra stress on a trans with 150k miles. so what have you guys done, or what would you suggest i do (besides buying a new one) to keep from trashing my trans after i have all this stuff on? - i have owned the car for the last 125k miles and have changed trans fluid every 20k miles or so.

 

tripleedgeperformance.com

See how to build up a transmission the good way

 

Don't drive like an ***, it reduces a lot of stress on the trans.

Since his is a '99, he has the 4t60e instead of the 4t65e. Not sure if tripleedge does work on the 4t60e honestly.

I'd be more worried about the fact that the trans has pretty high mileage than about the extra power. You aren't coming close to the maximum weight and torque rating for that trans, so I wouldn't expect you to start breaking hard parts or anything all of a sudden.
You could consider grabbing a lower mileage 4t60e from a junkyard in case yours starts going out though, if cost/downtime is a consideration.

 

Like Chibi said above, go to Triple Edge Performance for tranny stuff. If I were you and if you plan going farther modifying your engine, you should look into swapping a 4T65E tranny in your Monte. I don't know what it would take, but you should still look into it.

Also, biggriggs is right too. You're not really pushing the tranny to its max yet. It sounds like you might be right around the level of a stock 3800 power wise (I would guess that you're just slightly below that). With that being said, look into getting a different tranny, and while you're waiting, don't drive hard. Sometimes these trannys just up and quite without a sign of any problems before hand.

Keep up the good work! It's fun modding our Monte's

 

bigriggs- downtime is a concern, since for the time being(and for the past 6 years) it has been my DD- i called the local junk yard, they want $350 for a 4t60e, and around $650 for a 4t65e- i would imagine the best thing to do in my situation is to pick one up and rebuild it just in case...

zipper- i might look into what it would take to drop in a 4t65e, considering i am thinking about dropping in a 3.4 or possibly a 3.8 in the future. that would eliminate one hurdle from a possible engine swap.

 

To be honest, I've always wanted to see someone install a 3900 into a 5th gen. Hint hint

 

yeeah zipper.. prob not. #1 they are expensive(that is if you can find one) and there is no documentation...

i am really looking into going w/ a l67 - just worried about the wiring, since the connectors dont match up exactly.. if i had a z34 like yours :-), it would be much easier.. and cheaper!

 

by the way.. i saw your utube feed on your car... are those rims off of a bonneville? they look really good on an monte!

 

I understand about the 3900 man. An L67 will wake up your Monte for sure though. If you get a wiring harness from a 98 or 99 Z34, that will help you a LOT with the swap. IIRC, there's a guy on wbody.com's forum selling a Z34 wiring harness right now if you wanted to check that out.

The wheels that are on my Monte are what they call torque stars from a 97-03 Grand Prix. I installed them because they're pretty much the lightest wheel offered on factory w-body's (along with the aluminum wheels on 95-97 Z34's and some 95-99 LS').

 

I thought all the 5th gens were switched over to the 4t65e in 98. I guess I was wrong.