Hey everyone. Its another one of those what would you do threads. I've got a 2002 monte carlo HS/SS with 109k on it and its my daily driver. All suspension and steering components have been replaced when I bought it. The transmission and CV Shafts were also replaced. Its got the usual rust on the quarter panels and fenders. It's a NY car so the salt is bad. Basically my plans are an N/a build including rockers/cams/tune/plog/HV3/and DP. Possibly some nitrous. The question is should I bother sinking cash into the car?

 

Only you know if you should bother sinking cash into the car?
If a car you like I say yes . If its a car you want it flip I say no.

 

What are your goals? If you want fast? No, you will need to do a lot more to it.

If you just want to make a nice daily that runs a lot better, go for it.

 

my opinion i would never build a 3800 engine and not boost it, the gains will be so minimal even with the built 3800 if you stick na.... you would be much better off buying a top swap kit used for cheap and then installing a cam or buying a used turbo kit for cheap....

these cars are not fast no matter what you do unless you give them boost.

 

When mine was a DD I did the PLOG/HVTB/CAI/ER Rockers/HV3/Downpipe + a custom tune.

It was more fun to drive, but it wasn't astonishing. I was definitely happy with the car though. If you are just doing it for fun and don't have plans to really keep the car for a long time, it's not worth it buying new. If you can find someone demodding a lot of this and pick it up cheap, definitely worth it for some grins.

 

Maybee ill go show no go?

 

I'm not saying that all im saying is you can get a used top swap and do your own work for around $400-600 tops and have pretty much the same gains as a built na engine for probably cheaper than a built na engine. Then cam the top swap and make more power than pretty much any na build.

 

I think you have to just decide what you want your goals to be with the car. As discussed, there are low cost mods that can bump up performance a little.
The amount of performance you can get is directly related to how much money you are willing spend.

Also as mentioned, look around and you can find some people offering deals on good demod sales. ClubGP.com is a good site to watch for demod sales.

 

I try not to recommend the topswap on a daily driver.

There are a few things that can go wrong (especially in tuning something below an 03).

The mods will make the car more fun, but it won't have a HUGE boost of power.

 

Want it fun? Save up for a turbo. And a transmission.