Will a LS4 V8 fit in my 2004 LS without a lot of major reconstruction? I have never attempted such an involved project. On a scale of 0-10 my automotive technical know-how is about a 5. The gnarliest thing I've ever done is change out a radiator in my beater 82 corolla.

 

The cars structuraly wise are the same on the engine compartments but other than that everything is different but itll fit without any mods to the main structure

 

Thanks for the info. I kinda figured something like that would be waay over my head and it sure sounds like it is.

 

Maybe the guys over at the LS1 forums can be of assistance to you on this. But based on your assessment of yourself at a 5 i'm thinking it's something you may not want to undertake yourself unless you can be without it for a while

 

Its really not as hard as ppl think the cars are the same all ull need is the LS4, engine cradle, pcm, wireing harness, transmission, transmission linkage, radiator, hoses, axels & prob some more small things more than likly, if u can find a LS4 in the junk yard still in the car see if they will just cut from the dash up off the car & u should have almost everything u need

 

So you're saying someone with a technical know how of 5 who has never attempted such an involved project should be able to handle this?

 

i dont see why not. hes not being forced to rebuild any of the components. its not like the motor and tranny combo didnt come in a monte carlo of the same basic design. i think the OP may be over estimating his mechanically ability by rating himself a 5 when the hardest thing hes done is radiator removal. i would think to earn a rating of a 5 one would have to have a little more experience. i do think that a person with mechanical abulity of a 5 out of 10 should be able to pull it off though.

 

Well, after thinking about it. I guess I have overrated myself. An engine swap definitely is beyond my capabilities. It would be something I would have to pay someone to do. And for that cost I'm sure I could buy another car. Thank you all for your input.

 

Well I know my ability is higher than his and no way in hell would I attempt to do such a project unless it was just a project car and I had no rush to get it done, and some well qualified help at my beck and call

 

It's more involved than that... the ECM/TCM for the LS4 won't communicate with the 00-05 Monte BCM meaning the car won't start... so you need to swap over the BCM and all over the associated harnesses. Then, the 00-05 cluster won't talk to the new ECM/TCM/BCM so you need to swap the cluster and associated harnesses. In order to get airbags, you need the new SDM and airbags... the new cluster and airbags don't fit the old dash... you get the picture

Someone on NAIOA had the LS4 swapped into his Impala... and they wound up swapping the enitre dash/interior/wiring/etc to get it to sorta work. He still has no air bags and a check engine light so things aren't quite right

To be honest, an L67 swap is far easier and you can get as much (if not more) power from it than the LS4 since the LS4 aftermarket is tiny and the LS4 is no longer produced

BBEngineer