Heaven's no! Waaayy to much time invested doing it the way it is now. Plus I don't have the resources and desire to do the rwd conversion. I would have to pay a shop to do it and it would be an astronomical cost if the project was correctly done and not hobbled together.

But if you want the shops name and point of contact I will give that to you, they are very good at custom one off builds. The current RWD conversion project is just now getting off the ground. Here is a 817 whp fwd Monte they just finished.


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The ssv monte is running split rims now right? His numbers are insane for a fwd.

 

I know huh, Monte SSV's power levels are way up there. It was over 1100 whp but had to be backed down to permit the tranny to survive. Still to have the one off custom tranny live at over 800whp is a feat in and of itself.

Yes the wheels are actually factory OEM 7th gen wheels. They were widened to receive extra wide tires, re-welded with a positive offset and also made in to true bead lock split wheels. The power level is so much he was spinning the wheels while the tires remained planted. Literally spinning the tires away from the wheels, there is that much torque and power. So now when it's track time and running at extremely low air pressure they won't break away from the tires when he puts his foot into it... It will be going to the track this spring in Michigan, can't wait to see how this beast of a Monte performs.

 

That sucks. To have such a powerful V8. And have to back it down beacuse they just dont make FWD trans to live up to that much power. Still, 800 whp is nothing to shake a stick at.

 

I can dig it. Ive only done audio, interior, air charger and SLP exhaust so far. So as far as performance goes, I wanna go big and I wanna b different, and im really stuck on this whole rwd thing. What ive read so far is that Corvette/Camaro/GTO parts are needed, and feel free to correct me where im wrong, and that 8-10 grand is what the price tag might be

 

I understand wanting to be different, that gets to be most all of our attitudes here on the forum. Guess that's why we all come here, answers on how to do the undone.

In so far as the rwd and cost I tend to believe you are easily short by about $20,000 unless you do a lot of the work yourself. As you can see a decent bolt on turbo kit starts at about $4000. And your talking about a whole new built performance engine, tranny, driveline, front / rear suspension, body modifications, wiring, exhaust system, front / rear axles. I bet one would easily lay out $30,000. Perhaps over the course of time you can find deals on parts and gradually acquire them until you are really ready to put both feet into the build. It's either go slow or go big to get there imo. best of luck on your endeavors, it has been done and is still being done.

 

I started factoring in everything that it would take to get my 2000 RWD and I figured I could probably swing by with a 5.3/th400 swap, pretty similar to the one in my 86 for $5000 ish including the rear/suspension/etc. Someday.




Oh, and since it made the rounds on Facebook haha

 

Hey Brock, you I don't doubt could pull off a $5000 swap, there's probably not to much you could not do when you set your mind to it, given your skill levels. And maybe this guy will have the knowledge and the great amount of time to do the required work himself..

Now if someone had to pay a shop to do it I think your entering uncharted territories for the shop and customer. When that happens things have a way of taking on a life of their own and with all the trial and error I can see the time involved starting to add up. And unless they are your good friends your going to pay at least $85 and hour for the work. If they were able to do it in 2 weeks 80 hours thats $85 x 80=$6800 plus taxes and then all the parts and shop supplies. And I bet the shop would take at least 2 months to get the car built and ready for delivery, as most have multiple projects going on and one will not get a whole team of dedicated mechanics.

And the parts shopping list unless your providing everything will be pricey as they will mark up the items too. I was envisioning a nice finished appearing build, not a bunch of rusty parts cobbled together from a junk yard that they send their mechanic out to pull parts for. Something one would take to car shows, not a gold medal winner, but a presentable build. I still stand my ground and feel a paying customer would pay $30,000 if not more for a finished build. One can easily drop $30,000 building their existing fwd Monte car all while leaving it as a fwd.

But then as I said before I could be wrong, as this is still a highly unknown procedure and maybe one could pull off a cost effictive build. I bet they could make money converting peoples fwd Monte's into rwd builds if they could do it for under $10,000, bet people would be lining up.

 

Ok ok. That all makes perfect sense. Being that were essentially combining 2 cars, its smartest to provide everything obviously. Seeing how everything and everyone online talking about the conversion is severely misinformed, where do we stand on which car is the closest in providing what we need. The Vette? The Camaro? GTO? Or are we equally as off in that department too? That being said, the 327 would have to come out because of the transmission change? Or are we keeping that engine?

Next im gonna think about brakes/rotors upgrade cuz Im due for that in the coming months. Anything special there?

 

I personally wouldn't do any of that. Trying to get those parts to bolt in will cause more of a headache in the long run than it is worth.

If you are really serious, pick the engine you want, the trans you want, and the rear that you want.

THIS IS A VERY VERY BASIC LIST
From front to back

You could probably get by with keeping the stock aluminum subframe under the thing and making the mounts for the engine/bracing them extra well being that they are aluminum/etc.

Next, trans tunnel will have to be made for it regardless, so pick the trans ahead of time, get that and the engine mounted and then build the tunnel around it.

The rear would be tricky, but I feel like the best thing to do would be to honestly cut away a HUGE chunk of metalwhere the stock rear subframe/seat/trunk area is, and weld in a 4 link system. If you go this route I would REALLY suggest a 14 cage within the car to brace it all up, and give a very nice rigid system to kind of link that 4 link into.
Given, you could try to get the rear subframe shenanigans out of a c5/GTO, but that IRS has so much wheel hop, I could only imagine what it would be like trying to get it to even come close to hooking in a car like this.

Then you can get a 9 inch shortened for it, get the right brackets/etc. Pick the wheels/tire size you want to go with and build the wheel wells around it.

Everything will have to be custom, so pick the drive train you can afford, and the one you want. Nothing will be the best donor vehicle, IMO.