Hey Everyone
 

Hey everyone,My name’s Ryan, I’m from Long Island, NY, and I’m new to the Monte Carlo platform. I recently picked up a 2003 Monte Carlo SS and I’m excited to finally start a build thread and be part of the community.By trade I’m a licensed marine engineer, so I’m very hands-on mechanically and enjoy learning the technical side of things. On the automotive side, I’ve worked on and tuned a variety of platforms — everything from basic bolt-ons and wiring to full tuning using HP Tuners, Hondata, and standalone setups. I enjoy both the mechanical and tuning sides of builds and documenting the process.For the Monte, the plan is to start simple and smart — catch up on maintenance, fix worn components, and do some basic bolt-ons while I sort out the body and cosmetics. Once the chassis and body are in better shape, the goal is to turn things up. I’m currently torn between a Gen V M90 top swap or going turbo, but either way the end goal is a reliable, fun street car that still rips when you get into it.
I also run a small YouTube channel where I document my builds and what I’m learning along the way, so I’ll be sharing the full process of reviving this Monte as it comes together.I’ll be sharing progress, asking questions, and learning as I go. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s builds and being part of the community.
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Welcome!

IMO if turbo is seriously on the table at all, Id skip straight to that. Bang for the buck, ease of install, and future power gains - nothing else can touch it.

Ive just seen a lot of folks head down NA or SC builds a mod at a time as they crave more and more and suddenly end up with turbo money it with a fraction of the power. If budget is a concern, there's lots of ways to reduce cost to get it in budget (used kits have sold down around $1k-1500 or some people buy the piping new and toss an ebay turbo + gate on it).

Not saying top swap isnt a good route too - if youd truly be happy at the power level you get out of it. Its just these days, that isnt much power compared to new performance stuff, so many keep throwing mods at it after that.

Not sure how much youve dug into it, but make sure you consider the transmission as a part of your plans. IMO it's the Achilles heel of these cars and what turns more people to other platforms than anything else. Just hate to see new folks get too far down the mod path with no plan at all here / living on hopes and dreams that the stock transmission stays together.

Looking forward to it! They seem to be getting fewer and farther between the older these cars get / the more folks move to newer platforms.

x2 on the turbo recommendation. These blowers are weak compared to what you can do with a turbo.

Thanks So my plan was to do a build series on the basic bolt on, like a Catback, downpipe, ported lower, hv3, and cold air intake, then tune it my self via hp, and show power gains on the dyno from each modification, then focus on suspension upgrades, and body work, as my cars in pretty rough shape cosmetically. I figured by the time that's all sorted out, it would be around a year and a half away. Then do turbo and supporting mods, ie fuel system, valves and springs, maybe a zzp cam. To show what these motors, are capable when you send it. From all the research I've been doing, it seems like best course of action is find a HD trans, and get it built up a bit from zzp. I also saw some guys on here doing a F40 swap which is peaking my interest a bit. I know for sure the stock 4t65e won't survive very long with any sort of power. So I'm still up in the air on which direction I'm gunna go.thanks for all the input and I'm excited to see some more cool builds on this forum!

yeah from alot of my research so far that's what I've been seeing, but that supercharger whine is so tempting, lol. I'm really not trying to set the world on fire, just trying to have a fun streetable car that I can beat up on lol.

Totally personal opinion, but unless you're making good money off it via social media views or are just trying to document how little power those mods make, Id skip th NA modding for something more worthwhile. Youve easily got the budget for a top swap with all of those items.

For reference, the stock cam FWD NA record is only 193 wheel (and both cars over 190 had ported heads also - one even with raised compression - typical bolt ons setups tend to run even lower). NA 3800s are just exceptionally bad at making power, epecially on the stock cam. As you can imagine from that, the individual mods are generally single digit gains / barely enough to pick up over the run to run noise / variability. Even those couple record holders would struggle to keep up with a stock L67 (similar whp, but way less low end torque).


I know you said you're not looking for huge power, but theres a reason you dont see NA build threads often on the 3800 groups - you usually dont see people coming away happy with the money spent, especially once they go to the boosted side.

TBH "HD" isnt particularly meaningful on these. It isnt the major upgrade you'd think. The only benefit is a "stronger" diff, but A) thats not a typical failure point and B) that can easily be added to a non HD version.

It also can be worse for lower power cars. The HD final drive works out to 2.93, whereas its 3.29 on the standard duty. Couple that with the lower stall converter (if swapping stock for stock to HD) and you end up hurting performance a bit in the process. Of course that doesnt matter once you start talking 400, 500+ whp setups due to traction limitations.

If you end up sticking with the 4t65 route, check out TEP. ZZP carries a few parts, but TEP is really the experts there.

Welcome to the Forum!

I agree with Bumpin on the power discussions. If you want to go turbo or top swap, not worth investing in NA mods that will not be worth while moving forward.
I have a unique setup with a BASIC Novi Paxton CSC. Never expected to add boost at my car and I did a variety of NA mods for fun. I am at 220whp. I want to squeeze this to 250, but not to exceed 300. There is a guy in the Grand Prix world with an AWESOME 3800 car. He chased more power. Built M90, then found a rare Novi setup like mine and took it as fast and hard as he could, getting about 600whp (and on a manual trans from a Cavalier). He could not exceed 7k RPM without shredding the cog belt.... SO... He went turbo to push more power. Not sure where his power is now, but he is done racing and beating the car and chasing more power as he is breaking more stuff (and parts can be a bit hard to find at times).
Here is a link on some of my Novi stuff:
https://montecarloforum.com/forum/en...gration-62814/

No matter what, there is fun to be had with these cars!
Side note, GM Nationals are located in Carlisle, PA during June. Come one out and bring the Monte! :)

Thanks for all the info on the HD, and yeah I'm gunna probably get no where near the craziness of building a NA build just the 3in Catback 3 inch down pipe for better flow when I am boosted, even though I know if I go turbo instead of top swap the downpipe gets replaced. A ported lower ( because I have to do LIM gaskets anyway and might as well be ported if I go turbo. A hv3 just cause I found one dirt cheap, and a intake just cause intake noises make me giggle. The rest are all support mods I'm planning, like the coil packs plugs and wires. Mostly just to have a bit of fun, while I figure out which way I go, also time to address some body work/suspension/braking stuff.

Il definitely check out TEP, id really like to add a 3rd pedal, with the f40 swap, so I gotta research more before I pull any triggers on which way I'm leaning on the trans.

that Novi paxton is such a cool set up, and its crazy looking, personally i love centrifugal blowers, especially on street cars, where you want smoother driving, and before i even purchased my monte i was trying to see if anyone had anything like this! Yeah I'm really still up in the air about which way to throw boost I'm gunna go, but I'm still about 5-6 months out from even hitting that point because I got a ton of body work, and suspension/supporting mods to do before even thinking about sending it. And honestly even in stock form this thing is fun as hell to drive, especially coming from my background of mustangs, I enjoy ripping this thing.

Il definitely make sure to head to Carlise this year! I used to go to the ford nationals when I worked at a mustang tuning and performance shop and always had a blast!