Top swap
 

I need the experts here advice,
what do I shop for?
what car or version of 3800 am I looking for to get SC ?
the 98 that shop said wouldn't work others have said should have worked.
If I am not going to be doing it myself, should I consider the SC kit on ZZ performance ?

I was looking at kits, zzperformance has a SC kit for just under $1800, install would likely be around 1000, found this turbo kit but it is over 3K before install 3800 Performance

I have not done a top swap with a 3800, I've read about it a bunch. I know all questions about top swapping have been brought up on this site before, so I am sure there are some old threads that answer all those questions.

One observation that was brought up on one of the last ones I read was is it worth the cost of a top swap kit or sourcing the parts vs swap the entire engine? These days the L67 engines are pretty easy to get hands on. Could probably pick one up fairly cheap and swap it in. Might be cheaper/easier then top swapping.

Just food for thought.

thanks again fir your advise
I decided to stay with my paid 03 and trying to do some improvements vs going into debt for the 07
some racers prefer the v6

Go with ZZP's budget turbo at that cost: Z3 Turbo Kit

I wouldn't look into their SC kit at all. It's a very proprietary kit that is tougher to upgrade. A real top swap is your best bet for cheap power, for consistent power I would do that turbo build.

It's also very easy to put in, and easy to upgrade later for more parts.

I was looking at that Z3 turbo kit, the inter cooler is listed like a add on, Should I save up and by it all at once or can it be added later?
What does it mean in down pipe options 200 cell cat 2.5" or no cat 2.5" ?
Thanks for your input

The supercharged 3800, (code L67) came in alot of cars, if you're still looking for that heres a list of what they were in.

04-05 certain impala/monte carlo
98-04 Buick Regal GS
95-06 Buick Park Avenue Ultra
96-03 Pontiac Bonneville SSEI
97-03 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP

To answer your other question, downpipes come in various sizes and with or without catalytic converters (cat). If you have any sort of emissions inspection where you live, you'll have to have a cat, otherwise its up to you. 2.5" would refer to the diameter. If you're going turbo, just make sure the downpipeis for a turbo setup, if its part of a turbo kit then you should be fine.

Thanks,
I thought it was referring to catalytic ..... lucky me in MT there are no emission inspections so that could save me some money. :)

What is your whp goal here?

Let me start with this, DON'T buy the zzp ssm90 kit! It's overpriced and very hard to mod further.

With that out of the way you can either top swap your engine with needed components from a donor vehicle and then tune it, from there you can add headers (do headers instead of just a downpipe, well worth the few extra bucks) Fender well intake, 1.9 rockers or cam, intercooler, etc.

Or go turbo..... you can get a used turbo kit for around $2,000 if not cheaper and that's including the intercooler. Personally I feel this is the best bang for the buck. There is no engine tear down to install a turbo kit, and the power potential is way higher than a supercharged one would be. Now, I would suggest not going with the z3 kit, it's a nice starter kit but most if not all parts do not interchange with upgraded parts similar to the ssm90 issues. Now if you go with the z7 kit them parts can interchange with the Stattama kit (Stattama kit is one of the best) cartuning performance also makes a kit and they compare to the z7 kit but no parts are interchangeable with this kit either. Positive side to the cartuning kit is they make upgraded parts for there kit that's able to be requested, the z3 kit does not have this option.

Intercoolers....... yes, intercooler it if going turbo period. If you want to save money you can buy a intercooler core, piping, clamps etc and make your own intercooler kit for way cheaper than adding it to the kit price but that's up to you if you wanna fab it up or just mount it and go.

Last thing I forgot to mention, plan on having 2500-3000 for a street/strip trans build from Dave at triple edge performance if you plan to make 300whp+

A basic top swap won't get you that much power but will still stress the trans and if it's high mileage there could still be issues there. Now the cartuning, z7, Stattama intercooled turbo kits will put you around 300whp just bolting the kit on alone.