Impala motor swap?

[spankthaspeedbump]

Ok so I have seen many different forums about supercharging impalas with the 3800 series 2 motor, I currently own an 01 impala Ls and was thinking about buying the SS until I found out I will soon have a son, so what I was wondering is weather or not i can take an 01 SS motor out of a junk yard and put it in my LS as my transmission is going for the second time anyways...(I drive hard) I know I need to get the wiring harness and the computer also, but as far as the motor swap is it possible and will it work? I want all the fun of an SS but with the insurance of my LS. please if anyone can tell me pretty much exactly what to do I would greatly appreciate it.


Sincerely,
Impala racer.

[maxwedge]

Welcome to AF. Unless you now have a 3.8, you will need the subframe also, the trans is different on the SC version as is the lt axle I believe, the pcm and harness most likely also. Doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

[wafrederick]

Thgat is lot of work to do and the cheaper way is to buy another car.The Impalas go crazy in the auctions in my area,my father sees this in the dealer auctions,he is an used car dealer and are easy to sell.The last year for the 3.8 was 2004.It was replaced with a 3.5 which gets better MPGs than the 3.8.My father has seen this,2005s and 2006s have a 3.9 or a 3.5 now

[sarotara]

Originally Posted by spankthaspeedbump

Ok so I have seen many different forums about supercharging impalas with the 3800 series 2 motor, I currently own an 01 impala Ls and was thinking about buying the SS until I found out I will soon have a son, so what I was wondering is weather or not i can take an 01 SS motor out of a junk yard and put it in my LS as my transmission is going for the second time anyways...(I drive hard) I know I need to get the wiring harness and the computer also, but as far as the motor swap is it possible and will it work? I want all the fun of an SS but with the insurance of my LS. please if anyone can tell me pretty much exactly what to do I would greatly appreciate it.


Sincerely,
Impala racer.

Yes, it is possible to do a motor swap from a 3.8 NA (L36) to a 3.8 SC (L67). This is called a L67 top swap. You will need the lower and upper intake manifolds from an L67 engine, the supercharger, the passenger-side axle, a PCM and BCM from the supercharged car, the wiring harness, possibly a 4T65E-HD transmission, and a lot of tools and mechanical knowledge. There are a lot of forums dedicated to doing L67 top swaps and they all have instructions on how to do this. Try www.naioa.com or www.3800pro.com. It's not something that you should get into unless you know what you're doing or unless you know someone that has done this before and you're willing to pay them to do it.

[spankthaspeedbump]

I do have the 3800 series II motor, is this the easiest way to have the supercharged 3800 motor in my non supercharged impala LS? just to do a full motor and tranny swap out of an SS? im talking about going to the junk yard, and pulling a full supercharged motor and trany as one unit out of an 01 impala SS, and putting it in my 01 impala LS. is this possible and will it be the easiest, best and, cheapest way to do it?

so here is my biggest problem i have learned alot about cars from my father who can fix anything on a car, but i have only learned so much, and as he is going back to iraq to searve our country for another year so it is hard to have him help me with my prodject, much less have him do it with me.

anyone that understands what im talking about and trying to do, please, let me know your thoughts on it.


sincerely,
Impala racer.

[maxwedge]

How about the pistons and lower end in the std 3800 not built to take SC boost? The SC engine has a lot of internal upgrades for better reliablity.

[sarotara]

Originally Posted by maxwedge

How about the pistons and lower end in the std 3800 not built to take SC boost? The SC engine has a lot of internal upgrades for better reliablity.

Actually, from what I've heard the best combination is an L36 lower and an L67 upper. By the way, I've found a nice link on how to put an M90 Eaton supercharger on an L36 engine (includes a description of the L36 upper to L67 upper swap). Also has references to the L32 engine.

http://www.lynoise.com/?ce=1157

[wafrederick]

Another thing with the supercharged 3800,run with premium gasoline only.It is made to run this grade gas and it says in the owner's manual

[sarotara]

Yeah, the premium gas... with today's gas prices. Also, don't forget that increasing the horsepower through most mods will usually lower your fuel economy.

[HeMi101]

Just want to add, It's probably easier (and possibly cheaper) to just get a custom tuned PCM so you don't have to replace your BCM and Radio (If you have a stock one), and then you get better Use of the new power with a custom tune.