lose the ugly as sin malibu

 

ok thanks you guys for all your help. i have heard that the stock L67 block is good for 400hp easily but i have been hearing about problems with the crank like eventually crank flex will cause damage to the engine and destroy it. should i use a forged crank and pistons? what about the cam and head gaskets?

 

hey buddy, this is gonna be at least a year long project. I plan on doing body work as well so it will not be ugly but quite retro when it is done..... i don't have time for negative ppl, i am asking for info to use for benefitting my car, not opinions for me to disregard as ignorant.

 

The crank is fine for 400hp. I've done it with a bone stock bottom end as well as many others. Keep your eye on the fuel and the KR and you are good to go.

Forged internals are for when you have the need or desire to do a tear down and major power upgrades.

To launch with 400hp, you will, not maybe but WILL need a race built trans and not by the usual shops. expect to spend at least $2k. Once you hit 300hp at the crank, your pushing the strength of the tranny!!

 

if you are set on a 3800 deal with www.zzperformance.com

Them, along with Stattama have an fwd Grand Prix running 8.60's @ 155+
using a stock 3800 shortblock making 700+ fwhp

 

ok this is gonna sound silly but what is KR? as for the rest of the info.....i can't thank you guys enough! you guys give the newbes like me the inspiration to go out and accomplish good things and learn loads of stuff we didn't know before......thanks for all the advice, i can't wait to get started. super cars are made when greatness is thrust upon them.........

 

Google.com is your friend...

 

KR is knock retard. From the 2 pages I have read on here, I think you should just buy a car that already has 400hp. It doesn't sound like you are up to the task. I'm not trying to be rude, but it doesn't seem like you have a good grasp on what is going to have to happen to get this done.

 

True Dat! i was going to suggest something like a Monte SS - they have 5.3L v8's in them and mod from there. Upgrading the v6 even to S/C3800 will take considerable $ and knowledge of wiring, computers and tuning- so may cars are torn down with high aspirations of doing wild mods and end up in scrap heap, sold disassembled and useless. My 69 firebird clone is so far off I wonder if I'll ever get it done- still waiting for my bodyman to finish and paint it 3+ yrs and waiting. On pro-touring.com there is a guy that is pro-touring a Chevette- yes a Chevette- he's wanting to install a ecotec turbo - last I saw it was torn down - now time to build chassis and build it - I have'nt been looking there for last couple months - but I wonder if that car will ever roll under its own power - lots of people watching as its a pretty cool idea just takes SOOOOOOO much time to actually do that type of build- and do it right. good luck with your plans maybe we are negative and unsupporting but maybe we saved you tons of trouble too

 

That's exactly my thoughts. I have a camaro project that I purchased in 2003 and has been sitting in the exact same position since. I had high hopes for it and now its for sale. I now have my sights set on my GP project and it hasn't even started yet and am wondering if I can get it done. It's somewhat depressing thinking of it actually.

The end all and be all is that no matter what way you go, never do it on a "strict" budget or you will fail everytime. Stick with your original plan and finish the project. then start modding again after its complete and you've had seat time to say its not enough or "i wish i had done that" attitude. I've made that mistake and it's bitten me badly and now I have to get out of my hole i'm in.

 

well, i have a question then....how do ppl get smarter or better at something? they had to learn about the subject and then become involved. It's a learning process and i am willing to learn/discover what will work and what won't since i love cars but am new to modding. Champions are made, not born.......genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration

 

I guess what you want to do is build some kind of a sleeper car? something unexpecting that people wouldnt second guess? and it sounds like you want to stick wtih a 4 door....

Have a look into the following cars before you commit to a project with you malibu...

The following were available with a supercharged 3800
Buick Regal GS 97 up models
Oldsmobile Regency mid-late 90s models
Oldsmobile LSS late 90s
Bonneville SSEi early90s up

You might not fool a "trained eye/ear" with the above cars, but typically your general population wouldnt even think twice about the above mentioned vehicles....Would be a better starting point? Since the motor is already in the car? then spend some money on modifying it?

 

[QUOTE=magic;10393836]
The following were available with a supercharged 3800
Buick Regal GS early 90's up models
Oldsmobile Regency mid-late 90s models
Oldsmobile LSS late 90s
Bonneville SSEi early90s up
QUOTE]


Fixed. Early 90's came S/C with the unpopular series 1 3800 cars. they are few and far between but they are out there!!

 

I personally have worked with my brother and my friend on their cars before i got mine. My brother has an 83 hurst olds and my friend has a 68 camaro that has alot done to it. I bought my car with the cam and full boltons on it for next to nothing...I mean if I want a bigger cam, we could put it in, but it is alot of work. Doing a motor swap and a wiring harness swap or splice the first time working on a car is not a good way to start unless you have great friends that know what they are doing..by that I mean actually work on their cars not just read on the internet. You can look at pictures and read books on this **** and still not be able to do it, just because of your experience. Good luck with the project sounds pretty interesting. I am not trying to knock anyones experience here...i for one do not have much.

 

hey anything is possible as long as your prepared to put in the time,money and effort and know that things like this never go exactly to plan, trust me on that, and this can be done i think people are just saying there are easier platforms the can provide what you want with less effort but i like to go against the grain myself as far as my buget will take me

 

I say go for it, 3800 Series II w/ an SC. fullthrottleV6.com

 

good luck with that then

I hope you're getting external dimensions before you go any further on any of this

and as for my opinion being ignorant ... that's more ignorant isn't it? ... you say your entitled to yours but I am not? ... tisk tisk

 

As many people have posted here, buy a better platform to start with. From the way you are posting, you are not an experienced drag racer or car modifier - start with a platform that lends itself to drag racing and learn the basics of racing and car modifying, do simple projects, and step it up a bit at a time. When you have some major fabrication skills and some years of experience, then come back to this radical project - it will still be an extreme challenge, but at least you'll have the tools, knowledge, and skills to make it a realistic goal.

Get yourself a nice F-body or Mustang. Get out to the track, talk to the guys there, the guys racing, and see how they did it, what parts they suggest. Use the money from the sale of your current car to start with the basic bolt ons and get going.

This is from a person who has been down that road before. I've owned 13 2nd Gen Probe GTs (1993-1997). I've sunk more money into them than I'd like to think about - I totalled up my bills for one build once and stopped at $10,000. Built motors and transmissions aren't cheap, and I was buying them sometimes two at at time because they broke so often. I finally came to the conclusion that racing and building front wheel drive cars is stupid, no matter how much I loved that body style and it's on-rails handling. They just break parts left and right and get zero traction. I decided that maybe a LS1/T56 swap was in order.

And then I realized, pouring all this money into an old chassis is stupid. What was I going to do, tear it down to the frame, build a custom rear crossmember to support the rear axle, a custom front crossmember and mounts, transmission crossmember, exhaust, driveshaft, complete wiring, and god knows what else? I mind as well rebuild myself a damn new car at that point? I bought a Cobra and I've put maybe $5000 in it so far. And I've been happier on the street, faster at the dragstrip, and way faster around the local road courses than even my most race-purpose Probe.

There's a saying you can't polish a turd no matter how hard you try, it's true. Probes are turds and FWD Malibu's are too. Your project is going to do nothing but depress you, leave you in debt, and eventually get sold. The only people with the time, talent, tools, space, and money to complete projects like that don't post on the internet how do I ...., they bust out the cutter and the welder and they go at it and the first post they make is look what I did and pictures of the completed build.

Go take a look at Civette's thread. Do you even own a welder? Do you really think you have the skills to undertake that kind of project? Be honest and realistic with your goals.