LS1 into a Grand Am???
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 230
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From: Germantown, Maryland
LS1 into a Grand Am??? I have a 2000 Grand Am SE and i was wondering if there is anyway i could sink an LSx into it? I know there are some rwd coversion kits but i dunno how everything would work in a j-body. My 6th try at getting an f-body has fallen through 
so i think i'm gonna give up and look elsewhere. I guess the car is just not meant for me, but i know the engine is. Does this sound like a decent base? I love the car and would love to make it a hybrid. I'm not worried about price. Thanks for the future input and criticism is welcome! It might make me make sense of something horrible.
Martin
2000 Grand Am SE
1992 Eagle Talon AWD Turbo
so i think i'm gonna give up and look elsewhere. I guess the car is just not meant for me, but i know the engine is. Does this sound like a decent base? I love the car and would love to make it a hybrid. I'm not worried about price. Thanks for the future input and criticism is welcome! It might make me make sense of something horrible.Martin
2000 Grand Am SE
1992 Eagle Talon AWD Turbo
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 230
Likes: 0
From: Germantown, Maryland
i cant get financing cuz i have no credit. Personally i'd rather finance a car than buy it outright cuz i want to build my credit, but im not too worried bout it anymore. I think i want to make something rare.
I used to run a Grand Am club years ago.
It absolutely, 100% will fit. I think it'd make for a pretty nice setup, though not any faster then a stock F-body (weight).
You would need a whole new front crossmember, new firewall, new center tunnel and new rear suspension and rear end. Possibly a fuel cell for the gas tank as well.
To do it right, if you could do it all yourself, expect 8-10K dollars. Taking it to a shop, expect at least twice that. I've got ~15K dollars in my RX7 swap, and it was RWD, and has off the shelf conversion kits for the LSx and I did all the work and fabrication myself. All of it.
Still wanna do it?
It absolutely, 100% will fit. I think it'd make for a pretty nice setup, though not any faster then a stock F-body (weight).
You would need a whole new front crossmember, new firewall, new center tunnel and new rear suspension and rear end. Possibly a fuel cell for the gas tank as well.
To do it right, if you could do it all yourself, expect 8-10K dollars. Taking it to a shop, expect at least twice that. I've got ~15K dollars in my RX7 swap, and it was RWD, and has off the shelf conversion kits for the LSx and I did all the work and fabrication myself. All of it.
Still wanna do it?
Originally Posted by KissMyDSM92
i cant get financing cuz i have no credit. Personally i'd rather finance a car than buy it outright cuz i want to build my credit, but im not too worried bout it anymore. I think i want to make something rare.
Launching!
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 278
Likes: 3
From: VT
I dont know what your price range is but there are plenty of LT1 cars both camaro and firebird that can be had much cheaper than fabricating something impractical at an exorbidant amount of money that will probably only have limited use and with a chasis that was never engineered for such.
Dude just build some credit and be patient there are plenty of good f bodies out there. Personally I would just pay for a car that does what I want it to do than re-engineer a car and hope I dont run out of money or loose interest in the project before its done.
Dude just build some credit and be patient there are plenty of good f bodies out there. Personally I would just pay for a car that does what I want it to do than re-engineer a car and hope I dont run out of money or loose interest in the project before its done.
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i say go for it , being different isnt cheap but when its done its worth it,
also for your searching help a 2000 grand am is a "N" body not J- body. j-body is a sunfire/cavalier chassis
also for your searching help a 2000 grand am is a "N" body not J- body. j-body is a sunfire/cavalier chassis
There's currently a guy on here installing a LS1 into a Beretta. So I don't see why it would not work. If you can afford to do it, I say go for it. And you can use a credit card (that you pay off every month) to build your credit as you build this up. You get your car and establish some credit. Good luck.
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 230
Likes: 0
From: Germantown, Maryland
Thank you everyone for your posts! I'll have to think about my options. I still have my Talon and the grand am will probably hang around waiting for me to do something with it. Thank you for clarifying the "N" body for me, no wonder i couldn't find parts for it when i was searching j-body. The small credit card is a good idea but I have trouble getting good interest rates on it. I guess if i charge a lil bit then pay it off every month it would be fine cuz there would be no interest. I just remember watching the funny car grand ams and cavi's a few years back and i always wanted to do that with my car. Even if they restructure everything and build diff chassis n stuff. Thanks for the info and i'll start researching what i can do about the car.
P.S. the rear cavi GTO quote is hilarious
P.S. the rear cavi GTO quote is hilarious
My brother has the same car man. Were just going to do a custom setup with a turbo on it! If you have the proper equipment and know how it will only cost 600 bucks or so. The import world prices have taken a drastic drop due to the fast and furious getting old now. If youd like to do that go to www.turbo-sunfire.com it will get ya started.
Originally Posted by KissMyDSM92
wow what a sleeper, thanks for the site man! you know whos car that is by any chance?
I have always wished my GP was a RWD and had a manual trans.Tht guy is going to have a great car
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 230
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From: Germantown, Maryland
Originally Posted by LS144
My brother has the same car man. Were just going to do a custom setup with a turbo on it! If you have the proper equipment and know how it will only cost 600 bucks or so. The import world prices have taken a drastic drop due to the fast and furious getting old now. If youd like to do that go to www.turbo-sunfire.com it will get ya started.
He has the 2.2 ecotec with an auto tranny. I wish it was 5 speed but unfortunately its not. But it will still be cool and something different. Plus it will be funny when he puts down mustang gts crying.
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 230
Likes: 0
From: Germantown, Maryland
on www.gaownersclub.com they have a Sticky tab of how to convert the auto 2.2l to manual. If you might be interested that would be sweet. Maybe i should purchase the 2.2l ecotec and have it installed into my GA.