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W-Body help

N

naminator

SE Level Member
So I am looking for a W-body car (not limited to Grand Prix's). I have looked for Regals, Bonnevilles, Aurora's and Impalas. Everything in my neck of the woods is either:

A) A rust bucket
B) Trashed and off the road
C) Not an L67

I found an SSEI for 2500$ with only 147K KM on the clock.That was sold the same day I found it. I looked at an Impala but they wanted 3K and the thing was off the road, hail damaged and had some rust. A fair number of the GTP's for sale are 200K plus on the engines and they want 3 grand or more for the car.

So my question is this. If I purchase a car with an L36 and put some mild power adders on the car, either a top swap or a turbo kit and had it tuned well (several tuners in Calgary) would I have a fun daily driver? I figured if I bought for example, a Regal LS with the L36, built a cheap turbo kit for it, had it tuned and ran the car for a year or two then swapped the L36 for an L67 would that be better? I can find much cheaper lower mileage L36 cars than L67 powered vehicles.


For example there is a 1999 Green Buick Regal LS with 87,000KM on the clock, with full leather interior for only $1250.
 


Well I have learned something new today. Maybe I was thinking about interchangeable power plants. Honestly my search has been pointed at 4 door, L67 powered vehicles which the SSEI is. But as you can tell I am new to this.
 
It depends as to what you consider a fun daily driver.

The question is, "What are you looking for in the car?" What you think is a fun daily driver for you might not be the same as a fun daily driver for other people. What is your budget? Also depending on the miles you better plan on replacing the transmission with a refreshed or rebuilt unit.
 
I want something with more oomph than what I have. I currently drive a 2011 Honda Civic EX-L. Supposedly it does the quarter mile around 17 seconds. It used to be great because I was doing short in city driving in a small town. Occasionally I would get on the high way and it was good for that too.

However since I have moved to Calgary with several 100-110km/h highways, lots of aggressive traffic I want the power to over take others. I plan on upgrading the brakes first and foremost. Then I am going to stiffen the suspension a bit, better tires/rims ect. I am going to basically do a stage zero on the car then some moderate handling upgrades.

I would like to be in the 13-14 second quarter mile area. This is going to be a daily driven commuter vehicle for me. Maybe some time down the road I will top swap/turbo the L36 but not really sure if that is the best route or if I should just drive the thing till the engine goes then put in an L67.

I currently have 3500$ to spend on the vehicle. That is for Stage Zero and the car plus inspections (about 300$ for inspection and registration) and any vehicle I purchase I will have a pre-sale inspection done on it. Being in the salt belt, I will be getting the car rust proofed the second it is mine. Power adders, improved brakes/suspension will come after.

As for the transmission, I have to problem getting a rebuild done, but ideally I would purchase a re-enforced HD transmission and have installed in the car with an L67 (or if the transmission goes prematurely). I know about the issues with 4th gear and how these transmissions can have issues so that's something I am going to be testing during the test drive.


I have no idea what I would need to spend to get to the 13/14 second quarter mile.
 
I would suggest getting an l36 and doing a topswap on it. With your power goals you probably would come out cheaper going the m90 route than a turbo. Also note that the top swap would allow you to put fresh gaskets and clean out anything left from the previous owner.

Others will chime in on what you need exactly for your power goals, but if you can reach them without a cam or intercooler than the m90 should be the more reliable option.
 


I like the idea of a top swap because if I ever do go the L67 route I would have a freshly serviced M90 to slap on the L67 plus all the other little bits and pieces that would have been refreshed.

I appreciate the feedback. I want to avoid replacing the cam right away. I don't need an 11 second car or nothing, I just want something with a bit more oomph while merging and moving around traffic. I frequently find myself following somebody 10-20 below the speed limit and do not feel comfortable jamming the accelerator to get around that traffic because of other vehicles.

Safety is a big concern as well. My Civic is pretty small compared to a lot of the vehicles on the road and having a slightly bigger vehicle would make me feel more comfortable.
 
Keep in mind that in town driving the 3800 will be much thirstier than your civic. I would suggest you start off with an l67 powered vehicle. Why do a top swap when it can already come with a blower. Except for changing the coupler in the nose drive the M90 rarely needs maintenance. Why spend more money later when you can attain your power goals on an l67 with a tune up, headers, 3.4"/3.5" pulley, and a tune. Then you are done!

Also in the sense of handling get ready to be dissapointed. The G/H body cars handle like yachts and there is very little after market support to make them handle better. The w body cars have decent after market for handling upgrades but it is going to cost you a pretty penny. Just remember that before 2009 GM's idea of a factory sport suspension is kind of a joke.

Also there is barely a difference between an HD transmission and a non HD unit. Most of the changes are in the differential. Other than that and gear ratio there ain't much difference.
 
G/H was an option someone floated on the regalgs forum. The problem is finding a reasonably price L67 powered car thats actually in good shape. As an example I found a reval with about 60k miles on it for 1250$ but then an l67 impala ss with hail damage, rust and 145k miles is 3000$ and i cant even test drive it.
 
L67 car in decent shape is the ideal option, but not currently available. Topswapping the L36 would replace the head gasket, and also the LIM which would be my biggest concerns with a used 3800. The entire top end would be fresh, and thus more reliable.
 
So whats the recommendation? Get a L67 that has 150'000 miles, or get a L36 with 100,000 or less.

Honestly ever car I find has issues. Be it brake issues, rust, cosmetic or transmission. Engines all appear to be running fine. Regardless I would want to replace the headgasket right away.



OR a third option is purchasing a clean L36 powered car, slowly build up the handling, interior exterior ect. Then swap the engine for a L67.
 
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naminator said:
So whats the recommendation? Get a L67 that has 150'000 miles, or get a L36 with 100,000 or less.

Honestly ever car I find has issues. Be it brake issues, rust, cosmetic or transmission. Engines all appear to be running fine. Regardless I would want to replace the headgasket right away.



OR a third option is purchasing a clean L36 powered car, slowly build up the handling, interior exterior ect. Then swap the engine for a L67.
Click to expand...

You mean LIM gaket, the headgaskets on these car never go. I would say save yourself some grief and get a L67 from the get go. The NA powered car will be barely faster than your slow civic so no advantage there. Then you have to spend another $400 to $600 on all the top swap components (heads, blower, fuel rail & injectors, pulleys, etc). Then you have to figure out some wiring as the l67 has some extra sensors that the N/A version doesn't have (also fuel pump as the l67 powered cars have a two speed pump $160). Then you need to either pay someone to tune or buy a tuner and tune it yourself ($260). Also gaskets when you do the top swap will be at least another $100. Then after all that work you will have a car that you would have started out with by simply buying a car with an L67 from day one.

Consider driving out farther to get a car with a better body. I live in New York City and no way in hell would I ever buy a car local to me. Most of the cars my friends and I have bought have come from at least 2.5 hours away. My car is a two owner car first bought in North Carolina, then North Jersey, and now NYC. After the amount of damage and wear and tear my car has received in these last 4 years i've owned it if I was a local looking at it to buy I would never even consider it. I think you should start looking at cars about a 2 to 3 hour drive away to find bodies in better shape.
 
I have been looking. Problem I am running into is the l67 cars have 160k+ miles on them. At that point I am worried about how tired the engine/trans might be. Thats all I need is to drive for 3 hours to look at a vehicle with a messed up transmission or even worse I buy a vehicle and dont make it the 3 hours home.

The higher mileage l67s are also more expensive than l36 offerings. On average I am looking at 1-2k more for a l67 with higher mileage. Thats why I was curious about an engine swap.
 
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Just keep looking. I bought my 01 gt with 49k miles for 4300$ cash. Little to no rush and its in the ND/MN region. I just bought my 08 g6 for 6300 with 89k miles with almost no rust. You search craigslist enough, you will find a good one. Dont just look at you local craigslist, you may have to drive 3+ hours to get a car, but if its good, then buy it. I drove 3 hours to get my g6 i got it for trade in value. I drove a hour for my gp, and looked for months for both of them. Its a matter of getting lucky, and knowledge.
 


Here is a different question. If I where to find a car with a decent body/interior but with 160k plus miles on the engine and trans, with proper maitrnance and without romping on it too hard what sort of life should I be looking at (I wont hold you too it).
 
I've got 160,000 on my 4t60. Still shifts nice and smooth. I would assume that a 4t65 would last even longer.

Still though. L36 vs L67, body condition would trump either.
 
Living in the Salt Belt a lot of cars are rotten. I have a couple L36 Regals I am going to look at. I would rather have a lower mileage body with a swapped in engine then a high mileage body with a high mileage L67.
 
I hit 163,000 the other day and still shifts smooth and runs flawlessly. and there is absolutely no rust besides one tiny surface rust spot by the door of witch you cant see.
 
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