I have a 1997 LeSabre that recently came to me and I love it! It has the stock 3.8L V-6 and automatic transmission w/ overdrive. It's got pretty good pick-up on the highway, but I'm curious about dropping a new big motor into it; turn it into a "wolf in sheeps clothing" type of car. Any suggestions? Is a 455 a good idea? Where would I find a good one? Any help appreciated. Thanks
jwood: How does tube chassis sound. You can't (never say can't) put a 455 in that FWD vehicle. You would have an engineering marvel doing so. Stick with the 3.8, soup it up, and make a sleeper out of it. Go over to www.turbobuick.com and check out all of their threads on souping up a 3.8 FWD. Good luck.
When GM built that prototype Grand Prix and also I think a rear drive Monte, They had to radically alter the floor pan. Actually I think they cut most of it out and spliced in another from a rear drive model, probably S-10 or something. Go for mods on the 3.8. They can really scream! I had a 99 GTP Grand Prix (supercharged), that I got into the 13's with almost no problem or huge cash outlay at all. If you are really serious, you could make that thing fly! Brian
While on the surface, yeah, I think it's a great idea, but realistically, the car will never get an inspection sticker- it will never pass emissions testing and the only place you could drive it would be the track. To make it legal, you'd have to put emissions equipment on it, and then it would have to pass the tests. I'm not sure of your state's laws, but it maight even be illegal to put an engine in a car that is older than the car's model year where you are. In any case, the car would have to pass emissions and safety tests for the car's year. The motor mounts could even be cause to fail the car for safety since they wouldn't be factory, and how about the driveshaft? You might have to put in a different one, and that might be a no-no, too. I think the hassle of making the car legal is too much of a task to seriously consider.
Possible? maybe. Useful? no. The biggest problem is there is no front wheel drive tranny that will hold up to the torque of the 455. There are plenty of mods you can do to the 3.8 to add some hp. (bigger rocker arms, bigger throttle body, headers) The grand prix GT is just about the same power train. Spend some time at: http://www.clubgp.com/newforum/tt.asp?appid=18 If you still need even more power, the supercharged 3.8 is the way to go. With some pretty simple mods, it's pretty easy to get to 300hp. With a pile of money, 400+ hp is easily in reach. You would have to change the engine and tranny and PCM. But, it all should pretty much drop in. Worked for me: http://64.32.210.122/Cars/TType/Swap/index.html
Actually there is, the TH-425 (i think that's what it's called) that the old Toronados and Eldorados used. If it could withstand over 500 ft-lbs of torque in a 5000 lbs Caddy, it should handle a Buick in a midsize Lesabre. Then again, it would probably be just as hard to fit in there as the 455 would.
If you are going for a motor swap, just drop an L67 from a Regal GS or Pontiac GTP in there. I amhave about 320Hp at the crank in my little Regal with simple bolt ons. If you want to mod your motor, you might want to check www.zzperformance.com and look in their L36 section. They have a CSC kit that would be much cheaper than a big block swap. As for the Eldo tranny, I highly doubt it would fit. Us Regal and GTP people were looking at the Current Northstar tranny(forgot the designation, 4L80 I think), and that would not fit with the small 3.8 liter motor, much the less a 455. If you want a 455, put it in something that already has the room and is driving the right end of the car.
