Hey guys, Sean here, just a quick question about supercharging my Bonny, just recently bought a 2000, and I wanted to upgrade it and charge it. Found one at feezels (local junkyard in enon valley) for 125 dollars, and a MAF and an ECU and a few other parts, but one of my buddies who is pretty car savy said not to do it because I have the stock pistons and stock bearing and axels... He said they are weak and that it's not worth building it, putting in new pistons and everything else.. Usually when he gives me hints and tips he's right but right now I feel like he's blowin smoke up my ass.. I feel like he's right at the same time cuz he just finished building a Nissan 240 from the ground up, but I thought I'd ask everyone here just to be sure... Please help!?

the first thing everyone here will say is if you want to supercharge your bonneville that you need to find a whole motor instead of doing a top swap, for some of the very reasons your buddy mentioned

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LUCAS Member # 534.
96 olds cutlass supreme SL 4 door 3100 4t60 *3.33 gears* *Fe1* 115K bone stock DD

It has been proven multiple times that if you do it right, an L36 will happily gobble up boost.

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-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

Lots of great info in this thread: post261005.html

In a nutshell: Best Choice: Buy an SSEi
2nd Best: Swap in an L67 (3800 S/C Motor) and the -HD trans, or at least the -HD Diff and passenger side axle
3rd Best: Swap in just an L67
Worst: Swap S/C Heads, intake, S/C and the rest onto your stock motor.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

There is nothing wrong with a properly done top swap, I don't know why so many here make it seem so horrible.

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Ryan

2003 Bonneville SSEi - The Black Mirror SOLD!
2002 Bonneville SE - The Mutt Complete 2004 SLE interior, drivetrain, and body harness swap, ECC swap, HUD swap, black GXP wheels, GXP headlights and tinted tails - SOLD
2003 BMW 540i M Sport, 2001 BMW X5 4.4i, 2010 GMC Acadia, 2017 Grand Design Imagine 3150BH
1982 Cutlass Supreme - The fun one

So is it a goo idea just to buy the parts and slap one on there or should I do a whole motor tyranny swap and replace bearing and spend a bunch of money I don't have??

You can do a top swap, but it really is every bit as much if not more work then a complete engine swap. With the top swap you have to change the heads, intake, add the supercharger, different harmonic balancer, as well as some other stuff. If a complete engine is available to you and you have the tools to do a complete engine swap for the same price I would do that just because of the amount of work involved, but if you can get a complete top swap setup for cheap enough then there is no harm in doing so.

Your transmission will hold up fine, but the differential will be the weak point, as long as you don't do any burnouts with the wheels turned and try to keep burnouts in general to a minimum the stock differential will hold up fine.

Not sure if you are referring to the wheel bearings or the rod / main bearings in the engine, but either way they will be plenty fine for adding a supercharger.

If you decide to do a top swap just make sure you have a scanner that can look for KR.

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Ryan

2003 Bonneville SSEi - The Black Mirror SOLD!
2002 Bonneville SE - The Mutt Complete 2004 SLE interior, drivetrain, and body harness swap, ECC swap, HUD swap, black GXP wheels, GXP headlights and tinted tails - SOLD
2003 BMW 540i M Sport, 2001 BMW X5 4.4i, 2010 GMC Acadia, 2017 Grand Design Imagine 3150BH
1982 Cutlass Supreme - The fun one

If this is "money you don't have" then save it, enjoy running regular gasoline and getting great gas-mileage.

It's not a simple matter of "slapping the supercharger on there". You need everything from the heads-up, and you'll have to tear everything including the heads of the engine, as well as swapping on the S/C Harmonic Balancer and the additional idlers to run the S/C. Then you get to add the wires needed to the harness, and have someone tune it so it doesn't blow up.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

Plus the extra compression and shorter gearing will have you eating stock and even mildly modded L67 cars.

I would recommend running headers on your car with a topswap. Otherwise be super gentle till you can get some.

ZZP charges standard rates for a pretty good topswap tune. People on other 3800 forums have sold topswaps for 250 bucks or so. There's a whole write up on how to do it too. Step by step.

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-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

It's not a deathly sin...

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Will
88 Cutlass Ciera Brougham International | 120k mi | White w/ Dk Claret Int. | Roller to be S2 L67/4T65E-HD | 1 of ~5100 3.8 FE3 Int'l series
91 Riviera | S2 L67 Swap/4T60E | 127K mi | Antelope Met. w/ Tan Int. | Saved From Death By Crusher
92 Bonneville SSE | L67/4T60E | 77K mi | Med Slate Grey w/ Two-Tone Grey Int. | Low Miles Time Capsule
92 Lumina Z34 | LQ1/4T60E | 177k mi | Torch Red w/Grey Int. | Rusty In Odd Spots
99 Tahoe LT | L31/4L65E | 276k mi | Spiral Grey Metallic w/Grey Int. | Truck for Truck Things and Portable Concert Hall
03 Park Avenue Ultra | 212K mi | White Diamond Met. w/ Shale Int. | Southern Time Capsule
05 Acura RL | 155K mi | Carbon Grey Pearl w/Ebony Int. | The Super-Hooptie Daily

Wow guys! I couldn't appreciate it more! That's for all the help! If I do it them it'll probably be around spring time, so il get back to everyone and let you all know how things go down if I decide to do a straight swap, or piece and part it together. But couple more questions.. I've been wondering.. What car would I be able to piece from to do a 5-speed swap if that's even possible... I hate the automatic feature... I know I'll need a lot more than just the tranny piece but is there a car that I can make a donor that would work for my 2000 Bonny? I doubt there is but I'm just curious. And last thing... On my gage cluster.. My oil pressure level is like at 120psi... I know that's almost impossible for a bone stock Bonny.. Because 40-60 is pretty much the average lever or close to it... What could be causing this... Because it could be below what it's supposed to be and I would never know because once I start the car it'll bounce back and fourth then shoot to 120psi...

Oil pressure sensor is pegged
Problem: Your oil pressure gauge is reading 120 psi at all times.
Solution: You have a bad sensor. Replacement necessary. Read all about it: viewtopic.php?f=53&t=17496
Estimated Cost: $40-45 for new sensor, adds just a few more minutes to your oil change.

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-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

Okay sweet!! That's def something I'll need to change and fix ASAP. Thanks a lot brother! I appreciate everyone's help!! But now do you know anything on the 5-speed swap?

The sensor is super easy. 5-speed swap could technically be possible, people have done it on older Bonnevilles, and Grand Prix's. But it's a *shoot* ton of work.

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Will
88 Cutlass Ciera Brougham International | 120k mi | White w/ Dk Claret Int. | Roller to be S2 L67/4T65E-HD | 1 of ~5100 3.8 FE3 Int'l series
91 Riviera | S2 L67 Swap/4T60E | 127K mi | Antelope Met. w/ Tan Int. | Saved From Death By Crusher
92 Bonneville SSE | L67/4T60E | 77K mi | Med Slate Grey w/ Two-Tone Grey Int. | Low Miles Time Capsule
92 Lumina Z34 | LQ1/4T60E | 177k mi | Torch Red w/Grey Int. | Rusty In Odd Spots
99 Tahoe LT | L31/4L65E | 276k mi | Spiral Grey Metallic w/Grey Int. | Truck for Truck Things and Portable Concert Hall
03 Park Avenue Ultra | 212K mi | White Diamond Met. w/ Shale Int. | Southern Time Capsule
05 Acura RL | 155K mi | Carbon Grey Pearl w/Ebony Int. | The Super-Hooptie Daily

Dont do business with Feezles. They overcharge close to dealer premiums, offer a crappy return policy and their customer service is lacking. The only reason I am forced to go there is for their large Chrysler LH section. I know for a fact that Donawitz over in New Brighton has 2 SI L67s and 3 SII L67s...at least they did when I went up to check for parts for my PAU. Theyre cheaper and wont give you the run around. Where are you at, Chippewa?

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1995 Park Avenue Ultra
2002 Dodge Intrepid "Superbee"

Hmm.. They are a bunch of bumf*ck assholes there.. Pardon my profanity.. But I recently changed the ignition cylinder and bought the dash pieces that flow around the bezels, like the gauge cluster and HU And shifter got the dash pieces for 15 an the cylinder for 15 aswell.. Everything was in brand new condition aswell! Got away from like a 60$ value to 30 bucks! The dude was pissed Hahahahaha and I live like legit.. A 10 second drive from get-go. In that neighborhood that get go is in. Nice little place if you ask me! Been there for 16 years, since I was 2! :D

http://www.grandprixforums.net/top-swap ... -7763.html

There's some more info on the top swap.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

thanks man! i really appreciate it! i think im gonna leave the motor stock.. its too old and has too many miles to build it, just gonna save up and buy a fresh SSEi :D