jman093 Posted September 28, 2009 Report Posted September 28, 2009 Ok, So sometime soon I'm going to have the effed trans out of my GTP to fix it or do something different. Today I was looking at the feasibilty of, when doing this, getting rid of the factory steel/iron subframe and replacing it with the aluminum one from a 2nd/3rd gen w-body. From all my inspection and measuring today of my GTP against my father's 01 Monte SS, it will bolt in. The dimensions and mounting are in exactly the same spot. The cars may be quite different, but you can easily tell they are both W's. The steering rack also mounts to both subframes the same, so I don't see a problem there. Obviously I would have to run 2nd gen front suspension, but that's a good thing considering the 1st vs 2nd/3rd gen aftermarket and the superior 2nd/3rd gen LCA's. What I could see as the problem is engine mounts. The left side mount appears to be the same. The right side mount, however, is different and the front mount is not present at all. The spot the front mount would be is an open area because the front lateral section of the 2nd/3rd gen piece is up forward about 3 inches, basically right behind the radiator support. These two mounts are obvious problems, but my father's car is 90V6, and 2nd gens were built with 60V6's. Those cars might hold the solution or may have a different subframe altogether that will work. I need to find this out. So does anyone know about the mounting of 3x00 2nd gen cars? Or if anyone who has one could take a look and take pictures, you'd be a hero. Also any other input on this swap is welcome. Thanks, Jesse Quote
Crazy K Posted September 28, 2009 Report Posted September 28, 2009 it will NOT bolt in. check those measurements again. Quote
jman093 Posted September 28, 2009 Author Report Posted September 28, 2009 it will NOT bolt in. check those measurements again. Thanks, Ken. You're response sounded like someone has tried it. I searched and found somebody who apparently put two engines in a Cutlass looked into it but apparently never went through with the swap (though he said he was). He said the puck mounts are different and that the complete suspension would be have to be swapped. I already know and am happy about the second gen suspension needing swapped due to the better brake, better LCA's, and aluminum knuckes. The puck mounts I can deal with/modify whatever is needed. So I'm still looking to go through with this if I can't the engine mounted to the thing. So my question stands about the mounts. It will be two weeks before I can get to any j/y and hopefully take a look. Quote
jman093 Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Posted September 29, 2009 Just so happened to get a 3500 Impala come in to work today, and took a quick inspection and a few quick measurements while I had it up on the lift. The front mount is just eliminated on all later 60V6's which is what I thought, but wasn't sure. That's probably why they all have two dogbone mounts. That right side mount just isn't going to work out that I can see. The LQ1 is different in that it's right side mount is an tranny mount and not an engine mount. I still think that subfame would bolt into the car with little modification, but I don't see any way I'm going get the tranny mounted to the subframe on that side. Maybe it could be done, but it's not worth risking spending a couple hundred dollars at a junkyard to find out. 3x00 owners, however, I think could do this. It's us LQ1 owners that get screwed once again. Quote
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