Should I supercharge?

[Youngster]

I have a 2003 Grand prix GT currently. I've wanted to supercharge it or turbocharge it and decided on the supercharger. I wouldn't do it until around May or June. I recently learned though that I have a small oil leak. Doesn't seem too major right now. I took it to a local shop and they told me I need a new Oil pan gasket, and a new rear main seal. $2,000 for it all since it is labor intensive. Obviously I'm just going to watch my oil level for now, but you would think I'd need to get it fixed eventually. Should I hold off on getting a supercharger or no? I've seen a few guys put 75K more miles on with leaking oil. I'm a college student, so I don't want to spend $2,000 for a supercharge kit and install and then spend another $2,000 on my oil leak. I don't drive that many miles. Maybe 50 a week. Should I be able to supercharge my gp this summer and then get my oil leak fixed in say 3 years? We believe the leak started in the middle of December 2014. I still have 78% oil life left and around 55% my low oil light will come on. I'm due for an oil change in 3 weeks (based on the 3 month rule they go by), so it doesn't seem like I'm losing a lot of oil. I plan on driving the car for at least another 7 years, but I have no idea how big of a problem this oil leak is. The local shop suggested just watching the oil and topping it off. Any suggestions?`

[Scottydoggs]

if your not gonna do the top swap yourself, it just seems like a lot of money tossed out the window.

to change the rear seal and rear plate gasket you have to remove the engine. good time to rip the heads off and do your top swap, change all the gaskets and put it back in. be way less then 2 grand. thats for sure.

[Youngster]

Problem is I'm just learning. All I can do is clean my throttle body. This is why I'd have a shop install it for me. I don't trust trying it myself being a beginner and only having one car. To install a supercharger kit would only be $300. I can live with that. Taking the engine out and replacing all the gaskets and everything, yeah, I'm not capable of doing that kind of work nor do I have the tools to. At the same time I don't want to pay $2,000 for a shop to do it. That's why I'm letting it be as is, but I can't leave it as is for the next 10 years either.

[Slick2500]

If you can't do it yourself or you don't have a friend that knows how, then it is not worth it to supercharge your engine.

[ItHurtz]

way more to it that just putting a s/c on top, your ripping it down to a short block, which isnt even worth the time for the limited power gain

[Youngster]

I understand. There is so many differences between a supercharger set up and a NA set up. Like I said earlier, $300 for a shop to install it is no biggie to me. I'm worried about my oil leak though. If I spend big bucks supercharging, to then later have to spend more to fix my oil leak, I don't want to spend more than I should.

[Slick2500]

If you spend more than $500 on a top swap you are completely retarded. Just saying.

[Youngster]

There are many things to upgrade. Fuel injectors, the pulleys, belt, fuel logs, pcm, and then adding the blower. You're able to get all that plus all the other things for under $500?

[Scottydoggs]

I understand. There is so many differences between a supercharger set up and a NA set up. Like I said earlier, $300 for a shop to install it is no biggie to me. I'm worried about my oil leak though. If I spend big bucks supercharging, to then later have to spend more to fix my oil leak, I don't want to spend more than I should.

the shop only wants 300 to do a top swap? add gaskets oil coolant and the heads lim and blower your still under a grand.

you'll need a tune too, canned tune or by a local from here that tunes.


f the oil leak. mines leaked for 5 years, and before i got it. it looses a bout a quart every 3,000 miles. and thats whn i change my oil, so no big deal to me.

[Scottydoggs]

oh, and you need headers too.

[FordMan77]

Even if you managed to "top swap" it and get it running right, you'd still need to save up for a built transmission because you will end up breaking the stock one. It's not an "if", but a "when". Turbo would likely kill it faster.

And for the money, I'd go turbo. Much more gain for the same amount of $. Turbo, trans, tune, misc parts probably looking at 5K or so total if you do it yourself (trans could be prebuilt and ready for intall). If a shop does it then may as well start saving now as it's gonna cost prob. double that.

As far as not having the right tools to do it I'm sure you can get your hands on a 150 piece socket/wrench set because that's pretty much all you need to work on this car. Heck, an 8, 10, 13, 14, and 15mm socket or wrench will take probably 80% of the entire car apart, lol... Don't be afraid to learn how to DIY. Sure, you could screw something up but with the help of this site, some basic Google/youtube skills and a decent shop manual you can do it yourself and save a bunch of $$ in the process if you choose to do so. The 3800 V6 is one of the easiest engines to work on. Nothing fancy here just the run of the mill pushrod engine.

If you don't have time to DIY, then you can always ask here for help and get some good info. Lot of good people here that won't steer you wrong.

[Slick2500]

There are many things to upgrade. Fuel injectors, the pulleys, belt, fuel logs, pcm, and then adding the blower. You're able to get all that plus all the other things for under $500?

Yes.
Fuel Injectors - I have a set for sale for like $40
Pulleys are ~$20 brand new for the idlers and tensioner ~$60
Harmonic Balancer - Dorman $61.79 + Shipping on Rock Auto people sell these used for like $30-$40 from time to time
Fuel Rails can be had for ~$30
PCM - you would want a tuned one even from a vendor it could set you back about $200
Lim and Gen 3 blower and be found for about $100-$150
Heads - $75-$100
Valve Covers - ~$30

Shop around in the for sale section lots of deals to be had there.

[Scottydoggs]

or just drop a l67 in there. aka a whole supercharged engine. if its a running engine you dont need to do a whole lot to other then lim gasket replacement. and a tune for the pcm.

whole used engines go for 300 to 800, depends on miles and whos selling it.

[SgtMarshal]

If you are a college student, does the college you attend have an automotive department? you may do well to take one or two automotive classes, make friends with an instructor and do the swap/turbo as part of the class. picking up an L67 like JerseyDogg said is probably your easiest option and will save money. you should be able to find one at the local junkyard or by checking craigslist. my bet would be that you can find the L67 engine, then you see everything that you are done and wont have to do the work in the engine bay. while it is out, you could change out the cam with something mild like a VS or a S1X.

[99GT2dr]

In your situation, an L67 swap would be the easiest, fastest, and safest way to go. Probably cheaper, too, selling your L36 will offset some of the cost of buying the L67 (maybe even all of it). Change out the oil pan and rear main/cover seal before installing as preventative maintenance along with those lim gaskets like jersey said and you're good to go once you get a pcm for your setup.

[nos4blood70]

I'd advocate for just leaving the car stock, if you're not sure of being able to topswap, you sure as hell are not doing a motor swap.

Accept the NA-ness. Let it consume you… Slowly….

As a fellow college student, an operating car that only needs gas and oil changes is much more important for you then going fast. That's why I ditched my turbo plans, and maybe thanks to my trans being kinda weird..

[Russosaur]

Accept the NA-ness. Let it consume you… Slowly….

This.....One of us....One of us.....

[ADrugDealer]

I agree, if you do not know how to do it your self, then I would not do it. If something goes wrong down the road you are going to be stuck and stranded with no tools or clue on how to fix it.

[ctracer]

rule before any modding; make sure your car is perfect running order. or close to perfect. an oil leak is bad news bears.
a top swap really isnt worth the hassle. it takes a lot of work.
you should take that money, and save it up for another car that can be a project. that way you can learn how to do car things and you can actually have a car to drive.

[Yarbeau]

With a lack of knowledge and college student funding - Sell GT. Buy GTP. (If you really need the charger) /end

Not trying to be a dick. Just the harsh reality of it. Seems like a good idea in your head, but in the end it will be a headache. Especially with this being your DD.

Leave it alone. Accept it for what it is and go get that education finished up. Believe me, I know what its like!!! I wish I could go back to 18 year old me and slap his dumb ass!