LS1-Powered Century

[danny f]

Hey. I am the owner of a 1993 Buick Century Special Sedan. I have been saving my money to buy a Mitsubishi Starion, but after seeing the new LaCrosse Super, I have been thinking about a possible LS1 swap to replace the hamster wheel in my current car. Do any of you know of any solutons to this? My current mill is a 3.3 liter V6 that at one time may have made 165 hp and 185 lb-ft. It has a 3-speed (I think) collumn shift automatic. My questions are-

Would I have to get beffier front springs to handle any extra weight there may be?
Would I have to cut a hole in the floor for a stick shift?
Would the unibody even tolerate the torque? What if I move on to forced induction?
Would I have to convert to rear wheel drive? How?
If this couldn't work, what about a 3800 Supercharged Regal engine?

Thanks.

 

[John Wilde]

This sounds like an interesting project for sure.
It does sound like a lot of work.
You will have to make sure that you will be happy with the vehicle
that you will end up with. I am not an expert but I am not sure of a
LSX transversely mounted FWD application.

 

[notacarlo]

Put it in the trunk. :biggrin:

 

[danny f]

To be honest, I would only be interested in this project if it could be done for cheap. For the cost of buying and installing the Camaro motor, I could buy something better. Like an actual Camaro. Is there any potential go-fast in the Century at all? It feels faster than my last car, a tragically wrecked 1982 Mustang 5.0 (start writing your hate mail), but is a dog compared to my buddy's WRX. There is nothing I could do to make it worse, short of a roadside ditch (the fate of my 5.0).