Smack Brian over the drive-by-wire crap. All you have to do is put an LS1/N* throttle body on it. Just use an adapter. Painless as it can get.

The hard part will be coughing up the money for an LS4 and the other electronics involved. You can't use the LS4 PCM because you have to alter the drive-by-wire stuff. But can you alter a 3800 PCM to utilize an 8 cylinder? You'd probably have to install a Haltech (like the guy with N* did).

Richard, keep in mind the "real Dark Knight" has relied on jet propulsion for a long time...I've actually been insulting his image going N/A all this time

I suppose Brian was thinking of making the LS4 with its cylinder deactivation fully functional.
I would love to go that route...the last drop out I saw that Ed had went for about $3k

I say build you own turbo kit. Do like ZZP and use the stock manifolds. Just weld up the downpipe on the rear and have a flange for the turbo welded into the crossover. From there, have a pipe fabbed to connect back to the exhaust. You can make your own intake tubes by using silicone couplers and straight pipe.

As for the turbo, find a decent rebuild. You could get one for around $500. You can also find lots of cheap intercoolers taken off of wrecked cars. It should be workable for about $1500. With the Sebring, you've got more time to tinker. Make use of it.

If I had a 3800 engine in my car to start with, I wouldn't have gotten the M90. There were two options for me: L67 or boosted 3100. The intake gasket issues on the 3100 left a bad taste in my mouth, I wanted nothing more to do with it.

One day, I might even do an N/A build. Ported heads, milled down for compression, huge cam, high stall convertor. Yummy.

i say build your own engine and go with a whipple, those things sound awsome, kind of expensive though
and a tranny from zzp

Lots of issues with the Whipple kit. Animul was even considering to stop offering it. One of the guys on CGP with the Buick with one still hasn't got it running due to problems with how the TB meshes (if I remember right).

i thought that was an intercooler problem

do the ls4 swap!!!!!
ive wanted to do it too, but dont have the money. v8 sound and if you supercharge/turbo it you will see bigger gains. plugs it's an ls series motor, so it will take very well to bolt ons. and camming it will be even better!
dont you want to hear the sweet sound of a cammed V8 in your 97-03 body style grand prix?

If he does an LS4 swap, there won't be enough from to spit in the engine compartment, much less put a turbo or blower in there.

Hey T-bat, I like RooK's idea of the turbo, but have you considered a remote-mount turbo system? (I know, I'm all about these things lol)

STS has their universal system with pretty much everything you need at about $3k. You'll need some pipe fabrication for the exhaust work and intake plumbing but ZZPs turbo kits run around $3k anyway so it wouldn't be that much more expensive. Plus, you could push more boost due to the pressure loss from the distance, as well as the slight intercooling effect of running though all that pipe.

I've spent ENOUGH on exhaust ...whatever engine mod winds up happening I'll upgrade my downpipe but the rest of that puppy stays just like it is.
I've seen the LS4 in the 04-up GP engine and I was surprised how nicely it fit. I'll keep my ear out for more info concerning that changeover. I wont rulle it out completely cuz that 300 pony V8 would sound oh so nice.

The SS M90 is a real option as well...Chico has it on his L36 and I think everyone will agree his engine bay looks pretty sharp.

and Rook you are dead on about my Sebring, which was one of the reasons I went ahead an moved on one when I did...having that extra set of wheels puts time on your side. Any more info you can drag up about the LS4 thing would be greatly appreciated.
I suppose I should do some surfing over at CGP as well...there is bound to be someone working on the idea if they havent done it already.

But in the final analysis a top swap probably is my cheapest performance boost while up grading my engine at the same time...my game plan is to basically come away with a "new" drivetrain to arm the T-Bat for his next 150k miles

well, if you do a top swap, youre probably going to do headers of some type... which means that your exhaust tone is going to change

Turbo it by yourslef, like what Rook is saying. And from what I keep reading, the exhaust will actually sound pretty sweet!

I would consider a low mileage short block from Ed preferably a L26,some ported heads and a cam to match your choice of FI,as far as the trans.run her till it fails then get a used one from ed with low miles and you know if you want heads done I'll set you up with a reasonable price .Chico(Pops)

if u do the N* swap ull be my hero hahahaha

I'm pretty sure the N* is out at this point...and if I go top swap I'll most likely just get a ported rear manifold since I already have a powerlog for the front.

If I get a low mileage HD trans, how much hassle is it to swap to the lower gearing?...isnt that just chain set?

im pretty sure that changing gear sets requires tearing the whole thing apart. And the gears arent cheap