A bit of insanity struck me

[cheeseds]

and now i want to make my 03 impala a mid engine sports car.

I can only imagine the difficulty in this: new motor mounts, strengthening the frame, rear axle, bigger engine, new gearbox, new front axle, lots of mechanical and metal work, and reworking of the suspension. that's all i could think of in a couple minutes

[sarotara]

Several options:

1) Buy an actual sports car

2) Do a top swap
- 4T65E-HD transmission
- swap the L36 engine top with a L67 (w/supercharger) (you'll need the PCM, BCM, and passenger-side axle from the donor SS car)

3) Install a turbocharger and intercooler

[HeMi101]

Get the GMPP handling Kit (bigger sway bars, and Front/Rear Strut Tower Brace) to help handling.

Could be less of a headache to get a L67 and 4T65E-HD that are still mounted together from another W-Body (Monte Carlo SS/Grand Prix GTP/Regal GS) and drop it in instead of doing a top Swap.


Theres also a few things you can do to your N/A 3800 to make it a little peppier, Like Intake Insert, Higher flowing Throttle body, Different Rockers, Exhuast manifolds etc.

[sarotara]

As HeMi101 mentioned, the GMPP handling kit would help with handling. If you do not want to spend a lot of money and keep the car naturally aspirated install a downpipe and the GMPP dual exhaust. The downpipe will eliminate the restrictive U-bend that's in the stock exhaust. You can also install a fenderwell air intake. These are the simple and cheap mods. However, as I mentioned before, Impalas are not really race cars, and you would really be better off getting a different car instead of spending a lot of money on doing engine swaps, etc.

[HeMi101]

Not all that bad in price. Last time I looked: To do a L67 swap, do a Power log for the front exhuast manifold, Cold air intake, Colder Spark plugs, Smaller S/C Pulley, Downpipe, Catback and a tune could be done for under 3000$. Can make a fairly Fun & Fast car out of an impala for a decent price.

[Blue Bowtie]

What you propose is using the Impala body on an entirely different chassis, whether custom made or resurrected from a different vehicle. That would be easier than trying to make the Impala into something it isn't. You could also shop for a Holden Monaro.

A sports car, regardless of the engine position, requires a frame. A W body will never be a sports car. A "sporty" car is a different animal altogether. I've seen Chrysler mini-vans with a "SPORT" emblem on the sides, but that didn't fool me either.

[jtav2002]

This wouldn't be remotely worth it doing. There are plenty of things to make the car faster, as mentioned. Turbo, top swap, L67 swap, etc. But it won't be worth the money to do what you want no matter how much you love the car. Just for perspective, a member of LS1tech.com got a quote to convert his Grand Prix GXP to RWD with a manual tranny, and that alone was around $20k with the custom work that would need to be done.