Engine swap for LS4 (ss impala), can it be done?

[2005 Neon Blue Malibu]

So I know that the 9th gen SS impala is front wheel drive and has a subframe, which a 2005 malibu has. not exactly the same subframe but a subframe indeed. I was wanting to know if it would be possible to do an engine swap for an LS4. Im sure it can be done, but im not sure if it would entirely fit into the engine bay. and since I would be upgrading to a bigger engine what problems would I have then with more power? would I need to get bigger pads and rotors or could I slot and drill the existing ones. and how would the body react to more push and pull?

I like that the LS4 motors can go from running on 6 cylinders for normal driving and 8 cylinders for power. But most of the SS Impalas that come into my work for a new trans are because most of those people drive too fast all the time and brake the 6 cylinder trans. I would also like to know if it is possible to make the motor run just on 4 cylinders and when the power is necessary than the motor would kick in to know how much power it should produce.

Kind of like how a suburban can go to 4 cylinders for highway driving.

[Kreachur]

well I would be very worried about the engine actually fitting in the engine bay because with the 3.5 it has now it's pretty cramped, and it's placed sideways where as the v8 in the impala is placed longways and I don't think it will fit in the malibu like that. However, if you could manage to get it to work sideways you could move as much of the stuff under the hood (the batter and such) to the trunk so you could create some space but if you don't wanna have to deal with the transmission messing up it would be best to just find a trans that can handle that kind of power because our transmissions only have 4 gears and i just don't think that's enough to handle that engine. Now as for the engine switching to 4 cylinders i think that, that would be more expensive to convert the engine to do so that to just fit in a new transmission.

And for the suspension you will probably be able to get away with the stock suspension however it would be more comfortable and more stable when taking turns and taking off from a light if you were to upgrade your springs to something stronger

Hope this helps if you get into it keep us posted because it would be quite the interesting mod

[cp-the-nerd]

Originally Posted by 2005 Neon Blue Malibu

So I know that the 9th gen SS impala is front wheel drive and has a subframe, which a 2005 malibu has. not exactly the same subframe but a subframe indeed. I was wanting to know if it would be possible to do an engine swap for an LS4. Im sure it can be done, but im not sure if it would entirely fit into the engine bay. and since I would be upgrading to a bigger engine what problems would I have then with more power? would I need to get bigger pads and rotors or could I slot and drill the existing ones. and how would the body react to more push and pull?

I like that the LS4 motors can go from running on 6 cylinders for normal driving and 8 cylinders for power. But most of the SS Impalas that come into my work for a new trans are because most of those people drive too fast all the time and brake the 6 cylinder trans. I would also like to know if it is possible to make the motor run just on 4 cylinders and when the power is necessary than the motor would kick in to know how much power it should produce.

Kind of like how a suburban can go to 4 cylinders for highway driving.

No offense, but your information is a way off. There is no GM V8 that can use only 6 cylinders. The LS4 is a modified version of the same 5.3L engine from the Suburban and other trucks. They both use 8-cylinder mode until cruising speeds and light throttle allow it to switch to 4-cylinder mode. The LS4 has some truncated parts to fit transversely mounted with a transaxle for FWD applications.

Even if you could find a way to shoehorn the engine into the Malibu, there is no way to make this swap without the heavy duty trans from the Impala SS. The torque would rip your stock trans to shreds. For the cost of hardware and labor, you could probably find a used W-Body with an LS4, like the Impala SS itself or Grand Prix GXP.

[2005 Neon Blue Malibu]

Originally Posted by cp-the-nerd

No offense, but your information is a way off. There is no GM V8 that can use only 6 cylinders. The LS4 is a modified version of the same 5.3L engine from the Suburban and other trucks. They both use 8-cylinder mode until cruising speeds and light throttle allow it to switch to 4-cylinder mode. The LS4 has some truncated parts to fit transversely mounted with a transaxle for FWD applications.

Even if you could find a way to shoehorn the engine into the Malibu, there is no way to make this swap without the heavy duty trans from the Impala SS. The torque would rip your stock trans to shreds. For the cost of hardware and labor, you could probably find a used W-Body with an LS4, like the Impala SS itself or Grand Prix GXP.

I noticed that it ran on half the cylinders not 6 after I was looking more into the LS4 engine. and yeah I want to transfer the tranny as well because I know my tranny wouldnt be able to handle the power.