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Engine Swap

Q. I have 170,000 miles on my 1996 GTS. I’m considering installing a 2008 Viper 8.4L V-10 engine in this vehicle. What extra parts and changeover procedures am I looking at beyond the long-block assembly, manifolds and the plumbing?

A. Boy, this would be a tough one to pull off. For starters, you’ll need a custom set of engine mounts. The new engine block has new mounting bosses. I believe the new accessory drive may not clear the old rainbow bar, so the bar will need a redo. As you pointed out, plumbing and exhaust will have to be custom fabricated, same with the airbox. Probably most difficult of all will be the electronic throttles. The entire engine control system is completely different and uses a different engine control module. There is zero backward compatibility. This would be a swap I’d stay away from. Now having said all that, when I retired at the beginning of ’08, there was talk of developing a kit to do the kind of swap you’re talking about—stay tuned, you never know.