3800 Supercharged V6 in C10?

[sscooter]

My parents have a '98 Park Ave Ultra with the supercharged 3.8. The car only has 100,000 miles on it and runs superb. The body however, is starting to fall apart. They've owned it since '99 so its time for a new car... I may be able to get it for little/nothing.

I have read that it is possible to use the tranny from a late '90's Camaro as it will bolt right up.

the 350 in my truck is very tired, and it would be a fun project for the winter.

Ive seen 30 MPG in that Buick on the highway, and it goes pretty good with the 240 HP V6...

Anybody here done this swap or know of anybody that has?

[pmkrew]

Sounds like a cool swap though! That may just be because I know where there is one of those engines also... ;-)
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[Clyde65]

Are the Buicks FWD or RWD?

[chevyrestoguy]

Are those cars front wheel drive?

[62 Longbed]

Yes that should be a FWD car ... I had a 97 Pontiac GTP , car scooted very nicely with the Supercharged V/6 .... It would probably be more fun in a S-10 , alot lighter . Just my 2 cents

[Driveway Dreams]

They are a front drive car. But the original post states that he may be able to bolt the motor to a Camaro transmission. Which would then make a drivetrain that is rear drive. It would be different for sure. If you do it, do the intake gaskets while it is out. You dont want to do them in the truck. A lot more work.

[shortbed70]

Intake gaskets are a must if you do the swap and you should be able to find a tranny out of a camaro that will bolt too it. Be ready to do some fab on motor/tranny mounts, exhaust. Keep us posted if you do it.
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[Pop's C-10]

It will work with a f-body trans...jus do think get 30 mpg when it in tha truck..And they make a boat load of hop up parts..

[kieth]

I am looking for one of the new camaro v6's with a 6 spd auto 300hp 29mpg now that is cool..

[bluex]

Yes, it will bolt up to a camaro trans. I have an engine out of a 06 grand prix in my '97 firebird. The 3800 in the camaro/firebird is the same in long block form as the FWD ones. The only differences are the intake/exhaust mainfolds and sheetmetal. They even use most of the same sensors. Try to find a set of the engine side motor mounts from a camaro/bird, they will be easier to work with in RWD mounting than the FWD mounts.

These are good engines and it should last you another 100k if its been maintained correctly....

edit:

I forgot the heads on the SC versions are different. They have the mounting bosses for the fuel injectors in the head instead of the intake because of the supercharger. They also have a sligthly lower compression ratio (I think)

[joedoh]

this is a great idea, if you need any help with wiring I would be glad to support this swap.

[NCD1966]

Not to burst anyones bubble, but I think you may have trouble with the motor mounts, being they were for a fwd car.

If you want to go with a modern motor, I would go with a 5.3 LS truck motor. They make good hp and torque, and get good fuel mileage. Also its made for a truck. Just my opinion.
And for side note; Im know you can use a old th350/400 or old school manual for the LS motors.

[Scot_Douglas]

Originally Posted by NCD1966

Not to burst anyones bubble, but I think you may have trouble with the motor mounts, being they were for a fwd car.

The 3800 was put in the Camaro for production, so I don't think motormounts will be much of a concern.

:bubblesnotburst:

[tapeworm]

I kind of like the idea. It would be worth a shot if you want to be different, especially with everyone (including myself) doing a LS swap.

I'd try to find everything out of a V6 camaro; manifolds, tranny, flexplate, starter, ect.

[bluex]

Originally Posted by tapeworm

I kind of like the idea. It would be worth a shot if you want to be different, especially with everyone (including myself) doing a LS swap.

I'd try to find everything out of a V6 camaro; manifolds, tranny, flexplate, starter, ect.

The camaro V6 stuff is stupid expensive. At most I would use from one for a truck application is the engine side motor mounts and a set of 00+ exhaust manifolds. The rest you can use from the FWD car. Maybe use the F-body oil pan if needed since the FWD one is basically flat. The intake can be flipped around so it faces the accessory drive instead of the trans and the FWD one is actually a better design than the F-body. There is plenty of room in one of these trucks so really no need to spend the extra $ on F-body specific stuff.

Also all the series 2 and series 3 engines are the same. The difference is a series 3 has a little bit better/stronger connecting rod and a slightly larger exhaust valve. I've done all the reasearch on this since I put a 06 series 3 in my firebird that had a 97 series 2.....

[tapeworm]

I was wondering about the accessories on the front of these; its nice to know the FWD stuff works.

Are pulley swaps & blower porting commonly done on these?

[bluex]

The fwd accessories won't work in an f-body, but they should not cause a problem in this style truck. They won't work in the f cars cause the layout is all wrong.

The V6 f cars are 10 lbs of stuff in a 5 lbs bag. The V8 is 15 lbs, lol.

Intake gaskets are a common problem. I don't think they would be too hard to do in the truck engine bay.

I'm not as familiar with the s/c specific questions. A good place for that info would be club gp. Don't expect to get another 100 HP with a pulley swap. These engines are not intercooled....
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[yunkyarddog]

takin notes if it works my next project is my 52/s10/park ave. motor

[Pop's C-10]

Originally Posted by tapeworm

I was wondering about the accessories on the front of these; its nice to know the FWD stuff works.

Are pulley swaps & blower porting commonly done on these?

yes...but there are other mods that need to be done before you start droping pully sizes...google tha term top swap

[mcmullinauctions]

What sort of fuel mileage numbers do you think a v6, 5 speed manual, and high ratio rear would achieve?
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[clinebarger]

The throttle body WILL face the firewall, You cant flip the Blower around!!!

[bluex]

Originally Posted by clinebarger

The throttle body WILL face the firewall, You cant flip the Blower around!!!

This is right. I was thinking of the normal manifold, sorry if I confused anyone. Like I said I'm not up on the s/c specific stuff, but I did know that from the few f-body swaps that are out there. They have to hack the firewall for it to fit.

As far as mpg goes, my bird averages 26 and gets right up to 30 on a long highway trip. It's an auto with 308 gears and 245/50/16's. I don't see one of these trucks getting that good since they are shaped like a brick.
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[Blue666]

The Buick 3800 was always one of GM's best engines I could never figure out why GM did not use it more often. It would have made the S-10, Fiero and lots of other cars more fun. The 2.8 & 3.1 engines were just terrible.

The 3800 was also used in the Buick GNX, I had the the early version (231 cu in) as the stock factory engine in my 71 CJ-5.

IIRC the GNX was available as normal aspiration, turbo & supercharged with standard rear drive configuration. Those parts may be rare but they are out there. Not sure if any aftermarket manifolds or other parts are available.

Good Luck with the build!!

[Blue666]

Sorry, I meant to say I had the stock, normal aspiration version in my 71 CJ-5. I did not have a supercharged Jeep, but that could be a really fun ride.

[bluex]

The earlier series 1 3800 like your talking is a very different animal. It won't interchange with a series 2 or 3. Lots of internal and external differences.

It is still possible to swap it in a truck though as it was also in other rwd applications. Your going to pay a lot more for a GN engine to I bet.
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