has anyone looked into swapping this engine....would it work...?

 

If you are talking about the GM(Buick) 3.8 V6, it's been done, and it does work. It doesn't seem to be a very common swap on this particular forum, though. I like the fact that you can supercharge it, or turbo it.

 

A guy on Pirate did it. Check over there.

James

 

Lookin for the same info. I thought the super charger would be fun in the dunes hope to get going on it soon. Engine on stand harness in hand, pulleys and chipped told it should be about 300hp? with some fancy tuning any body know if this hp rating is possible reality??

 

Biggest problem with the SC is it is a front wheel drive so the intake is facing the wrong way.

SEARCH. There are posts talking about this engine.

 

Not true, you can get a fuel injected good 3.8 out of a firebird or camaro not sure what year they started but i think mid 90's just stay away from the 2.8 or whatever it was the older ones had

 

X2, or you could even find a wrecked mid 80's Buick regal t-type. Those are rear wheel drive, and turbo with around 220HP.

 

I SAID SC. SC=SUPERCHARGED. Not N/A or TURBO. The SC 3.8 was only found in front wheel drive vehicles.

 

The Supercharged Buick 3.8 was also mounted in a rear wheel drive application in the GM owned Holden car brand in Austrailia.

To the OP, if you wanted, you could either have a naturally asperated, or Turbo V6 that would be relatively inexpensive/easy to find. If you were feeling really creative, you could possibly find a Supercharged V6, but only if you were willing to get one from Austrailia.

I think the Turbo V6 would be your best option if you decided to go with forced induction.

 

It's a great swap
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Could that Buick fit into a 2wd?

 

in a word....yes. The 3.8 Buick was actually a very common swap with the lowrider guys in the 80's. The reason you see so many 4.3s now is because the buicks are less plentiful and the 4.3s have been uprgraded/evolved so much more. Go back and look at some ancient (lowrider) min truck mags from the day....common as dirt.

 

Just out of curiosity doss the 3.8 have traditional fuel injection out of the Camaro / Firebirds, unlike the 4.3 that has either poppet style or spider injectors?

Srry for digging this up, but I prefer boost to NA and the 4.8 I was planning on putting in was going to be too much power for what I want, and the 4.3 I hate the FI on it, it's terrible.

 

the 3800 motor has been around for a long time. you can find the newer gen 3800 in the SS model malibu/impala's from 90's to early k's.
in teh fwd applications, you can swap IM's if need be too.

 

Not sure about the old 3.8 with the BOP bellhousing, but the newer Buick 3800 with the metric bellhousing has multi port injection.

The metric bellhousing is the main snag with this swap. No commercially available adapter to mount to a yota trans. The few guys that have done the swap (Kiwi something or other documented his on pirate) had to kluge together a trans setup.

I personally am a fan of the engine and might attempt this some day which is why I waste time researching it, but Ive got more important projects so its at least 2 years off.

 

i've got one, a 1980 turbo 3.8 four barrel with t350 trans for sale.
no computers- easy swap...except for the odds and ends that Downey Offroad used to sell.

the t-type makes more HP than the "before black" models like mine.
i was going to put this in my first gen 4x4.

google t-type for buick forums. also Kenne Bell for some insane t- types.

http://turbobuick.com/forums/
i have Downey catalogs with tons of info for this swap.

 

The firebird/camaro didn't come with a 3.8, they came with a 3.4. They were offered in the early 90's. They are good motors. I had one in my 86 s10. It was 4x4, stick, and with 4.11 gears. It would boil the tires with 31's. The 3.4 came SFI. I put a 2.8 tbi intake with a 4.3 tbi.

 

All 6 cylinder f bodies after 1995 were 3.8L Buicks. Same block as the 3800S2SC, but with a NA head.

 

ok, I read the thread and am wondering if the SC motor out of my 97 Buick Riviera is going to work. Advance no longer makes the kit and I am stumped for now. I am also going to go to Pirate and hope for help/tips there. Yes the intake is going to point backwards, but my ride is offroad only with minimal on road travel I am planning on cutting the firewall and bringing the intake into the cab anyway.

 

For the benfit of all the rest of us, if you do eventually go through with it, please document it and post it, so that it's available for later reference.