3.8L hop up?

[bourbon]

that tpi engine swap would be easier then you think! especially since you would have the whole car. there is a article online about a guy doing a ss monte with a tpi engine in stock form. i have a book that tells you what wires to yank and you can get a chip on ebay for 65 bucks that will delete all of the crap you do not need.

if i can get looks ans get some more power out of my 3.8, then i will be happy. i am not into speed at all, just want some more power so i can keep with the s10's going to a show, right now a 2.2L s10 will pull away from me on a hill!

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

You need better gears! It is the biggest bang for the buck you can get with that engine. At least the optional 3.23's GM put in some high altitude V6 cars will help a lot with acceleration. I had the 2.41's in my car until last year, and even with a 355 swap it was still not fast. I put the 3.23 axle from a 4 door Regal in it and what a difference! Best $50 I ever spent. I think I had under $100 total in the whole setup after rebuilding the brakes and replacing the diff cover gasket and fluid.

As for mods to the engine, consider the stock 4.1 V6 4bbl intake and a V6 Quadrajet carb. It is the same as your 2 bbl, but the WOT end adds 2 extra barrels that the computer has no control over (GM did it this way), so it will run as a bolt on. I would also consider a 2.5 in single exhaust and catalytic converter, as well as perhaps a new timing set. GM used a nylon coated cam gear that is notorious for failing. That, and the oil pump are the Achilles Heel of the 231 v6. The oil seals for the crank are not the best either, but will not kill the engine like these two things will. All of those things may get you 10-15 more hp (4.1 4 bbl was rated at 120hp, IIRC), but every little thing helps when you only have 110.

 

[bourbon]

You need better gears! It is the biggest bang for the buck you can get with that engine. At least the optional 3.23's GM put in some high altitude V6 cars will help a lot with acceleration. I had the 2.41's in my car until last year, and even with a 355 swap it was still not fast. I put the 3.23 axle from a 4 door Regal in it and what a difference! Best $50 I ever spent. I think I had under $100 total in the whole setup after rebuilding the brakes and replacing the diff cover gasket and fluid.

As for mods to the engine, consider the stock 4.1 V6 4bbl intake and a V6 Quadrajet carb. It is the same as your 2 bbl, but the WOT end adds 2 extra barrels that the computer has no control over (GM did it this way), so it will run as a bolt on. I would also consider a 2.5 in single exhaust and catalytic converter, as well as perhaps a new timing set. GM used a nylon coated cam gear that is notorious for failing. That, and the oil pump are the Achilles Heel of the 231 v6. The oil seals for the crank are not the best either, but will not kill the engine like these two things will. All of those things may get you 10-15 more hp (4.1 4 bbl was rated at 120hp, IIRC), but every little thing helps when you only have 110.

Thanks for the advice, i think i am going to pick up another 3.8 so i can work on it then just swap it, i should pull the block anyway since i need to z the frame to get it to lay out anyway. do you think a small nitrous fogger setup would be too much for that engine? and would there be a rear that would go in there with the 3.23's and disk brakes that you can think of?
thanks again

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

There is no disc brake bolt in rear axle for a G body unless you have real money to spend on an aftermarket housing, etc. You can get a bolt on disc brake kit for a 7.5, and if you do that with a 7.5 that has the right gearing it will be cheaper than a whole axle bought new. If you do a nitrous setup, you really don't want more than a 50 shot on a stock 3.8 to be safe. Also, the compression ratio is terrible on these engines and makes choosing a decent cam hard. This is because they do not have enough low rpm cylinder pressure to begin with, and most larger cams will stay open longer and release even more of it. Plus, I would think that the piston crowns are probably dished and do not provide enough quench. Oh, you could probably get a cat back exhaust for a LG4 or L69 305 Monte Carlo and get it to work with minor changes to where it connects to the catalyst. I would get a bigger cat too. It's not a great engine in N/A form unless you are really willing to build it, then it is just a mediocre engine. It will cost serious money to get good performance out of it. However, a swap in not as cheap as everyone thinks unless you cut corners.